18th C Games

Unless otherwise noted, all reproduction items are on loan to the San Juan National Historic Site (NPS) by Christopher T MacDonald.

18th Century Games

Games were a big part of 18th-century family and community life. They were an opportunity to teach and gamble - played in the home, taverns, coffeehouses, and even in the Royal Courts of Europe. While we cannot be sure if any soldiers at the forts played these games, we can assume they knew of them as most soldiers were from Europe.

Link to Game Rules

9 Men's Morris/Merrils

It is an advanced kind of tic tac toe and chess mash-up. This game was wildly popular with soldiers dating back to Roman times. It was simple to make and very fast-paced.

Tables/Backgammon

A great fast gambling game - in the 18th Century it was played by the same rules we use today.

Knucklebones

The precursor to Jacks a game played for centuries

Dice

Hazzard, the game that led to craps, Going to Boston, and Farkle ( the predecessor of Yahtzee) were all dice games played in the 18th Century

Briscas

A classic Spanish card game. But these cards were the equivalent to the Hearts, Clubs, Diamond and Spades

The Captain Mistress

We know it as connect 4

El Juego De La Oca

The Game of Goose

This is a very old game going back centuries - people in all European and colonies played it in some form - it in fact involved to the game Candyland but in the 18th C it was enjoyed by Children and adults alike

Draughts

We know it as checkers. In the Spanish-speaking world, it was often called "Damas". Damas in Spanish means Women.

Shut the Box

The was a favorite games as it was fast and easy. It also would be very easy to gamble.

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