Category Archives: Playing Cards

What’s a Wumpus?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

You might have heard of Hunt the Wumpus, a game originally programmed for BASIC by Gregory Yob in 1972 or 1973. It was a map-based game with the Wumpus hiding out in one of the spaces, and your job was … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Playing Cards, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

You Know Uno, But Do You Know O’No?

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

I’m sure you’ve all played Uno, which is more or less Crazy Eights with extra cards that do such things as reverse play and skip a person’s turn. It was invented in 1971 by a Hungarian barber, and I know … Continue reading →

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Cats in Black

Posted on February 27, 2012 by

An old game that I was interested in finding out about is the Black Cat Fortune Telling Game, which appears to have been first released in 1897. Part of the Victorian obsession with fortune-telling, this game consists of twenty-four cards, … Continue reading →

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Snapper Soup

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

There are several card games, primarily intended for kids, where the object is to capture all the cards in the deck. At least as far as I’m concerned, these games tend to start out fun but get tedious. One game … Continue reading →

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Fall Into the Pit

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

I’m pretty sure I’ve played the card game Pit before, but looking at the instructions make it sound pretty complicated. Well, maybe not complicated per se, but definitely different. Basically, it’s a game that simulates the stock market, with players … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Game of Oz

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

In honor of Ozma’s birthday, I thought I’d make today’s game post about Oz. There are several games based on the MGM movie, but ones that relate to the books are, not surprisingly, considerably more rare. The first known Oz … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Dice, Games, Oz, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

A Geographic Wonderland

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

I’ve always liked maps of imaginary lands. They satisfy both my love of maps in general and my fondness for verisimilitude in fantasy. So it’s kind of a shame that two of my favorite books that don’t have “Oz” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Games, Lewis Carroll, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Being Carded

Posted on August 8, 2010 by

Just recently, my wife asked me an interesting question, which is how the standard suits on playing cards originated. I knew that there were some decks with different suits, like your basic Tarot deck, but not how anybody decided upon … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Playing Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment