Category Archive: Card game

Sep
15

Round the World

Round the World

Here is another card game game from the Pepys/Castell Brothers collection.  According to the boardgamegeek entry the publication year is 1961.  This is curious because a key feature of the game, including the box art, is the use of the Concorde plane.  The Wikipedia entry for the Concorde states that construction of prototypes didn’t start …

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Jul
28

Express

Express "GWR" engine card

Since dipping deeper into the art of games recently, I’ve discovered a wealth of games – card games in particular – produced by the company Pepys in the UK during the middle of the 20th century.  I’ve been playing games all my life, more deeply in the hobby for about 20 years, but only become …

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Jul
05

Cities

Cities box cover art (before and after digital restoration)

For this post we’re still on nostalgic card games, but we cross the Atlantic from the UK to the USA for Cities. This is yet another set-collecting game of the Rummy class. The artwork is rather art deco, reminiscent of the era – the original publication date is 1932. I really love the drawings for …

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Jun
23

More colourful card games – Wild Flower Sevens

Wild Flower Sevens - featured samples

There is an enormous variety of “generic” card games that is amenable to custom artwork – Happy Families or Go Fish have been mentioned here, but also trump games and Sevens. In Sevens, the deck comprises standard numbered suits – it doesn’t matter what the suits are, they just have to be different and distinguishable. …

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Jun
14

Belisha

Belisha - Sandy and Scrooby

While we’re on the card game theme here’s another piece of nostalgia from 1930s Britain. Belisha is a Rummy variant, based on the theme of a motor trip from one end of the UK mainland to the other. The other important part of the theme is motor and pedestrian safety, and this game was apparently …

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Jun
02

Les Mammiferes – The Mammals

Zebra

Or more correctly, Les Mammifères (<- note the little grave mark on the “e” in there…). This card game is a recent acquisition, originally from France and undated, although at a guess looks to be 1950s vintage. The name on the box hints that the artist is Fernand Nathan. However, those who know the games …

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May
02

The Counties of England (Northern Counties)

Counties of England - Brass Mashup 3

My vintage collection moves to the UK with this card game. The complete series of The Counties of England actually comprises four sets of cards – Northern, Midlands, Eastern and Southern. Shown here is the first (Northern) set. According to boardgamegeek, this collection dates back to 1870 published by the still extant John Jaques company, …

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