''The London Game'' is a British

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

based on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The game was first released in 1972 by the game company Condor. The game was re-released in 1997 to celebrate 25 years of the game's existence with a new all-colour board, with new cards.

The game

The aim of the game is to start at one of five major stations (

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

, Liverpool Street, King's Cross St Pancras,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and Waterloo) before working your way around six other random stations in the central area, then returning to the terminal that you started from. However, the player has to navigate around certain things such as station blockages and hazard cards, as well as the mind of the other player. Each player at the start gets dealt their six "souvenir cards". These cards consist of all of the main stations on the central tube, reaching as far out as

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

. Once the player has their cards, they can add two station blocks (closed station counters) on any station - except the main red ones. The players use small purple or blue counters to indicate this. Once the player has done that, and chosen their main station to commence the game, it begins. There is a certain amount of strategy involved, as well as luck. Players must move around the map to get along to their stations, so for example, if a player were at Lancaster Gate Underground station, and they rolled a two on the die, they could go to

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

in the west or

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

in the East. Each time a player has to change lines (an inevitable outcome, considering the diversity geographically of the stations involved) they must pick up a "hazard card". There are roughly twenty types of hazard card, which say things like "You feel lonely. Join another player on the board" or "Forgot to buy gifts. Proceed to

Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash, ...

at once to visit

Hamleys Hamleys is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. The world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's ...

". There are also other cards where you can send opponents wherever one may wish. Once you have carried out the card's instruction, you may proceed along the new line. One of the main aims is to outfox the opponent. There are a large number of "Open/Close station" hazard cards, which allow the player to open one station and close another. By doing this, it is possible to block some players from moving, for example if they are located south of the river on the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited servic ...

, by blocking off

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

. Stations can be unblocked by rolling a six when within reach of a blocked station. Once the winner has been decided, the rest of the players can continue if they wish just to see who finishes second, third, etc.

Booklet

The accompanying booklet contains details on how to play the game, a list of every station in the central area, including which train lines that they are on, and factual information on the history of the underground.

Reviews

*''

Games & Puzzles ''Games & Puzzles'' was a magazine about games and puzzles. The magazine was first published in May 1972 by Edu-Games (UK) Ltd. The first editor was Graeme Levin who recruited a variety of games and puzzles experts as writers and consultant edi ...

'' #3

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:London Game, The Board games introduced in 1972 Railroad board games London Underground in popular culture British board games

The game

Booklet

Reviews

See also

References

External links