Fox & Geese traditional wooden board game
Fox & Geese traditional wooden board game
Fox & Geese is a medieval game of inequality where fifteen geese take on the cunning of a single fox. Although the geese cannot capture the fox their aim, through the benefit of numbers, is to trap the fox so that it cannot move. The objective of the fox, on the other hand, is to capture as many geese as possible until it becomes impossible for them to achieve their objective.
- Solid wood board game and pieces. catch the geese or trap the fox!
- Suitable for 2 players
- Dimensions : 24 x 24 x 2 cm
- Hand made in the UK
History
Fox & Geese is a medieval game of inequality where fifteen geese take on the cunning of a single fox.
The first undisputed record fox & geese is from the accounts of English king Edward IV whose account books mention the purchase of two foxes and 26 geese for "marelles", probably referring to two games of fox & geese.
The earliest form of the game had one fox pitted against thirteen geese. Later forms increased this to fifteen geese, restricting the geese's powers of movement in order to counteract their increase in numbers. In the eighteenth century, the fox & geese board inspired the invention of peg solitaire. In the nineteenth century, the number of foxes were increased to create the game of Officers and Sepoys.
Download Fox & Geese Instructions here.