The Game (dice game)

Last updated
The Game
Das Spiel (German name)
DasSpiel1.JPG
The Game
Designers Reinhold Wittig
IllustratorsGuido Hoffmann
Publishers Edition Perlhuhn (1979)
Franckh-Kosmos (1986)
Abacusspiele (2004)
Years active1979 to present
Players1 to 6
Website Edition Perlhuhn
Abacusspiele
Game platform DasSpielFrame.JPG
Game platform

The Game is a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig. It was first published in Germany in 1979, without rules and under the German name Das Spiel. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

It contains a triangular base plate and 281 dice of four different colours, and a rule book that gives rules for some 50+ games. Most of the games are centered on building or demolishing pyramids of dice, but there are also racing games and games of skill. The game has been originally published by Diego Rodriguez (Reinhold Wittig), Göttingen, in 1979. [1] [2] [4] [5]

The Game won the 1980 Spiel des Jahres special award for "most beautiful game". [6]

In his preface Wittig writes:

I've often been asked how you go about it to invent a game. I want to add one answer now. Is perhaps the best answer possible to show the many different ways of designing a game. The answer is also a challenge: Invent rules of your own to my dice pyramid.

The first edition of the game was a small version of the dice pyramid, without any rules. Over time, players contributed their own rules to a collection.

Reviews

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Acquire</i> Business themed board game

Acquire is a board game published by 3M in 1964 that involves multi-player mergers and acquisitions. It was one of the most popular games in the 3M Bookshelf games series published in the 1960s, and the only one still published in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiel des Jahres</span> Yearly award for offline games in Germany

The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award was one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500–3,000 copies to around 10,000, and the winner can usually expect to sell as many as 500,000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Stop (board game)</span>

Can't Stop is a board game designed by Sid Sackson originally published by Parker Brothers in 1980; however, that edition has been long out of print in the United States. It was reprinted by Face 2 Face Games in 2007. An iOS version was developed by Playdek and released in 2012. The goal of the game is to "claim" three of the columns before any of the other players can. But the more that the player risks rolling the dice during a turn, the greater the risk of losing the advances made during that turn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reiner Knizia</span> German board game designer

Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TwixT</span> Connection board game in the 3M bookshelf game series

TwixT is a two-player strategy board game, an early entrant in the 1960s 3M bookshelf game series. It became one of the most popular and enduring games in the series. It is a connection game where players alternate turns placing pegs and links on a pegboard in an attempt to link their opposite sides. While TwixT itself is simple, the game also requires strategy, so young children can play it, but it also appeals to adults. The game has been discontinued except in Germany and Japan.

<i>El Grande</i> Board game

El Grande is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents renaissance-era Spain where the nobility fight for control of the nine regions. El Grande was praised for its area-control mechanism, and was awarded the Spiel des Jahres prize and the Deutscher Spiele Preis in 1996. Following its release, several expansions and an alternative version were published.

<i>Railway Rivals</i>

Railway Rivals is a railroad-themed board game that was originally published by Rostherne Games in 1973. A German language edition was released by Bütehorn in 1979, and a mass-market edition in the UK by Games Workshop in 1985. The game involves railway building and operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Kramer</span> German board game designer (born 1942)

Wolfgang Kramer is a German board game designer.

<i>Labyrinth</i> (board game) Board game

Labyrinth is a board game for two to four players, published by Ravensburger in 1986.

<i>Hare and Tortoise</i>

Hare and Tortoise is a Eurogame designed by David Parlett in 1974 and first published by Intellect Games. In 1978 it was released by Ravensburger in Germany, and received generally positive reviews critically and won the 1979 Spiel des Jahres. It has since sold some 2 million units in at least ten languages. The current editions are published by Gibsons Games in the UK, Ravensburger in Germany and Rio Grande Games in the United States.

Diamant is a multiplayer card game designed by Alan R. Moon and Bruno Faidutti, published in 2005 in Germany by Schmidt Spiele, with illustrations provided by Jörg Asselborn, Christof Tisch, and Claus Stephan.

Marrakech is a board game designed by Dominique Ehrhard in which players are competing carpet traders in the city of Marrakech. It was first published in 2007. Its German edition has been renamed Suleika.

Um Reifenbreite is a bicycle racing themed board game for two to four players. It was invented by Rob Bontenbal.

<i>Wizards Quest</i>

Wizard's Quest is a fantasy board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1979.

This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 2019. For video games, see 2019 in video gaming.

Schoko & Co. is a board game published in 1987 by Schmidt Spiele that simulates life in a chocolate factory.

Hexagames was a German game publisher in Dreieich, which existed from 1982 to 1992. It was one of the most famous German game publishers of the 1980s, notable for publishing games such as Lines of Action (1988) and Cosmic Encounter (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uisge</span> Board game with 12 pieces that may be moved horizontally or vertically

Uisge, also known as Skorpion, is a strategy board game created by Roland Siegers and published in 1984 by Hexagames in which two players attempt to be the first to flip all their playing stones on a rectangular grid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abilene (board game)</span> Wild West board game

Abilene is a western board game designed by Roland Siegers. It was published in 1984 by Hexagames and re-published in 1993 by Schmidt Spiele. It is set in the city of Abilene during 1870, which at the time was considered the main transshipment point for the herds of the Texan cattle barons. In the game, each player plays as a rancher who, with the help of their cowboys, drives their herds to Abilene, trying to capture parts of their opponents' herds along the way.

References

  1. 1 2 Glonneger, Erwin (1999). Das Spiele-Buch (in German) (Neue u. erg. A. ed.). Drei Magier Verlag. ISBN   3-9806792-0-9.
  2. 1 2 "Spiel von Reinhold Wittig und anderen (1979)" (in English and German). Edition Perlhuhn. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  3. "Abacusspiele: Das Spiel" (in German). Abacusspiele. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  4. "Das Spiel - Rulebook" (PDF). Abacusspiele. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  5. "Das Spiel - Rulebook" (PDF) (in German). Abacusspiele. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  6. "Spiel des Jahres - Awards 1980" (in German). Spiel des Jahres. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  7. https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-47/page/16/mode/2up