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Colonial & American History Games

Families were usually large in colonial times, which meant there was always someone to play a game with. Everyone worked hard but they still found free time for games. Electricity and factories were a development of the future, so games in early American times were hand-made and many games required nothing more than imagination.

Nine Man Morris
- Nine Man Morris, played in colonial times, is still played today. The game was marked out in the dirt and played with rocks and acorns. Today, a more sophisticated version can be found in game stores or the game could be played on paper using coins and buttons for the men. Each of the two players have nine men each. The game has a similar strategy to naughts and crosses. Taking turns, each player places a man on a dot, trying to get three men in a line. If a player gets a line of three, he takes one of the other players men. The games ends when one of the players has two men left.
Jackstraws
- Jackstraws is a simple game that requires 20 sticks or pieces of straw of the same length. The game is harder to play using real straw. The sticks or straws are held by one player, who lets them fall to the ground in a pile. Each player takes turns to pick up a stick or straw. If any of the others in the pile move while picking up the stick, the player does not get the stick or straw. The player who collects the most sticks or straws wins.
Taw
- Taw, a popular game in colonial times, was played with marbles made from baked clay. A larger marble called a taw was used to knock smaller marbles out of a large circle marked in the ground. When the marbles were knocked from the circle by the shooter, they were won by the player, whose taw knocked them out. Another popular game played was to place one valuable marble in a circle and other players would try to knock the marble out of the circle. The marbles that stayed in the circle were won by the owner of the valuable marble but anyone who knocked the main marble out of the circle won the game and kept the marble.
Blindman's Buff
- Only a scarf is required to play this game. One player is blindfolded with a scarf and the other players hold hands and form a circle around the player who is blindfolded. The players in the circle, move around the player in the middle, who claps her hands three times, telling the other players to stop moving. The blindfolded player then points at someone in the circle, that person must step into the circle and the blindfolded player must guess who it is. If they guess right, then that player is then blindfolded.

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