Travel Game

This five-player game was published as a free supplement in the 1908 issue of the Tsarist-era magazine “дело и потеха” (Business and Fun). The game is printed on a single 14.75" x 9" sheet of paper, with attractive color graphics representing the continents of Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Australia. (America is shown as the land of tall buildings and money.)

Despite the graphics, the game is really one of abstract strategy. The board consists of two concentric circles, with tripled lines around the circumference of each circle and across two diameters at right angles. There are nine circles (numbered 1 to 9) at the resulting intersections, with 1 at the center (Europe), 2-5 on the middle ring, and 6-9 on the outer ring (the four other continents).

The rules say to use a bowl of nuts to keep score, and players must agree beforehand on how many nuts will be required to win. They draw lots for turn order, and must place their token on a continent (the center or an outer circle). Each player in turn must move his token one space to an adjacent open circle. If no adjacent circles are open, he loses his turn.

The objective is to move one's token into the center circle as often as possible, collecting a nut each time. The first player to reach the agreed target wins.