The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe

The Jeu de L'Oie (Game of Goose), a unicursal race game played with tokens and dice, is named from the goose symbols on the favourable spaces. Many variants have been developed of the original 16th century Italian game. An important genre, originating in France as an educational aid, is that of...

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Main Author: Adrian Seville
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography 2008-12-01
Series:Belgeo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/11907
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author Adrian Seville
author_facet Adrian Seville
author_sort Adrian Seville
collection DOAJ
description The Jeu de L'Oie (Game of Goose), a unicursal race game played with tokens and dice, is named from the goose symbols on the favourable spaces. Many variants have been developed of the original 16th century Italian game. An important genre, originating in France as an educational aid, is that of geographical games, many being based on maps. The paper discusses the history of cartographical games that have an international dimension within Europe.Six such games are illustrated, originally published in 17thC France, 18thC England, 19th C Netherlands, 19thC England (a non-unicursal variant), 20thC Italy and 20thC Germany. The rules of each are contrasted with those of the parent game of Goose. Techniques of printing and cartography are compared.Each game goes beyond simple cartographic representation to convey, through its rules or iconography, a deliberate “message”, whether political, commercial or cultural. The games give insights into international relationships, perceptions and misconceptions at various points in the history of Europe.
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spelling doaj-art-6a22784efa8d4308a90fadd8d113b5bf2025-08-20T02:11:47ZengSociété Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of GeographyBelgeo1377-23682294-91352008-12-01342744410.4000/belgeo.11907The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of EuropeAdrian SevilleThe Jeu de L'Oie (Game of Goose), a unicursal race game played with tokens and dice, is named from the goose symbols on the favourable spaces. Many variants have been developed of the original 16th century Italian game. An important genre, originating in France as an educational aid, is that of geographical games, many being based on maps. The paper discusses the history of cartographical games that have an international dimension within Europe.Six such games are illustrated, originally published in 17thC France, 18thC England, 19th C Netherlands, 19thC England (a non-unicursal variant), 20thC Italy and 20thC Germany. The rules of each are contrasted with those of the parent game of Goose. Techniques of printing and cartography are compared.Each game goes beyond simple cartographic representation to convey, through its rules or iconography, a deliberate “message”, whether political, commercial or cultural. The games give insights into international relationships, perceptions and misconceptions at various points in the history of Europe.https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/11907GermanyFranceItalyEuropecartographyinternational relations
spellingShingle Adrian Seville
The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
Belgeo
Germany
France
Italy
Europe
cartography
international relations
title The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
title_full The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
title_fullStr The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
title_full_unstemmed The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
title_short The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe
title_sort geographical jeux de l oie of europe
topic Germany
France
Italy
Europe
cartography
international relations
url https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/11907
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