Our theme this week was making squares. Appropriate then that our first game was Squares (Waddingtons, 1982). This is a three dimensional version of the game sometimes called Dots and Boxes which is played on paper. The grid is 4 x 5, giving a total of 20 squares. Initial set-up has all the blocks turned to red on one side, and white on the other side. The player who is looking at red has to make a white square, and vice versa. Players take it in turns to swivel one block. Whoever swivels the last block to make a square claims it with a peg of their colour. The winner is the first to make 11 squares ((20 ÷ 2) + 1): sorry could not resist a bit of maths. As there are 20 squares in the grid this game could end in a draw. The strategy is to avoid turning two blocks into three blocks, or the next player will turn three blocks into four blocks and make a square. As with so many of these abstract strategy games it is about being able to anticipate how your next move will change the game board, and stop yourself from making that move if it is not to your advantage!

Our second game this week was Territorie (Invicta, 1979). (Aside: Invicta made Mastermind, Anna’s favourite game and one the children really enjoyed last year). (Second aside: am I alone in being bothered by the spelling of this game with an ‘ie’ at the end and not a ‘y’?). Back to the game: in Dots and Boxes and Squares, a fence/block is  permanent once played. In Territorie a player has two options: either add a new fence to the 8 x 8 grid, or swing an existing fence in any direction. When a player encloses a square with a fence on all four sides they claim it with their own colour peg.

Part way through this game there was a contagious outbreak of giggling, cause unknown. Around the same time one child noticed that the grid had started to resemble towns and villages and they started naming places on the Isle of Wight. This, combined with the giggling, unleashed an outburst of creativity and cooperation. The children decided to work together to link up the towns and villages. They got as far north as Edinburgh before our time was up. If we had longer I am sure they would have got to the north pole, and possibly off into space, such was their enthusiasm.

Last week at our adult’s board games club we Othello, so we brought it back this week so that those who missed it could have a go.

We played Chinese Chequers two weeks ago, so we built on that by playing Halma this week. These games share a strategy of building ladders to speed progress across the board; it is also a good idea to move your pieces as a unit, rather than sending a few ahead and leaving the rest in your home “camp” – leaving gaps makes it harder to build those ladders that are vital to winning.

Our other game this week was Circular 4 in a Row. You cannot buy this game so I made one with a piece of MDF from an online craft shop and some felt tip pens. The circle has four rings which are each a different colour. Each ring is divided into eight equal segments. This produces 32 segments in total. Each player has 16 counters of their own colour (in this case black and white). Players take it in turns to place a counter, trying to be the first to make 4 in a row. There are different ways of winning: a straight line going through four differently coloured rings; a half-circle staying on one colour; or a spiral, where the line goes through each colour but is not straight. The key is not to let the other player make a 3 in a row which is open at both ends: you can block one end on your next go, but not both! This is the same strategy used in 4 in a Row/Connect 4, but the circular nature of this game adds an extra level of challenge.