Game of the Goose, or Goose Game, or The Royal Game of Goose, or The Royall & Most Pleasant Game of Y Goose if you're feeling particularly fancy, is a very early Roll-and-Move game, dating at least to 1480, and the first ever tabletop game to be commercially manufactured. The goal of the game is to make it to the final space, traditionally space 63. Along the way, you can run across helpful geese who can boost you forward, or hazard spaces that set you back. Also, gambling. Landing on the hazard spaces also make players pay into a pot, which goes to the person who lands on 63, and that was the game's main purpose for most of its lifespan.
Like its descendants, such as Snakes & Ladders and The Checkered Game of Life, the game is themed around the human experience, with the final space representing having lived a full life and the hazard spaces representing pitfalls and misfortunes one may encounter.
Though there are many variations with differences, the special spaces in the traditional "standard" version are:
- 6: The Toll Bridge — Representing a rite of passage, landing here means you can pay the pot to get a small boost forward to space 12.
- 19: The Hotel — Like other games where you can land on a space with a hotel, you have no choice but to stay the night and pay the fee by contributing to the pot.
- 31: The Well — If you land here, you fall in, and lose all turns until someone else lands here and takes your place. If all other players are past this point, you're soft-locked unless someone lands on Death.
- 42: The Maze — You've lost your way. Go back to space 39.
- 52: The Prison — Functions exactly the same as The Well, except the effect isn't quite as powerful as, being so close to the end, there are a lot more chances to be freed.
- 58: Death — Though it's said to represent change and starting anew like the death arcana in tarot, unlike tarot, this fresh start isn't a good thing; if you land here, you have to go back to space 1.
- Geese — A good-luck symbol in the game's home country of Italy. Found throughout the board, traditionally spaced apart in increments of 5 and 4 (5, 9, 14, 18, 23, 27, 32, 36, 41, 45, 50, 54, 59, and often 63). Land on one, and it will give you a boost by doubling your roll. Make sure to say, “From goose to goose, I roll again because it’s my turn!"
- 63 — The winning space. You have to land here exactly; if you overshoot, you have to move backwards by the amount you overshot by. All other spaces still carry the same effects, so you could potentially land on Goose 59 (doubling your roll in the wrong direction) or Death if you're particularly unlucky.
Ultimately, though, much like the aforementioned Snakes & Ladders, there aren't many choices to be made, and the winner is at the mercy of the dice.
No relation to Untitled Goose Game; unlike the ones in this goose game, the goose there has no interest in helping anyone.
Was made into an extreme stunt game show in Italy and Spain several years before the Reality TV craze.
This board game contains examples of:
- Arc Number: 9. Geese can be found on every ninth space. In fact, rolling a 4 and 5 on your first turn is the most powerful roll in the game, as it will push you all the way to space 53. Rolling 6 and 3 is no slouch, either, as it will boost you to space 26. To a lesser extent, 7 also gets special treatment, and the final space traditionally being 63 is because it's what you get when you multiply the two.
- Bonus Space: Landing on a goose will double your roll. Also, The Toll Bridge if you don't mind the "toll" part.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Potentially. Though it usually dooms your chances, the Death space does not necessarily mean your game is over. In fact, you have a chance to catch right back up if you roll a 4 and 5 next.
- Death Is Not Permanent: As the Death space represents starting anew rather than physical death, you aren't out if you land there, but you do have a lot of catching up to do.
- The Maze: Referred to by name, landing here will make you go the wrong way.
- Roll-and-Move: A predecessor to most modern Roll-and-Move games.
- Thrown Down a Well: Space 31. If you fall in the well, you're stuck there, until some other unlucky sap lands there as well and you throw them down in your place.
- Whammy: The hazard spaces are one of the earliest if not THE earliest examples. The Hotel, The Well, and The Prison make players lose turns, and The Maze and Death send players backwards. The Bridge is the odd one out.
