Authentic period games for museums and re-enactment

Rithmomachia and Nim

Rithmomachia – The Philosophers ’ Game

Rithmomachia or Rithmomachy is not a game for the faint-hearted. Probably invented in one of the monastery schools in southern Germany in the 11th C it spread to Britain by the 12th C reaching a peak in the 14th C after which it gave way to chess and was forgotten by the 18th C. Rithmomachia means battle of numbers and is played between two players on a 8 x 16 chequered or undifferentiated board with square, triangular and circular pieces each with a numerical value. There is more than one documentary source detailing the rules, each of which vary in minor details. Playing requires an ability to apply simple maths, and winning requires an understanding of arithmetic, geometric and harmonic number progressions, or at least an ability to remember them. This is a complex game based on a more than common grasp of number theory, however, do not be put off, it is a wonderful game and a good one for getting inside the mind of the medieval mathematician.

In the medieval period Arabic numerals were, in some cases, rather different in style from those used today. Rithmomachia counters from the mid 13th to the mid 15th centuries would have used such numerals. In the 11th C though, when Rithmomachia was invented it would have used roman numerals with each player using a reckoning board to work out the arithmetic!

57 wooden pieces (20 triangles 19 rounds, 18 squares) in a leather pouch £55
Leather board, 8 x 16 undifferentiated squares £20
Set of medieval Arabic numeral Rithmomachia counters £55
Set of Roman numeral Rithmomachia counters £55

Nim

This is a 15 C game the name of which derives from the German word nimm meaning ‘take’ or the obsolete English verb nim also meaning ‘to take’. The game has also become known as Marienbad after the Alain Resnais' 1962 film ‘Last Year in Marienbad’ in which the game is played.

The game involves setting up five lines of men decreasing in number from 5 to 1. The two players alternately remove a line or part of a line. The winner or the loser is the last player to remove a man, this being decided before play. This deceptively simple game has a wealth of mathematical theory written about it and numerous versions of it exist.

Leather Nim board with men in a leather pouch £6