Wood-Look El Mundo Game Board, Gaming Accessories, Board Game Enthusiasts, Gift for Gamers, Historic Games

El Mundo, or Four-Seasons Tables, was a backgammon-like game for four players, known during the 13th century. It was featured in the most-referenced source for medieval games, the Libro de los Juegos, commissioned by King Alfonso X of Spain. To play this game, you will need three 6-sided dice, and 12 tokens in 4 different colors, to represent the four players. Traditional colors are Green (Spring), Red (Summer), Black (Autumn), and White (Winter), but any color will do. Flat-bottomed glass beads or small discs work well for this. The board is only 8" in diameter, so make sure you choose small objects for your pieces.

How to Play - Detailed rules, variants of play, and the game's history can be found at https://tinyurl.com/22w7vtss

All pieces start off the board. Roll to decide the first player. Starting with that person, each player rolls the dice and adds three pieces to the quadrant for their chosen season - place them as though the slots were numbered 1 through 6 from left to right. Play then passes to the right. Once everyone has their 12 starting pieces placed, the first player takes their first turn.

On your turn, roll all three dice, and move one of your pieces for each die result. Movement is counter-clockwise, following the order of the seasons. Rolling doubles or triples provides no benefit. If you cannot use all three dice on your turn, the remaining dice may be used by the other players, even though it's still your turn. The player to your right gets the opportunity first, followed by the player on their right, and so on. If nobody can use a die result, it is lost.

Similar to backgammon, a player piece that is in a slot by itself may be attacked by landing on it. Slots with 2 or more of the same player's pieces may not be landed on, but may be jumped over. As a matter of fact, you are required to attack the pieces of the two season's after your own if you are able to reach them. Attacking a piece belonging to the player who's season comes before yours is optional.

A struck piece must be returned to the board in that player's starting quadrant. The original text does not specify how this is done, and I go into detail for four options on my website. The simplest method, which also speeds up play, is to allow a player to return a struck piece to any slot in their season not occupied by a different player's piece before they roll the dice for their turn.

Your goal is to move all your pieces into the season opposite your starting one. You may not move into the quadrant belonging to the season immediately before your own. Once all your pieces are in your target season, you may use the dice results to "bear off," which means to remove your pieces, following the same slot-numbering system as the beginning of the game.

If one of your pieces is attacked while you are bearing off, it must re-enter in your home quadrant as normal, then move all the way back into your goal season before you may resume bearing off.

The first player to bear off all of their pieces wins the game!

Product features
- Neoprene rubber pad ensures durability for long-lasting use.
- Nonslip bottom keeps the pad securely in place, providing a stable surface.
- Vibrant colors created with advanced printing techniques for sharp visuals.
- One-sided print showcases stunning designs add theme to the game.

Care instructions
- Use warm water and dish soap to clean spots off your pad. It's not necessary to soak the whole pad. For hard-to-clean spots use a soft-bristled brush.