The printed board game reached new heights of beauty and ingenuity during the nineteenth century. During this golden age, they covered almost every conceivable theme, from geography or history to proper behavior and contemporary crazes. Some relied on dice or a numbered spinning top called a teetotum, others were meant for gambling, and still more were "mind games" requiring serious thought. All these genres appear in this lavishly illustrated book, which displays elaborately designed boards, traces each game's development through time, and examines specific cultural influences.