Sticks & Stones AKA Rocks & Sticks Game from the colonists

 On our visit to Plimouth Patuxet, in the 1700's English Village, we learned many things about life in Massachusetts for the first colonists. We learned about mixing mud to repair the homes, grinding corn to make grits, beating laundry, training militia to defend the village, and more. 

During our time there, we learned that the days are not all work. Parents made time to play games with their friends and children, just as we do today. But, they couldn't just run over to the local market and pick up a new game to try, and supplies were limited. New materials that were needed for the colonists only came by ship from England and that could take months or years to arrive.

So, they used their imagination and invented a game to play in the dirt, with sticks and stones that they could find all over the ground.


This villager was showing us how he had taken a board and carved lines into it to make a more permanent 'board game' because his sons loved this game so much they were always asking to play it.


Nine dots with connecting lines are drawn in the dirt or on paper. Then, each player gets three items, originally it would have been three rocks for one player and three sticks for the other player, but today you could play with buttons, or coins, or any other small object you have lying around the house. 

Players take turns placing one of their items at a time onto the board, trying to get three in a row while stopping the other player from getting their three objects in a row. Once each player has positioned their pieces, play continues as each player may move one piece one space on their turn. There is no jumping or passing so a blocked piece cannot move. The first person to move their three pieces into a row on one of the straight lines is the winner. Players cannot go outside of the dots to make a move.

Now, that you know it, you can take this game and play it anywhere.

To learn about all the places we went on our journey through the colonies, read 15 States in 25 Days, available exclusively on Kindle.

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