McLoughlin Bros. Captive Princess, Tournament, and Pathfinders Games

The 1875 bookshelf games of Captive Princess, Tournament, and Pathfinders by McLoughlin Bros. are interesting treasures.

The three games, published by McLoughlin Bros. in 1875, are designed and formed to mimic books when folded. McLoughlin Bros. made many of these triple style game books during the late-mid to late 1800’s. The instructions and pieces are usually housed within the closed game boards and came within slipcases. When the game/book is spread open, the main game board is exposed as the top. The inside or the flipside of the board contained the other two games. If placed on a shelf, the titles of the games can be seen written on the spine of the ‘book’.

Captive Princess is the principal game in this particular series. The board is the most decorative and largest. The playing surfaces of the Tournament and Pathfinders games are found inside, on the bottom of the framed game book.

The game of Captive Princess includes 6 wooden round discs with images of Knights applied to the face. The background color of each piece matches one side of the accompanying colored cube. It was a game played by 2-6 players. As one may guess by the name and the pieces of the game, the objective for Captive Princess is to be the first ‘Knight’ to reach and rescue the Princess.

Captive Princess is a simple race game to the center of the board, but it shares an allure of the time towards possessing knightly attributes. The roll of the colored cube determined the movement of players onto the matching colored squares of the board. The ease of play allowed the involvement of younger children to play along with their family.

Times were changing when the game was created. In the early 1800’s, work took most of the hours in a day. As towns grew and expanded, the economic and social life of the family began to relax. Play or leisure time could then be appreciated. Board games became part of a family’s evening and values taught from them were important. Captive Princess demonstrated honor and respect.

Tournament was a game for two players. Each player chose 3 Knight pieces and placed them on the three ‘starting bases'(three cirlces at base of each player’s side). The object of the game was to move all three knights from one side of the board to the other side where the opponent’s pieces originated. Three colored cubes were rolled and used to determine movement. A player moved his knight one space for each matching color rolled. Jumps and captures were also part of the game, with the center red space considered a safety spot.

Pathfinders is a game for two to four players. Players roll one die from a dice cup and move a small colored piece around the oval path. Beginning on the farthest path from middle, a player strives to reach the central space first. A player, when landing on a space with an arrow pointing to an inner loop, moves towards the middle. In order to win, he must have an exact roll to move onto the center space.

All three games are easily learned and played. Families simply enjoyed gathering around together. The time spent playing these games were more for socialization and relaxation. Today, they offer the same, but also offer a unique playing experience from the past.