Everyday Italian: My current obsession

Goose. Not the actual bird, in this case, although I am very fond of them when they've been well-roasted. This time, it's the Royal Game of Goose, a board game that took 16th century Italy by storm, and continues to be played to this day.

It's been on my List Of Things To Learn for a while, so when I ran across an app of it for my phone and tablet, I took the plunge. I...may regret this. It's a fairly simple game, but also a deeply addictive one.

A (very) brief history 

It's believed that the game was "invented" in late 15th century Italy, but the first major mention is towards the end of the 16th century when the Duke of Florence, Francesco di Medici, gave a set to King Philip II of Spain. (I would love to know what that set looked like. It must have been gorgeous!) As with all things championed by the Medici, this likely only enhanced the game's popularity.

By the end of the 16th century, it had made its way to England, and probably even further afield. It continued to be adapted and played throughout Europe through to the present day, but I'm less concerned with that bit because obviously.

How it's played

A standard board has a track of 63 consecutively-numbered spaces, usually in a spiral that goes from the outside to the centre. Players move their markers around the board to the middle by rolling a pair of dice and advancing that number of spaces. Some of the spaces have an image of a goose — a player landing on one of these automatically gets to move the same number of spaces again in whichever direction they were moving. Some spaces have connecting bridges that move a player further along more quickly, some have penalties that cause the player to lose a turn (or more), move backwards, or go all the way back to the beginning of the track. There are a few other machinations but, broadly speaking, the player who lands exactly on space 63 wins.

This isn't necessarily a gambling game but, since I now have to make one of these for myself, be prepared for me to show up at the back of court ready to play for sweets or drinks or what have you.

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Images:
- Goose keeping, Tacuinum sanitatis, 14th Century. Vienna Austrian National Library, Cod Vindob. P n 2644, northern Italy in 1390 

- Gaspar ab Avibus Citadelensis, Venetis 1567/80. Etching (taille-douce) (ecthing), 580x428. A. Toffanin Collection

Sources:

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_the_Goose

- https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/goose-game-rules.htm

- http://www.recoveredscience.com/gooseintro.htm