Game of the Goose 

Posada’s Juego de la oca traces its lineage to fifteenth-century Italy when it is first mentioned in a sermon admonishing believers to avoid playing it at Christmastime because of the distraction the game would bring about. From there, the game spread throughout Europe and arrived with the Spanish when they colonized Mexico. Though the format and the numbers of the square vary, the Game of the Goose is fundamentally a race to a goal with accompanying rewards and pitfalls. The flexibility of the game allowed for endless variants with themes that were moralistic, political, romantic, satirical, promotional, educational, and propagandistic in nature. Scroll though the images to see a selection of game boards. 

Game of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Published by William Spooner, 1851. Hand-colored lithograph. Yale Center for British Art 

This version of the board features caricatures of the personalities an exhibition visitor might encounter on their way to the Crystal Palace of the London 1851 Great Exhibition.

Printed by Mario Cartaro,. Filosofia cortesana de Alonso de Barros, Published in Naples, 1588. The British Museum, 1869,0410.2463 

This version of the game was presented to King Philip II of Spain by Francesco de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The objective is to survive “the sea of suffering”; a courtier must survive until achieving the palm of victory.

The New Game of Human Life, Published by John Wallis and Elizabeth Newberry, England, 1790. Brown University Library

The New Game of Human Life illustrated the stages of life, encouraging players to develop sound moral character on their journey to old age. Along the way, they encounter examples of both rectitude and reprobation.

Le Voyage Autour du Monde en 80 jours : D’apres le Roman de Jules Verne, Published by Roches Frères, Paris, c. 1890. Princeton University Library 

A version of the game based on Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.

A CLOSER LOOK

Posada was a master of the miniature! Even at scale of the Juego de la Oca, Posada’s figures are brimming with character, delight, and mischief. Scroll through the images to see a selection of details from the game board.