In this simple role-playing game, players reenact a variation on the plot of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The game is marred by a deep racial insensitivity, particularly in the character of Jim, presented as a horrendously racist caricature; this,…
Clemens patented his rules for a game to assist in the memorization of historical dates in 1885, and finally published this version of his teaching aid in 1891. He anticipated broad interest in the game, but it was a financial failure.
George S. Parker copyrighted this map board game in 1888, licensed to his fledgling game publisher by its designer, a Mrs. Shepherd. The subtle change to the title for Twain’s Innocents Abroad signals the paucity of the game’s connection to the book.…
George S. Parker copyrighted this map board game in 1888, licensed to his fledgling game publisher by its designer, a Mrs. Shepherd. The subtle change to the title for Twain’s Innocents Abroad signals the paucity of the game’s connection to the book.…
Clemens celebrated his 67th birthday with a dinner sponsored by the Harper Brothers. Twain gave each of the attendees a copper plate containing a rough self-portrait, probably the only work he ever created with the engraver’s needle. A note is etched…
In this manuscript, Clemens devises the rules for a role-playing parlor game to be played using a book: individual players select a page, choose a word at random, and use it to devise a character, adding additional randomly-selected words to…
The suit-building card game Authors was patented in 1861, but as a result of a poorly protected copyright it was produced in dozens of different editions from multiple publishers, and remains in print to this day. West & Lee’s 1873 illustrated…