What do I do with square pegs and a square hole?

July 1, 2009 12:53 PM

What is this game? It belonged to my dad's cousin and she would have played with it during the 1940's, I think.

It has found it's way to us through a circuitous route, and the people who would have played with it, including my grandmother, great-uncle and their neice, have all passed on.

It consists of a wooden grid (with a bottom so the pieces stay in place) along with square pegs in four different colours, and a bunch of triangle pegs in the same colours (two triangles fit in one hole).

I assume it's a game and not just a toy with which to make pretty patterns - Anyone have any idea how to play?

posted by scrute to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

I assume it's a game and not just a toy with which to make pretty patterns - Anyone have any idea how to play?

Why do you assume this? Is there anything there that would lead you to favor that over the other conclusion? Looks like a non-lite Lite Brite to me.
posted by inturnaround at 1:04 PM on July 1

a square version of "Go"?
posted by HuronBob at 1:14 PM on July 1

I've seen something like this before. I have a vague recollection that you arrange the blocks in an image, which is given in a booklet. But I may be thinking of a different game. In any case, some elderly friends of mine (long ago) had something a lot like what you depict. Watching this space for the definitive answer.
posted by Maximian at 1:20 PM on July 1

I think this is a pegboard toy (modern version). Though there may have been some puzzle associated with it, it may have just been to develop hand-eye coordination, as the modern version linked above is supposed to do. I also wonder if it is home-made, and thus one-of-a-kind? It is the kind of thing I can imagine my grandfather, a woodworker, making for his kids.

On preview, nothing to do with go -- too many colors, the wrong size, the triangle pieces aren't relevant, and most importantly, go doesn't use the spaces (it uses the intersections). Othello is more plausible, but it is still the wrong size.
posted by advil at 1:26 PM on July 1

This is not a game. It's a toy. You make patterns and pictures with it like a lite-brite. I had one growing up that was made in the 1940's.
posted by travis08 at 2:43 PM on July 1

I believe they are called pattern blocks.
posted by Soliloquy at 3:01 PM on July 1

I think it looks almost just like this wooden geometric puzzle shape game.
posted by goml at 3:02 PM on July 1

Not a game. My friend's rich Dad had it in his den as an ornament. It's the kind of arty plaything you can buy at the SF MOMA store.
posted by w0mbat at 8:13 PM on July 1