A riddle:

Such an important reminder never to play chess anywhere near a game of Clue, lest a wrench-wielding Prof. Plum ruin everything.  From Astounding, 1953.

This illustration from an 80s computer gaming book offers a perplexing puzzle.  How do the answers to each computer screen make sense?

From Inside Basic Games by Richard  Mateosian, 1981.

Answer: "Note that three of the computer screens each feature one number unlike the others. The proper answer is always the digit whose position in the computer keyboard number pad corresponds to the odd position on the screen. For example, in the first screen, the odd number is at the bottom left, the position of the "1" key of a keyboard's number pad. The second screen's odd number is at the center, where the "5" is located on a key pad. There are no odd numbers in the third screen, hence an answer of "0.". (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

You've heard of "human Chess" games, but there's also "human Boggle."  From Special Activities for Very Special Children, 1972.

A variation on the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.  From Le Charivari, 1885.

If you've heard of rodent mazes but didn't know how they were arranged, here's one that features four blind alleys to its one exit.  From The Dancing Mouse by Robert Yerkes, 1907.

Reblog if you've ever discovered that you were playing a game against yourself.  From La Lune Rousse, 1878.

See If a Chessman Were a Word: A Chess-Calvino Dictionary.

Eskimo dominoes, from Chinese Games with Dice and Dominoes by Stewart Culin, 1895.

From Kladderadatsch, 1938.  For the secret of why to roll blank dice, see Astragalomancy: A Loaded Guide: Intriguing Readings of 21 Discrete Dice Throws.  By the way, in his novel Bury Me Among the Graves, Tim Powers describes organized dice rolling without looking at the numbers: "The old dwarf tossed the objects to the floor, and Crawford saw that they were dice. McKee turned and caught Crawford's chin in her hand. 'Don't look at the numbers on them,' she said. 'But if you want to be helpful, you could pick them up and throw them, over and over again. Not looking, remember.' ... As he dropped the dice one more time onto the floor, it occurred to Crawford that he had been hearing this repetitive rattle ever since they had entered this chamber. Were these dice thrown perpetually, their numbers never read? Chuchuwee must employ a relay of children to keep it up."

The only sides of the dice with spots are six, six, six.  From Kladderadatsch, 1940.

A rare playing card in which one end of the figure is facing away.  From Zwanzigste Jahrhundert, 1921.

Playing cards dealt through time -- see my playing cards gallery.

Rock beats scissors.  From Kladderadatsch, 1923.   See the Zen version of Rock-Paper-Scissors: Moon-Fish-Ocean.

Which is better: a good book or a game of chess?  The answer is from The Idler, 1894.  The game of chess and a good book are combined here: If a Chessman Were a Word: A Chess-Calvino Dictionary.

From Die Bühne, 1925. 

"Luck versus brains in our better-known games," from The Sketch, 1911.  See If a Chessman Were a Word: A Chess-Calvino Dictionary.

The 8 of Diamonds: "Night is Might."  From Jugend, 1902.