Daldøs
Daldøs [dal'døs] is a running-fight board game only known from a few coastal locations in southern Scandinavia, where its history can be traced back to around 1800. The game is notable for its unusual four-sided dice (stick or long dice). In Denmark it is known as daldøs in Northern and Western Jutland (Mors, Thisted and Fanø), and possibly as daldos on Bornholm. In Norway it is known under the name of daldøsa from Jæren, where, unlike in Denmark, a continuous tradition of the daldøs game exists. Daldøs has much in common with some games in the sáhkku family of Sámi board games. Sáhkku is known to have been played among Sámi on the northern coast and eastern-central inland of Sápmi, far away from Jæren and Denmark. Otherwise, the closest relatives of this game appear to be the tâb games from Northern Africa and South-western Asia, possibly apart from one unlabelled diagram in a codex from Southern England.
Daldøs board. Top: Opening position. Middle: Route for player A's pieces. Bottom: Position after first move for each player. | |
| Years active | First documented in 1800s. Fallen largely out of use by first half of 1900s. |
|---|---|
| Genres | Board game Running-fight game Dice game |
| Players | 2 |
| Setup time | 30 seconds - 1 minute |
| Playing time | 5–60 minutes |
| Chance | Medium (dice rolling) |
| Skills | Strategy, tactics, counting, probability |
| Synonyms | Daldøsa |