Tour through the British Colonies

The attractive game sheet provides a guided tour of the British Empire with striking vignettes of each locale; the Rules booklet provides ample information about each of these. The aim is to be the first to reach number 37 London,  the 'British Metropolis', at the centre of the game. London is represented by a striking, if inaccurate, depiction of the River Thames with the dome of St Paul's Cathedral rising above. Two children watch the activity on the river from a bridge in the foreground.

At number 17 the player reaches

'Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is situate on the river Torrens, about 7 miles distant from the port. It is built on an elevated site, commanding a fine view of the Gulf of St. Vincent. The town has been laid out with considerable taste, the streets being at right angles; and there are six public squares at the intersections of the principal thoroughfares. Three neat and substantial bridges have been constructed across the Torrens, one of them of stone. The northern portion of this colony is arid desert land, but there are other parts well adapted for agriculture, and sheep farms; and it possesses some remarkably rich copper mines, large quantities of ore having been obtained from very little below the surface of the ground.'

Board games for children became popular in England from the late 18th century when their use was advocated as a way of introducing 'learning through play'. The first games were geographical, generally using a map of the world, or Europe or England and involved a journey during which the players could learn facts about the places visited on the game sheet. These games were usually produced by map publishers as a sideline to their main business, but the growing popularity among the upper and middle classes for this type of educational aid resulted in the production of games becoming more mainstream. Games were also developed on a wide variety of other subjects.

John Betts was a prolific publisher of these games, also producing dissected puzzles, maps and globes. His firm operated from 1827 to 1875.

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