The Art of Play: Le Grand Terme ou Le Jeu des Temps, 1825

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a Continental version of the “Game of Human Life” which depicts the ages of man.


This version of the game from 1825, however, is vastly different from earlier English and French editions. This particular version was designed for the German and French market and uses only  those two languages. The players begin at a clock face numbered 1 and entitled “Temporellite” or “Zeirlichkeit” and the ending point is number 33,”Eternity.” 


The game play seems complicated to me, but I don’t have a head for games.  Some of the squares require the receiving or paying of a token.  Some squares send the player forwards or backwards. The game would have been played with dice.   At the end of the game, the winner would receive some sort of prize.  It’s too complicated.  But, that’s a lot like the life it represents.