Anonymous: A new fun game called Doggers-bank (1782)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Something different this time. This engraving is a game called "Doggersbank", named after the Battle of the Doggers Bank which took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784). Both sides claimed victory and in the Netherlands the battle inspired games like this. The forces which were present at the battle are represented on the board. At the top are the 7 Dutch ships, at the bottom the 7 British ships. In the center are the ships of the Dutch and the British commander. The rules of the game are written at the bottom:

- you can play the game with money or whatever you want
- you use 3 dices (6-faced or D6 how they are sometimes called today)
- the players should agree on how high the deposit should be. All the players throw a dice. The player with the highest number begins, after that the rotation is clockwise.
- each player throws 3 dices when it is his turn
- if the total number of the dices is 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 (the upper part of the game, the Dutch forces) you take the displayed number of tokens from the deposit in the middle: "16 TR 3" means that if you throw a 16, you take 3 tokens from the deposit.
- if the total number of the dices is 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 (the lower part of the game, the British forces) you add the displayed number of tokens to the deposit: "5 BY 2" means if you throw a 5 you add 2 tokens to the deposit in the middle.
- if you throw 18 - you are the Dutch admiral and take the complete deposit - this wins the game. Each player then add the agreed number of tokens to the new deposit in the middle again and the game starts from the beginning - the player who won the previous game is the starting player 
- if you throw 3 - you are the British admiral and take the half of the deposit and throw again.
- if you steal from the deposit, take more then you are allowed, curse, fight or insult other players - the Dutch admiral takes you prisoner and are allowed to continue with the game after you have bought your freedom (these tokens are added to the central deposit).

This print was very popular and was mass-produced in various forms so it could be sold cheaply. Print from 1782.