5 Board Games you Don't Have to Pack Up

Hand crafted coffee table game from Malawi.

One side plays Bao, a two player game played with native seeds. Flip the board and you have Morabaraba, an addictive African strategy game similar to Nine Mens Morris.

The table is solid and looks stunning. On either side you can see carved native scenes. The tables are hand made in Malawi and carved using traditional hand tools.

It makes a great conversation piece and both board games are very social. If you insist on packing it up the table top can pop out and the legs cleverly fold away. But why would you want to?

This Chess Set is hand carved in Haryana, India from pure snow white Camel bone. The pieces are large enough to see accross a crowded living room and each chess piece has Intricate carvings and exquisite detail.

The King measures 10cm tall! and the chess board is a large hand made sheesham wood folding board (50x50cm). There are over one hundred hours that go in to the carving of a camel bone chess set. The white pieces are polished and the black pieces have used natural polished dyes.

If PETA are reading this, relax, all of the camels were truly dead from natural causes before their bones were carved into chess pieces.

If you tried to store this in the cupboard you ought to be flogged.

Reduce Stress - Make you own Wooden Chess Set

This Solitaire is hand carved in Madagascar using Palissandre wood and Madagascar stone marbles, polished and colourful.

The carvings from the heavy Malagasy Rosewood are lovely, but I think the real treat is the semi precious stone marbles of Jade, Quartz, Chalcedon, Onyx, Crystal, Jasper, Rose Quartz, etc.

Madagascar knows how to carve out a good looking board game. Packaging? What packaging? This board game doesn't need it.

Please put this where people can see it.

Before Connect Four, legend has it that Captain Cook spent so much time in his cabin that the crew assumed he had a mistress. What they found was not a mistress, but this!

Captain's Mistress is a two Player strategy Classic. No plastic in sight here. Just well polished timber marbles and playing board. The object of the Captains Mistress (Connect Four) is simple, yet the strategies are endless.

Players try to line up four of their hardwood "rounds" in a row, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. At game's end, pull the bottom retaining "gangplank" and the hardwood "rounds" drop back into the cabinet.

If you can't find a place to put this in the living room you should at least make sure it's down below next time you go sailing.

Ashanti Oware Game. Hand carved in Ghana from Osese Wood and finished with traditional stain. Includes recycled glass Ghana Beads or native bonduc seeds as playing pieces.

This is a Table Game of Antique value and a National treasure in Ghana as well as an entertaining social Game.

The Ashanti (Asante) is the traditional throne of Kings among the Ashanti people. Here it is combined with their national board game, oware (wari, awele), making it a stunning accent to any home decor.

This won't fit in your games cupboard, so don't try!