Boxed board game, Escape from Colditz, made in England by Palitoy in the 1970s

The board is made from printed paper and is backed on thick red textured card with a centre-fold for easy storage. When folded the board has a red sticker that reads 'Colditz' followed by a Swastika symbol. When unfolded the board shows the basic plan of Colditz Castle, including the river and grounds. The game is played by moving pieces between printed circles that feature all over the board, going into rooms, and using passageways and paths. Each room on the plan is named, for example, 'Guard House', 'Cells', 'Parcel Office' etc. There are numbers, symbols, and colours printed in some of the playing circles.

The counters are small and bottle-shaped, with a larger rounded head. There are eight of each colour (blue, green, red, orange, and brown), apart from the black ones, which are 16 in number.

The two dice are cubes with slighty rounded edges. They are made of red plastic and have moulded indented dots to indicate numbers that have been painted white.

There are five sets of cards in total - 'Escape Equipment' cards which have an image of a parcel tied up with string, 'Personal Civilian Escape Kit' cards which have an image of a brown suitcase, 'Opportunity' cards which are red with a Swasika on it, 'Security' cards which are also red with a Swastika, and finally, 'Do or Die' cards which are black with white writing. Each card has a different set of instructions or scenarios on the back of them. They are all made from printed card.

There is a booklet about the history of Colditz, written by P.R. Reid; it has a peach-coloured front in the style of an old handwritten form. The instruction manual is also peach-coloured but has a bright red border on the front cover. There is a dark-coloured information sheet titled 'Appel', and on the other side, 'Legend'; this sheet gives extra information about those particular parts of the game. Finally there is a thin slip of paper with 'Additional Rules'.

The packaging consists of an outer cardboard box with drawings of men looking up at Colditz Castle; it is blue in colour with red detailing surrounding the title in the top right hand corner. The inner packaging is a yellow cardboard tray which holds a smaller card box with British Red Cross information on it. The yellow inner tray also holds a small white plastic tray that is supposed to hold the playing counters and the dice.

This board game is based on the prisoner-of-war camp at Colditz Castle in Germany during the Second World War. It was devised by Major PR Reid, who was one of the people to successfully escape from the castle. Produced in England by the Palitoy Company in the mid 1970s it has proved one of the most durable and popular war games.

It has featured in the Museum of Childhood's War Games exhibition in a section dealing with nostalgia for battles of the past within the From Reality to Fantasy theme. It is used alongside war comics from the 1960s to demonstrate an acceptable way to interact with the subject of war.

It is for two to six players, one of which must always be the Germans (black counters); the others choose to be one of five nationalities (Allies) represented by different coloured playing pieces - British (red counters), American (blue counters), Dutch (orange counters), French (brown counters), and Polish (green counters).

The order of movement begins with the player to the German player's left and proceeds clockwise about the table. The Germans always move last in the sequence. Once one round is over, play repeats at the German player's left and continues until the game is over.

The playing pieces are moved by the score on the throw of two dice. Doubles allow the player to an additional throw. No player is required to use any or all moves and the movement allowance can be split between two or more of his pieces. They cannot be saved for later turns or transferred to other players.

In order to escape, each prisoner must first obtain an "escape kit", composed of food, disguise, compass and forged papers by visiting various rooms in the castle or by using 'Opportunity Cards'. Once collected, this kit is not lost or expended.

Other equipment or materials must also be obtained in order for a player to make a successful escape attempt: wire cutters; lengths of rope; forged passes; and keys. These are gained, like the escape kit, by visiting rooms or using Opportunity Cards. Unlike the escape kit, these cards can be confiscated at certain times by the German player and once used are expended and placed back in the pile.

Opportunity cards (taken from a shuffled pile) are gained on a roll of 3, 7 or 11 (not counting rerolls due to double throws). These present the player with additional opportunities for escape. Some cards allow 'free' equipment to be gained (without visiting the rooms required). Additional cards allow players to use one of the three tunnels shown on the map, hide escape equipment to avoid confiscation, steal the Staff Car, move to safe hideaways, escape solitary or avoid being shot during an escape attempt. Players may keep their opportunity cards secret or secretly show each other their hands in order to assist each other's escapes.

On the German player's turn, a 3, 7, or 11 results in that player taking a 'Security Card' rather than an Opportunity Card. These allow the German player to undertake counter-escape actions, such as 'Shoot to Kill', 'Detect Tunnel', call an 'Appell' (a counting parade forcing all pieces back to starting positions), or perform searches. Once used, Security and Opportunity Cards are discarded.

Playing pieces caught while escaping, in possession or equipment or found in unauthorized parts or the castle can be put in solitary (a series of rooms on the board) for a few turns to temporarily reduce the number of pieces available to the player. Pieces shot while attempting to escape are removed permanently.

The game is given a time limit or a target of escaped prisoners (usually the first to two) with the objective of the player operating the guards being to limit or stop the escape attempts. A final option (used normally as the time limit comes to an end) is to perform a 'Do or Die'. A special card is taken which details how many die rolls are used (from three to seven 2-dice throws). These throws are made and summed (doubles again allow rerolls, no opportunity cards are taken) and if the result is enough to reach an escape target in a single bound (no escape equipment needed), then the escape is successful. If not, the entire team is removed from play.

This 1970s board game was produced in Britain by Palitoy. It was inspired by the former Prisoner of War camp at Colditz Castle in Germany, active during the Second World War. Titled 'Escape from Colditz', the game was devised by former POW, Major Patrick Reid, MBE, MC, who was one of the few people who managed to escape the camp, and went on to write about his experiences.

Players can choose to represent the German guards, or one of five different allied countries (Britain, America, the Netherlands, France or Poland). Prisoners have to try and escape the camp by rolling the dice and collecting 'Escape Equipment'. Guards have to stop the prisoners from escaping.

The game originally featured a Swastika on the box, although this was changed to an Imperial Eagle at a later date.

B.367:1 to 18-2012