Back in May of 2025, I posted a video about 3M Paper-and-Pencil games. That video proved to be the most popular episode on our channel so far. Thank you!
I noted at the end of that 3M video that NewVenture Games was considering whether to produce a collection of pencil and paper games. Well, we decided to take the project in a different direction; downloadable content.
So here's the deal ...
Pencil Pastimes Volume 1 is now a PDF file available in the NewVenture store. It's an 18-page document that includes full instructions for 14 games, plus printable artwork for all the gameboards that go with them. Here are the games included in the PDF.
Hex a.k.a. Polygon
Hex was originally called Polygon, invented in Denmark in the early 1940s by polymath Piet Hein. The game was also invented separately in the United States several years later by John Forbes Nash, another mathematician.
It has been played very seriously through the years. National and world championships are held to determine the best players, and many clubs are active around the world.
The Gale Game
This game was created by the American mathematician David Gale in the early 1950s and became popular a few years later when it was published as the game "Bridg-it" by Hasbro. Bridg-it has been out of print for many years, but can still be found in thrift stores and auction websites.
We reproduced the original paper-and-pencil version for Pencil Pastimes Volume 1. The Gale Game is a favorite of computer scientists due to the complex strategic choices available.
Hod
I invented the game Hod several years ago based on a version of "Connect Four" toy. That game was originally published by Milton Bradley in 1974 and has now become a classic, imitated by dozens of publishers around the world.
A Hod is a special tool for carrying bricks. The shape allows a load of bricks to fall tightly into the bottom of the Hod. In the game, pieces are figuratively dropped into the Hod from above and will fall to the lowest possible point like a ball in a plinko game.
The players earn points depending on the coordinates of the space where their bricks would come to rest due to gravity. A physical version of Hod is also available in our store, and you can learn more in the Hod video at our YouTube channel.
Dozo
Dozo was created by the world-famous game designer Alex Randolph while he was living in Japan in the early 1970s. At first glance it looks like the old pyramid solitaire game, but it's much more of a strategy and logic game.
Players are attempting to mark spaces with symbols to create equilateral triangles on the board. It can be played by 2 or 3 players, and those two variations are quite different.
We also produce a physical travel-size version of Dozo under license from the Randolph estate. Watch the video at our YouTube channel for more information on the history and how to play Dozo.
One More
The Dozo game board can also be used to play the two-player game "One More," another game invented by Mr. Randolph. This is a smaller version of his game Ishi, also available here in our store.
Go Moku
Players of tic-tac-toe (also known as naughts-and-crosses or the nine-hole game) will sooner or later get tired of that traditional Pencil Pastime. It's just a short jump to the next level to games with more challenge for two players.
The simplest is to just add another row of spaces on the board and continue to go for the three-in-a-row pattern. But we take it a bit further with this great little game from Asia.
Go Moku takes the goal all the way up to FIVE in a row. The original game is played on the intersections of the lines on the board. Our version uses the spaces, which is easier to play with pencil and paper.
4-in-a-row
The Go Moku game board can be used to play the four-in-a-row version of tic-tac-toe game by just keeping each game inside one of the four highlighted areas at the corners of the larger grid.
Fall Four It
This one will look very familiar to fans of the classics. It's our Pencil Pastimes version of "Connect Four" originally published by Milton Bradley.
When playing this pencil-and-paper version, you can imagine the action of dropping a disc into the vertical slot to land at the bottom space in the column. Just like the classic toy, you must claim the space at the lowest level in your chosen column.
Each player takes turns doing so until one player achieves the goal: claim four spaces in a row either orthogonal or diagonal.
Dots & Boxes
Dots and boxes is a pencil-and-paper game that was first published in the 19th century by French mathematician Edouard Lucas, who called it "la pipopipette." It has gone by many other names, including dots and dashes, game of dots, dot to dot grid, boxes, and pigs in a pen.
You probably know this one. Players take turns, connecting adjacent dots with an orthogonal line (not diagonal). When a player draws the fourth side of a box, they claim that box by writing their initial (or some other distinctive mark) inside the box and take another turn. The game ends when all boxes are claimed and the person who has claimed the most boxes wins.
Snakes
You can play Snakes on the Dots & Boxes grid, too. It's a lot easier if the players have different colored pencils. It can be played by more than 2 people with more than 2 colors.
Players begin by choosing opposite corners to start drawing a line segment from one dot to an neighboring dot - always orthogonal (never diagonal). Turn after turn, they add to this another joined line segment, extending their line like a slithering snake across the board.
The objective is to draw the longest single line segment-by-segment, zig-zagging as much as necessary to make it longer on every turn. Eventually, one player will be trapped and no longer able to add to their snake. The player who adds the last segment wins.
Double-Dice Bugz
Nobody knows the origin of the game "Beetle" but it is surely very old. The earliest version of the game began with a die rolled to establish a target number, and then when that number was rolled again, another part of the Beetle was drawn (it didn't matter which). This was a pub game played by adults, of course. Children and dice did not mix in those days.
In 1939 the game of Beetle was published using cardboard parts with a board to assemble them upon and a spinner to determine which part was added. Then in 1948, William Schaper came up with the game that we know as "Cootie." By 1971, over 25 million Cootie games had been sold. A notable variation was published by Drueke in 1959 called "Space Bug" which used pegs in a board to indicate the parts added to the beetle.
To play Double-Dice Bugz each player in turn will roll two dice. When a number comes up that has not yet been crossed out, that number is crossed out.
To play Single-Die Bugz the same rules apply but the objective is only to cross out the numbers in the circles. Obviously a simpler, quicker game. In either case, the player who crosses out all of their numbers first wins the game.
Captain Flint's Buried Treasure
This game is for three players, one of whom plays the part of Captain Flint and the other two are the treasure hunters. Players can take turns being the Captain, or a third party can act the part for a series of games.
The scenario is based on Captain Flint from the book Treasure Island, written in 1883 by Robert Louis Stevenson. The origins of this game, however, are unknown. It seems to have appeared fully formed within the last 20 years (not to be confused with a game by the same name designed by Kevin Billington in 2017).
The player taking the Captain's role chooses a location on the board for the buried treasure, then shares some secret information to the other two players.
At some point, a player will be able to determine which space contains the Treasure, and on their turn may declare their solution. If they are right, they win the game.
Linop!
Linop! was invented by Alexander Randolph, one of the most famous game designers of the 20th century. The roots of 3-in-a-row games are found in ancient civilizations around the world. This history fascinated Mr. Randolph, and he devised several new games using this simple objective. Linop! was first published in Germany in 1975.
For this pencil-and-paper version of the game, there are four symbols defined at the top of the page; a stroke, a dot, a circle, and a cross. Players may use any of these symbols during the game to claim one of the 25 spaces on their turn.
If you have colored pencils, you can substitute colors for the symbols. The objective is to create a straight line of 3 matching symbols anywhere on the board. This can follow any of the colored lines, AND there can be gaps and intervening symbols of another type in that line.
There is one restriction: Players can only use a maximum of six of any one symbol. Once six have been used, the symbol must be crossed out and is no longer available.
We also produce a physical travel version of Linop! under license from the Randolph estate. Watch our video at our YouTube channel for more information on the history and how to play Linop!.
That's new Pencil Pastimes downloadable content! 14 great pencil-and-paper games that you can print-and-play from your PDF file for mere pennies per game.
We've already started putting together three more volumes of Pencil Pastimes games, and there may be more.