Goldfinger

Recently, I posted on my copy of a commercial version of hnefatafl, Swords and Shields, which dates back to 1970. A few years prior to that, in 1966, to be precise, a very similar game was released. This had a 'James Bond 007' theme, and was called 'Goldfinger'. The 'story' of the game is that James Bond and his agents have to prevent Goldfinger from escaping from the vault of Fort Knox. 

Copies of the Goldfinger game do occasionally pop up on eBay, but the problem is that the listings invariably come from the US. On top of that, the prices asked, taking into account additional shipping charges and import duties, make it prohibitively expensive to get it from across the pond. 

So patience was required, and patience finally did pay off, when an eBay listing for Goldfinger was UK-based .... Needless to say I snapped it up!

The Goldfinger board is a simple fold-up cardboard one, similar to Swords and Shields, and again depicts a 9 x 9 playing field.

The pieces are very simple plastic man-shaped figures, and the only characteristic that differentiates between attackers, defenders and 'king' is their colour: red, blue and yellow, respectively. 

The rules are the standard rules for 9 x 9 hnefatafl; Goldfinger escapes and wins the game when he reaches the edge of the board. 

Took a long time for me to be able to add Goldfinger to the collection, but good things come to those who wait!