Oranges and Lemons is a trading board game flavoured by a creepy English nursery rhyme

If you’re going to that beacon of a tabletop games convention Essen Spiel, next month, you can pre-order Oranges and Lemons and pick up the board game from Medusa Games directly.

If not, fear not, as Richard Denning’s Euro will likely be available from the publisher’s own website.

I got a chance to see the board game this year at Tabletop Scotland and was impressed at the quality. It’s a worker placement game set in 18th century London, which is about when the first written record of that creepy nursery rhyme which the song is named after can be traced back to.

In the board game, you’re trying to build up your trading empire, which means dealing with import, export, the Exchange, and all sorts of dangers and opportunities in the busy city. There’s even an East India Trading Company, which, given the historic crimes and unpleasantness associated with the business, Medusa thought carefully about before including. Ultimately, the British business is there without comment and for historical accuracy.

The Oranges and Lemons folksong

Oranges and lemons,
Say the bells of St. Clement’s.

You owe me five farthings,
Say the bells of St. Martin’s.

When will you pay me?
Say the bells at Old Bailey.

…

The board game follows the rhyme order, so if you can remember the lyrics, you can navigate around the board and keep track of the turn order.

Many people will know that the song references the bells of churches within the (or close to) the City of London. Did you know there are several theories about the origin of the rhyme, though?

Wikipedia cites possible origins including;

• Child sacrifice
• Public executions
• Henry VIII’s wedding woes

And it turns out this is something of a historical hot potato. Oranges and Lemons was also the name of a 17th-century square dance.

I did not ask Medusa Games what their take on the rhyme was, but it will be a historically important game for the Sutton Coldfield-based publisher as it’ll be their first Euro-style game.

It’s not their first game named after a rhyme, as Medusa published Tinker Tailor, or their first London history game, which they’ve previously released Great Fire of London 1666.