A Gamut of Games by Sid Sackson is a book that was first published by Random House, Inc. in 1969 and later reprinted by Dover Publishing in 1992. It is an excellent collection that contains the rules to 39 wonderful and original card, board, and pen and paper games, many of which were designed by Mr. Sackson himself.
If there is enough interest I can node the individual games in more detail, but if any of them interest you it is worthwhile to hunt down a copy of the book.
Here are some of my own summaries of the games in the book
Chapter 1- In Search of Big and Little Game
- Mate by G. Capellon
- A card game of pure skill if you believe it or not. Originally published in Hanover, Germany in 1915.
- Blue and Gray by Henry Busch and Arthur Jaeger
- An interesting game similar to checkers, only each player is trying to get his captain piece to the center of the board. The catch is that the captain has to follow a certain path, and can not jump or be jumped. This game was granted a patent in 1903.
- Le Truc Anon.
- Sometimes called "Little French Poker," Le Truc is a bluffing game played with a Piquet deck.
- Plank Anon.
- A game along the lines of Tic-Tac-Toe but played with twelve "planks" divided into red, white, and blue squares and twenty-four markers. First published in 1890.
- Zetema Anon.
- An original card game played with a 65 card deck compiled from two decks. Originated sometime in the mid to late 19th century.
- Hekaton Anon.
- A mathematical card game played with a deck of 50 cards compiled from two decks. Published around 1857.
Chapter 2- Game Inventers Are People Too
- Lines of Action by Claude Soucie
- A game played on a checkerboard where each player is attempting to get all of their pieces into one group.
- Cups by Arthur and Wald Amberstone
- A mancala game.
- Crossings by Robert Abbott
- A game played on a checkerboard with a unique idea for movement.
- Lap by Lech Pijanowski
- A game with a similar mechanic to Battleships, where the object is to deduce a pattern on a grid.
- Three Musketeers by Haar Hoolim
- A game played on a five by five board with uneven sides. One player wishes to force the other player's pieces into a row, while the other wants to make the first player incapable of moving.
- Paks by Phil Laurence
- A card game about acquiring groups of cards that isn't just a rummy variant.
- Skedoodle by Father Daniel
- A mathematical game played with a pen and paper.
- Knight Chase by Alex Randolph
- A chase game based on the knight's tour.
- Origins of World War I by James Dunnigan
- A game of politics where each player represents a european nation.
Chapter 3- Those Protean Pieces of Pasteboard
- All My Diamonds by Sid Sackson
- An auction game with cards.
- Osmosis by Sid Sackson
- A card game of forced trades.
- Patterns by Sid Sackson
- A game of arranging cards into sets, with no hidden information.
- Suit Yourself by Sid Sackson
- A Nim game with cards.
- Bowling Solitaire by Sid Sackson
- A solitaire game that's an interesting attempt to recreate bowling with a deck of cards. Like bowling, the player is trying to get as many points as possible in ten frames.
- Card Baseball by Sid Sackson
- Even moreso than with Solitaire Bowling, Card Baseball is an attempt to convert a familiar sport into a game with cards. A bit of bluff and counterbluff between players.
- Slam by Sid Sackson
- A two player game that tries to hold onto the spirit of bridge without trying to match its rules exactly.
- Poke by Sid Sackson
- An odd game that combines poker with a trick-taking game. First published in Esquire Magazine in 1946.
- Color Gin by Sid Sackson
- A rummy variant where you try to score the highest in the majority of suits.
Chapter 4- New Battles on an Old Battlefield
- Focus by Sid Sackson
- A stacking game played on a checkerboard with missing corners. It has been commercially published numerous times, sometimes under the moniker Domination.
- Network by Sid Sackson
- A game where each player is trying to make an unbroken path of pieces from one end of the board to the other.
- Take It Away by Sid Sackson
- A game based off of solitaire peg games, but for two players.
Chapter 5- Grab a Pencil
- Hold That Line by Sid Sackson
- Players try to force their opponent to make the last move. Similar to Nim in objective, but not in play.
- Cutting Corners by Sid Sackson
- Each player takes turns dividing a square, attempting to capture the most segments.
- Paper Boxing by Sid Sackson
- A game where each player creates a board and then traverses it.
- Last Word by Sid Sackson
- A scrabble-like game of placing letters on a grid to create words, but played with a pencil and paper, with no random letter selection.
- Patterns II by Sid Sackson
- A game of inductive (rather than deductive) logic.
- Property by Sid Sackson
- A game of property ownership and rent collection. The basis of Sackson's later game New York.
Chapter 6- A Miscellany of Games
- Solitaire Dice by Sid Sackson
- As the name implies, a one-player dice game. It has been published under the name Choice.
- Domino Bead Game by Sid Sackson
- A game played with a domino set. It has been published as Wu Hsing.
- Haggle by Sid Sackson
- A party game that involves the trading of colored slips of paper.
- The No Game Anon.
- A simple party game where you trick other players into saying the word "no".
- Change Change by Sid Sackson
- A one player game designed to be played with pocket change.
All in all an extremely worthwhile collection.