The Jeu de L'Oie (Game of Goose), a unicursal race game played with tokens and dice, is named from the goose symbols on the favourable spaces. Many variants have been developed of the original 16th century Italian game. An important genre, originating in France as an educational aid, is that of geographical games, many being based on maps. The paper discusses the history of cartographical games that have an international dimension within Europe.Six such games are illustrated, originally published in 17thC France, 18thC England, 19th C Netherlands, 19thC England (a non-unicursal variant), 20thC Italy and 20thC Germany. The rules of each are contrasted with those of the parent game of Goose. Techniques of printing and cartography are compared.Each game goes beyond simple cartographic representation to convey, through its rules or iconography, a deliberate “message”, whether political, commercial or cultural. The games give insights into international relationships, perceptions and misconceptions at various points in the history of Europe.