Swiss Museum of Games, Game museum in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland

The Swiss Museum of Games sits in a medieval castle overlooking Lake Geneva and displays roughly 10,000 games spanning different centuries and regions. The collection fills the castle rooms with everything from dice games to modern board games.

The castle was built in the Middle Ages as a defensive barrier watching maritime traffic and customs on Lake Geneva. It was destroyed in 1476 during the Burgundy Wars, then acquired and rebuilt in 1747 by Jean Grésier, a French officer. In 1979, after a popular vote, the municipality bought the castle; the museum opened there on 16 May 1987.

The permanent route is organised in ten stages, among them Voyajeux for games from Africa, Asia and South America, a section on games of antiquity, and one on India as a land of games. Since 2007 an outdoor game trail runs through the castle gardens, and the museum hosts an international Awele tournament and the annual meeting of Swiss game developers.

The museum occupies the Château de La Tour-de-Peilz, whose two corner towers, enclosure, town walls and moats were classified as historical monuments in 1973. The exhibition rooms are reached via the castle's historic stairways and levels, so allow time to move between floors. The library of about 5,000 volumes can be consulted on request.

The library holds around 5,000 books, including the chess books and correspondence of English chess historian Ken Whyld, who died in 2003, plus the collections of David Pritchard and Jean-Marie Lhôte. It is not freely open: interested visitors can consult it on request.