Short Histories of Selected Games
For dozens of games, there are interesting stories to be told. For even more games, there’s either not very much known, or not too much to be said. In this alphabetical list of various and sundry games, you’ll find some brief descriptions of an assortment of games. For some, there will be a link to a larger story, article, or history of the game. Others will have only a paragraph (or sentence) or two, or maybe only a note of trivia. Scroll down, or do a “Find” for a game you’re looking for. Note that most of these games are not only collectible but great to play!
To go directly to the extended histories of some of the select games listed below, go to the section, “Games, One by One.”
ALL THE KING’S MEN
1979
Parker Brothers
This was Parker’s remake of its game of SMESS, which came out in 1970. See SMESS.
ANAGRAMS
ANAGRAMS is one of the earliest games to be manufactured in the United States and continue through the post WWII period. The term was also used for letters that could be arranged to make different words. ANAGRAMS has been a popular game in this country since the late 1800s. For the full story of the game, click on ANAGRAMS.
AXIS & ALLIES
1981
Milton Bradley / Hasbro
AXIS & ALLIES is one of perhaps only three American military simulation games, or “wargames,” to have had a crossover success in the mass-market. The game simulates World War II, pitting the Axis powers, Germany and Japan, against the Allies: the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Up to five players form teams of the two opposing powers. A complete map of the world breaks up the land area into different sections, similar to Risk. Players, using an assortment of miniature playing pieces representing infantry, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, fighters, bombers, battleships, aircraft carriers, troop transports, and submarines, work together to outmaneuver their opponents. At the same time, players need to deal with products and resources, and safeguard production in their factories. — To read more, click on AXIS & ALLIES.
BLOCKHEAD
1952
G.W. D’Arcey & Co. / Saalfield / Pressman
BLOCKHEAD was invented by Gerald (G.W.) D’Arcey and self-published in 1952. After two years, D’Arcey sold the complete rights for BLOCKHEAD to Saalfield Publishing. The game has the distinction of being one of few classic games that has remained virtually unchanged after more than half a century. — For more information, click on BLOCKHEAD.
BOOM OR BUST
1951
Parker Brothers
Board Game.
Four pawns, dice, cardboard coins, paper money.
Strategy game for two to four players.One of the best playing games after WWII.One of the most asked-for games by player-collectors.
The unique aspect of this game was a small two-sided board that could be placed in the center of the larger gameboard, effecting game play. Players moved around the MONOPOLY-style gameboard, making investments, until a player landed on a space that changed the financial market. Without the smaller board, conditions were “Normal,” while one side of the small board indicated a period of prosperity, or “Boom,” and the other, a financial depression, or “Bust.” Obviously, the idea was to buy low and sell high. The original version had small, colored cards that fit into slots in the board, and were used to denote property ownership. The game has not been around since the 1960s.
BRIDG-IT TWIXT
1960 1963
Hassenfeld Avalon Hill
Board game
Strategy game
Two players
Supposedly, TWIXT was invented s by Alexander Randolph for 3M in 1963, though a similar game, BRIDG-IT, was sold by Hassenfeld Bros. in 1960. The Randolph game is a two-player strategy game which is described as being based on the knight’s move in chess. Each player tries to build a wall from one side of the board to the other before the opponent connects the other two sides; in TWIXT, the “bridges” form angular pathways between any posts; in BRIDG-IT, the posts are color coded for each player, and bridges are placed straight across or at right angles. Other variations include , PSYCHE-PATHS (1968, KMS Scientific Games), TRAX (1981, USPCC), and TURNABOUT (1982, Mag-Nif).
CAMELOT / CAM
1930-1968
Parker Brothers
Board game
Two to four players
CAMELOT is based on George Parker’s game of CHIVALRY, invented in 1888; it was said to be Parker’s favorite game. CHIVALRY was last produced in 1922; it was brought back with revised rules as CAMELOT in 1930. CAM, having the same rules as CAMELOT but played on a smaller field, had a short run from 1949-1954. It is a military/movement strategy game. This neat, two-player strategy game allows players to jump their own pieces without penalty and jump and remove opponent’s pieces in an attempt to reach two special spaces on the opposite side of the gameboard. For more information about CHIVALRY, CAMELOT and CAM, click on CAMELOT.
THE CASE OF THE ELUSIVE ASSASSIN
1967
Ideal Toy Corp.
Invented by Sid Sackson, this Ellery Queen mystery game was changed in 1971, to SLEUTH (still made by Avalon Hill), by eliminating the board and making it a card game.
CHESS
ca. 600 AD
Chess is one of the most popular board games in the world; it ranks as a high-level abstract sport that pits two players against each other in a battle of the mind. It is a strategy game of almost no equal, where nothing is left to chance. The game is played on an 8- x 8-square board and employs 32 pieces, sixteen for each player, of six different types. What is so special about chess is that each of these six pieces has a power and movement unequal to the others. To learn about chess and its history, click CHESS.
CHIVALRY
Chivalry, invented in 1888 by George S. Parker, was said to have been his favorite game. The game was simplified and it was released in 1930 with fewer pieces as Camelot. This neat, two-player strategy game allows players to jump their own pieces without penalty and jump and remove opponent’s pieces in an attempt to reach two special spaces on the opposite side of the gameboard. For more information about CHIVALRY, CAMELOT and CAM, click on CHIVALRY.
CLUEDO and CLUE
1949
Waddingtons (UK) / Parker Bros. (US)
Clue was invented by Anthony Pratt in 1943; the idea stemmed from the “live-action” parlor game of “Murder” he played in people’s homes on weekends. Three million copies of Clue sell each year in 73 countries. To read the full story of this famous game, click on CLUE.
CONCENTRATION
“Concentration” is a show that has seen one of the longest continuous runs of any network daytime game show. It began in 1958, and by 1959, game manufacturer Milton Bradley Co. had a home version that proved to be as popular as the TV show. CONCENTRATION was actually based on a card game that was around as early as the 1930s, in which cards spread out face down on a table and turned over two at a time were kept by the player if the cards matched, and turned face down again if they didn’t. The television show, and the game that resulted from it, added the element of a secret puzzle, or rebus, under the cards (which had become prize cards), requiring the players to guess the puzzle in order to keep the prizes they had gotten. The removal of each matching pair of prize cards revealed another portion of the puzzle.
The original game was copyrighted 1959 by California National Productions, Inc., and by Milton Bradley. It consisted of 30 cardboard slides and 30 cardboard prizes which fit into the panels of the transparent plastic front to the puzzle changer board. Behind the plastic front was a paper scroll with 60 different puzzles to be scrolled up using the plastic roller handles. The game was marked, “As seen on NBC television.,” and came with prize racks and money. The boxed game was eventually sold to Pressman, and was last produced in 1992, two years before the revived television show “Classic Concentration,” hosted by Alex Trebek, left the air. Other hosts during the long tenure of the show included Hugh Downs (the show’s original host), Jack Barry, Art James, and even Ed McMahon, among others. The TV show also proved popular in the evening lineup at various times between 1958 and 1961.
CONSPIRACY
1982
Milton Bradley
Board game. 8 character playing pieces, 1 briefcase playing piece, score pads.
four to eight players
Originated in Europe as SIGMA FILE (≤1973). Superb strategy game of movement, bluff, and negotiation. Players have limited funds to use to pay off spys, in an attempt to move the spy currently carrying the briefcase into your home base.
CONTACK
1939
Volume Sprayer Manufacturing Company
Tile game
Forerunner to Pressman’s 1968 game TRI-OMINOES. But the game dates back at least to 1886 when it was published by Frank H. Richards of Troy, New York.
FAMILY FEUD
During the summer of the U.S. bicentennial, a new television game show emerged that presented the unique aspect of having the correct responses based on replies to the same statement posed to the audience. The game FAMILY FEUD, was sold by Milton Bradley in 1977, and the company produced eight editions of the game over the next eleven years. FAMILY FEUD continued even after the TV show’s last season in 1983 (the show returned five years later). The game proved to be the best team game on the market for more than a decade, adding humor to typical game show fare, as a result of the kinds of questions that were asked–and the types of answers that were given. There are no “wrong” answers in this fun game–only funny answers or answers that match or don’t match the majority.
The TV show originally pitted two families against one another, five persons on each team. Some special shows had the competition take place between the casts of two television shows or members of two sports teams. Richard Dawson was the host until the show left the air after the 1983 season, and Ray Combs became the host when the show returned in 1988. In 1992, the network daytime version expanded to an hour, and when the syndicated version expanded to an hour in 1994, Richard Dawson resumed his duties as host. The categories–and responses–made the show fun. “Name a place women hide jewels.” “Name something in a bachelor’s apartment that’s probably dirty?” “Name something a husband does that annoys his wife.” Remember that the contestant’s responses were expected to match the most common responses of 100 “typical” people. Once, the lightning round had to be stopped when laughter broke up the contestants (and audience) as the result of a woman’s response to the category, “the month in which a woman starts to look pregnant.” The most common answer was “the third,” but the anxious contestant shouted out, “October.”
Flinch, 1938, Parker Bros. (Patented by A.J. Patterson 1902; bought 1904 by Parker); with ad cards
FLINCH
Just after the turn of the century, Parker Brothers cut back on the development of new board games and began to focus more on card games. In 1902, the same year Parker introduced PING-PONG to the United States, the company bought the rights to sell the classic card game FLINCH. Another now-classic, PIT, followed two years later, and the third all-time Parker classic card game, ROOK, came out in 1906.
FOX & GEESE
early classic
FOX & GEESE is a classic import from Europe. One player has one piece, which is the fox, the other player has seventeen pieces, which are the geese. The object is for the geese to trap the fox so that it cannot move, or for the fox to eliminate the geese so that it cannot be trapped. The fox may move in all directions along the paths, and may jump over one or more geese, removing them from the board; the geese may move in every direction except backwards, and cannot jump over the fox. The game has been produced in the U.S. at various times by different companies.
HALMA
1885/1888
E.I. Horsman / Milton Bradley
Board game. 64 pawns (19, 19, 13, and 13 in each color)Strategy game for two to four players.
The only 19th Century classic game invented in the U.S.
The forerunner of Chinese Checkers.
Based on the 1853 Battle of Alma in the Crimea.
Though thought to have originated in Europe, HALMA was invented in New England and exported to Europe, where it is still played. Milton Bradley and E.I. Horsman both claimed ownership, but Bradley eventually bowed out of the conflict. Parker Brothers produced the game in the early to mid 1900s, and it was last issued by them in 1961. — For more information about this century old classic game, click on HALMA.
JOTTO
1956
Selchow & Righter
Word game. Implements consist of two score pads (and pencils) only.
Two players
The ultimate word game. JOTTO is MASTERMIND using letters, and had quite a following during the 1950s and ‘60s. The game, which requires players to guess each other’s five-letter secret word, can be played with pencil and paper, but an attractive game sheet/score pad is worth the expense to most players. Jotto was invented by Morton M. Rosenfeld, who first produced it himself under “The Jotto Corp.” For a history of the game, as well as how to play, click JOTTO.
THE JURY BOX
1936
Parker Brothers
Adult social interactive.
Six editions were produced, using actual photographs of the scene of a crime or of evidence. Players decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused based on the evidence presented through a short case file and two photographs.
KISMET
“Kismet” means fate or destiny. In 1964, Lakeside Toys, a Minneapolis company in its third year, produced KISMET, the game, which has become one of America’s few classic dice games along with YAHTZEE and LIAR’S DICE.
“Kismet” has been a word familiar to Americans for decades. Films by that name were released in 1920, 1930, and 1944; there was a Broadway musical in 1953 followed in 1955 by the movie based on the play. Lakeside Toys, makers of KISMET, was a subsidiary of Lakeside Industries of Minneapolis, Minn.
MAH JONGG
MAH JONGG is a table game (a tile game) that originated in China and is played throughout the world; there are many regional variations. In some countries, especially in Asia, it is also a gambling game. For the full story on the game and its history and social significance, click MAH JONGG.
MONOPOLY
(1904) / 1933 / 1935
Elizabeth Magie / Charles Darrow / Parker Bros.
The game which was said to have risen from the Great Depression of the 1930s actually began as THE LANDLORD’S GAME, patented by Elizabeth Magie in 1904. For the true story of this classic game, said to be the most popular proprietary game in the world, click MONOPOLY.
PACHISI / PARCHEESI
(ancient) / ca. 1860 (UK) / ca. 1867 (US)
Long before the American game of PARCHEESI was first played in the late 1860s, PACHISI, the Royal Game of India, had made its way around the world. For the history of the truly world-wide ancient game, click PARCHEESI.
PASSWORD
The game of PASSWORD has been so popular, it outlived the television show on which it was based. The TV show, “Password,” began in the fall of 1961, and Milton Bradley Co. got the word out with the production of a home version in 1962. The PASSWORD game continued to be produced even after the show went off the air at various times between 1969 and 1984. Bradley produced a Silver Anniversary edition of the game in 1987, and PASSWORD continued through 1991, two years after the television show left the air. PASSWORD is considered one of the best of all partnership games. One teammate is shown the secret word (the password) and then attempts to get the partner to guess the word based on one word clues.
Allen Luden, the original host of the TV show, stayed until 1980, and was succeeded by Tom Kennedy and, later, Bert Convy. Through the course of time, the TV format changed along with the title, giving us PASSWORD ALLSTARS, PASSWORD PLUS, and SUPER PASSWORD. Originally, each contestant was teamed up with a celebrity; PASSWORD ALLSTARS paired six celebrities.
Pit, 1919, Parker Bros., Bull & Bear edition (orig. 1904)
PIT
1903 / 1904
Edgar Cayce / Parker Bros.
After Parker Bros. decided to cut back on board games, the company published FLINCH in 1902 and bought the rights to PIT. This card game has been one of the most popular of all time and has been around for over a century. For more information, click on PIT.
QUANDARY
1994
Milton Bradley / Hasbro
Eventually, even some of the best games disappear. But before the public has heard about the game? QUANDARY was marketed in the U.S. by Milton Bradley as a specialty item, only in specialty stores like The Game Keeper. (Maybe exclusively there.) You knew this was a special property because the production values were very high, and the instruction sheet read, “Invented by Dr. Reiner Knizia.” When was the last time you saw an inventor’s name on a Bradley game in the U.S.? The game is simply great. Simple and clever.
Bradley always mass-marketed its games, but while I was working there, there was talk about trying a different approach for certain games, feeding them into the specialty market. I thought this was going to be Bradley’s test game–the one where they let it build slowly by word of mouth until it becomes so popular it demands shelf space in Toys R Us. Word of mouth was great–but only in the small circle of game players who find out about these things. No one else knew anything about QUANDARY. And so the game is gone.
This was a classy game, with heavy tiles. But sales were so limited, finding a copy might be difficult. However, the game exists in Europe, albeit in more compact form, with cards and chips. The original 1994 version was from Amigo, entitled FLINKE PINKE, which translates into “quick money.” In 2003, Fantasy Flight games reissued it as LOCO (a version which required calling out “Loco” at certain points during the game), and in 2010, Gryphon games themed it with safari animals and called it BOTSWANA, replacing the chips with plastic animal figures; BOTSWANA is listed as 2-5 players, whereas the others are shown as 2-4.
Reiner Knizia revised the game, adding action cards and allowing for six players in a stocks and shares version; the game was published as THOR in 2002 by Heidelberger Spieleverlag.
ROOK
1906
Rook Card Co. (Parker Bros.)
ROOK, came out in 1906. It was invented by George Parker and at one time was the largest selling card game in the world. Parker published the game under “Rook Card Company” to keep this game separate from other Parker Bros. products. For more information, go to the Rook collectors club.
Rook, 1910 edition, Rook Card Co., Parker Bros
Rook,1920s± edition, Parker Bros.
SCRABBLE
1948
Production & Marketing / Selchow & Righter
In 1937 or early 1938, noticing the popularity of crossword puzzles in newspapers, Alfred Butts got the idea of adding a playing board to a game he had devised using letter tiles, and allowing words to intersect. In 1947, he teamed up with James Brunot to develop and market the game. The result was the world’s most famous word game, SCRABBLE. For a complete history of the game, click on SCRABBLE.
THE SETTLERS OF CATAN
1995
Kosmos (Germany) / Mayfair (US)
Klaus Teuber’s game of trading and city building is the first successful “Euro” game to become popular in the U.S. In his 2010 article in the Washington Post, Blake Eskin writes, “The great board game of this era is The Settlers of Catan. That game, which came out in Germany in 1995, … presents a world in which resources are limited and fortunes are intertwined, and serves as a model for solving contemporary problems such as trade imbalances, nuclear proliferation, and climate change. To read the story, click on CATAN.
SMESS
1970
Parker Bros.
Comparison of Smess (top) and All the King's Men (bottom)
SMESS, “THE NINNY’S CHESS,” is an interesting two-player strategy game in which players move their pieces over a gameboard in an attempt to capture their opponent’s pieces; arrows on each space of the 8 x 8-space chess-like board, however, indicate the only directions in which any piece on that space is allowed to move. The game, invented by Perry Grant and Reuben Klamer, was (most likely) sold directly to Parker Brothers and was taken out of the line in the mid-’70s; it then returned in 1979 as ALL THE KING’S MEN.
Games historian and former Parker V.P. Phil Orbanes said he thinks Smess was an unsuccessful name because it implied “confusion,” especially with regard to the game of chess, a game many people find intimidating.
STADIUM CHECKERS
1952
American Toys/Schaper
Three-dimensional strategy game
Concentric, movable plastic rings link up pathways; the object being to get your marbles from the outer ring into the center. The game could be adapted to a flat gambeboard and pieces.
STAR REPORTER
1937/1960
Parker Brothers
Board game. 6 playing pieces, 6 colored pins, news cards, dice.
For two to six players.
Originally called BOAKE CARTER’S STAR REPORTER when it came out in 1937, the game was reissued as STAR REPORTER, its last appearance being in 1960. It is one of the most requested (by players and collectors alike) of the post-war games. Simple to play, it has a theme of world events, news, disasters, and the like.
TICKLE BEE
The Schaper Manufacturing Company, Inc., growing on the success of its COOTIE game, produced a line of fun-playing, three dimensional games. TICKLE BEE came out in 1960 and became one of the most popular games using magnets. A metal bee needs to be directed through a winding path using a magnetic wand. This three-dimensional game leveled the playing field for adults playing with children, who were often more suited to the manual dexterity required to play the game than their adult opponents.
TICKLE BEE was originally made by Luchland Co., and produced by W.H. Schaper, Minneapolis MN. The cover of the original TICKLE BEE showed a cartoon bee laughing from being (supposedly) tickled. A transparent sheet over the plastic board was printed with rural obstacles alongside and on top of the path.
TOPPLE
1984
Pressman
In 1984, Pressman Toy Co. purchased a game called “Topple” from a company in Germany. The plastic skill-and-action game consisted of a platform that balanced on a 2” post, and a number of checker-like disks that could stack around the platform (and that could also topple off if the platform tilted too much to one side). When Bruce Whitehill, the designer in charge of Research & Development, was asked to look over the new acquisition, he commented that the game was an excellent combination of dexterity and strategy, but it had one major shortcoming: the shaft was too short to give the psychological feeling of imbalance–the shaft should be about six inches long, which would not alter game play at all, but would have an impact on the “feeling” of play, the sense of instability.
Jim Pressman wondered why the Germans hadn’t thought of that, and he picked up the phone and called Germany. It turned out that the German company had purchased the game from England, using the English molds rather than incurring the expense of casting new ones. Pressman phoned the English company. Yes, their designer had recommended using about a six inch shaft (in its metric equivalent), but a typo resulted in the mold being made for a two inch piece. Once the piece was manufactured, the company decided to avoid the expense of re-doing it.
Pressman made the change, and “Topple” has been a top seller for decades.
Topple, 1985, Pressman; original blue box
TOURING
1925
Wallie Dorr Company / Parker Brothers
Card game.
One of the most popular card games of all time. Bought by Parker Brothers in the 1930s and kept in the line through 1975, it has been replaced by MILLE BOURNE.
TROQUE or TROKE
1961
Production & Marketing Co./Selchow & Righter
Board game. 64 pieces in four shapes and four colors.
Strategy game similar to Chinese Checkers with three-part playing pieces.
For two to four players.
This game is not well known, but everyone introduced to it loves it. Also known as CASTLE CHECKERS, this game requires players to move playing pieces from one side of the board to the other. To do so, each player, with four three-part pieces, must move different parts at a time, allowing an opponent to “capture” incomplete pieces and move them in another direction.
TWISTER
1966
Milton Bradley
Twister is that bend-and-stretch parlor game which became a runaway hit after being demonstrated on the Johnny Carson show by the well-endowed Ava Gabor in a V-top. It’s a party game, played on a large vinyl mat on the floor. To learn more, click on TWISTER.
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DISPENSING CANDY FOR THE BRAIN
Food products have long been the fodder for premium games. The New Rold Gold Pretzel Toss Game (American Cone & Pretzel Co., 1935), had four pretzel shape cardboard pieces; the Top Banana Game (American Publishing Co., 1965) had a yellow board that looked like a banana and named Chiquita; an Old Maid card game (Dairy Queen, 1980) had cards illustrating ice cream cones and the Dennis the Menace characters of Ruff the dog, Margaret, Joey, and others. Some games are even more appetizing. The MONOPOLY, MILK CHOCOLATE GAME EDITION (Hasbro, 1997) had foil-wrapped chocolate disk pieces, (illustrated with a dog, hat, boot, car, iron, and ship), and 24 foil-wrapped chocolate houses and hotels. The PICTIONARY AFTER DINNER MINT EDITION (Hasbro, 1997) had 32 foil-wrapped chocolate disk pieces and a chocolate board–a piece of chocolate was given each time a player correctly identified the Pictionary image on a card within the time limit. This is one game where you can gain pounds and still lose.
Now, the collectible card game craze has joined with PEZ, the colorful candy in a crazy container, to produce the PEZ CARD GAME. Mike Fitzgerald ate his way through 260 packs of PEZ while creating this game (don’t quote me on that–I just made it up), and it’s the newest item in the expanding line of U.S. Games Systems. The artwork is based on actual contemporary and vintage PEZ dispensers, with the figures given a touch of animation. Naturally, you can buy supplemental sets to accompany your starter deck, and some of the cards are considerably more rare than others; the supplemental cards also add additional elements to the game play. There is a total of 200 Dispenser cards, twenty of which come with the initial set and 9 of which are in each supplemental pack. The game itself is touted as a “Great Family Game,” which means that adults won’t mind playing with kids, but the balance leans more toward the luck of the draw than toward strategic play. However, players need to make decisions continually about hampering an opponent as opposed to completing their own dispensers with the indicated PEZ flavors, and whether it’s best to go for one high-value, hard-to-complete card of flavors or two (or more) smaller, easier cards with lower values.
