Billionaire #FBF

Billionaire is a classic Parker Brothers board game! This version was out in 1973.

Did you ever want to be a Billionaire?  I know I sure have.  Well in this game you are given the opportunity to take over the world of big business, and see if you can make your fortune.

You can dabble in Diamonds, gander in gambling, engage in electronics, or meander in metals.  You make all the decisions and investments. Build your empire your way.

Have you ever played Billionaire?

BUY IT HERE!

Battlestar Galactica

Adapted From The Dazzling TV Series On ABC You're Colonial Viper pilot assigned to capture a disabled Cylon Raider and tow it to the Battlestar Galactica."

Each player must move his ship to the center of the board to pick up the disabled enemy ship and return it to their base. Your opponents will challenge you in battle to gain control. The game has black holes to transport you across the board, force fields to move other players ships and other special abilities to help.

"Enjoy fast action, unusual strategy and keen competition in a fun-filled, space-age game!

Backgammon #FBF

When I was young, we had a couple of boards with several games on them, so we had a bunch with Backgammon boards at home.  It wasn't something we played very often.  We did try to figure it out from time to time, and it was kind of fun.

Did you know that Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games?  Well it is!

It is a two player game where playing pieces are moved according to the roll of the dice. The winner is the player who removes all of his pieces from the board before their opponent. Backgammon involves a combination of strategy and luck. While the dice may determine the outcome of a single game, over a series of many games, the better player will accumulate the better record.


Backgammon playing pieces are known variously as checkers, draughts, stones, men, counters, pawns, discs, pips, chips, or nips.



Do you play Backgammon?

Vintage Atari Games #FBF

I've tried to explain Atari games to my boys. They don't get it. They have Xbox Systems, Wiis, and iPods to play on.  They simply don't know the struggle that is trying to play on an Atari. 

It was also vintage fun. 

I played many of these games. Man we loved Breakout, Pac-Man, and Home Run. We also had a game called Pit Fall.  Awesome memories.

Did you play any of these?

All Star Baseball #FBF

All Star Baseball is a classic baseball board game.  I gotta admit as a baseball fan, I didn't even know there were baseball board games! Although this one was aimed at boys aged 9-12, and was simpler to play then most baseball board games. Probably why I haven't heard of it, or played it.

It was manufactured by Cadaco-Ellis and designed by a then baseball player named Ethan Allen.  While you can still get it in a special edition version today, it first showed up in 1941.


They use to create an annual version, but had to do discontinue them in the mid-90s since video games took over their fan base.

Aggravation #FBF

Aggravation is a board game that was first produced in 1960!  It is a board game aimed at 4 player, although the newer versions can be up to 6 players. 

The object of the game is to have all your marbles reach the home section of your part of the board, but beware that the other players are trying to capture your pieces!


Older versions of the game usually feature an asterisk-shaped board, which is perfectly symmetrical and identical in shape and size from all angles. Modern versions of the game produced by Parker Brothers are made in an irregular pattern with a shape that varies for each player, though all players must travel an equal number of spaces in order to reach their respective home sections.

A player who lands a marble on a space occupied by an opponent's marble "aggravates" that player's piece and sends it back to that player's base.  You must either land on the space before or after your opponent.


Have you played Aggravation?

4000 A.D. #FBF

Today's Flashback Friday is all the way back to 1972 to a game called 4000 A.D. - An Intersteller Combat Game.

4000 AD is a strategy game, obviously, set in the year 4000 AD.  The premise is that men have spread to the planets of other stars hundreds of light-years from the earth.  This means that there would be a interstellar conflict between worlds.  This is what the game focuses on and they use the concept of star travel by hyper-space as the basis of the characters.

The game is for 2-4 players, but is best with 3 players and is a full strategy game. 

When playing you will use a fleet of spaceships to claim stars and combat opposing fleets. Fleets move using a hidden hyperspace movement system based on the distance between stars. Captured stars generate more ships. Victory is determined by the last player to be eliminated.


Please note: Some info gleaned from checking out the awesome Board Game Geek site.

Twister #FBF

Twister is one of those games, you only crack out when there is a real party going on. As a teenager, we use to pull all nighters at the church. There was a standing rule that everyone who had one was to bring a game of Twister with them. We would have 20-30 of them all taped together. With around 100-150 youth all together in one room for ours we you would get a tangle of teens!

In case you don't know..... Twister is played on a large plastic mat which has four rows of large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, blue and green. One person spins the spinner, which than tells you what body part you put on which colour. If another part of your body touches the mat you are out.  Last person "standing" wins.

The new version has spinners choice, and put the body part in the air.  It gives a new twist, but I still prefer the classic version.

When was the last time you played Twister?

Sorry not sorry

I think everyone has played Sorry! over the years.  This is the box that I remember playing with back in the day. The classic box.

Ours was pretty beat up, as we played it so often. This was a fun game where you could passively aggressively take out a sister without anyone getting mad.

The idea was to race your pieces from the starting spot around the board to your Home, before the others.  By turning over a card from the draw deck and following its instructions, players move their pieces around the game board, switch places with players, and knock opponents' pieces off the track and back to their Start position.

You could slide through other players and knock them out of the way. The best was putting your family back to the start, trying to say sorry with out laughing straight in their faces!


Have you played Sorry?

Vintage Rummikub

This is one of those games I have seen around but never really played. I have seen a bunch of different renditions of it, over the decades. This looks really old and vintage doesn't it? They really don't make games or toys to look so rustic anymore.

It's all plastic, and super bright coloured these days.

Rummikub is an easy to learn and fast moving game.  Part of the fun is it's different every time you play, so you won't get bored.  it combines luck and strategy, and it changes quickly so every player has a chance to win until the very end.

Basically, the players take turns placing numbered tiles in runs (consecutive numbers of the same color, like 2, 3, 4 in red) and groups (three or more of the same number in different colors, like a red 9, a blue 9, and a black 9), rummy style.

Since the "board" changes all the time as players adjust the tiles on the table, it can be tricky to keep up, and figure out your next move ahead of time. The Joker tiles add to the fun; they can be any color or number. The object is to be the first player to play every tile on your rack.

The player who wins the most rounds wins the game.

1970s Perfection #FBF

I am officially in my 40s now, and I generally don't feel that old. I feel like I should be in my 20s somewhere. But certain things bring me right back to reality. Like the time I fell down the stairs, and didn't bounce back for over a week. Or when I see board games and I think that doesn't look right. So I look it up and I see the "classic" or "vintage" version, and think Oh lordy be, I am vintage!

When did that happen? I remember this version of Perfection, and then the 80s version very well.... after that, I don't really know what they look like. I am sure eventually I will learn what the latest version looks like, since my boys love games.  That's what generally happens. I remember the 70s, and 80s versions, then I see the ones out currently and think what happened to it? 

Apparently the classics aren't "hip" now as those kids say ;) LOL

Perfection is a dexterity and shape recognition game.  It forces players to be the quickest to fit all the shapes into the matching holes in the tray that pops up.

The board for the "full size" game is a 5x5 grid with 25 shapes. There is a "travel edition" which has a 4x4 grid and only 16 shapes.

This was a fun and stressful game!

1970s Version Master Mind #FBF

Master Mind is a code-breaking game made for two players. There is a board, and plastic pegs. One person creates a code, and the other has to figure out what that is by a process of elimination.

Since 1973, the cover has featured this photograph, and this is the 1970s version of the game.  The rights to the gave have been held by Invicta Plastics since 1971, but they have licensed it to Hasbro to manufacture worldwide for them.



This is one of those games that we had, and I grew up playing. We had the 1970s version of course, since I was born in 1975.

Parker Brothers Monopoly #FBF

Monopoly has been around since 1903, and this is the 70s version of it.  It was then sold by Parker Brothers although it is now just sold by Hasbro.  It has become a part of popular world culture, having been locally licensed in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages!  Not to mention the various versions of it!

What Version is your favourite?

1970s Scrabble #FBF

Who hasn't played Scrabble before, or at least heard of it?  While it is currently owned by Hasbro, Inc, it was originally sold by Milton Bradley.  Outside of Canada and USA it is a trademark of Mattel!

While we think the rules and game are pretty basic, back in 1976 some of the major rule changes were:

• It was made clear that the blank tile beats an A when drawing to see who goes first.
• A player could now pass his/her turn, doing nothing.
• A loss-of-turn penalty was added for challenging an acceptable play.
• If final scores are tied, the player whose score was highest before adjusting for unplayed tiles is the winner; in tournament play, a tie is counted as half a win for both players

This board game is what it looked like when I was growing up! What version do you remember the most vividly?

The Six Million Dollar Man Game #FBF

In 1975 Parker Brothers came out with The Six Million Dollar Man board game for US and Canada.  The Canadian version came with sheet of instructions that were written up in English and French.  It was made for 2-4 players, and aimed at ages 7 to 14.

Original Board Game Description

Four bionic men each claim to have Steve Austin's powers. Your job is to prove that YOU ARE THE REAL SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. The Computer Spinner reads out your moves and gives you the power to handle assignments for NASA, INTERPOL, the CIA and the Defense Department. You'll take part in dangerous missions - encountering imposters and waging Bionic Battles. Each assignment will make you stronger. And the stronger you become the faster you'll move around the board and back to the Bionic Research Lab where you'll win the game.

Fight the Gordess on NES, Tecmo Star Force #FlashbackFriday

I have a younger brother named Gord. When we were growing up one of the horrible mean big sister things I used to do was tease him with feminine forms of his name. Calling him Gordinia would send him into fits of rage, which my grade school self found far too amusing.

So is it any wonder that I found great amusement in a game where "your mission is to attack Gordess"?

Plus I've just always had a thing for button mashing top-scrollers.

 

Nintendo's Original Dynamic Duo... #FlashbackFriday

Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros, I clearly remember pulling both of these booklets out of the box when I got my first NES. Seeing them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. So many hours spent with my kid brother killing ducks and dodging down pipes.

The ATARI Advantage #FlashbackFriday

Anyone else have this poster adorning their walls when they were a kid?

Gamer Girl 1970s Style #FlashbackFriday

Is my predilection towards playing games genetic? Maybe.....

Check out this old photo I found of my Mom playing Midway's Haunted House game in an arcade at Niagara Falls during her honeymoon, circa 1973.

Flashback Friday - 007 THUNDERBALL UNDERWATER BATTLE GAME #FBF

While looking online I discovered the 007 THUNDERBALL UNDERWATER BATTLE GAME.  This is a very rare game at this point, and I've seen it priced for around $1650 USD.

This game came out in 1965, and was for 2-4 players, aged 8 and up.

The Thunderball game is themed after James Bond 007, of course, and is based on the under underwater battle sequence from the movie Thunderball - Largo v. James Bond!

Some of the fun features this game includes is colorful plastic scuba swimmer figures on clear plastic pedestals with metal bases. There are also similarly mounted shark figures. The battle takes place on a glossy seascape mapboard. Rules are printed inside the lid.

I know this would be something my hubby and I would love to own, as we love watching Bond, and this is one of the movies that I enjoy!  Although the price tag is a little steep currently LOL

What say you, would you play?