QUIZ: Are You Enough of a Kid at Heart to Remember These Famous Board Games?

Risk was originally invented by Albert Lamorisse in 1957. In those days, it was called La Conquete du Monde or The Conquest of the World. But in 1959, Parker Brothers bought the rights for their U.S. customers and changed the name to Risk.

Despite the name, this board game was originally called Sternhalma when it was invented in 1892 in Germany. But in 1928, Americans marketed it as Chinese Checkers when it was released in the U.S.

Chutes and Ladders was inspired by an ancient game called Snakes and Ladders which taught kids about morality. The ladders represented good deeds and the snakes represented bad ones.

In the U.S., the game is known as Clue, but in other parts of the world, it’s called Cluedo, which is a combination of the words Clue and Ludo. And here’s a fun trivia fact: Ludo means “I play” in Latin.

Mancala is considered one of the world’s oldest games. In fact, archaeologists discovered ancient mancala games that originated all the way back to the 2nd century AD. And it’s still played today.

There was a great deal of devious satisfaction when competitors in this game drew the card that got them released from Start. And when they did, the player would often laugh in the other players’ faces and say “sorrrrrryyyyyyy!”

In the 1980s, parents worried for their kids because the game contained witchcraft, gambling, desecration and other questionable concepts, but the game has made a resurgence in recent years and it’s pretty popular.

A few years back, an English music journalist named Stuart Maconie came up with the rumor that David Bowie had invented Connected 4. Of course, it turned out to be a lie, and he eventually confessed to the prank.

The FCC had discovered that the toy company had added cut scenes that had the phrase “Get it” in their commercials. Once they discovered these subliminal messages, they pulled the commercials.

In Pandemic, players could be medics, scientists, operations experts, researchers or dispatchers. But this game also required everyone to cooperate in order to stop four dangerous diseases from spreading.

Anyone who played this board game had a shot at getting a big career, getting married and having kids. But the original version from 1860 had a suicide section when it was called Checkered Game of Life.

In the film, the characters get together to play Pictionary and Sally draws or attempts to draw a mouth that’s all puckered up for the clue “baby talk.” This scene immortalized the game.

Reversi was changed to Othello in 1973 when a Japanese toy salesperson released a new version of the game. It’s said that he was inspired by this name because one of his parents was a scholar in all things Shakespeare.

Originally a German board game, Settlers of Catan quickly gained popularity around the world. The purpose of the game is simple. Players set out on a mission to become the first settlers of Catan before anyone else.

Long before people played Battleship on a plastic peg board or even the electronic version, players had to play with pencil and paper. In 1967, the first plastic peg board was released, which was a major upgrade.

To play this board game, one player has to send all four of their pieces around the board in order to win. It might sound simple but it’s frustrating. No wonder the game was known as Frustration in the U.K.

Twister was once considered so naughty that some stores refused to stock the game on their shelves. But eventually, people got over their stigma when Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played the game on “The Tonight Show.”

This popular mystery game allowed players to move through Boddy Mansion on the board and search for clues that could determine which of the other players murdered Mr. Boddy.

Throughout the game, players are expected to move the pieces around a track that resembles a wheel with six spokes. Ironically, the game pieces themselves were designed the same way.

During a Seattle party in the 1980s, a waiter picked out random words from a dictionary and started drawing a random word. Then they asked the guests to guess the word. This eventually turned into Pictionary.

Hasbro sued an adult site for attempting to use the word Candyland in a URL out of concerns that this would tarnish the family value of the game. Fortunately, they won on the grounds of internet trademark infringement.

Being cunning was one thing, but in order to win this game, one had to hide some of the pegs so that the other player couldn’t count the pegs and win. But this tactic wasn’t considered cheating. In fact, it was highly recommended in the original instruction sheet.

Boggle contains cubes with letters on them. To prevent any indecent words from being accidentally or intentionally spelled out, the Boggle cubes contain one K and two Fs. This makes it impossible to spell most bad word outs.

The idea of having randomly shaped Monopoly pieces came after Charles Darrow, the board game’s creator, suggested people use regular items at home as pieces. That’s because the original Monopoly game didn’t come with any pieces.

Of the 100 Scrabble tiles, E is the most popular letter, with 12 being available. There is only one Q, one X, and one Z piece in the game and there are two blank tiles, which can be used to represent any letter.

Each of the four rooms at the corners of the board game have a secret passage. The lounge and the conservatory are connected, but the dining room does not have a secret passageway.

The game of chess dates back to 15th century Europe, but earlier versions of the game may have been based on a game from India which is much older. The game of strategy is still popular among all walks of life.

The aircraft carrier takes the most hits to sink in the game of Battleship. The battleship itself takes four hits to sink and the Cruise, which was later renamed the Destroyer, takes three hits to sink.

Strategy is played on a board of 100 squares and neither player can see their opponent’s pieces.. There are 8 unplayable squares in the center of the board, which are depicted as lakes, to make gameplay more difficult.

On a chessboard, each horizontal row of squares is called a rank and each vertical column of squares is called a file. Also, each diagonal line of squares of the same color is called a diagonal.

Because minimal reading is required to understand the game, including on these colorful cards, Candyland is a favorite among very young children and families.

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world. Recent archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia trace the game back about 5,000 years. The game is played with a combination of strategy and luck.

In 2020, Hasbro introduced a new version of the game called Operation Pet Scan, which swaps out the original human patient of the game for a dog, who has foreign objects in their digestive tract.

Mall Madness was a shopping themed board game released by Milton Bradley in 1988. An electronic version of the game was also sold in 1989 and the newest version of the game was released in 2020.

Mastermind is a code breaking game for two players that was invented in 1970 by a telecommunications expert. It was based on the game Bulls and Cows, which has been played for over a century.

Trivial Pursuit was invented in Canada by a team of editors in 1979. The game was invented by the two after they found out that pieces of their Scrabble game had gone missing, so they decided to create their own game.

Carcassonne was named after a medieval French city which was famous for its high walls and the game itself was created in Germany. The game has since been adapted for mobile and desktop play.

In draughts, or checkers, each player has twelve pieces that can only move diagonally across a traditional chess board. The game was based on an old Middle Eastern game called alquerque.

Scattergories became a television show in 1993 and the game show aired on NBC. The series was hosted by Dick Clark and it aired after a Scrabble themed game show.

Go was first played over 3,000 years ago and it is thought to be the oldest board game that is still played today. The rules to this game are simple, but some people believe the strategy to be more complex than chess.