The Mad Magazine Game

The Mad Magazine Game, later reissued as 'Mad Magazine: The "What-Me Worry?" game', is a board game produced by Parker Brothers in 1979. Gameplay is similar, but the goals and directions often opposite, to that of Monopoly; the object is for players to lose all their money. The first player is determined by a left-handed roll for the lowest number, and play proceeds to the right. The game includes cards, money, dice, and tokens, and the game board features Alfred E. Neuman and illustrations from Mad magazine. By design, no conclusive strategy exists for the game, since even if a player is winning, several spaces and cards direct players to exchange money or chairs with others, causing advantages to be lost instantly.

Description

The game board includes illustrations of characters from Mad including Spy vs. Spy, Alfred E. Neuman and characters taken from strips drawn by Mad artists including Don Martin and Dave Berg, with an original color illustration by Jack Davis on the cover.

Rules and gameplay

To begin the game, after placing all tokens on Start and determining the first player, one player is selected to be the Banker ("preferably someone honest"), who gives $10,000 to each person. The dice may only be rolled with the left hand; a player using their right hand is penalized by receiving $500 from each other player. Also, tokens move counterclockwise around the outside track. A player who moves clockwise is informed that he or she is a nerd person and may never play the game again. The board contains two "inside track" sections, which are entered by landing on one of the double-arrow spaces leading onto them. A player who does so immediately takes another turn by rolling one die; while on an inside track, players may only roll one die.

The cards and spaces bear a variety of bizarre directions, such as trading places or money with a particular opponent, winning or losing money based on what the other players are doing, or losing money by performing a comical stunt. If any dispute or ambiguity arise concerning the directions, it are resolved by majority vote; in addition, if any questions come up concerning what constitutes a majority, the rules allow for them to be settled by majority vote. A player who lands on the "Tough Luck" space must take all the money accumulated there.

The winner is the first player to lose all their money.

"Card cards"

The game includes 24 "Card cards"[1] printed with various instructions. Examples:

• Change chairs with anyone.
• Change money with anyone.
• Flip this card in the air. If it lands with this side face up, you lose $1000. If not, go to 'Tough Luck'
• If you are good looking, stand up and imitate your favorite animal, and lose $2000.
• If you can jump up and stay airborne for 37 seconds, you can lose $5000. If not, jump up and lose $500.
• If you like this game, cross your legs, sit on your hands, cackle like a chicken and lose 1 egg; also $500.
• Plan ahead and move to any space on the board.
• Put this card on top of your head and walk around the table backwards. If it doesn't fall off before you sit down you lose $1000.
• Stand up and boo the person on your left. Also lose $1000.
• Take the next card, don't peek, and give it to anyone else.
• This card can only be played on Friday (no other instructions are given on the card).

Spaces

Instructions on the board's 60 spaces include:

• Start: Whenever you pass or land here, lose $500.
• If no one is standing you lose $1000. If someone is standing you win $2000.
• Must gamble everything you have. Roll dice: Odd - win twice as much; Even - lose everything, but collect $1500.
• Lose your turn or go ahead 27 (if your name is Alfred E. Neuman, forget it).
• If there is an opponent with elbows on the table lose $2000. If not, lose $4000.
• Tough Luck (If anything is under here, you gotta take it).
• Everyone moves one chair to the right.
• Everyone moves one chair to the left.
• Old Maid (Stay right here until someone rolls a one or seven).
• If someone is smiling go back 3 spaces. If no one is smiling go ahead three spaces.
• Wait right here for another player to pass you…and then move with him or her.
• Exchange money with the person on your right.
• Change money with the person on your left.

Bills and game pieces

• 1 game board
• 4 player tokens (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 2 dice
• 24 cards
• 15 $500 bills
• 20 $1000 bills
• 10 $5000 bills
• 1 $1,329,063 bill

Development and release

The staff of Mad Magazine collaborated on the game's development.

Parker Brothers announced its plans to publish The Mad Magazine Game at the 1979 annual American Toy Fair in New York, to be advertised on the inside front cover of Mad magazine's October issue.[2] The game was published in 1979.[3] Mad magazine reported that "A popular game upon introduction, it even outsold Monopoly for a time".

Parker Brothers relaunched the game in 1988 in a slightly larger box, as the What-Me Worry? game, with the Mad logo prominently on the box.[4]

Reception

David Ahl for Creative Computing called The Mad Magazine Game "zany fun which pokes fun at traditional board games. It breaks all the rules as players move counter-clockwise on the board in an attempt to win the game by losing all their money."[5]

Joe Brancatelli from Creepy described The Mad Magazine Game as "a pretty fair translation of the magazine".[2]

The Winchester Star reviewed The Mad Magazine Game and noted that "This daffy board game scored a 'go-directly-to-store-and-get one' rating from our team" and that "one of the instructions tells you to move anywhere if you are magnificent. Who could resist? All egotists from age eight to adult are invited to try it."[6]

The editors of Consumer Reports published a survey in the December 1981 issue showing the favorite board games of 1,278 8 to 12 year-olds, with The Mad Magazine Game coming in third behind Monopoly and Life.[7]

Reviews

• Jeux et Stratégie #15[18]

See also

• The Mad Magazine Card Game

External links