Is it true that they don’t make games like they used to, or is it simply that our eyes are so tinged with nostalgia that we can’t accept that anything new is better than what we used to have?
Whatever the answer, we’re going to say it; They don’t make games like they used to! Feast your eyes on the selection of 10 classic board games below, and I’m sure you’ll agree that we had it good growing up in the 80s and early 90s. How many do you remember? Which was your favourite? Are there any you can’t believe that we’ve left out?
10. Guess Who
Whilst we didn’t really understand how to play this game until we reached a certain age, we still loved to play with the faces, moving them up and down and delighting at the clicking noise the plastic made.
And once we were old enough we thoroughly enjoyed asking questions such as “do they have blue eyes” and “are they wearing a hat”.
9. Bed Bugs
This was the classic game where you did your best to remove some bouncing bed bugs from a man’s bed with tweezers.
We remember loving how the bed vibrated!
8. Buckaroo!
This was another game that we enjoyed playing as little kids, even before we had the dexterity to carefully place the objects on the bucking bronco.
We’ve played newer versions of this game and you can trust us when we say that the horse never works as well as it did in the classic 80s edition.
7. Connect 4
This is still available in almost the identical format we had back in ‘the day’, although sometimes with unnecessarily added extra rules. Even before we knew how deep this game could end up being, we still loved plopping the red and yellow coins into the tower.
And of course the moment when you release them all from the bottom never, ever gets boring!
6. Mouse Trap
If we’re honest, Mouse Trap never worked properly for us, taking ages to set up but never finishing the mouse trapping sequence successfully.
Even so, it was good fun trying, with the man diving into the tiny pool being a particular highlight.
5. Operation
Even young kids that aren’t even close to having the steady hand required to pick out the internal organs absolutely loved the buzzing sound this game made when you failed.
4. Downfall
Even before we were old enough to fully understand the tactical nuances of Downfall, we still loved rotating the wheels and trying to get the miniature pieces to the bottom as quickly as possible. Oh what a satisfying sound they made as they finally hit the plastic tray!
3. KerPlunk
Remember KerPlunk? You had to remove straws, and marbles fell or didn’t fall depending on the strength of your straw selection. The noise of the marbles making their way down to the bottom was extremely satisfying, even if it meant you had lost the game!
2. Ghost Castle
Ghost Castle was brilliant, allowing us to drop a skull down a chute and giving us the unbearable anticipation of which contraption it was going to set off. Would it be the axe? Or the skeleton? The tension was incredible!
1. Matching Pairs
Whilst there have been many different versions and formats of Matching Pairs over the years, this was the classic version that we remember so well. It had sheets of removable card containing pictures that allowed a number of different combinations depending on how far you slid them.