Mad Magazine: The Board Game
By Alex J. Coyne © Gifts for Card Players
Do you have a nostalgic memory of the hugely popular Mad Magazine, or even a favourite Spy vs. Spy cartoon from the magazine? How about a favourite fold-in poster, usually found at the back? In its heyday The Mad franchise produced a thorough stock of magazines, TV shows, trading card games – there was even a movie.
Mad Magazine and Bridge
Mad Magazine has poked fun at almost everything and everyone in existence – including bridge. We found this March 1962 issue of Mad Magazine with a bridge-themed poem, As the Bridge Team Goes Ruffling Along:
Bid a heart!
Bid spade!
Bid a game that can’t be made!
You can find the poem over at the Bridge Guys, along with the original cover – which contains a card spread featuring the iconic Alfred E. Neuman.
Mad Magazine: The Board Game
Introduced in 1979 by Parker Brothers, I first encountered it as another one of my thrift store finds. My copy happened to be one of the South African print versions (more information on the different editions is available on Collect-Mad.com).
The game focuses on being quirky: just the right amount of strange that you would expect from a board game with Neuman on the box. The object of the game is the complete opposite of Monopoly – instead of winning all the money on the board, the goal is to lose all of your money by the time the game is over.
The rest of the game is filled with oddities. The cards include weird instructions like “You are a rock. Act like one. If you’re good, you lose $1,000. If you’re not so good, you win a rock.”
Another one I can remember was, “This card can only be played on Friday,” but there was no indication of what you’re supposed to do if it is a Friday and you get dealt the card.
If you can find a copy of this game and you’re a fan of the Mad franchise it’s definitely worth playing.
Parker Brothers also release Mad Magazine: The Card Game around the same time.
Though they are collectables, we found copies of both games available on Amazon. Click the pictures below to check them out!
Here’s the old commercial they ran for the game, just for fun.
