I
think that I have played quite a few board games during my early
childhood. Before I donated most of them to charity shops, or sold
them at yard sales, or gave them as gifts to other people, I had a
collection of at least three dozen. I had the old standbys such as
“Monopoly”, “Clue”, “Trivial Pursuit”, and “Sorry”.
But I also played with board games that maybe weren't as well known.
Have you ever heard of games like “Shark Attack”, “Jig Jag”,
and “Garfield: The Board Game”? It's okay if you haven't. Who
knows? I may end up doing blog entries on these lesser-known board
games in the near future.
For
today's blog entry, I thought that I would take a look at a game that
millions of people have owned, or at the very least played at least
once.
This
is a game that I have never owned...and the one and only time I did
play the game, I ended up doing so terribly at it that I never played
it again.
You
see, unlike most board games, this was one in which you had to
display your flexibility. In fact, this game actually encourages you
to flex your muscles and bend your body in ways that you never
believed were possible.
That's
right...today we're going to be looking at the classic game known as
“Twister”.
“Twister”
was created by Charles F. Foley and Neil Rabens, who submitted the
patent for the game forty-six years ago in 1966. The game
immediately took off after people watched Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor
playing it on the set of the “Tonight Show” for the May 3, 1966
broadcast.
Developed
by Milton Bradley, the game's rules were very simple. In each game
was a plastic mat with sixteen dots...four red,
four blue, four yellow,
and four green. There is also a spinner
that looks like this.
Each
turn, the wheel would be spun, and wherever the arrow pointed, the
person had to stick either their hand or foot on one of the coloured
dots. For example, if the arrow pointed to “RIGHT
FOOT BLUE!”, all the players would have to place their
right foot on blue. Then on the second spin, suppose it landed on
“LEFT HAND GREEN!”, the
players would then put their left hands on green WHILE keeping their
right foot on blue. Just like the number of dots, there are sixteen
possible combinations that can be called on the Twister spinner, and
as the game proceeds, it becomes harder and harder to stay upright.
In
order to win the game, you have to be the last player remaining on
the board without falling down...and depending on the combinations
that can be spun, that can be challenging. I dare you to try having
both of your hands on red, and then trying to have one foot on blue,
and the other one on green. That's the combo that did me in on the
one game that I attempted to play.
Now,
there's really no limit as to how many people can play the game. You
really only need a minimum of three to play (one to spin the wheel
and the other two on the mat), but if you have more than four people
playing, it becomes a bit of a tight squeeze. It's recommended that
if more than four people play, that they tape two or three Twister
mats together to expand the fun.
When
“Twister” was first released, it immediately became a cultural
phenomenon, and it was praised for being a game that people of all
ages could enjoy. However, the game was also the subject of
criticism by other toy manufacturers, claiming that the game of
“Twister” was nothing more than “sex in a box”.
Which
is an allegation that I find absolutely ridiculous...well, unless you
were playing the game naked...which is cool if you like that sort of
thing.
Now,
there have been various versions of the game that have been created
since the original one was released in 1966. “Finger Twister” is
similar to a travel-sized board game, where instead of your whole
body, you just use your fingers. There's a “Twister Hoopla” game
which eliminates the game mat, and instead forces you to play with
coloured rings. I could explain the game to you, but I think Ellen
DeGeneres does a better job down below.
And
would you believe that there's a “Twister Dodgeball” game? I've
never played it, and I am honestly not even sure how you would play
it, but here's the visual aid for it below, if you're interested.
And
did you know that the board game “Twister” is associated with
several world records? When I was doing research on this board game,
I never really realized just how many records there were.
For
instance, did you know that the world record for the largest Twister
game board was set in June 2010 in Belchertown, Massachusetts? The
board was made up of 1,008 Twister mats, and covered an area of
24,156 square feet! The construction of the mat was for a great
cause though, as the mat was designed as part of the kickoff for a
school fundraising drive.
The
largest game of Twister ever played occurred in April 2005 in the
Netherlands, with a game board that measured 2,453 square feet.
There was also a record for most players to ever play a Twister game,
which was initially set in 1987 by 4,160 people at the campus of the
University of Massachusetts in Amherst. However, this record was
later disqualified due to officiating inconsistencies, and the
category was temporarily banned between 1988 and 1992.
Oh,
and for those of you who may be suffering from colour blindness or
have vision impairment, fear not...there are ways in which you can
play too. In fact, I found a set of rules on how to play the game
which I will post for those of you who cannot tell the difference
between green and red. Instead of focusing on colours, one way is to
cut out four different shapes, and assigning each colour to a shape.
For example, using the suits in a deck of playing cards...
RED
= HEARTS
BLUE
= DIAMONDS
YELLOW
= SPADES
GREEN
= CLUBS
All
you really have to do is place the shapes on the dots, and when the
spinner is spun, just shout out “LEFT HAND
SPADES!” instead of “LEFT
HAND YELLOW!” Simple as that!
All
right. That's all I have to say for today. If you excuse me, I'm
going to try playing another game of Twister now.
RIGHT
FOOT BLUE!
LEFT
FOOT RED!
LEFT
FOOT GREEN!
RIGHT
HAND YELLOW!
RIGHT
FOOT YELLOW!
LEFT
HAND RED!
LEFT
FOOT YELLOW!
AAAAAAAUGH!!!!
@_@
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