Top Ten Board Games From The 70’s That Are Still Available From Amazon

As much as I think we all appreciate the electronic "plugged-in" world in which we live, there is something to be said for the simpler way our lives used to be.  Whether you're 60, 40, or even as young as 20, it's safe to say that our lives were much different just a few years ago. New technologies and fads have replaced time-tested favorites - relegating many things to the storehouses of our memory.

One pastime that has seemingly gone away is the board game. In the days before electronic video games took over, families would get together - often over the dining room table - and compete against each other on their favorite game made from paper.  And while board games still exist, it seems that many of the popular titles from the past have disappeared.   Or have they?

Here's a list of the top ten board games from the past that are still available from Amazon.  It seems like old classics don't disappear. Somehow there's irony that for many of these older-era games, the only way to buy them is via an online source.

Bonkers!

The Christmas season of 1978 saw the introduction of a game that was marketed as "It's never the same game twice".  And it wasn't.  At the start of the game, players were met with a blank board that they filled up with cards drawn with each roll of the dice.  As the game progressed and the cards filled up, players needed to heed the directions that now resided on that space.

Husker Du

While this game first originated from Denmark in the 1950's, it came to its American popularity in the early 1970's.  During the Christmas season of 1973, a television commercial that featured "Mean Gene" Okerlund and subliminal messages sold the benefits of this memory tester.

Mastermind

This game was created by an Israeli in 1970.  It first came to the United States a few years later, and became a trendy game by the mid to late 70's.  Game play was one part memory and another part strategy.

Pay Day

Budgets, jobs, and money management combine in this popular mid to late 70's board game that was designed by Paul Gruen - a master of his art who designed many of that decades most-popular games.

Trouble

This iconic 70's game had a feature that drove many parents crazy.  Instead of rolling a pair of dice, they were encased in a plastic bubble placed over a flexible sheet; to play, participants depressed the bubble - called the "Pop-O-Matic" - which manipulated the dice into a random result.  It was the noise generated, though that many adults found off-putting.

Bermuda Triangle

The real Bermuda Triangle exists in the North Atlantic Ocean and is infamous for the large number of aircraft and water ships that have disappeared there.  For some reason, the region developed a cult-like popularity in the 1970's - featured in movies, television shows, books, songs, and more.  (Much like quicksand in the same era, it's occurrence in pop culture would lead you to believe that it was a greater problem/threat than it actually was).  Of course, there was a board game created about it.

Operation

While this game was originally designed in the mid 1960's, it came to its own in the 1970's.  Part of the appeal - at least for kids - was the electronic buzzing noise it made when you accidentally hit the side wall of the game.

Mouse Trap

If there's a common thread that runs through this list (besides the 1970's era), it's that the majority of these games aren't your standard square board; most of them feature design elements that are truly unique.  This game embodies that perhaps like no other. And - it holds the distinction of being the first mass-produced game that offered three-dimensional game play.

Jaws

Actually called "The Game of Jaws" when it was first in stores in the mid-1970's, original versions of this game are collectors items and command significant prices on the open market.  Of course, the impetus behind this game was marketing directly tied to the popular movie.  This game - like Mouse Trap - was three-dimensional and didn't featured a traditional board" at all.

Battleship

While earlier paper-and-pencil versions existed, what we have come to know as the Battleship game was first designed in 1967.  Interestingly enough, Battleship was one of the first traditional board games to transition to an electronic, computerized version.