These old games were found in a cupboard in the council office basement (click to enlarge).
The goal of 'Pollute' (1975) was to earn as much money as possible for your multinational corporation while contaminating the world's oceans. Extra points could be scored by inadvertently bringing about a genetically corrupted, mutant starfish which threatens to destroy mankind, then offering the monopolised solution at a vastly inflated price. Subsequent versions of the game included 'Super Pollute: Poison the Skies' and 'Pollute Deluxe: The Countryside is a Twat'.
Winner of the Queen's Award for Arrogance, 'Mister Smug' (1978) was an edutainment game which taught politicians and big business leaders how to emotionally and legally distance themselves from the catastrophic outcomes of uninformed decisions which affect millions of innocent people and ruin lives. Bankers and other sociopaths were banned from playing the game in competition because they always won, even when they had officially lost.
'Land Mine' (1970). Very little is known about this game because few players survived, though it appears that the military funded the game's production so that it could test the latest in concealed weapons technology and observe its explosive effects on a civilian population.
For more games see 'Discovering Scarfolk' by Ebury Press: Top Tramps (p.85); Junior Taxidermy Kit (p.86); and Singlemulty (p.105), and others.
Scarfolk is a town in North West England that did not progress beyond 1979. Instead, the entire decade of the 1970s loops ad infinitum. Here in Scarfolk, pagan rituals blend seamlessly with science; hauntology is a compulsory subject at school, and everyone must be in bed by 8pm because they are perpetually running a slight fever. "Visit Scarfolk today. Our number one priority is keeping rabies at bay." For more information please reread.
Thursday, 21 January 2016
1970s Games (Various)
Labels:
big business,
board games,
corporate,
corruption,
dystopia,
environment,
games,
government,
health & safety,
jaws,
land mine,
law,
mastermind,
military,
politics,
pollution,
totalitarian,
toys,
twister
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Landmine is a blast from the past. We used to be in pieces playing this.
ReplyDeletesuper
ReplyDeleteI remember buying this while stationed in Berlin. My German friends thought I was a totally blasiertes Arshlok. I was given to understand that meant a clever American defender of democracy and freedom.
ReplyDeleteI had that exact edition of "Mister Smug." It had a different title in the states, though. I think it was called "Cluedo."
ReplyDeleteI thought it was called "Trump."
DeleteI always won at Smug. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteDon't.
DeletePollute was my favorite game as a child!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why no one has made a show about surviving on that fancy plastic island out in the ocean!No property borders,human rights,laws,You could get away with murder,or anything else that gets the ratings!
ReplyDelete