Ah...The Game That Got It Right!

Last week we looked at a game with an interesting idea that, ultimately, just didn't work. This week, we'll look at a game with the same goal that actually does work! 

In 1979 Parker Brothers came out with The Mad Magazine Game! The goal? Lose all your money! Here it is!

Here are the instructions. As you can see, they're pretty simple. There's even a provision where if you don't understand a rule, you just vote on it. 

Here is the board. It's a standard track which is a lot more simple than the Simpsons board. More "Monopoly" than "big grid."

Here are the cards. They do have some silly tasks, but not as goofy as the Simpsons cards. They come across as more fun than embarrassing. 

So why does Mad work while The Simpsons fails?

Well, in my opinion:

1. It's simple. The Simpsons just has too many gimmicks going at once. You can sit down with Mad and play without thinking about it. After all, a joke you have to think about stops being funny.

2. Which brings us to the fact that the humor seems less forced in the Mad game. The Simpsons' universe of jokes is vast and wide. It takes a certain amount of understanding to get it. The gags don't really stand on their own, you need background. 

Mad doesn't have that issue. The magazine has always been simply satire. You can take any joke at face value. You don't need a reference point.

3. Mad is a printed product while The Simpsons are a television show. This makes more of a difference than I would have thought at first. The graphics of Mad have never been animated, We've never heard Alfred E. Newman's voice. The comic strips on the board speak the same language as in the magazine.

Anything based on The Simpsons has to deal with the fact that these are (very) animated characters and storylines. It's hard to get the same amount of excitement from printed text and graphics that you get from the show. The characters seem to be referenced, but maybe not present.

Now, that's a lot of words to say I like The Mad Magazine Game a lot better than The Simpsons- Loser Takes All. One might assume that because the goals of both games are the same (to lose everything) The Simpsons might have ripped off Mad. However, I don't think so. And if they did, they did a bad job of it.

So there you have it! The Mad Magazine Game can be had for around 25 bucks on eBay. It's worth it if you like silly games.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!