“BRLSFFSP!”
Hi pals! Happy New Year, and here’s a reminder that I’m still looking for your predictions for the 2026 comics industry, so get ’em in while you can! I’m going to start looking at the 2025 predictions from last year in a week or two, so consider yourself forewarned.
In a brief follow-up to pal Kurt‘s mention of the MAD Magazine Game in the comments to Monday’s post…yes, I had that game!
According to the Wikipedia article Kurt linked, the game was originally released in 1979, and eventually rereleased as the MAD Magazine What Me Worry? Game. But I definitely had the first version, pictured above. And I keep saying “had” when I’m pretty sure it’s still in a bod with the rest of my boardgames (including this classic) in my parents’ garage.
The object of the game was, unlike certain other games of note, to be the first player to lose all of your money. Lots of MAD art illustrates the board and cards, and the money features, of course, the face of Alfred E. Neuman. I mean, let’s go for another link to BoardGameGeek so you can check this out yourself. One gag I liked from the game was a specific denomination of bill that was ridiculously high and unused in the game, and thanks to the BoardGameGeek link, I can tell you that bill is $1,329,063.
It was a fun and silly game, and I don’t think I’ve played it since childhood. One of these days I need to search out that box of games in that garage and recover the darn things. At the very least I’d like to play Sinking of the Titanic again.
And for the sake of completeness I should note that there was also a MAD card game (which I also have, and I think it’s here in my house, actually), and a Spy Vs. Spy game, which I did not know about.
As far as I know there was never a Magic: The Gathering style collectible card game for MAD, or even just a MAD expansion for Magic itself, which I feel is really missing a bet. Or how ’bout a game just built around Don Martin’s sound effects? Does a “FRUGGA DUGGA DUGGA DUGGA” beat out a “STROINGGOINNK?” Only one way to find out, and that’s a COMPREHENSIVE RULE SET. KRUGAZUNCH!
I too had this game! Fun and silly indeed.
Here is a link to the MAD Magazine TV Special from 1974:
https://youtu.be/dUQiXGA-0Tk?si=tz2VRsWA-6BXTcWc
We had the Mad card game, which was a lot of fun, a slightly nastier version of Uno. Played it thousands of times. A friend of mine had the Norwegian version, which was even more enjoyable for some reason. “Draw 1 you varmit” was much funnier as “Trek un vareskaller” (this might be the wrong spelling, but what me worry).
Both the Mad game (the original version) and Sinking of the Titanic are still in my mother’s house! I should do a game night
“The object of the game was, unlike certain other games of note, to be the first player to lose all of your money.”
They should re-release it as “Trump Casino”!