Top Five Weirdest Board Games From The ’70s And ’80s You Forgot Existed

Before sleek game design, clever mechanics, and crowdfunding campaigns took over, board games in the 1970s and ’80s were often chaotic, questionable, and gloriously weird. Some were TV tie-ins. Others were bizarrely specific. A few were just flat-out fever dreams in cardboard form.

Here are five of the strangest, most wonderfully offbeat board games from the era—the kind that made you say, “Wait… that was real?”

5. “Mystery Date”

The premise: Spin the door to find out which dreamy boy is taking you out!

Why it was weird: You weren’t solving crimes or collecting property—you were literally just waiting to see which cardboard man showed up behind a plastic door. Would it be the hunk in a tux or the dreaded “dud” in scruffy clothes? It was like Tinder for preteens, 40 years early.

Strangest part: The mechanics were oddly elaborate for what amounted to boy roulette.

4. “Voice of the Mummy”

The premise: Explore an Egyptian tomb and collect jewels—but beware the mummy’s voice!

Why it was weird: This game had a working record player built into the board that played spooky messages from the mummy in a weird echoey voice. Sometimes the mummy helped you. Sometimes he cursed you.

Strangest part: It looked like a normal board game, but the “talking” tomb was straight-up haunted house energy. Pretty advanced for the early 1970s, and still a bit unsettling today.

3. “The Sooty Game”

The premise: Britain's favourite silent glove puppet… in board game form!

Why it was weird: The rules were almost incomprehensible, the artwork looked like it was done in a rush, and gameplay mostly involved collecting random objects from Sooty’s magic wand and bath tub.

Strangest part: How do you make a game where the main character doesn’t talk and still not make it a guessing game? Somehow, they didn’t.

2. “Electronic Detective”

The premise: A whodunnit game with a plastic computer console that spat out clues.

Why it was weird: Before Alexa or Siri, this talking console used push buttons and speaker static to simulate solving crimes. You were meant to use it like a high-tech crime-fighting assistant, but most of the time, it felt like you were arguing with a microwave.

Strangest part: The “voices” were just beeps and computerised nonsense. But hey, it felt futuristic.

1. “It’s a Crime!”

The premise: Form a criminal gang, take over turf, commit crimes.

Why it was weird: This game basically turned players into mob bosses. You recruited “goons,” shook down businesses, and battled rival gangs to control the city. Think Monopoly—but everyone’s packing heat.

Strangest part: Marketed as a game for ages 10 and up. Because nothing says wholesome family fun like extortion and gang warfare.