Game Kids: Rock Jocks

In the mid-1990s, Milton Bradley published a huge number of board games for kids that were very physical - 3-d boards with moving pieces, usually involving a lot of action or dexterity.  Some of our favorites from that period are Spider Wars, Knockout and Fraidy Cats.  Today we found another one (at a garage sale, for $1): Rock Jocks.

The game has a two-foot tall cardboard cliff - at the top of which hang two not-so-good rock climbers.  (Why else are they dangling over the edge?)  Two players take turns playing tokens which force the other player to hang another animal (goat, snake, vulture or the lone, heavy Yeti) from his pack.  Eventually one climber can’t stand the load and flies off the board (they’re hanging from plastic planks that flip out).  The game is made to be played in rounds, and the player who loses three rounds loses the game.

JediBoy thinks this game is “very cool.”  The few times we played it today, I did see that it was getting him to think more about placement, balance and weight, but mostly he was thinking about how to force his dear old Mom to take on the Yeti!

I was impressed that the copy we found was complete except for a few of the eye labels for the animals (so we have a few half-blind goats).  Mostly, though, I was amazed that the gooey plastic stretchy arms were still stretchy enough to take on the load and not crack or snap in two.  The game played just the way it would have straight out of the box in 1994.

We just adore board games (I’m sure you hadn’t guessed) but even more I love to find games that will make my “cool” 5 year old son squeal with glee and laugh hysterically.  Keep an eye out for this one as you head into garage sale season in your neck of the woods.