When you’re a’game-playing, there’s nothing like the good, clean fun of a "race around the board and send your enemies back to the starting point whenever possible" kind of dice game—and Trouble is the perfect example of this toy truth. It’s easy to play, it doesn’t take a long time to set up or get through, and it’s surprisingly, maddeningly competitive. The only downsides are the wrath of the players you beat, and the sad fact that you always seemed to misplace the die somewhere. But there’s an antidote for the die-losing disease, to be discussed in just two paragraphs' time.
Kohner’s game of Trouble was introduced in 1965, and back then, a wooden die came in the box. The players rolled the die and then decided which of his four pegs he wanted to advance around the track with his roll. If he landed in a spot already occupied by a squatting opponent, he bumped the enemy pawn right back to its starting points—a delight for the bumper, and a downright travesty for the bumpee. The object was to move all four of your pegs around the track, and the first to get all four past the finish line was the winner.
A bit later, the Pop-O-Matic die-rolling bubble became a part of the Trouble board, and this little doo-dad was as addictive as the game itself. Press down on that plastic dome, and have a listen to the nifty suction ‘pop’ sound that came when the dome’s vacuum of air rolled the dice for you. Thanks to the bubble, there was no more die-rolling cheating, no more dice-losing, and very cool sound effects to boot! Of course, if Lady Luck was turning her back on a player, the temperamental sort of player was occasionally known to violently claw at the plastic dome in a vain effort to get a hold of those *@#$%^& dice once and for all—but usually his level-headed gaming colleagues would pry him off before the poor Pop-O-Matic was in any true jeopardy.
As we bid you adieu, we’d like to remind you that the bubble dome is no easy thing to undo—it’s just fastened down too darn tightly. May you steer clear of as much bumping-back “trouble” as you can, and may your worthy opponent, well, may that jerk stay knee-deep right in the thick of it.
Release History 1965 - Trouble
Sub Categories games
board games
Manufacturer Milton Bradley
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