Designers | William H. Schaper |
---|---|
Publishers | Hasbro |
Publication | 1949 |
Players | 2 to 4 |
Setup time | 2–4 minutes |
Playing time | 10–20 minutes |
Chance | Entirely |
Age range | 3 and up |
Skills | Matching |
The Game of Cootie is a children's game for two to four players. The object is to be the first to build a three-dimensional bug-like object called a cootie. The game was invented by William H. Schaper in 1948. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association included Cootie on its "Century of Toys List" of the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century. [1]
The game was invented in 1948 by William H. Schaper, a manufacturer of small commercial popcorn machines in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. It was likely inspired by an earlier pencil-and-paper game where players drew cootie parts according to a dice roll and/or a 1939 game version of that using cardboard parts with a cootie board. [2] Schaper's cootie, which was originally wooden and sold at the Schaper family's Robbinsdale Bakery, [3] was commercialised in 1949 [4] and moved to a plastic construction for wide distribution. Over 1.2 million game units were sold by 1952, and over 25 million by 1971. [5]
In 1986, Hasbro acquired the game from Tyco Toys. [6]
A "Cootie" statue was exhibited in Robbinsdale in 2018. [7]
The game is played with a die ("Cootie cube"), game board, and Cootie bug parts. The purpose of the game is to be the first to build a complete Cootie. To collect parts, players roll the Cootie Cube (die). Each number on the die has a corresponding Cootie bug part. Players must first collect the body with a 1 roll, then the head with a 2, and then the remaining parts in any order. Players reroll when collecting a part; their turn ends if they already have the rolled part.
Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a salary every time they pass "Go" and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs, and related media exist.
Risk is a strategy board game of diplomacy, conflict and conquest for two to six players. The standard version is played on a board depicting a political map of the world, divided into 42 territories, which are grouped into six continents. Turns rotate among players who control armies of playing pieces with which they attempt to capture territories from other players, with results determined by dice rolls. Players may form and dissolve alliances during the course of the game. The goal of the game is to occupy every territory on the board and, in doing so, eliminate the other players. The game can be lengthy, requiring several hours to multiple days to finish. European versions are structured so that each player has a limited "secret mission" objective that shortens the game.
Hasbro, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herman Hassenfeld and is incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast, among others. As of August 2020, over 81.5% of its shares were held by large financial institutions.
Boggle is a word game in which players try to find as many words as they can from a grid of lettered dice, within a set time limit. It was invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers.
Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley. It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games such as Poker Dice, Yacht and Generala. It is also similar to Yatzy, which is popular in Scandinavia.
Cooties is a fictitious childhood disease, commonly represented as childlore. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines as a rejection term and an infection tag game. It is similar to the British 'dreaded lurgi', and to terms used in the Nordic countries, in Italy, India and Iraq. A child is said to "catch" cooties through close contact with an "infected" person or from an opposite-sex child of a similar age.
Tonka is an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks. The company was founded in 1946 and operated as an independent manufacturer of popular steel toy construction type trucks and machinery, until its sale to Hasbro in 1991.
Simon is an electronic game of short-term memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, working for toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates, with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails or the time limit runs out, the game is over. The original version was manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley and later by Hasbro after it took over Milton Bradley. Much of the assembly language code was written by Charles Kapps, who taught computer science at Temple University and also wrote one of the first books on the theory of computer programming. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and was an immediate success, becoming a pop culture symbol of the 1970s and 1980s.
Hungry Hungry Hippos is a tabletop game made for 2–4 players, produced by Hasbro, under the brand of its subsidiary, Milton Bradley. The idea for the game was published in 1967 by toy inventor Fred Kroll and it was introduced in 1978. The objective is for each player to collect as many marbles as possible with their toy hippopotamus model. The game was, at one point, marketed under the "Elefun and Friends" banner, along with Elefun, Mouse Trap and Gator Golf.
Don't Break the Ice is a children's tabletop game for two to four players ages 3 and up. First marketed by Schaper Toys in 1968, the game was sold to Hasbro subsidiary Milton Bradley in 1986. It is still in production, and special editions were released in conjunction with the films Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019).
Mouse Trap is a board game first published by Ideal in 1963 for two to four players. It is one of the first mass-produced three-dimensional board games. Players at first cooperate to build a working mouse trap in the style of a Rube Goldberg machine. Then, players turn against each other to trap opponents' mouse-shaped game pieces.
Beetle is a British party game in which one draws a beetle in parts. The game may be played solely with pen, paper and a die or using a commercial game set, some of which contain custom scorepads and dice and others which contain pieces which snap together to make a beetle/bug. It is sometimes called Cootie or Bugs. The game is entirely based on random die rolls, with no skill involved.
Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy Wetsy, Toni, Saucy Walker, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Patti Playpal, Tammy, Thumbelina, Tiny Thumbelina, and Crissy. The company is also known for selling the Rubik's Cube.
Ants in the Pants is a game designed by Marvin Glass and Associates, who sold the rights to William H. Schaper, and was originally produced in 1969 by Schaper's company Schaper Toys. In 1986 it was purchased by Hasbro, which still manufactures and markets the game.
Selchow and Righter was a 19th- and 20th-century game manufacturer best known for the games Parcheesi and Scrabble. It was based in Bay Shore, New York.
Spin Master Corp., formerly known as Spin Master Toys, is a Canadian multinational toy and entertainment company. Spin Master employs over 1,600 people globally with offices in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.
Schaper Toys, or W.H. Schaper Mfg. Co., Inc. as it was originally known, was a game and toy company founded in 1949 by William Herbert Schaper in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. "Herb" Schaper published a variety of games but was best known for having created the children's game, Cootie. In 1971, the company was sold to Kusan, Inc., and began operating as Schaper Toys, a subsidiary of Kusan, Inc. In 1986, Schaper Toys was acquired by Tyco Toys, which sold the rights to Cootie and three other of the company's best-known games to the Milton Bradley Company. These games are still being sold.
Don't Spill the Beans is a children's game for 2 or more players ages 3–6 published by Milton Bradley Company, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The game was originally manufactured by Schaper Toys but acquired by Milton Bradley in 1986 through its then owner, Tyco Toys. The game is described by Hasbro as a "Classic Preschool Game. A Favorite For More Than 30 Years!".
The Military Order of the Cootie of the United States is a national honor degree membership association separately constituted as a subordinate and as an auxiliary order chartered by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW). The organization's services include supporting the VFW National Home and veterans hospitals. Founded in 1920, it became a subsidiary of the VFW in 1923.