Mechanical Board Games From the 1970s

"Perfection"

• "Perfection" from 1973 was a memory game where a player had to place individual pieces in their appropriate spot on the board in a limited amount of time. When time ran out, the board automatically popped up and the pieces scattered. "Perfection" was recommended for players between the ages of 5 and 12. The 1975 game "Superfection" was meant for multiple players. It used geometric pieces that had to be paired before they were placed on the board.

"Mr. Mouth"

• "Mr. Mouth" was released in 1975. A battery-operated centerpiece shaped like a frog's head rotated in a circle, opening and closing its mouth to "eat" colorful plastic pieces flung by each player with a spring-loaded mechanical hand. The first player to get all his pieces into the mouth first won. The game could be played with two to four players, ages 5 and up.

"Connect Four"

• "Connect Four" from 1974 had the iconic commercial with the brother and sister that finished with the boy saying, "Pretty sneaky, sis." Two players used red and black pieces to make a pattern of four of checkers in a row, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The board had a mechanical release at the bottom that cleared the pieces for the next game.

"Chutes Away"

• "Chutes Away" from 1977 had a plane that dropped parachutists in scoring cups as part of a fictitious rescue mission. The cups were not easy to hit since the bottom piece of the game board was in motion thanks to a wind-up motor. The player had to use an eyepiece with an overhead perspective to line up a shot and release her paratrooper in the direction of a cup.