Instructions for the Operation Board Game

Closing the Circuit

• Your aim in Operation is to remove various ailing parts of the sickly protagonist without setting off the alarm mechanism, a circuit that is tripped when touched by metal tongs. Each damaged part to be removed is set in a recessed cavern rimmed with metal. If you touch this metal rim with the metal tongs, a circuit is closed, activating a loud buzzer and a red light. A player who sets off the alarm has provided the patient with insufficient care and the player's turn ends.

Doctors and Specialists

• In most cases, you want to succeed on your first try so you keep money out of the hands of other players. There are two decks of cards included with Operation: a deck marked Specialists and another marked Doctors. Specialist cards are passed out at the beginning to each player and may be looked at by the player. Once play has begun, players take turns drawing a Doctor card. This card will have the part in need of removal and the payment you'll get for successfully doing so. If you fail, the player with that part listed on one of her Specialist cards gets to give it a shot, for twice the final payment. If you draw a Doctor card for an operation for which you also hold the Specialist card, there is a devious strategic opportunity open to you: You can intentionally flub the first operation, then earn double the money on the second attempt.

Ailments

• Most ailments in the game are in the form of part in need of removal. For example, the broken heart is a white plastic piece recessed in the center of the patient's chest. Only careful maneuvering with the tongs can remove it. However, the Ankle Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone surgery requires a different strategy. In this one, you must carefully stretch a rubber band between two joints.

Values

• Each ailment is assigned a different value, based upon difficulty. The easiest are worth 100 points, and include the Wrenched Ankle and Butterflies in the Stomach. The most difficult is Bread Basket, which is a small, smooth object whose removal from the stomach is worth 1,000 points. While you don't have a choice of which operation to perform, you should focus extra hard on the more difficult and valuable ones.

End

• Keep track of your points throughout, as they determine the victor. The game ends only when the patient has been fully cured and all the pieces removed. At this point, players add up their points, and surgeon with the most, wins.