KerPlunk is a children's game invented by

Eddy Goldfarb A. Eddy Goldfarb (born Adolph Goldfarb; September 5, 1921) is an American toy inventor. The creator of over 800 toys, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, Battling Tops, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form. He is the sub ...

with Rene Soriano and first marketed by the

Ideal Toy Company 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 Bet ...

in 1967. The game consists of a transparent plastic tube, plastic rods called ''straws'' (normally 26 to 30 in total and of various colours – yellow and red predominantly) and several dozen

marbles A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. These toys can be used for a variety of games called ''marbles'', as well being placed in mar ...

. The base contains four separate numbered trays and the straws are passed through holes in the middle of the tube to form a lattice. The marbles are then placed in the top of the tube and held in place by the lattice.Kerplunk Game
/ref> The

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

name of the game derives from the sound of the marbles tumbling to the base of the tube during play. At the start of play, the entire tube is rotated so that a hole in the base of the tube is aligned with the active player's tray. Players take turns removing a single straw from the tube while trying to minimize the number of marbles that fall through the web and into their tray. Once a player has committed themselves to a particular straw by touching it, they must remove it. The player who accumulates the fewest dropped marbles wins. The game is manufactured and marketed by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

in the UK, and formerly by the

Milton Bradley Company Milton Bradley Company or simply Milton Bradley (MB) was an American board game manufacturer established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the ...

, and by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in mor ...

in the USA. The modern US version of the game uses a pink or blue tube rather than the original yellow-colored tube. The current UK version – formerly New KerPlunk, although this was changed upon rebranding from

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...

to Hasbro Gaming – uses a red and green colour scheme, with an additional yellow marble; dubbed 'the golden ball' which can be used for either adding or subtracting 5 balls from a player's total, or ignored. There are also other versions of it, such as a ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''-inspired version that uses a tube shaped like a rocket ship and

Little Green Men Little green men is the stereotypical portrayal of extraterrestrials as little humanoid creatures with green skin and sometimes with antennae on their heads. The term is also sometimes used to describe gremlins, mythical creatures known for cau ...

figures instead of marbles. In addition, the KerPlunk Game to Go features a collapsible tube, making it more portable than the standard version. Another game has also been released known as KerPlunk 2. The rules are the same, except the marbles that come with the game are colored and, after falling, move around a spiral pathway similar to that of a

gumball machine A gumball machine is a type of bulk vending machine that dispenses individual gumballs in exchange for money. Originally priced at one penny when introduced in the early 20th century, the standard cost of one gumball in the United States is now ...

. It also has flashing lights and an assortment of sounds.

References

{{Refend

External links

Product Detail: Kerplunk! (Product#: 37092)

Consumer Relations Answer Center. Accessed 2010-03-29.
Ker Plunk

BoardGameGeek BoardGameGeek (BGG) is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 125,600 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. In addition ...

. Accessed 2010-03-29. Games of physical skill Milton Bradley Company games Ideal Toy Company Games and sports introduced in 1967 Children's board games
Giant Ker Plunk