''Operation'' is a battery-operated
game of physical skill that tests players'
hand-eye coordination and
fine motor skill
Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...
s. The game's prototype was invented in 1964 by
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
industrial-design student John Spinello, who sold his rights to renowned toy designer
Marvin Glass for $500 and the promise of a job upon graduation, which was not fulfilled. Initially produced by
Milton Bradley in 1965, ''Operation'' is currently produced by
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
, with an estimated franchise worth $40 million.
The game is a variant of the old-fashioned
electrified wire loop game popular at fairs. It consists of an "operating table",
lithographed with a comic likeness of a patient (nicknamed "Cavity Sam") with a large red lightbulb for his nose. On the surface are several openings, labeled with the names of fictional and humorous ailments, that contain plastic pieces. The general gameplay requires players to remove these plastic objects with a pair of
tweezers
Tweezers are small hand tools used for grasping objects too small to be easily handled with the human fingers. Tweezers are thumb-driven forceps most likely derived from tongs used to grab or hold hot objects since the dawn of recorded history. ...
without touching the edge of the cavity opening.
Gameplay
''Operation'' includes two sets of cards, "Doctor" and "Specialist."
The Specialist cards are dealt evenly to the players at the start of the game, and any extra cards are removed from play.
The Doctor cards are shuffled to form a deck and are placed face-down.
In the American and Australian versions, players take turns drawing the top Doctor card from the deck, offering a cash payment for removing a particular object.
The player in control uses a pair of tweezers (dubbed "Electro Probe" in earlier versions), connected to the board by a wire, to remove the piece without touching the metal edges of the cavity in which it rests.
Successful removal of the piece awards the value shown on the card, while a failure allows the player holding the Specialist card for that ailment (if any) a chance to remove it for double value.
If the Specialist card holder also fails, or if no player is holding it, the Doctor card is returned to the bottom of the deck.
Cards of both types are removed from play as the pieces corresponding to their listed ailments are removed.
A player drawing a particular Doctor card while holding the corresponding Specialist card may deliberately fail the first attempt in order to have a second chance for double value.
The winner is the player with the most money after all plastic pieces have been extracted.
The game is challenging because of the shapes of the plastic pieces and the narrow openings are barely larger than the pieces that they contain.
Play pieces
*
Adam's Apple
The Adam's apple is the protrusion in the neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx, typically visible in men, less frequently in women. The prominence of the Adam's apple increases in some men as a secondary mal ...
: An apple in the throat ($100).
*
Broken Heart
A broken heart (also known as heartbreak or heartache) is a metaphor for the intense emotional stress or pain one feels at experiencing great loss or deep longing. The concept is cross-cultural, often cited with reference to unreciprocated o ...
: A
heart shape with a crack on the right side of the chest ($100).
*Wrenched Ankle: A wrench in the right ankle ($100).
*
Butterflies in Stomach: A large butterfly in the middle of the torso ($500).
*
Spare Ribs: Two ribs fused together as one piece ($150).
*
Water on the Knee: A pail of water in the knee ($150).
*
Funny Bone: A cartoon-styled bone ($200).
*
Charlie Horse: A small
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
that rests near the hip joint ($200).
*
Writer's Cramp: A pencil in the forearm ($200).
*Ankle Bone Connected to the Knee Bone: A
rubber band
A rubber band (also known as an elastic, gum band or lacky band) is a loop of rubber, usually ring or oval shaped, and commonly used to hold multiple objects together. The rubber band was patented in England on March 17, 1845, by Stephen Perry ...
that must be stretched between two pegs at the left ankle and knee. This is the only non-plastic piece in the game and the only challenge in which the player must insert rather than remove something ($200). Its name derives from the
spiritual song "
Dem Bones
"Dem Bones" (also called "Dry Bones" and "Dem Dry Bones") is a spiritual (music), spiritual song. The melody was composed by author and songwriter James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson. It was first recorded by ...
".
*
Wish Bone: A wishbone similar to that of a chicken located on the left side of the chest ($300).
*
Brain Freeze: An ice-cream cone located in the brain ($600). This was added in 2004 when Milton Bradley allowed fans to vote on a new piece during a promotion titled "What's Ailing Sam?" that included a top prize of a $5,000 shopping spree. The other contenders were Tennis Elbow and Growling Stomach.
*Bread Basket: A slice of bread with a small notch removed from the top for easier grip ($1,000).
Other versions
The 1964-1965 Saturday morning children's game show ''
Shenanigans'' had a life sized, three-dimensional Operation game as one of its challenges.
Aside from the traditional board game version, Milton Bradley also produced a hand-held version which had a screen in Sam's tummy.
This also had a PC game produced in 1998.
In 2002, a brain surgery version was released, requiring the player to pull pieces out of a wisecracking Cavity Sam's head, within 15 seconds. Sam's nose lights up after time runs out.
In May 2004, a ''
Shrek
''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
'' version of the game was released.
In 2005, saw the release of a ''
Simpsons'' version of the game, featuring a talking
Homer Simpson being operated on by doctors
Julius Hibbert and
Nick Riviera. Items in the game include ''Bowler's Thumb'', ''Foot in Mouth'', and ''Rubber Neck''. When a player misses, Homer screams or says one of his
trademark lines such as "
D'oh! or "This is not good!".
In December 2006, a
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
version was released in which the player operates on the
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
superhero Spider-Man. In early 2008, Hasbro featured another Marvel superhero when it released an
Incredible Hulk edition of the game to promote ''
The Incredible Hulk'' feature film. In 2010, Hasbro also released an Iron Man version of the game to promote
Iron Man 2
In early 2007, a
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
version was introduced, featuring game pieces such as a "
shoehorn" and a "Krabby Patty pleasure center". Based on the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
TV series by the same name.
Later in 2007, Hasbro released a different version of the original game called "OPERATION Rescue Kit" in which the participant plays four different timed games with three skill levels. Each skill level reduces the starting amount of time. Cavity Sam has a heart monitor in this version, and the player can pump oxygen into him to gain more time.
In August 2008, Hasbro released a "Silly Skill Game" version which features 13 different sound effects for each of the different parts. Here the winner of the game is the player who removes most parts successfully.
A ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' version of the game was released in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
, where players get to "operate" on a
Dalek in order to (from the product description) "make it strong enough to take over the world. But be careful... if you damage it'll quickly tell you with one of its terrifying phrases! Whether it's the Targeting Sensor that you need to operate on, or the Manipulator Arm, you'll need a steady hand and nerves of steel!"
In 2010, Hasbro released a ''
Toy Story 3
''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...
'' version featuring
Buzz Lightyear
Buzz Lightyear is a fictional character in the The Walt Disney Company, Disney–Pixar Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise. He is a superhero action figure from an Story within a story, in-universe media franchise. Buzz is recognizab ...
as the patient. This followed the release of the ''Toy Story 3'' feature film into theaters. Another
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
film was promoted in 2011, when Hasbro made a ''
Cars 2
''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from the studio ...
'' edition including Mater the tow truck.
On
The Hub's television game show
''Family Game Night'' hosted by
Todd Newton, a segment called
Operation Relay is played, where two families compete one after the other. Family members take turns pulling pieces out of an oversized Operation gameboard, and then running through an obstacle course to eventually place them in a container at the end of the course. If a player fails to pull a piece without touching the side, or drops it while going through the obstacle course, they must move to the back of the line, and it's the next person's turn. Each piece is worth a specific amount of points, and whichever team has earned the highest score when time expires wins. Also on the show is
Operation Sam Dunk, in which families play
skee ball
Skee-Ball is an arcade game and one of the first redemption games. It is played by rolling a ball up an inclined lane and over a "ball-hop" hump (resembling a ski jump) that jumps the ball into bullseye rings. The object of the game is to col ...
to collect the most points possible. Each family gets two turns and the team with the highest score wins the game. For the show's third season,
Operation is introduced, in which one family can win money for a shopping spree by removing pieces to earn up to four rolls and then play skee ball in a same manner as in Operation Sam Dunk.
In 2013 Hasbro introduced
Doc McStuffins
''Doc McStuffins'' is an animated children's television series created by Chris Nee and produced by Brown Bag Films. It aired for five seasons on Disney Jr. from March 23, 2012, to April 18, 2020. The series centers on a girl who fixes toys, w ...
and
Despicable Me 2 versions of the game.
In 2022 Hasbro introduced a
Minions: The Rise of Gru version of the game.
Reviews
*''Games and Puzzles''
References
External links
*
''Operation'' Homepage at Hasbro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation (Game)
Board games introduced in 1965
Games of physical skill
1960s toys
Milton Bradley Company games
Board games of physical skill
Electronic board games
Hasbro products