My contemporaries will have no trouble identifying this image and may instinctively recoil in fear.
This ancient torture device of the 1980s was marketed as a game of skill called Perfection. The object? To put all 25 shaped pieces into place before time ran out.
To hinder aid the player, a 60-second timer loudly ticked down the time to detonation. And as if that wasn’t enough, as the timer ticked to zero the blue section of the board would SPRING up, sending the pieces flying willy-nilly across the room, reinforcing the player’s failure. You lose. Good day, sir!
As a 7-year-old with less-than-stellar fine motor skills, this game represented more of a challenge than I care to admit. The pressure of the timer loudly ticking and the threat of the board springing up and showering little yellow pieces all over me was almost too much to bear.
I’m sure that all the boys and girls who loved this game in the 80s went on to successful careers in the military disarming bombs and live grenades. Not me. This game only served to add to my anxiety and neuroses. Thanks for the fun, Milton Bradley!
Gee….thanks a lot for reminding me of the passage of time….in my case it was the children who went through these agonies!
We never owned this game though I remember playing it. My best friend (one of 7 kids) had one. I remember the spiking soar in blood pressure it used to induce. That zapping buzzer in Operation used to do the same thing to me. ZXZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! AHHHHHHHH!! That game (Concentration – ??) with the light-up buttons you had to smack as they whirled by did it too.
Ahh, memmmmmoriiessss.. (cue Babs)
husban-dito and i own operation and love to play it. it’s much harder than i remember but that’s because we actually put the batteries in the game when we play it. as kids, we never seemed to have the correct batteries for operation in our house so the game wasn’t so stressful. ahahah
SOOOOoo Glad you’re BACK! Love ya babe! xoxoxo
PS: Now everyone is home sick (or pretending..) YAY!
if memory serves, weren’t there like, 2 or 3 (wait, no, 4 or 6) pieces that were deceptively similar?
Milton Bradly Jerkfaces. Ruining our chances for high-pressure-yet-highly-rewarding-jobs.
(P.S. youses is an attractive couple… from an eyeball standpoint)
hahahah! we actually have warts on our chins and fangs instead of teeth.
how are you feeling?!?!?!?!?
I never had Perfection, but I did have Scattegories. Same obnoxiously loud ticker, same added stress hindering my ability to think of a boy’s name that starts with L.
Wow – what a flashback!! I just laughed out loud at my desk. I actually found this game less intimidating then Operation.
ker bang ers .
How many still have bruises from those? Raise your hands. Yes, I see.
I was just trying to remember the name of this game and none of my friends could place it either. not only did a web search find your naming of the game but you’ve also accurately described my feelings on it too!