Paper Board Dice Games

In my previous post, I talked about the possible origin of Chicken Fever. One of the sources I referred to was a paper board game played with a pair of dice. Here are a few more of these colorful, portable games which seem to have enjoyed some popularity in the 1970s. I'm not sure of the rules, but they're still fun to look at.

The above pic is of an Ultra Seven game. It's got a lot of action sequences and kaiju illustrations. Here are some closeups:

I guess you got points as you moved across the board. (?)

Maybe landing on 105 got you fried and you had to go back some spaces? I dunno. My guess is kids made up the rules, which is a lot more fun anyway!

 More after the jump:

Wham!

Next up here's a space-themed game.

On a side note, I remember that during my 2013 interview with Mel Birnkrant (the creator of the Outer Space Men toys), he mentioned that after 1969, when astronauts basically found nothing on the moon, interest in space toys plummeted in the USA. Well, things went quite a bit differently in the 1970s in Japan, with the release of Henshin Cyborg, Microman, etc.

The title reads "Space Kaiju Game."

Kong in space? Oh, yeah.

This game is similar to the first one, with lots of connected dots. There are no numbers, but once again there are big circles. Maybe you made your own pile of mystery cards a la Monopoly, and you chose one when landing on a big circle. (/randomguesswork)

Wouldn't it be fun to take out a game like this at a coffee shop and start playing? Even a small table would be enough space.

 Finally here's an Ultraman game. Not 100% sure, but this one may be licensed.

With the way the numbers are laid out, it looks like there must be some rules. Maybe you had to role a certain combination or sequence to defeat each kaiju?

I like the way the names are written. Here's Gonga.

Talk to the hand, Gomess!

Well, that wraps up this silly look at one of the slightly more obscure, but all the same fun corners of the 1970s Japanese kidoverse.

Happy Holidays!