The Winters of the mid to late Sixties were a good time to stay in and play board games with mates.
Whilst my older brothers tackled the strategic challenges of Formula One, Risk,Go, Monopoly, Go for Broke, Cluedo, Blast Off and the beautiful Battle of Little Big Horn, my posse opted for more gimmicky fare.
Our games of choice all had some kind of toy or prop at their heart and involved very little dice throwing.
These included Frustration [the pop-o-matic], Fascination with its hand-held mazes, Mouse Trap with its diving man, Hands Down with its plastic hands, Battling Tops with... well, battling tops and the brilliant Haunted House, with its drop it down the chimney action.
But the king of the toy-games, the big enchilada, was of course .... Crossfire!
Crossfire was just genius. Simple as a duel at dawn, constructed like a decorating table. Basically two players had to fire ball bearings across a long board at a plastic puck and knock the puck into the opposing goal. Boom!
The balls were shot from red plastic repeating pistols which very cannily slotted into each end of the board. The board itself was at least a mile long and had thick plastic walls all round it.
The goals were simple recesses in the walls bridged by neatly shaped steel rails for effect. It looked magnificent and came in a box big enough to make a door out of!
I adored crossfire and have had several boards since being a kid. You could still pick one up boxed at car boots in the Nineties relatively cheaply. I may still have a board in the attic minus its pistols.
When you got good at Crossfire and you could fire a whole barrel of balls as fast as Wyatt Earp you would develop Crossfire Finger. This was a painful condition whereby the trigger finger would become tender and even blistered after repeated bouts. Seasoned firers stuck foam onto their triggers.
When you got mad during a game it wasn't unheard of for the pistols to be lifted out of the sides and placed directly in front of the puck for a point blank shot. Some particularly tetchy games ended in duels with the pistols being fired directly at the other player but such rakish behaviour was frowned upon.
There were many other ingenious games in my childhood - Cascade, Rebound, Booby Trap, Lawn Darts, Twister, Hats Off, Mousey Mousey and Buckaroo - but Crossfire was and always will be king!
What do you think readers? What games did you play?
I remember Crossfire, but never played it, Woodsy. I had a couple of shots at Subbuteo though. The set belonged to a mate of mine, who was a seasoned player, manager and owner. He even had the floodlights and an FA cup. Alas, I was no match for his match of the day skills. I preferred the kids table footie game, 'STRIKER, five-a-side football with a kick :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, Subbuyeo. I think I had some sets - like the cricket set maybe but it could be a false memory Tone. I was never a big sports fan so maybe I didn't. Its a simple but fabulous idea though, flicking a plastic player. I love the idea that your mate was a seasoned player, manager and owner! ha ha. STRIKER I know too but from my old toy fair and ebaying days. A superb boxed set and another ace idea. This time with the added umph of a laccy band! The only footie game I really recall having was Casdon Soccer with Bobby Charlton on the box. I did adore that game and have always enjoyed finding examples of again in charity shops. I may still have one! But what about the simplest game of all, Blow Football!
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