However - just like today - the Hassenfeld Brothers knew that any game would sell if it had a popular Movie/TV theme linked with it. So what would be popular with children in the early 1960s? Monsters! And what kind of monsters? The good ol' Universal monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc, etc. So, in 1963, Hasbro released a board game for each of these famous monsters.... the only one that was missing was The Invisible Man.
The Mummy Mystery Game
"Explore the Ancient Crypts of Egypt" teases the front box, but inside it is a simple spin-and-move game where you land on spaces marked "Take a Crypt Card" and must reach the end with 10 of these. Getting caught by the Mummy simply holds you back a little in this race game. The highlight of the game is the board itself with its marvelous painted mummy and the Egyptian desert scene.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon Mystery Game
This game's object is "to escape from the Black Lagoon" but it appears that the fun part of the game is getting caught by the creature and being taken to its cave, so so much for wanting to escape....
Dracula Mystery Game
This one features some great early 1960s color schemes and once again is a simple roll-and-move race game. It appears that the players are attempting to escape Dracula's Castle and he has his own spinner as well, so he probably foils you if you are not lucky. Too bad he didn't "bite" your character and then you have to chase your opponents down and land on their space to turn them into vampires as well. That would be too imaginative a game for Hasbro.
Frankenstein Mystery Game
This is another race game whose graphics are better than the game itself. Oddly enough, all of these games have the players using cardboard standees of the monsters as their own playing pieces and yet trying to escape from the monster via the board route. This one has little Monsters that are placed on a stylized German village.
Wolfman Mystery Game
Another not-too-imaginative game involving the Wolf Man. Here players race to get from one camp to another and pass various dangers along the way, including a snake pit. Unfortunately, there are no gypsies and no Maria Ouspenskaya chanting the legend, "Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers at night....." featured in the game. Too bad....
The Phantom of the Opera Mystery Game
Lastly, there was The Phantom of the Opera and once again it features great art of the ghoulish organist. Sadly, it's pretty much the same game as the others with a simple spinner and playing pieces in the form of the phantom (why would players be dressed as the phantom and attempt to escape the phantom?), with the object being to - you guessed it! - escape the phantom's dungeon.
Hasbro had the phan-tastic idea of making games themed around the famous Universal monsters - and they probably appealed to youngsters - but they are a little too simple for the 12-year old+ crowd... especially today's 12-year-olds!
Today, these games are popular among collectors because of its monster theme. The Phantom of the Opera seems to be the rarest among the lot and most of these games fetch between $250-$400 a piece with better condition games topping $900. Now that's scary!
Note: All photos are courtesy of The Board Game Geek website. Check it out to read more about these games.
