SpongeBob Operation Board Game

Brief History

SpongeBob SquarePants was introduced on Nickelodeon as a television cartoon character on May 1, 1999. He is a fry cook at the local burger stand – The Krusty Krab – which is owned by Mr. Krabs, an old crustacean. SpongeBob lives in the undersea township of Bikini Bottom with his friends. He is an optimist, but a bit naïve and certainly square. The cartoon has become one of the highest-rated cartoons on television.

The SpongeBob Operation Board Game is published by Hasbro. It is a relatively new version of the original Operation game that was designed by Marvin Glass in 1965 and published by Milton Bradley. Marvin Glass designed over 50 games in the 1960s and 1970s including:

• Ants in the Pants
• King of the Hill
• Masterpiece
• Mind Maze
• Mouse Trap
• Hands Down

Fun For All Ages

This is a great family game. The buzzer can go off at anytime, and it always creates a lot of laughter from all the players.

It is a great game to give as a gift because it is easy to learn and play. It has become a very popular board game because players can start playing without having to learn a lot of rules.

Players

This game is a fun way for little ones to practice dexterity and to increase their fine motor coordination. It is recommended for one or more players, ages six and older. The game has several small pieces, so it is not recommended for younger children who might choke if they put one of the small pieces in their mouth.

There are rules included with the game, but its not really necessary to read the rules to figure out how to play. This makes the game excellent for non-readers or players who are not proficient in English. The game can be a good tool to teach children how to count money, take turns and keep score.

Game Pieces

• 1 game board with SpongeBob and buzzer (2 AA batteries are required)
• 1 pair tweezers
• 24 Doctor and Specialist cards
• 12 plastic "Funatony" parts
• Play money
• Rules

Game Set-up

This is a very fast game to set-up. The board is already in one piece. The first time you play you will need to unwrap the money and cards and to pop the "Funatony" parts off of the runner and place them in the open slots on the body board.

The next time you play, you only need to place the "Funatony" parts onto the game board, shuffle the cards, deal out the Specialist cards and place the Doctor cards face down near the game board.

Playing the Game

The game is simple, fun and fast to play. A typical game only takes about ten minutes. Children like to play it over and over, changing the order of the parts they remove each time they play.

Players take turns drawing a Doctor card to find out what part of SpongeBob they will be trying to remove. Each card tells how much the player will "earn" if they successfully remove the part with the tweezers without touching the sides of the opening from which the part is being removed. If they touch the side, SpongeBob's nose will light up and he will screech. The screech signals that the other players can look through their Specialist cards to see if they have a card with that body part. If so, they take a turn trying to remove the body part. If they can't remove the part, then the turn moves to the next player.

There are 12 "Funatony" body parts:

• Evil Thoughts
• Spark of Brilliance
• Barnacle Brain
• Thinking Cap
• Patty Pleasure Center
• Wrench in the Plan
• Head Case
• Elbow Grease
• Heart Burn
• Clammy Hands
• Truth Serum
• Shoe Horn

Winning the Game

The winner is the player who has the most money after all 12 "Funatony" parts have been removed from SpongeBob.

Other Versions

SpongeBob isn't the only Operation spin-off. Each game has its own patient and has unique parts to be removed in the operation:

• The Original Operation Game
• Operation Rescue Unit
• Operation - Shrek Glow-in-the-Dark Edition
• Operation - Simpsons Talking Homer Edition
• Operation – Spiderman 3
• Operation – Shrek
• Spanish Edition Operation

Where to Buy the SpongeBob Operation Board Game

• Amazon.com
• Unclesgames.com
• Boardgames.com
• Hasbro Toy Shop
• BoardGameGeek.com
• Wal-Mart
• Toy and game stores