''Mall Madness'' is a shopping themed
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a co ...
released by
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...
in 1988.
An electronic talking edition was released in 1989, followed by redesigns released in 1996, 2004, and 2020.
Objective
The game's objective is to be the first player to purchase six items on the player's shopping list and return to the parking lot or their final destination. This final objective varies with each new edition of the game. The original shopping list objective was increased to ten items with the release of the 1989 and 1996 editions.
Gameplay
The setting for the board is a two-story
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
. The game is designed for two to four players. Each player receives $150 from a player who is designated as the banker. The banker dispenses cash in the following manner: one $50 bill, three $20 bills, three $10 bills, and two $5 bills. In the 1989 and 1996 versions, each player receives $200 in the following manner: two $50 bills, three $20 bills, three $10 bills, and two $5 bills. The first player presses the computer's gameplay button, which directs the player to move a random number of spaces. Players can navigate horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally. Players do not have to move the full count to enter a store and can only move into a store through its doors and not its walls. When arriving at a store, players can make purchases with their credit card by inserting it into the computer's "buy" slot. With each turn, an electronic voice announces a clearance at one store and sales at two others. Players can use these sales to their advantage to avoid using the game's
ATM. After the player purchases items with a credit card (signified by a
cash register
A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other ...
sound), the player will pay the banker the appropriate amount of cash. Players can then mark that item off on their shopping list. Once a player buys an item from a particular store, they cannot return to that store. Once a player collects six of the items on their list, they must be the first to reach their respective parking lot (1989, 1996, and 2020 editions) or final destination (which may change at any time; 2004 and "
Littlest Pet Shop
Littlest Pet Shop is a toy franchise and cartoon series owned by Hasbro. The original toy series was produced by Kenner in the early 1990s. An animated television series was made in 1995 by Sunbow Productions and Jean Chalopin Creativite et Devel ...
" editions). The first person to accomplish this wins the
game.
The board is a
three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...
field representing a mall featuring two stories, a bank, and a speaker located in the center of the board. The stores located on the second floor are only accessible by stairs or
elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...
.
The original game featured two types of currency to accomplish the game's objective:
paper cash and
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
s. Four credit cards were included, one for each player. The names of the credit cards are ''Fast Cash'' (from ''Good Cents Bank''), ''Quick Draw'' (from ''Dollar Daze Bank''), ''MEGAmoney'' (from ''Big Bucks Bank''), and ''Easy Money'' (from ''Cash n' Carry Bank''). In the 2004 edition, these cards were referred to as "cash cards".
Marketing
The game has been designed for players ages 9+. Milton Bradley produced several
commercials for the game that appear to target a younger female demographic.
Two special-edition
Hannah Montana and
Littlest Pet Shop
Littlest Pet Shop is a toy franchise and cartoon series owned by Hasbro. The original toy series was produced by Kenner in the early 1990s. An animated television series was made in 1995 by Sunbow Productions and Jean Chalopin Creativite et Devel ...
versions of the board game were released in 2008.
Game contents
''Mall Madness'' included the following pieces:
*a box
*a game board
*an
electronic computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
*an instruction manual
*six plastic wall pieces
*four rubber pads to prevent wall pieces from slipping
*four cardboard shopping lists
*two sale signs
*one clearance sign
*eight plastic pawns (two for each color; red, blue, yellow and green, one was female the other male)
*forty plastic pegs (used to mark shopping lists)
*paper money (that resembles
U.S. currency
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
, except each bill denomination is color-coded for the game)
*four cardboard credit cards
*29 pieces of cardboard which held the game board together
Electronic computer
Original versions of the game featured an electronic computer to dictate gameplay. All computers in the early version of the game were manufactured in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Milton Bradley copyrighted the computer in 1989. The top of the computer featured three buttons; one to start or reset gameplay, one to begin and end turns, and one to repeat the last announcement. Two slots on the computer's top, designed for the
credit cards that accompanied the game. One slot was to buy items, the other was to use the banking feature.
The original game's computer featured both a female and male voice. The 2004 version features only a female voice.
Stores
''Mall Madness'' featured eighteen stores:
*I.M. Coughin Drug Store
*Suits Me Fine Men's Shop
*2 Left Feet Shoes
*Short Circuit Electronics
*Yuppy Puppies Pets
*Scratchy's Records
*Novel Idea Books
*Frump's Fashion Boutique
*The Write Stuff Card Shop
*Fork It Over Kitchen Store
*Hokus Focus Cameras
*Sweaty's Sports
*Made in the Shade Sunglasses
*Chip's Computers
*Ruby's Jewelry
*DingaLing Phones
*M.T Wallet's Department Store
*Tinker's Toys
Additional areas:
*Conehead's Ice Cream
*Restrooms
*Vidiots Arcade
*Aunt Chovie's Pizza
Legacy
Milton Bradley released a line of digital electronic voice board games following Mall Madness. In 1990, Milton Bradley, under its
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
brand, released an updated version of the 1984
Mystery Mansion board game, adding an electronic voice device. In 1992, they released
Omega Virus, a board game on a space station infected by an extraterrestrial computer virus. Unlike previous electronic voice games by Milton Bradley games, Omega Virus was unique in that it was the only one that had a countdown timer that would end the game if not completed before time ran out. Michael Gray, the creator of Mall Madness, also designed
Omega Virus and Dream Phone.
With the release of the 2020 edition, Julien McCluney, vice president of global brand strategy and marketing at
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
, told ''
Bustle
A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...
,'' “In the original Mall Madness – as well as the new edition – the game is centered around the exciting experience of going on a shopping spree with friends, the fact that so many adults reminisce about the original
ame #REDIRECT AME
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
more than 30 years after its initial release speaks volumes to its place in pop culture!”
References
External links
*
''Mall Madness'' 1996 instructionsat Hasbro.com
''Mall Madness'' 2004 instructionsat Hasbro.com
''Mall Madness'' 2020 instructionsat Hasbro.com
''Mall Madness'': "The Littlest Pet Shop" instructionsat Hasbro.com
{{Hasbro
Board games introduced in 1988
Children's board games
Milton Bradley Company games
Roll-and-move board games
Electronic board games