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Aggravation (board game)
Aggravation is a board game for up to four players and later versions for up to six players, whose object is to be the first player to have all four playing pieces (usually represented by marbles) reach the player's home section of the board. The game's name comes from the action of capturing an opponent's piece by landing on its space, which is known as "aggravating". The name was coined by one of the creators, Louis Elaine, who did not always enjoy defeat.[citation needed]
The name Aggravation was trademarked by BERL Industries, which filed its application on April 10, 1959. A contemporary patent filed by Howard P. Wilde, Sr. two months earlier, in February 1959, describes a game board "which may be played, with high interest, vexation and aggravation by two, three or four persons" but does not provide specific gameplay instructions for the cross-shaped track and central space. The 1959 Wilde patent, in turn, cites an earlier patent filed in 1921 by Isidor Paris for a child's racing game, also featuring a cross-shaped track and describing how players move their markers along the track by taking turns rolling a six-sided die. However, the first version of Aggravation, published in 1962, follows the design described by Harry W. First in a patent filed in 1962 and granted in 1965; that patent does not provide specific instructions for gameplay.
BERL licensed the game for royalties of 1 penny per game sold. The license was previously held by Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. Today, it is manufactured by Hasbro. The children and grandchildren of the creators still hold rights to all game boards and sales.
Its distinctive features are that the track accommodates from four to six players, unlike other Pachisi-like games which only allow four; that it is normally drilled to accept colored glass marbles as playing pieces; and that it incorporates "shortcuts". There are no "safe" holes where a player's marbles cannot be captured (or "aggravated", in the game's parlance) other than the player's own base and home sections.[citation needed]
The original edition of the game, as described by First in the 1965 patent, accommodated two to four players, using a four-armed track. A "deluxe party edition" was released in the early 1960s for two to six players, using a six-armed track. At about the same time, the "Joltz" variant for up to three players was added, using a three-armed track and faster gameplay with a reduced set of three marbles per player. In 1971, a "split-level" edition was released with essentially the same track as the "party" edition, except the track was split into two tiers of three arms each and tier rotation and movement mechanics were introduced. Later, the original edition was discontinued and the six-armed "party" edition became the standard game board.
Older versions of the game usually feature a board which is perfectly symmetrical and identical in shape and size from all angles. However, modern versions of the game produced by Parker Brothers are made in an irregular pattern with a shape that varies for each player, though all players must travel an equal number of spaces in order to reach their respective home sections.[citation needed]
All versions of the game board feature a starting base area outside the track and a home area within the track; both are marked as a line of colored cells. A player wins when they are able to move all (three or four, depending on the variant) of their marbles from the base onto the track via that player's colored starting point, then moves the marbles clockwise along the track to the home area safely without being captured by another player. The exact location of the starting point may vary according to the version, but it is usually placed so that each player's marble must traverse the entire length of the track, i.e., the player is allowed to enter the home area only from the space immediately anti-clockwise of the starting point. However, the center shortcut may be used to shorten this route under certain conditions.
The game starts with each player placing four (or three) marbles in their "base". After the order of play is determined through the rolling of the die, each player rolls a single die on their turn to determine the number of spaces to move.
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Aggravation (board game)
Aggravation is a board game for up to four players and later versions for up to six players, whose object is to be the first player to have all four playing pieces (usually represented by marbles) reach the player's home section of the board. The game's name comes from the action of capturing an opponent's piece by landing on its space, which is known as "aggravating". The name was coined by one of the creators, Louis Elaine, who did not always enjoy defeat.[citation needed]
The name Aggravation was trademarked by BERL Industries, which filed its application on April 10, 1959. A contemporary patent filed by Howard P. Wilde, Sr. two months earlier, in February 1959, describes a game board "which may be played, with high interest, vexation and aggravation by two, three or four persons" but does not provide specific gameplay instructions for the cross-shaped track and central space. The 1959 Wilde patent, in turn, cites an earlier patent filed in 1921 by Isidor Paris for a child's racing game, also featuring a cross-shaped track and describing how players move their markers along the track by taking turns rolling a six-sided die. However, the first version of Aggravation, published in 1962, follows the design described by Harry W. First in a patent filed in 1962 and granted in 1965; that patent does not provide specific instructions for gameplay.
BERL licensed the game for royalties of 1 penny per game sold. The license was previously held by Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. Today, it is manufactured by Hasbro. The children and grandchildren of the creators still hold rights to all game boards and sales.
Its distinctive features are that the track accommodates from four to six players, unlike other Pachisi-like games which only allow four; that it is normally drilled to accept colored glass marbles as playing pieces; and that it incorporates "shortcuts". There are no "safe" holes where a player's marbles cannot be captured (or "aggravated", in the game's parlance) other than the player's own base and home sections.[citation needed]
The original edition of the game, as described by First in the 1965 patent, accommodated two to four players, using a four-armed track. A "deluxe party edition" was released in the early 1960s for two to six players, using a six-armed track. At about the same time, the "Joltz" variant for up to three players was added, using a three-armed track and faster gameplay with a reduced set of three marbles per player. In 1971, a "split-level" edition was released with essentially the same track as the "party" edition, except the track was split into two tiers of three arms each and tier rotation and movement mechanics were introduced. Later, the original edition was discontinued and the six-armed "party" edition became the standard game board.
Older versions of the game usually feature a board which is perfectly symmetrical and identical in shape and size from all angles. However, modern versions of the game produced by Parker Brothers are made in an irregular pattern with a shape that varies for each player, though all players must travel an equal number of spaces in order to reach their respective home sections.[citation needed]
All versions of the game board feature a starting base area outside the track and a home area within the track; both are marked as a line of colored cells. A player wins when they are able to move all (three or four, depending on the variant) of their marbles from the base onto the track via that player's colored starting point, then moves the marbles clockwise along the track to the home area safely without being captured by another player. The exact location of the starting point may vary according to the version, but it is usually placed so that each player's marble must traverse the entire length of the track, i.e., the player is allowed to enter the home area only from the space immediately anti-clockwise of the starting point. However, the center shortcut may be used to shorten this route under certain conditions.
The game starts with each player placing four (or three) marbles in their "base". After the order of play is determined through the rolling of the die, each player rolls a single die on their turn to determine the number of spaces to move.