Aggravation
It’s always been hard to find that “family game” balance. Make it too
hard, the little tykes wouldn’t get it. Make it too easy, and nobody
else would want to play with the little tykes. But sometimes, that rare
game got it right. Take, for example, the case of Aggravation.
Beginning in 1960, Aggravation managed to bring young and old
together around the board for a “classic marble race.” Each player’s
task was to take four marbles from Base to Home, but the journey was
fraught with peril. This was a game of every marble for itself, and no
space was big enough for two of them.
A die roll of 1 or 6 moved a single marble from Base onto the board
proper, where the clockwise journey began in earnest. Marbles moved
according to the die, with new marbles joining the trek as further 1's
and 6's were rolled. Shortcuts and the elusive “super shortcut” sped up
the voyage if your marble landed on the right spot, but it wasn’t all
happy trails and speedy shortcuts…
The “aggravation” of the title came into play when an opponent’s
marble landed on one of yours. In that unfortunate circumstance, your
marble was “aggravated” all the way back to Base, forced to start anew.
Numerous family arguments (a la sending an opponents's ball "out" in
croquet) began in this very fashion and many a marble has been spilled
in anger over ecessive aggravating. The only safe havens were the four
Home spaces, one for each of your marbles. When all four made it (on
exact rolls only, mind you), a winner was declared, and someone earned
the right to shout, “I am a marble god!” (this wasn’t mentioned in the
rules specifically, but it was probably implied).
With its cross-generational appeal, Aggravation was as popular at
sleepovers and birthday parties as it was on family game night. Deluxe
Aggravation expanded the game from four players to six (which
eventually became the standard on normal Aggravation), and gamemaker
Lakeside even introduced a Split-Level Aggravation in the early 70’s.
The fancy two-plane version didn’t catch on, but original Aggravation
still comes out of the game closet in many a home, carrying on the
“classic marble race” that everyone can appreciate.
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