Bingo Blabber- Week of July 13th- Bad Bad Board Games! Signs of the Times! And More!

Welcome To THE BINGO BLABBER!

Week of July 13th, 2026

I'm Board!

No, I did not misspell "bored." That was my clever way of telling you our topic for this week is BOARD GAMES! Specifically really bad, dumb, offensive and ridiculous boards games.

You may or may not know that I know a little about board games because I created one!

See! I few years back I created a board game loosely based on our live shows.

"Drag Queen Bingo: The Home Game" was/is a ton of fun. Just ask anyone who has ever played it (every member of my family, for instance). I made up the catch phrase "If you can't come to a live show, stay home and play with yourself!" Crass and actually not correct (because you are actually playing with others) but it made the point.

I worked with some great graphic artists and love how it turned out. I had an initial order of 3000 games and am sadly (and also not sadly) down to about 24 of the games remaining. Yes, we did well. Unfortunately I had the game manufactured in China in the exact province where Covid started so reordering is not in the cards. Unless anyone out there knows of a place in the USA where it won't cost a fortune to do another run. Let me know!

So speaking of board games, as I said above, I decided to feature board games in this Blabber.. No, not the good ones (like DQB: The Home Game) but really bad ones. Actually pretty funny, if you ask me (except one which is just tragic). If you can find one of these horrible games, let me know and we will have a "horrible board game night" while doing tequila shots.

And away we go!

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Game Description:

The name of the game itself was controversial. To think that a board game titled “Capital Punishment” could be launched for kids itself is bizarre. Apparently, the game was published for political reasons – to make a "political point". Made by Hammerhead Enterprises, this politically driven board game lets players roll the dice in a corrupt judicial system. The primary motive of the game, of course, is to get all four of your ‘criminals’ in the game life imprisonment, death row or the electric chair. Yes, you read that right! A player could also use two of his ‘liberals’ to remove the opposing players' criminals from the "Path of Justice" and back onto the street. The objective was to do this often enough so that you could turn all the 'Innocent Citizens' of the opponent into 'Victims' of violent crimes. The victims would go to heaven. This was obviously quite a controversial and weird game. One wonders whether it would have even been allowed to be launched today.

My Notes:

A "corrupt judicial system? Hmmm. Sounds familiar. But at least the "victims" ended up in heaven. Happy ending for all?

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

Game Description:

"Why bother working for a living?" That was literally the tagline for the board game named “Public Assistance” - designed in 1980 to mock the United States government's domestic policies in the most ridiculous way. This roll-and-move type game required players to move around the board in two different tracks: "working person's rut" and "able-bodied welfare recipient's promenade." The purpose of the game was to show how one can freeload the most from the government. While playing, you could also end up with a lucrative government job or end up in jail. This attempted to show that you are trapped in a vicious system where you are forced to make the worst choices. The game was met with severe criticism and there were calls to ban it. The makers, Hammerhead Enterprises, mentioned that it was only a parody of government and liberalism and should be seen as that.

My Notes:

Sounds familiar? "You could end up in a lucrative government job or end up in jail." My only question is "when will that be coming? Soon?"

LIE, CHEAT AND STEAL

Game Description:

This was another political simulation board game that was launched in the early 70s. The basic premise of the game was that the players had to lie, cheat, and steal their way into the government office by using any means necessary and collecting as many votes as they can. Published by Dynamic Game, 'Lie, Cheat, & Steal' was different than most politically-motivated games, as here the players needed to employ genuine political methods to progress to the office - like vote-buying, libel and under the table deals. In fact, you could even steal from the public treasury and call for investigations against your opponents. You also had to ensure that you don’t get caught with "black eye crimes" which could hurt your political ambitions. This was an interesting but rather strange game, as it was intended for kids. It was criticized as it literally encouraged indulging in lying and cheating to achieve your goals.

My Notes:

Should we blame this game for our current political climate? The kids who played this game in the 70's would be just about the right age by now. Hmmm.

TOWN DUMP

Game Description:

It’s a good idea to let your child be aware of the misuse of garbage through a board game. The 1977 Milton Bradley board game 'Town Dump', though, gave a rather mixed message. Two players could play this game where they had to wind up a miniature bulldozer that would move through pieces of trash and push them out of the way. So far, so good. However, the motive of the game appeared to be clearing waste out of your dump and pushing it into your rival’s property. This would be fun to play, but the knowledge it indirectly imparted on children was to push your discarded trash into someone else’s property and let it become their problem. Understandably, Town Dump upset a lot of parents and is not recalled with much fondness today.

My Notes:

This one doesn't seem so bad compared to the other ones. However it could also explain those who leave discarded couches and mattresses on the street thus making them "someone else's problem. A big pass on this one.

THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC GAME

Game Description:

The sinking on the Titanic, a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, is widely regarded as one of the greatest human disasters in history. It is a painful and sensitive subject for countless people for obvious reasons. It is hence curious that someone thought it wise to make a board game based on the subject. The 'Sinking of the Titanic' was a board game that was introduced in 1975 by Milton Bradley. The rules were simple: "The Titanic is sinking. Players must race around and rescue passengers from their staterooms and rush to the lifeboats before the ship sinks.” Once the ship sinks, the players were supposed to accumulate enough food and water by visiting islands or by drawing cards to stay alive until the rescue boats arrive. The first player to make it there wins. There was a huge and expected outcry by those offended by the game in the United Kingdom. Later, the name was changed for U.K. distribution to ‘Abandon Ship’. However, they continued using the image of the Titanic on the cover. The unusual game turned many people off and eventually, The Sinking of the Titanic sank without a trace.

My Notes:

Um...

I am not even sure I can comment on this one. It is so inappropriate. I recommend we all "abandon ship" on this one.

Buddy-boy's Meme Of The Week!