# Anyone remember this board game from the 1970s? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 27, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265 "2011-08-27T04:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/1 "2011-08-27T04:33:52Z")
My cousin is trying to remember the name of a board game he played in the 1970s- possibly early '80s- when he’d have been elementary school age. He says the board looked like an ocean, there was a plastic whale in the middle of the board- possibly spring activated or possibly battery operated- and the playing pieces were boats. Does this strike a responsive chord with anybody? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/2 "2011-08-27T05:12:32Z")
More info: apparently the whale moved around the board capsizing boats (that were playing pieces). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/3 "2011-08-27T05:15:44Z")
I’m gonna guess it was Moby Dick or Greenpeace oriented. But I have NO memory of any such game. Hungry Hungry Hippo is as close as I get. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/4 "2011-08-27T05:20:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > More info: apparently the whale moved around the board capsizing boats (that were playing pieces). Not [Splashy the Whale](http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=%22splashy+the+whale%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=), then. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/5 "2011-08-27T05:21:26Z")
[Escape from Atlantis](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24037/escape-from-atlantis)? Released in 1986, though. Edit: Nevermind, looking at the photos I don’t think this can be it. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/6 "2011-08-27T06:08:23Z")
[Harpoon, The Real Whale Hunt Game?](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30188/harpoon-the-real-whale-hunt-game) The description sounds similar, at least. [Here’s another image.](http://www.timewarptoys.com/harpoon.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/7 "2011-08-27T06:47:43Z")
Don’t remember that game but it sounds very close to Hungry Hungry Hippo who “ate” the pieces. Has he tried Googling 1960’s and 1970’s board games? ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/8 "2011-08-27T06:52:11Z")
It’s not this, is it? [http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7091/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-game](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7091/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-game) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/9 "2011-08-27T07:32:42Z")
[The Jaws game](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/7563/jaws) maybe? Though it’s a shark, and you try to pick out the flotsam and jetsam caught in its teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/10 "2011-08-27T09:26:19Z")
I don’t have access to a link but it sounds a bit like The Bermuda Triangle game. There was a big storm cloud piece that would be moved about the board over the ship playing-pieces. Inside the cloud was a magnet and when it passed over your ship, your ship ‘disappeared.’ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/11 "2011-08-27T10:00:34Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I don’t have access to a link but it sounds a bit like The Bermuda Triangle game. There was a big storm cloud piece that would be moved about the board over the ship playing-pieces. Inside the cloud was a magnet and when it passed over your ship, your ship ‘disappeared.’ > **[Bermuda Triangle](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2296/bermuda-triangle)** > > Deliver your cargo and hope the mysterious cloud doesn't make your ship disappear! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/12 "2011-08-27T20:05:29Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I don’t have access to a link but it sounds a bit like The Bermuda Triangle game. There was a big storm cloud piece that would be moved about the board over the ship playing-pieces. Inside the cloud was a magnet and when it passed over your ship, your ship ‘disappeared.’ I think this might have been it- the picture looks right, and I can see how he could convert “storm cloud” to “whale” in his memory over the course of 30-something years. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/13 "2011-08-27T23:56:56Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I don’t have access to a link but it sounds a bit like The Bermuda Triangle game. There was a big storm cloud piece that would be moved about the board over the ship playing-pieces. Inside the cloud was a magnet and when it passed over your ship, your ship ‘disappeared.’ That’s what occurred to me - I had that game. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/14 "2011-08-28T00:49:05Z")
I don’t think this was it, but there was a game called Survive, which had people pieces escaping an island that was exploding. There were little plastic whale pieces that would destroy boats, along with shark fins and sea serpent pieces which would “kill” the people. I had fun times with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/15 "2011-08-28T01:39:39Z")
Here’s another one I wonder if anybody can recognize: there was a children’s board game in the late 70s/early 80s. You would slide a card back and forth into a slot underneath a man. As you slid it back and forth, the man would either nod or shake his head. This told you whether you were allowed to make a certain move or not. He almost always nodded “yes”, so it was always quite a surprise when he shook his head “no.” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/16 "2011-08-28T01:46:35Z")
The vague description of “board game from the 1970s with the board being the ocean, and had boat pieces, and something rotating” calls to mind a game I had back then based on escaping the sinking Titanic in lifeboats… The Titanic started up upright/above the water line and rotated around until it was completely sunk (below the horizon). Ah, here it is, the first one listed on some guy’s blog entry: _The Sinking Of The Titanic_. [http://gedblog.com/2009/06/01/you-know-for-kids-2/](http://gedblog.com/2009/06/01/you-know-for-kids-2/) (ETA: Both “The Bermuda Triangle” and “Jaws: The Game” are mentioned right after it, though I personally only remember the Titanic game.) ---
**Author:** ![lighthouse400](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@lighthouse400](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lighthouse400)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/17 "2012-11-10T18:04:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My cousin is trying to remember the name of a board game he played in the 1970s- possibly early '80s- when he’d have been elementary school age. He says the board looked like an ocean, there was a plastic whale in the middle of the board- possibly spring activated or possibly battery operated- and the playing pieces were boats. > > Does this strike a responsive chord with anybody? YES! We had this game and I’ve been looking for it online and finally found it today. It’s called Watch Out Willie. [http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/watch-willie-game-1979-schaper-toy-152815942](http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/watch-willie-game-1979-schaper-toy-152815942) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-remember-this-board-game-from-the-1970s/594265/18 "2012-11-11T23:16:04Z")
[Watch Out Willie board](http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1294242/rheggan)