# Obscure board games of your ute. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984 "2003-10-01T21:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ThatDuckIsEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@ThatDuckIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatDuckIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/41 "2003-10-03T16:22:46Z")
Pit! and Mille Bourne rule Pass the Pigs which was a dice game using tiny plastic pigs and you’d get points on how they landed I remember my mom made us play the UNgame, shortly after the divorce, and that got us all crying and fighting with each other GOOD TIMES! Another one I loved as a youngster was Enchanted Forest. You laid out these little plastic trees that had a fairly tale picture on the bottom of them. It was kinda like a concentration game. Whatever card was flipped up, you had to pick the tree with that pic on it. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/42 "2003-10-03T16:39:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ITR champion \* > \*\ ***Settler of Catan** , and sequel **Seafarers of Catan**. Set on a hexagonal grid where each hexagon produces a certain type of resource based on roles of two dice. You build settlements, roads, and cities along the edges of the hexagons, and then use the resources you pick up to build more. loads of fun. My family loves Settlers. Didn’t know there was a sequel - hmm. Another well-loved family game [Hotels](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3147622360&category=2532) We loved this game so much that we ragged on my brother when he left it at college - just because most of the pieces were gone, that’s no reason to dump it! My mom bought him another copy from eBay a couple years ago - way overpaid for it, but definitely worth it. Susan ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/43 "2003-10-03T16:52:57Z")
**Klondike**. Similar to Monopoly but set in the Klondike region during the Gold Rush era. You divided the Prospecting cards into four piles. When you landed on a Prospect space, you got to draw a card. The cards were either worth cash, Fools Gold or had instructions, such as go to a certain building or lose money. What’s an “ute”? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/44 "2003-10-03T17:54:59Z")
Another one just came to my mind: **Scotland Yard**. It’s made by one of the European companies and is not available in the United States as far as I know. The game board is a graphical map of London. Each player has a certain pile of tokens for taxis, buses, and subways, which allow them to move various distances. One player is Mr. X, and the other players are detectives attempting to catch Mr. X by landing on the same spot that he’s on. The catch is that Mr. X is only visible at certain times. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/45 "2003-10-03T19:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homebrew \* > \*\*What’s an “ute”? \*\* I may be being whooshed, but the fact that you wrote “an ute” instead of “a ute” suggests to me you may not have heard the reference: In the movie _My Cousin Vinny_, Brooklyn-bred Vinny Gambini (Joe Pesci) is addressing an Alabama courtroom presided over by good-ole-boy Judge Haller. Vinny is defending his two young cousins against a murder rap. Vinny, while addressing the court, refers to his cousins impersonally as “the two yoots”, which is Brooklynese for “two **youths**.” Judge Haller wrinkles up his nose, interrupts Vinny’s spiel, and asks “What’s a yoot?” For people that love to quote movies, the “yoot = youth” thing has been a pretty much constant weapon in their arsenals of wit. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/46 "2003-10-03T19:19:40Z")
No whoosh, **bordelond**. Thanks for the enlightenment. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/47 "2003-10-03T19:28:47Z")
When I was a kid one of my favorite boardgames was “Which Witch?” It had a castle with a chimney in the center of the board, and the pieces moved around the castle (outside and inside) trying to reach the center. At some point if you landed on a particular space you got to drop a marble down the chimney and it would come out in one of four random directions. If it hit one of the playing pieces that person had to go back to the beginning (even if it hit your own piece). I’ve actually been tempted to buy a copy of this game on Ebay, but it’s always been too expensive for a whim purchase. My other kid favorites were MouseTrap and Masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/48 "2003-10-03T20:25:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ITR champion \* > Another one just came to my mind: **Scotland Yard**. It’s made by one of the European companies and is not available in the United States as far as I know. One of the big two (Parker Bros. or Milton Bradley) released **Scotland Yard** in the US a while back – I remember buying it from the local Toys 'R Us. A game with a similar gameplay idea is [Clue: The Museum Caper,](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/viewitem.php3?gameid=1484) by Parker Bros. One player is an invisible thief, sneaking around a museum stealing paintings. The other player(s) have investigators, surveilance cameras, and motion detectors to try and catch the thief. It’s not as long to play as **Scotland Yard,** but fun in a “tournament style” (every player gets to play once as the thief, and the best getaway wins). I’d recommend it if you liked **SY.** ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/49 "2003-10-03T21:05:47Z")
**auntie em** , I remember Masterpiece! I only learned years later that all the paintings (at least in the edition we had) were from the Art Institute of Chicago. **Manatee** , I think the glow-in-the-dark game you’re thinking of was _Green Ghost_. We used to love playing with the glowing pieces, even though it was too complicated to actually play the game. I also remember something called “Voodoo” which had a big voodoo doll with holes in it. Players took turns putting pins in the holes until the hidden mechanism made a little witch doctor pop suddenly out of his hut. Then there was “The Last Straw” which had players put little colored dowels into the saddlebags on a plastic camel until the camel finally collapsed. In “Ants in the Pants” you would try to flip these little plastic ants into a big plastic pair of pants. Lots of yuks. And who could forget “Cootie?” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/50 "2003-10-03T23:08:44Z")
I bought a weird game from E-bay just because it looked really un-pc. It is called **What Shall I Be?** \* A Career Game for Girls\*. I guess young girls would play this game and choose a career like School Theacher, Stewardess, Actress, Model, or Nurse. You have to collect career chips and ‘personality’ chips and your personality has to match up with your career. Some of the personality chips read Good with make-up Good for Model, Actress or Stewardess Good in an emergency Good for Stewardess or Nurse Overwieght Bad for Model, Stewardess or Actress Poor handwriting Bad for Teacher or Nurse It is kind of shocking to play this little game. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/51 "2003-10-03T23:28:23Z")
This is bringing back memories. **Scotland Yard** was a blast. **Go to the Head of the Class, Cathedral, Axis and Allies** and **Dark Tower** (at least I think what I’m remembering it was Dark Tower) are all fondly remembered. We had another game that I can’t remember the name of it(although I swore I did when I first started reading this) but each person had a pretty big fat guy with a little open mouth that you put pellets in. When he weighed to much you won(lost?). Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/52 "2003-10-04T06:53:15Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\* I also had a game where you had to search for oil, buy wells, and try to get rich. You had to pay to look for oil somewhere by putting this oil well piece over a hole on the board, and if the hole was shallow this sliding piece in the middle would be pushed up, indicating how good an oil well it was. The game was randomized because there was a board under the board that you spun before the game that determined how deepo the holes were._\* Logically enough, this game (which I often played with my brother) was called [King Oil](http://www.gamepart.com/product/item/fly_416.html). Another family favorite was [Park and Shop](http://www.gamepart.com/product/item/fly_370.html). When the game was new, you could buy it for less than one pawn of a car or pedestrian costs today! Nice to see that [The Wacky Races](http://www.kidsdomain.com/review/consolekids/reviews/wacky_races.html) can be enjoyed by video gamers too young to remember the original run of the cartoon series, which also inspired a board game that got plenty of play from my siblings and me. Actually a game of my father’s and aunts’ “yout”, but passed down to the next generation, was “Cargoes”. You sent miniature metal ships around a circa 1940 world map, trading consignments of radios, automobiles, and other manufactured goods for such raw materials as South African gold and Trinidadian pitch. What a treasure for a young geography/history/transportation geek… ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984/53 "2003-10-04T13:38:20Z")
Acquire (by Avalon Hill). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-board-games-of-your-ute/204984.md?page=2)