20,000 Leagues Under The Sea from Lakeside (1975)

Company: Lakeside | Release date: 1975 | # of players: 2-4 | Ages: 5+ | Where to purchase: eBay

Released in 1975 by Lakeside, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea board game immersed players in the world created for the Walt Disney Productions film, adapted from Jules Verne’s classic novel.

Published in 1870, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas was a science fiction adventure about a group of travelers journeying beneath the ocean. Along the way, they encountered unfamiliar underwater environments and marine creatures. Walt Disney Productions adapted the story for a film titled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1954. The film was one of the first to use CinemaScope technology and starred Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, and James Mason.

GAMEPLAY

The role-and-move game blended movement, strategy, and interaction as players guided their Nautilus submarines from start to home port.

Each player progressed along a designated path by rolling dice, with the option to travel either on the surface or submerged. This choice affected both movement and gameplay, adding a layer of decision-making to each turn.

A central element of the game was the rotating gunboat system. Players who landed on specific spaces could activate the control tower, which moved the gunboats along the waterways. These gunboats posed a threat, as contact with a Nautilus resulted in the pawn being sunk and returned to an earlier position, whether it belonged to the player or an opponent. Additional elements, including special spaces and obstacles such as the giant squid, introduced further unpredictability.

An exact roll was required to reach home port and win the game.

IN THE BOX

A complete game included the game board, contol tower, four Nautilus submarines (green, blue, yellow, red), eight gunboats, one white die (marked one through six), and one black die (marked one through three). Instructions were printed inside the box top.

COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS

Licensed Walt Disney Productions properties were frequently adapted into board games. Collectors of Disney-related games can also look for the Winnie the Pooh Game from Parker Brothers, Robin Hood Game from Parker Brothers, and The Lion King Game from Milton Bradley, which similarly translated film and literary properties into tabletop formats.

Note: If you buy something using the eBay link in this story, we may earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting independent toy journalism!