Released in 1968 by Schaper Toys, Big Mouth combines two of my favorite things — food and humor — into a single game. Instead of a traditional game board, Big Mouth’s playing surface resembles an over-sized picnic in the park, complete with paper plates, big 14” red plastic forks, fruits, and vegetables.
At the center of the action is a cardboard clown with a giant hole where his mouth would normally be. When placed over a plastic bowl, the clown’s “big mouth” is complete. Each player is armed with a fork, a green insect, and a paper plate that contains 6 different plastic food items (bananas, carrots, grapes, lemons, pineapples, strawberries).
Gameplay is directed by a spinner that is divided into seven equal segments — one for each fruit or vegetable, and one for the insect. If a spin yields a food item, all players attempt to be the first to feed that item to the clown using an oversized fork. The losers return the food to their plates after each round. As the game progresses, the insect acts as a wildcard. Players can substitute it for a food item that they’ve previously fed to the clown while at the same time blocking other players from feeding the clown for that turn.
The winner is declared when the a player gets all of the food off their plate and into the clown’s big mouth.
Big Mouth was on the market for 3 years before it was discontinued.
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