“Will you survive the mighty monster’s attack?”
Published by Mattel in 1978, the Godzilla Game infused playtime with chance and suspense as players anxiously awaited Godzilla’s attack.
GAMEPLAY
The object of the game was to evade Godzilla as he raided the galaxies in search of spaceships to devour.
With a spring-loaded Godzilla lying in wait inside an asteroid (the game platform), players secured their spaceships to the rotating wheel. Each then took turns flicking the spinner to determine how many clicks of the wheel to make. In a process similar to the anxiety-inducing game of Perfection, players held their breath in anticipation of an attack from Godzilla as he lunged forward out of the asteroid to eat a spaceship. If Godzilla attacked and snagged a spaceship, the craft was removed from the wheel and the player’s turn was over.
There were eight dedicated spots on the wheel for the spaceships. Players placed an equal number of their craft on the wheel during the initial setup. As the game progressed and Godzilla captured the pieces, unlucky players whose spin resulted in pointing towards an empty spot on the spinner were required to add one of their spare spaceships to the wheel, potentially increasing their chances of losing one to an attack. If the spinner pointed to a player’s own craft, that player could swap their position with that of an opponent.
The player with the last orbiting spaceship won the game.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included the platform with rotating wheel and space spinner and 24 spaceships (six each in red, orange, yellow, and green). An instruction pamphlet was included inside the box. The bottom of the pamphlet also included a mail-order form for replacement parts.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
The market for Godzilla collectibles waxes and wanes based mainly on marketing bumps to promote new movies and franchise milestones. There is a wide range of vintage and new products, catering to both casual and serious collectors with varying budgets. The Toho Godzilla ReAction Figures: Wave 1 from Super7 and the Jenga: Godzilla Extreme Edition from USAopoly are good examples of budget-friendly contemporary releases. The enduring pop culture phenomenon that is Godzilla means there will always be an opportunity to expand a collection.
Watch a classic commercial for the Godzilla Game on the Toy Tales YouTube channel.
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