“Push them in, pop them out – You can win by a knockout!”
Released in 1978, Milton Bradley’s Knock Out challenged players to outwit and outflank their opponent by placing “stoppers” in a hexagonal grid.
GAMEPLAY
To set up the game, the plastic grid was inserted into its stand and placed between two players. Forty playing pieces, a.k.a. stoppers, were evenly distributed. Each playing piece was multi-coloured, with the yellow side used to track scoring on both sides of the grid.
Play alternated between the two players, with each adding a single stopper on their side of the grid next to any other stopper. The goal of stopper placement was to trap one or more of an opponent’s stoppers in a straight line in any direction. Once trapped, a stopper was “knocked out” and replaced with a playing piece on the player’s side of the grid.
When the entire hexagon was filled, each player counted their stoppers, scoring one point for each yellow piece on their side of the grid. The player with the highest score was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete Knock Out game included the plastic grid with base and 40 plastic playing pieces. Printed instructions were included in the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Copies of Knock Out are readily available for reasonable prices on the secondary market. Ensure your version has the proper number of plastic playing pieces, and you’ll be well on your way to knocking out your opponent.
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