“An exciting adventure with your fun-loving panda pals.”
Released in 1983 from Milton Bradley, the Pandamonium board game gathered an embarrassment of pandas competing to be the first bear to reach the Pyramid of Power.
GAMEPLAY
The game board was colourfully illustrated with mountains, trees, a bright yellow path, pandas, and lurking threats that included an abominable snowman, evil spirits, and an imposing green serpent. The menacing characters weren’t integral to gameplay, but did provide a visual threat as the pandas progressed along the board.
The highest dice roll started the game. Players took turns rolling the single dice and moving their panda pawns along the path from the starting position in the clouds to the glowing cave that represented the finish line.
The path to winning was dotted with threats and opportunities. Three types of spaces along the board offered setbacks or advantages: 1) panda paws: players landing on a space with a panda-paw print lost their next turn; 2) pandas: players who had the misfortune of landing here were forced to wait for an opponent to also land on that space to release them; and, 3) pyramids: landing on a pyramid space allowed players to discard one of their pyramid tokens and get a little bit closer to winning the game.
The first player to discard each of their four tokens and reach the Pyramid of Power (by exact roll) won the game.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included the game board, four cardboard panda pawns and plastic bases, 16 pyramid tokens, and one dice. Instructions were printed on the cardboard platform inside the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Pandamonium makes a nice addition to a collection of family-friendly games. It’s easy to learn and play with just enough challenge to make it interesting for casual and experienced board game enthusiasts.
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