“The wildest, wackiest, most wonderful fun game ever!”
In 1966, Topper Toys released Silly Safari, a jungle-based contraption game with 3D mechanics reminiscent of Ideal’s Mouse Trap released three years earlier.
The object of the game was to capture as many animals as possible via a Rube Goldberg-esque device called the “Silly Trap.”
GAMEPLAY
Preparation for a round of Silly Safari involved assembling a working Silly Trap. The rotating turntable was placed at the center of the gameboard and consisted of four interconnected plastic animals: Charlie Chimp, Cockeye Crocodile, Geraldine Giraffe, and Goofy Bird, plus a plastic cage and a steel ball dubbed the “Kookie Nut.”
With the operational Silly Trap in place, a series of small plastic animals were placed in their respective habitats — elephants in the Elephant Country, gorillas in the Gorilla Forest, hippopotamuses in the Hippo Area, lions in Lion Territory, and rhinoceroses in Rhino Land.
One to four players chose coloured playing pieces in the shape of feet. With each turn, a player proceeded around the gameboard’s footpath via the roll of a single die. Players landing on red or yellow footprints obeyed the positive or negative directives printed on the gameboard near each foot.
Landing on a “Trapfoot” let the player work the Silly Trap. The fun started by pushing down on Goofy Bird’s tail and watching the Kookie Nut trace a path from animal to animal until Geraldine Giraffe stopped munching on leaves and released a cage over an unsuspecting animal.
Play continued until one player landed by exact count on the Finish footprint. The player with the most captured animals was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete game included a gameboard, one of each center Kookie Nut tree, palm top, turntable, vine, steel ball (Kookie Nut), and plastic cage; four plastic playing pieces in the shape of feet, four large plastic animals (Charlie Chimp, Cockeye Crocodile, Geraldine Giraffe, Goofy Bird), 21 small plastic animals (five elephants and four each of hippos, rhinos, lions, and gorillas); and one standard six-sided die. Instructions were included inside the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
In addition to Silly Safari and Mouse Trap, if you’re hankering to more classic contraption games to your collection, look for the Crazy Clock and Fish Bait games from Ideal. All four games are readily available from secondary auction sites and vintage toy stores.
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