The James Bond “007” Game from Milton Bradley (1965)

Company: Milton Bradley | Release date: 1965 | Ages: 12+ | # of players: 2 to 4 | Where to purchase: eBay

In 1965, Milton Bradley invited players to “enter the dangerous world of James Bond” with the release of the 007 game.

The game combined strategy and chance. Two, three, or four players were placed in competing red or black teams depending on the colour of the letters, B-O-N-D, facing them. Once divided into the two camps, each team attempted to capture its opponent’s tiles over the course of several rounds.

Numbered tiles labeled with either “007” or dots were placed into 16 windows on the game board. Tiles with dots had point values equal to the number of dots (1 to 5), while the 007 tiles were worth 10 points each.

Once the game board was filled with tiles, players secretly place one lettered B-O-N-D tile on their side. This clandestine maneuver determined which row on the board the player used for the round. Tiles were captured based the intersection of rows and colours, with red tiles captured by the Black team and black tiles captured by the Red team.

Chips were used to keep track of scoring. The game ended when one or both teams captured seven tiles. The team with the highest total was declared winner of the round. The losing team paid the winners the difference in points with chips. After one or more games, the team with the most points in chips was declared the overall winner.

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