Mouse Trap 1963

This page is for the classic versions with a bathtub component. For the revamped versions with a toilet component, see the new Mouse Trap page.

Mouse Trap pits 2-4 players against each other as mice trying to navigate through a complex mousetrap. They build the Rube Goldberg inspired mousetrap as they move their mice across the board. They also try to collect cheese cards, which allow them to move other mice to cheese wheel which is the bait for the trap. Once it has been completely constructed, players can attempt to capture each other's mice in it by turning the crank, which activates it. If it doesn't malfunction, the mouse is captured and out of the game. The winner is the last mouse who avoids being trapped. The game's main appeal is the ridiculously complex contraption that is the mousetrap. Somehow even young children can figure out how to assemble it from the blueprints on the board, and everyone enjoys watching it do its magic.

UPC 032244046575

Technically speaking the original 1963 version of the game states "A game for 1-4 players" and that did not change until the 1970 version. The cheese was not part of the game until 1984 which was the last year Ideal games was making the game. The 1984 Ideal game and the 1986 Milton Bradley Game had 30 pieces of cheese. There is also a 1986 and 1989 Milton Bradley version of the game which appears to mainly be in the UK market that did not have cheese and was the closest match to the original 1963 version. In fact, the 1986 version also used a spring-loaded helping hand which was originally part of the game from 1963 to 1978. From 1982 onward the helping hand was redesigned and no longer used a spring except the abovementioned version.

In 2016 Hasbro changed the way the game was played, and no longer did you add a piece to the Mouse Trap when you landed on a white square, the Mouse Trap was assembled prior to starting the game. The game also changed in that there was no longer a "Loop" at the end, instead you just keep traveling around the game board until you collected 6 pieces of cheese.

In 1984 Ideal also changed the gameboard to include the numbers "2" - "2-3" and "2-3-4" on certain spaces depending on how many people were playing the game to determine if a part of the Mouse Trap should be added to the game board.