Gaming Gimmicks – The Pop-O-Matic

Obscure Board Games (on TikTok) recently featured the 1968 game Headache. Players move cones around the board in an attempt to capture opposing player cones. It features a healthy dose of randomness, anxiety inducing cone chases, and most interesting to me, a “pop-o-matic” dice roller (popper?).

The pop-o-matic was debuted in 1965 with Milton Bradley’s Trouble (now a division of Hasbro). A number of games have featured the pop-o-matic, but none is as iconic as the original implementation.

There are lots of ways to randomize dice, a dice cup, dice tower, or even just rolling them like a normal human. But, there is something iconic about the pop-o-matic. It is tactile, it is novel (or was), and even though it is apparently less random than other methods, there is something distinctly satisfying about popping a little dome with dice.

Dice tower from Edge of Darkness, photo by @Flixster via BGG

Of course, not everyone agrees with my view. While going down the pop-o-matic rabbit hole I came across this charming contrarian take by Jason Meyers on islaythedragon.com.

The pop-o-matic got me thinking about gimmicks in games. I don’t remember the rules to Trouble (it is apparently derivative of the Indian game Ludo), but I sure as heck remember popping the pop-o-matic as a kid.

If our goal in game design, development and publication, is to create memorable moments, to engage, and to excite people, then there is nothing wrong with gimmicks. Maybe it’s a boatload of minis, a soundtrack, an interactive app, or a novel way to roll dice.  

It’s a thin line between a feature and a gimmick, and sometimes maybe it’s worth it to brazenly step across that line.

What are your favorite gaming gimmicks?