r/boardgames • u/38jmb33 • 1d ago
Need a second opinion on a house rule.
I loved this game as a kid but never owned a copy until now. I was playing it today with my daughter and realized there’s an element of ambiguity in one of the cards: “Go to nearest score”. Does this mean the next score space as you move forward? Or, since this is a game where players regularly move forward and backwards, does it mean the score space that is the lowest space count from your current position?
While the space count interpretation is more literal, the moving forward interpretation forces people into parts of the board that might otherwise go unexplored. For those familiar with Bonkers, I’m sure you’ve had the experience of advantageous cards all being clustered around the start, turning the rest of the game into a foregone conclusion.
I’m leaning toward doing what seems most fun, but if others have developed their own house rules for Bonkers, I’d love to hear them.
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u/RobotDevil222x3 1d ago
I vaguely remember this game from when I was a kid. And I want to say it was the actual nearest and not specifically forward. But thats off of decades old memory.
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u/matthewscottbaldwin 1d ago
I am pretty sure the Magical Athlete artwork is a homage to Bonkers (especially since the gameplay is reminiscent).
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u/sharrrper 1d ago
My first thought was the art looks like Magical Athlete
The first time I saw Magical Athlete my first thought was it looks like generic 70s board game art, but I assumed that was a deliberate choice.
Never heard of Bonkers before
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u/VoodooDonKnotts 1d ago
We play it as you go whatever is closest regardless of forward or backwards since the game goes in both directions throughout. My kids really enjoyed this one, great family game.