Buckaroo!
Buckaroo is a game of physical skill, intended for children aged four and above. Buckaroo is made by Milton Bradley, a division of toy giant Hasbro.
Play centres around a simple articulated plastic model of a mule named Roo. The mule begins the game standing on all four feet, with just a blanket on its back. Players take turns placing various items onto the mule's back. They must do so very gently, as a delicate spring mechanism inside the mule will be triggered by excess vibration - if it is triggered, the mule bucks up on its front legs, throwing off all the accumulated items. The player who triggered this buck is knocked out of the game, and play resumes. The winner is the last player remaining in the game. In the (unlikely) event that a player manages to place the last item onto the mule's back without it bucking, that player is the winner.
The items which players must place on the mule's back are (variations in names from 2007 UK version in parentheses):
- a bedroll
- a canteen (water bottle)
- a crate (rifle box)
- a frying pan
- a cowboy hat
- a guitar
- a holster (holster with gun)
- a lantern (lamp)
- a rope
- a saddle
- a shovel
- a stick of dynamite
Of these, the saddle must be placed first. It has a number of points on which the subsequent items are hung. These other items may be placed in any order (some players have personal theories as to which is the most likely to cause the mule to buck).
The game has three sensitivity levels that are adjustable via a switch located on the side of the mule's body, under the blanket. The switch adjusts the location of the lever to which the blanket is attached in relation to the trigger mechanism attached to the spring.
Previous variants
The items included with the game have changed over the years. For example, the 1996 UK version also included the following items:
The reasons for these omissions are unknown, but may be cost or safety related
Other uses
Buckaroo is also the name for a prank where person(s) place bigger and bigger items onto someone when they have fallen asleep until the sleeping person has woken up.
In popular culture
- Buckaroo is a favourite game of Father Dougal McGuire in Irish sitcom Father Ted. He regularly plays the game with Ted, despite the fact that Ted hates it and would rather play chess.
- A version of the game involving placing small objects on a sleeping cat until it wakes up and walks off was termed "Cat Buckaroo" by Phill Jupitus on music panel game Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
External links
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