Aggravation Board Game

My mother was onto something way back in the '60's. As I look around on the internet, I see many different types of custom Aggravation boards available for sale. If the internet was around in the '60's my mother could have started her own business and made a small fortune!

Some of the designs for these custom Aggravation boards are plain or basic while others are more flashy, stylish, futuristic, and outrageous. Check out some of the boards I've found.

They don't call it Aggravation without a good reason - this game is frustrating! There have been a few times where I threw my little hands into the air in complete disgust and ran from the room. My mother was cut-throat and winning was everything (which was unusual for this typically low-key, quiet person) and it was shocking to see her turn into this monster!

After just a few games, I refused to play anymore. I couldn't take her mentality (intentionally going after my marbles and killing me time after time!) nor my frustration. This was no game - this was a nightmare!

After that was when my mother started playing with her cousins and friends, kicking all their butts in the process to becoming the Aggravation Queen!

This game is not for wimps. It's like Monopoly in that it's every person for themselves and it's definitely 'kill or be killed.' I couldn't take it, can you?

Be forewarned! There will be growls of anger, howls of pain, screams of revenge, and possibly spilled drinks during this game and only one shall leave with a smile. All the others shall wish that person dead. On to the official rules:

1. The game starts with each player placing four marbles in their base.

2. After the order of play is determined through the rolling of the die, each player rolls a single die on each turn to determine the number of spaces to move.

3. All marbles remain in the base until either a 1 or 6 is rolled, which entitles the player to move a marble from the base to their start, the first step before entering the track. While this is considered a turn, and the move takes place in lieu of moving a marble that number of spaces, a six, if rolled, entitles a player to another turn whenever a legal move can be made.

4. The winner is the first player whose pieces all reach home by exact count.

Each of the inside corners near the center of the board is a "shortcut." A player landing a marble by exact count on one of the corner shortcuts has the option, on the next roll, of jumping from shortcut to shortcut, counting each jump as a single space, thereby speeding the path to the player's home.

The hole in the center of the board is known as the "super short cut." A player who is able to land a marble in this location by exact count has the option of taking a route even faster to home. The super short cut, though, has the drawback in that it may only be exited by rolling a 1.

A player who lands a marble on a space occupied by an opponent's marble "aggravates" that player's piece and sends it back to that player's base. A player's piece may be aggravated whether it is on a "start" space, the regular track, or a shortcut. No piece is safe from aggravation until it reaches home.

Players are prohibited during the game from moving one marble of theirs past another on the track.