MEMORIES:
endurance remembers...I used to have this game and loved it.It was very loud and always a favorite in my house.I also remember ... More »
Posted on 08/28/07
Manufacturer:
Some prefer the leisurely pace of Stratego or chess to fight their battles and that’s just fine. But combat is rarely a casual occurrence, with plenty of time for the relaxed and careful calculation that these games offer. Sometimes it is an utter eruption of frenzied fighting, the fog of war as it were. Sometimes a battle was over within a few minutes, the other side left bloodied and confused, never knowing what hit them. If that’s how you liked your competition, Gnip Gnop offered all the chaos you could handle.
Parker Brother created a game that turned ping-pong inside out, hence the clever name Gnip Gnop, and although the same type of ball was used, the similarities pretty much ended there. For one thing, the playing area was enclosed in plastic, so no having to go running across the room for a errant ball. Secondly, instead of a net, the object was to get three colored balls through the three holes that divided the playing area. Just hit one or all of three buttons and the ball propels forward through the hole. Seems easy enough except for the fact that your opponent was also trying to get his three colored balls through those very same holes at the same time and this was not a game in which the meek were going to inherit the earth. The whole debacle could be decided by a simple finger cramp. With a flurry of fingers slamming the buttons on both sides simultaneously, you didn’t need strategy; you needed speed and endurance to come out alive. A quick yell of “Go!” and it was all a chaotic blur as you tried to gnip your opponent before you got gnopped.
It was a remarkably simple game, one that required no batteries, was self contained and could be played anywhere where noise wasn’t a factor. And kids Gnip-Gnopped their way through the 70s before the game was finally discontinued at the end of the decade. By then, kids found a new way to pit themselves against their foes - video games. Still, there was a certain simple charm to Gnip Gnop - a game that was decided by whose fingers were the fastest, who had luck on their side … and not much else.
