Camp Granada

Camp Granada is a 1965[1] children's board game by Milton Bradley Company based on Allan Sherman's popular 1963 novelty song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)". Campers take turns driving a breakdown-prone bus to gather ICKY animals[2] from various summer camp locations to be the first to leave the real rotten camp[3] for home. The game board depicts spikes on the diving board, an octopus in the swimming hole, and a lover's leap into a volcano.

This article is about the board game. For the novelty song, see Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp).
Camp Granada
Camp Granada box with caricature of Allan Sherman
Publisher(s)Milton Bradley
Players2-4
Playing time60 minutes[1]
Random chanceMedium (shuffling, wild cards)
Skill(s) requiredEye–hand coordination

Gameplay

Camp Granada Bus cards have an image of a blue bus in disrepair[4] and, on the reverse, a humorous reason to either drive the bus to a camp location and pick up an ICKY animal[5] or to receive a SPECIAL PRIVILEGE and "take one ICKY animal from any player". After drawing a Camp Granada Bus card, the player then moves the toy bus along the road to the camp location specified by the card.

The challenge is that the front axle of the bus can slide side-to-side and "the motor falls out right in the middle".[3] In particular, if the front wheels move too far from the side of the bus, a small cam on the middle of the axle will contact one of two miniature lever arms connected to the bus's radiator, which is hinged and will be deflected to fall forward — the "breakdown" that ends a player's turn. For success, a player must carefully watch that neither front wheel moves too far beyond the corresponding bus fender.[6]

A tactic to negotiate turns without a breakdown is to steer by carefully sliding the rear of the bus. An alternate tactic is to 'cut the corner' to more easily negotiate sharp turns, but a rule requires at least one wheel be on the road (at some points, the road is narrower than the track width of the wheels). Players also learn to watch other players who drive the bus with their fingers close to the front wheels and to ensure such players don't touch a front wheel to prevent the axle from sliding.

For the SPECIAL PRIVILEGE to "take one ICKY animal", a rule requires reaching into a competitor's bunkhouse without looking, so a game skill is to remember which competitor had acquired particular ICKY animals, and then by touch, recognize the shape of the needed ICKY animal.

The player who first acquires the required three ICKY animals and exits the camp is the winner.[1]

Equipment and setup

Equipment includes the 23⅝x 19½" tri-fold game board, a plastic toy bus, 4 cardboard bunkhouses, 12 rubber ICKY animals (2 each Crawfish, Frog, Lizard, Mouse, Snake, Spider), 16 ICKY animal cards (2 for each of the 6 animals, plus 4 for the Boating, Bunkhouse, Handicrafts, and Hiking Awards), and 48 of the 2⅝x1¾" Camp Granada Bus Cards (6 SPECIAL PRIVILEGE, plus 3 for each of 12 of the locations and only 2 for First Aid Training, Bunk House, & Hospital)[7]

Setup requires ICKY animals be placed at camp locations and the bunkhouses be assembled and placed at each corner of the game board for players to subsequently conceal ICKY animals. ICKY animal cards are then divided among the players to identify which ICKY animals need to be gathered.

References and notes
  1. "Camp Granada". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
  2. NOTE: ICKY animals are similar in size and composition to Mattel's 1965 Creepy Crawlers activity toy
  3. "LikeTelevision - Camp Granada by Milton Bradley". liketelevision ... only better. LikeTelevision. Retrieved 2008-02-09. NOTE: The TV commercial describes the following:
    (singing)Hello Muddah -- la la la
    Hello Fadduh -- la la la
    Here's a game called -- la la la
    Camp Granada -- la la la
    All us children -- la la la
    love it madly -- la la la
    Manufactured by my uncle Milton Bradley -- la la la

    (conversation) It's a real good game, too
    It's all about this uh, real rotten camp, Camp Granada
    and the object of the game is to get home from camp, anyway you can -- try to escape

    And you get this uh rotten board
    and all these rotten cards
    and everybody gets a rotten bunkhouse
    and then there's this rotten camp bus
    and it can bus, uh you go, see,
    the motor falls out right in the middle
    and you get these icky, icky animals -- they're disgusting, yech
    that's a frog
    and here's a (ooh ooh ooh) a crazy lizard or something like that

    (singing) Hello Muddah -- la la la
    Hello Fadduh -- la la la
    Get this game called -- la la la
    Camp Granada -- la la la
    It's a game that -- la la la
    should be gotten -- la la la
    Milten Bradley's game about a camp that's rotten -- blah
  4. NOTE: The image on the Camp Granada Bus card is similar to the box image, with a smoking tailpipe, a steam-spewing radiator, a broken window, a patched roof, and loose parts flying.
  5. NOTE: Instructions in addition to "GO TO ..." on the Camp Granada Bus cards do not have to be completed, e.g., the "and wash the floor" text on the HOSPITAL card is only for humor.
    NOTE: The reference to "x-ray machine" on a HOSPITAL card is similar to the use of X-Ray Specs, a 1960s novelty.
  6. NOTE: A comparable action/dexterity children's game to Camp Granada is the 1965 Milton Bradley Operation (game), which requires players to carefully remove objects (e.g., "wrenched ankle") from the patient depicted on the board without contacting the sides of holes containing the objects.
  7. "Camp Granada game". Darwin's Game Closet. www.darwinsgamecloset.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
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