I have accepted the fact that I have gotten to the age where if recall my childhood memories, all the technology is dead and the picture is in sepia. I think I am perhaps helped by the fact that I choose to recount the past with fondness for the nostalgia, rather than regret for the losses. After all, while I loved my bright, pink boombox covered in floral stickers, I think Spotify Premium is a definite upgrade to my worn B*witched cassette.

However, there is, as always, an exception to the rule. There is a board game from my past which, try as they might (and they have tried), there has yet to be a reimagining, development, or upgrade to rival it’s original, perfect, strategic form.

It has gone by many names. It has been produced by many publishers. It has one of the oldest adverts still broadcast in the UK and Ireland. It is, by all accounts, a classic board game. Have a feel of your ball and get your hand on your knob - it’s time for Screwball Scramble.

Rock 'n' Roll

For those whose childhoods were bereft of joy, Screwball Scramble was a game first published by TOMY in the 1980s. In it, you run a weighted marble-sized metal ball through plastic obstacles using a series of levers and knobs, all against the clock. It has also been produced in the US under the names “Run Yourself Ragged”, “Tricky Golf” and “Snafu”.

This is the first commercial board game I remember playing, and I was obsessed. It was brought out every time my friends came round and, between infuriated gasps at the seemingly ambivalent will of the magnet on the crane piece, there were plenty of laughs and joy, and egging each other on.

While anyone could learn to complete the course within the time, we all had that one friend who could do it in under ten seconds. In our friendship group, she grew up and started writing nostalgic stories for a gaming website.

Gamer Gratitude

So this article is my own way of tipping my cap and saying thanks to Screwball Scramble. It had everything I needed in a game - easy rules, quick game time, countless hours of fun, and components which were significantly less frustrating than Mousetrap (but I’ll save my rant about that particular game for another article).

Most importantly, it sparked a lifelong competitive streak that still brings me joy (and my competitor's plenty of misery) to this day.  The boombox may have gone, but Screwball Scramble remains an absolute, unwavering retro classic. Now, if you don't mind, I'm away to stick some B*witched on and Irish dance my troubles away.

C'est la Vie!