Operation (1965)

Who needs medical school when you can practice at home?

Operation – the game of careful hand-eye coordination, but fortunately no malpractice suits – was created by John Spinello as an industrial design project for a class at the University of Illinois.  “Cavity Sam,” as the poor patient’s known, suffers from a variety of ailments, and undergoes operations on his: Ankle Bone Connected to the Knee Bone, Bread Basket, Spare Ribs, Brain Freeze, Butterflies in the Stomach, Water on the Knee, Funny Bone, Charley Horse, Writer's Cramp, Wish Bone, Wrenched Ankle, Adam's Apple and Broken Heart.

Let’s hope his insurance covers all that!

Did you know: The original version of the game was called ‘Death Valley’, and players used a metal probe in search of water on an exploration through the desert.  A little more life-and-death for the player, right?