It’s almost time to reveal newcomers to Toy Hall of Fame

A strong field of 12 contenders is on the 2025 ballot for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Usually, four toys, games or playthings are selected each year. Judges will announce the winners in November.

Which toys or games are you wagering on to be the most worthy to enter the Hall of Fame?

 

From the “tabletop games grouping,” the finalists include Battleship, Connect Four, Catan and Trivial Pursuit. All are quite popular and have ardent supporters.

Let’s begin by examining the credentials of a pair of games that were designed for two players and head-to-head competition – Battleship and Connect Four.

Battleship originated as a “pencil and paper” game that was played by soldiers during World War I as an amusement. No one knows for sure who actually invented Battleship.

The Milton Bradley Company of Springfield, Mass., introduced the classic game in 1967, using plastic pegboards with plastic ships. The game, which is designed for “ages 7 and up” was among the first board games to be computerized in 1979, and today, countless electronic versions exist.

Each player positions five ships of various sizes on a grid that depicts the ocean surface. The opponents face off to try to identify the location of enemy ships, and it’s a contest to see who can sink the other player’s fleet first. Red pegs are used to designate “hits” and white pegs track “misses.”

 

A separate “tracking grid” (not shown) is included to aid in keeping score. One strategy is to position two or more boats in a cluster, in an attempt to confuse the opponent. The game usually goes fairly quickly, and multiple rounds can be played within an hour’s time.

Connect Four was created in 1974 by Howard Wexler of New York City, an independent toy and game inventor. The game was released by Milton Bradley.

Wexler initially worked as a social worker, schoolteacher and school psychologist. He earned a doctorate degree in educational psychology from Fordham University in the Bronx within New York City.

“All games were played on a horizontal plane (checkers, chess, Parcheesi, etc.). What if I invented a strategy game that was played on a vertical plane?”

 

“Once that thought came into my mind, Connect Four was not far from being realized,” Wexler said.

Connect Four is easy to learn and recommended for “ages 6 and up.” Players take turns dropping red or yellow tokens into a “six-row, seven-column vertically suspended grid.” Each player attempts to form a line of four tokens in his or her color to win the game. The “run” can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

The game teaches hand-eye coordination and pattern detection, and it underscores the benefits of thinking ahead. Players learn both offensive and defensive skills. Play usually progresses at a rapid pace.

Catan (known earlier as Settlers of Catan) is one of the first German-style board games to achieve popularity outside of Europe. The basic game is designed for three or four players “ages 10 and up.”

The game was invented by Klaus Wilhelm Heinrich Teuber, who enjoyed board games as a hobby. He started developing Catan in 1991, while operating a family-owned dental laboratory near Darmstadt, a city in southwest Germany not too far from Frankfurt. Catan was inspired by the history of Viking settlers in Iceland.

 

Teuber completed creating his new game in 1995, and it was distributed by Kosmos, a media publishing house based in Stuttgart, Germany.

Catan is a game in which players represent settlers who are intent upon establishing communities on an island and building infrastructure. It requires strategy that involves resource management, trading and bartering. Players gain victory points as their settlements grow, and the first to reach a set number of victory points, typically 10, wins.

 

The commercial success of Catan allowed Teuber to become a full-time game designer in 1998, selling his interest in the dental laboratory to his father.

Trivial Pursuit originated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1979, as a result of brainstorming by a pair of sports journalists, Chris Haney and Scott Abbott. They grew “frustrated by missing tiles from a Scrabble game and decided to set out to create their own game.”

Also contributing to the development of Trivial Pursuit were Chris’ brother, John Haney, and Ed Werner, a lawyer. They all partnered to form a company to introduce Trivial Pursuit to the public in 1981. 

Having aged somewhat, here are Trivial Pursuit principals, from left: Scott Abbott, Chris Haney and John Haney.

Rights were licensed in 1982 to Selchow and Righter of Bay Shore, N.Y.

Ownership was transferred in 1988 to Parker Brothers of Salem, Mass. Then, in 2008, Hasbro Inc. of Pawtucket, R.I., stepped in to acquire the full rights to Trivial Pursuit for $80 million.

The standard “family edition” game, recommended for “ages 8 and up” can be played by two to six players, but in a party situation, teams can form to allow multiple participants.

The objective is to be the first player to maneuver around a playing board and successfully answer trivia questions in six categories – Art & Literature, Entertainment, Geography, History, Science & Nature and Sports & Leisure

 

The popularity of the game has been extended through numerous “themed editions” that have been released throughout the years. Various “degrees of difficulty” have also been introduced.

 

Other nominees to make it into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2025 include Slime and snow.

Slime encourages play that is messy and experimental.

The toy product is manufactured by Mattel, Inc., headquartered in El Segundo, Calif. It was introduced in 1976 and consists of a “non-toxic viscous, squishy and oozy green substance.”

 

The main components are the polysaccharide guar gum and sodium tetraborate (formerly known as flubber). Got it?

And snow? Well, why not?

 Sand is already in the Toy Hall of Fame, but there may be a bias toward “cold weather or wintertime” outdoor toys, such as sleds, saucers, tubes, skis and snowboards. None is among the 87 HOF inductees thus far.

Building snow figures, engaging in snowball fights and making snow angels certainly are playful activities…but not all kids get the opportunity to participate because snow is weather-dependent.

 

Next time, we’ll explore the other six finalists that are under consideration for this year’s induction class to join the Toy Hall of Fame: 

Cornhole, Furby, Scooter, Spirograph, Star Wars Lightsaber and Tickle Me Elmo.