Operation - Toys and Games (Hasbro)

Scalpel, scissors, swab, funny little metal tweezers attached by a wire to the patient's nose--welcome to Operation, the fun game for all the family... of surgeons. It's a delightfully simple, yet fiendishly fiddly game, the objective of which is to remove the comically designed internal organs from a supine patient with a big red nose. Pick a card from the pack, see which operation you've been selected to perform, pull up your facemask and begin. Each operation earns you a certain amount of Monopoly-style cash, the more procedures you succeed with the more you earn; you may even find yourself to be the richest doc on the block by the end of the game. But hold on there, this isn't easy money for any old cowboy quack to make, one slip and the tweezers will touch the side setting off the buzzer and making the patient's nose flash, then it's back to medical school for you.

Operation really is a classic. Even having been on the market for over 20 years it's still fresh and exciting: a hands-on sensory experience in a virtual world. It demands real concentration--just catch a glimpse of the look on your trainee doctors' faces as they try to remove the "butterfly" from the stomach--and it has a surprisingly realistic feel. Even if the buzzer does grate on the nerves a little after a while, setting it off really does give you a genuine heart-racing thrill. And parents will still be asking "Can I have a go?" and laughing at the novelty names of the organs ("spare rib", "adam's apple"... err, "bread basket"?). Before long, beads of sweat will be forming on your brow too. Ultimately, it's a great game, as long as you've got patients. Hang on..., I think he's flatlined... Nurse! --Paul Eisinger

Customer Reviews of Operation

Princess Gilo
London, UK
7th January 2008

Silly fun for adults
My boyfriend was bought this as a present when he changed career to train as a doctor. We thought it was a pretty funny joke gift but that was all - didn't expect it would be fun to actually play as adults. How wrong we were! It was brought out one evening over Christmas (after we'd had a few sherries!) and proved to be hilarious. Try keeping your hand still after you've had a few and you'll see what I mean! It brought out the competitive nature of some of the guys in the room too, who couldn't help getting frustrated with their inability to use tweezers (women have an advantage here!) and mocking each other for repeatedly setting off the buzzer. It's a pretty basic idea and not intellectually challenging, and it is quite flimsily made (the inside of the box itself forms the playing surface), but it's good for parties and families and a bit of lighthearted retro fun for a very good price.
P.S. If you want to make it more challenging, try setting up the pieces upside down in the slots - makes it a lot harder to get them out!

comicaleng
UK
29th October 2007

A bit disappointing
The parts are very fiddly for younger children and prone to getting lost. We found the construction to be very flimsy, especially the cardboard top layer over the metal contacts. I've had to stick the card down because it has become peeled back. The wire holding the tweezers can also snap and has had to be re-soldered.

It's good fun when set up but can be frustrating for younger children when they keep setting off the buzzer. It does teach them to have steady hands, however, it doesn't do much for their knowledge of anatomy really.

A game that kids will tire of relatively quickly.

Fester
Wickford, Essex, UK
31st May 2003

A blast from the past
I played this as a youngester around friends houses, and whne looking for a silly Xmas present to buy for the other half, thought what the hell.

It is excellent fun, with or without alcohol.

Eductionally, I can't remember if this taught me the location of the major organs in the body, or where I found them out as I grew older anyway.

Highly recommend this game for adults and kids alike, excellent fun with a degree of eductaional value. Go buy it now!

swissmiss1979

16th September 2001

Great Fun ........at first!
And it is fantastic fun until you have been playing for 2 hours! and the buzzing drives you crazy!. It is a shame there is no container to put the bits of 'body' in because they get lost so quickly. I think it can be fun but only in small doses!!