It use to be the good times where, as a kid, we would grow up playing these certain board games with our families and share moments of laughter, unfair play, crying, and general fun memories. Nowadays however, people are lazy, and kids nowadays are merely told by their parents to “go watch some TV” instead. So I guess for companies such as Hasbro and MB Games to keep their reputation alive without making people feel like it is effort to play a board game with their own child or so, is to sell their games to the movie world; where they will take a concept possible and put it on the movies list, tarnishing somewhat our own memories of how we pictured ourselves playing ‘that one time’. It’s a strange move for board games to be adapted onto the big screen, it has in itself brought up a mixed reaction amongst thoughts on Hollywood really running out of original ideas. But nonetheless it is a slow trend happening depending on the success of “who/what goes first…

Don’t get me wrong – Some board games can possibly work; There is talk of adapting the highly popular Risk board game, which clearly the concept is there and ready to be made, all you need is a director and decent writers along with some funds. Some however are a little difficult to grasp. Battleship was a popular real-life guessing strategy(??) travel style of game involving human hands to pin down points of explosions, taking out the oppositions submarines with sheer enjoyment. In the very much confirmed movie world: Battleship takes us to view another alien invasion based film, and whilst that is a pretty cliche attempt to bring a Hasbro-based travel game to the big screen, it is being directed by Peter Berg, has a teaser trailer that unfortunately really teases and a cast which is a nice call you could say.

Some board games-adapted-to-movie however sound downright confusing. Ridley Scott will be adapting one of the biggest board games we’ve all come to love, Monopoly, and whilst I can’t exactly argue the concepts and talent in which the director can conjure up with anything, it is still taking time to kick in when Ridley Scott himself has spoken to “stay true to the board game itself”, meaning I can only picture for now the world being now square, living next door to Trafalgar Square, and a walking hat owning a few pricey properties whilst seemingly a little corrupt in holding onto that “Get Out Of Jail Free” card he gained from taking a community chest…

Whatever the thought and case, depending on the success of the likes of Battleship can determine the future of board game films with an over the top extreme storyline attached to them, which is why I’ve come up with a few that can possibly be next in line to be snapped up by Hollywood and converted into something crazy… Checkout the list below:

1. Connect 4

The Game: Also known as Captain’s Mistress, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Four in a Row, and Four in a Line (according to Wikipedia), it’s a two player game which each person chooses their colour (red or yellow) and take turns dropping each coloured disc/coin into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid. The object of the game is to connect four of one’s own discs of the same color next to each other vertically, horizontally, or diagonally before one’s opponent can do so. A game which involves random strategy, skill and a bit of trash talk for personal pleasure.

The Movie: A cop investigation-thriller, showing the conspiracies of four corporations who rival each other on technologies evolution. As technology vastly becomes more attached to humans, progressing the likes of athletes and your everyday genius mind, many riots are caused that are started by those who believe and follow the law of human progression should be in natural form without any “cheating methods” of “attachments”, the name used to advance life beings…

It is the year 2021, and despite a fatal accident during a bank heist against a couple of low-lives with attachments, our hero/heroine is a former cop awakening from the mess, whilst receiving news for being newly promoted to special task forces after impressive display of heroics and work methods at top standard. Set to investigate into the truth behind “attachments” this leads our primary character to the four corporations who, despite rival each other, may not seem as straightforward in their beliefs as you think, as the hero/heroine is set to experience a major conspiracy that will shake not only his/her life, but to those who find belief in attachments and/or against.

2. Operation

The Game: A test of physical, hand motor and eye-coordination skill, Operation is the modern take on the old-school wire loop electric games. Consisting of an “operating table”, lithographed with a comic likeness of a patient (nicknamed “Cavity Sam”) with a large red light-bulb for his nose, the surface are a number of openings, which reveal fictional and humorously-named ailments made of white plastic. The point is to be able to take out these objects with a pair of tweezers and not touching the metal parts, serving up a heck-load of jumpy moments as well as tension atmosphere.

The Movie: A Mystery Drama with a hint of thriller, similar to that of “Buried” and/or “Phone Booth”, where the focus and tension is pitted on one man in a box throughout, having at first no idea what the hell he is in for until gradually the truth is revealed. Either misery, closure and/or reluctance is his only option of possible freedom…

We see our main star laid upon a Operating table, awakening to confusion as to what brought him here in the first place. As the movie progresses our hero of some sorts is questioned by men and women in masks on his life motives, slowly unraveling exactly what is happening to our guy – is he being tortured? Saved? Or plainly toyed with in someones sick mind? Each question and story the man is going through ends with an operation that will depend on his final judgement of character whether he could live or die, or simply feel live but dead inside. Just what did this man do to be on an operation table in an unknown location is just the start of many questions that will need answers.

3. Trivial Pursuit

The Game: The board game which tests the players IQ towards general knowledge plus popular culture questions. The object of the game is to move around the board by correctly answering trivia questions. Questions are split into six categories, with each one having its own color to identify itself; in the classic version of Trivial Pursuit, the Genus edition, these are Geography (blue), Entertainment (pink), History (yellow), Arts & Literature (brown), Science & Nature (green), and Sports & Leisure (orange). The game includes: a board, playing pieces, question cards, a box, small plastic wedges to fit into the playing pieces, and a die.

The Movie: A horror, maybe a B-movie horror if we can imagine Kelly Brooks in there (which I don’t think is so difficult). With so many questions asked and much change/movment happening in the world thanks to people alone creating their own freedom, a “certain organisation”/Conspiracy will want to silence the ones leading the uplifts and remain that the world be under false viewings. Thus, through extreme measures they decide to send a bunch of killers…

With our pro-everything/anti-everything character ready to set out to attend another life changing movement, it seems everything around her dies, and she will be next. Knowing secrets that the conspiracy wish to keep in the dark, our heroine is now in danger for her life as she is to be hunted down by whatever means necessary. With the conspiracy releasing killers, murderers and assassins, and even going extreme to sending sex offenders and cannibals (hey it’s a horror, it has to be sickening), the main character will have to use everything in her belief to survive in hopes to reveal the truth. Questions will be asked, MANY QUESTIONS, with only a few answers to try and reach the destiny point she needs to get to.

4. Mouse Trap

The Game: What starts off as a game of teamwork in building a trap then becomes a free for all in trapping your opponents team of mouses. Object of the game is to trap all of one’s opponent’s mice using the game’s Rube Goldberg-style mouse trap, which is built upon the board during the course of the game. The trap begins with a crank which turns a set of gears. This begins a series of stages which ends in a cage being lowered over the “cheese wheel” space on the board, which is one of six spaces in the ending loop of the game path.

The Movie: A comedy, simply put. A real life “Tom & Jerry” experience, where Tom is in fact a house owner who just moved in to a new apartment after being dumped by his ex and is reaching a whole new low in life. Whilst trying to find motive and failing in multiple inventions he creates (you see, he’s an inventor), to make things worse: A mouse has also moved into his apartment. At first causing “hilarious” encounters between the two, from chase scenes to embarrassing job interviews where the mouse disrupts the “once in a lifetime opportunity” job offer towards Tom, to even the mouse hampering Tom gaining a chance with that new girl a comedy needs every now and then…

All is forgiven and forgotten however when the twist is that the mouse is up against some pretty mean cats and was merely finding comfort in the household. Tom realizes this (cause you know, he can communicate with creatures at this point) and it seems his inventions that were once faulty and rubbish become the perfect objects to protect the mouse from mafia cats. This would ignite a huge confidence in Tom, who along with the mouse ventures forth towards living a bright future, after getting the girl (who is in danger from the mafia cats at some point mind you) as well as gaining an EVEN BETTER JOB and finding his ex either in jail, a crackhead, or dead.

…Whilst I felt pretty disgusted typing this myself, tell me this is not likely a movie to be made, go ahead, fans of Yogi Bear, Smurfs, Chipmunks and better yet: Epic Movie…

5. Twister

The Game: A game of physical strength, skill, and – lets be honest as you gradually get older – a game to incidentally get you saying “I hit that.” Other than a action/adventure movie in 1996, Twister was a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, blue, and green, with a spinner attached to a square board that serves as a die for the game. The spinner is divided into four labeled sections: right foot, left foot, right hand, and left hand. Each of those four sections is divided into the four colors to which After spinning, the combination is called (example: right hand yellow). Players must then move their matching hand or foot to a dot of the correct color. In a two-player game, no two people can have a hand or foot on the same circle – the rules are different for more players. Due to the scarcity of colored circles, players will often be required to put themselves in unlikely or precarious positions, eventually causing someone to fall, maybe one one another, that is the hilarity of it all. A person is eliminated when they fall or when their elbow or knee touches the mat.

The Movie: Alien Invasion.

Say more? 20th July 1969 saw the first man to walk on the moon, though upon returning a device was attached to the shuttle; an alien-like relic which was then examined upon return to Earth. It looked like a game of Twister, with spots of colours all rowed as the game itself is. With the scientists figuring out that by entering a correct code something drastic would occur (the relic features some alien writing which conveniently the important female in the science team understands, and also marries the important male scientist), they are all told to never speak or reveal ANYTHING, EVER.

To which we are taken to the current year, or 2012, and in high school graduation where we see a group planning not only a grad party, but the main heroes birthday is up, which conveniently his grandparents, the two smart scientists, come to visit also. Low and behold they give the present of a relic to the son/hero, who is confused and thinks it is a board game. Even though he is told NOT to mess or press on anything that triggers the relic, the fool is ignorant because the party is kinda “drag”, deciding now is the time to play the game of Twister with the relic. Queue slow motions of girls randomly getting in their bikini to play the game, and random motions of laughter and people falling over. What these kids don’t know is that somehow they have pressed on the correct code which ensures havoc, as a crash landing site not too far from the hero’s household is spotted. More and more meteor drops and: Aliens attack.

The world is now on the brink of destruction from out-of-space creatures thanks to the ignorance of a few high school kids, who along with the US army (cause it is ALWAYS the US army who first suspect North Korea and Russia making the attacks) and the kids themselves, must save humanity…

Got a board game in mind which you think can be turned into a movie? Let us know your list/choices and script along with, or perhaps even change one of our choices and create your own bizarre story.