The Gong Show Home Game Home Page

THE GONG SHOW GAME (American Publishing 1977) CONTENTS:
    Two-piece slotted game board
    Six wacky cardboard pawns with six plastic bases
    54 blue perforated "Act Cards" (nine of them blank)
    54 yellow perforated "Score Cards" (2-10, 2-9, 3-8, 3-7, 3-6, 5-5, 7-4, 5-3, 7-2, 8-1, 9-GONG)
    Pair of dice
    Rules

GAME PLAY:
Each player is dealt three Score Cards. Players roll the dice and move around the board, attempting to reach the center "stage" space. Once on "stage", a player draws an Act Card and performs the act printed on it. The other players judge his performance by using one of their Score Cards. The performer collects his points and returns to start to begin again. Any time a player has judged three acts, he is dealt three more Score Cards. The first player to collect 30 points is the winner.

HOW DO YOU GET GONGED?
If two or more judges score the act with a Gong card, then the performer has been gonged, other scores are ignored and the performer returns to start with no points for that performance. If only one judge uses a Gong Card, then that judge and the performer each roll the dice. If the judge wins, the performer is gonged and receives no points. If the performer wins, he earns the points awarded by the other judges and the gonger loses his next turn. (In a three-player game, only one Gong Card is sufficient to gong the act, and the dice roll-off is not used.)

WHAT ARE THE ACTS LIKE?
Well, nine of them are whatever you want them to be, that's why the blank ones are provided. The others are standard fare designed to amuse and/or embarrass. Here are some examples:

"You are an up and coming pop singer. Sing a song of your choice."

"Show the panel your imitation of the famous painting, The Spirit of '76."

"Make believe you are a monkey and you are checking yourself for bugs."

"Perform an interpretive dance where you are a moth flying around a light."

"Give your impersonation of any three vegetables or fruits of your choice."

"Do your impression of a drunk trying to go down an up escalator"

...and dozens more, including our surreal favorite, "Do an impersonation of a fish playing tennis."

DIFFERENCES TO TV SHOW:
Of course it's not the same game, but among the interesting differences is that it takes the decision of two judges (or a lucky roll of the dice) for an act to be gonged, and judges are required to use one of their available Score Cards, not just any number they want, to grade the acts. Obviously, those changes make for a more competitive board game.

COMMENTS:
A cute party game with just enough of the silly flavor of the show. The playfield is covered with small photos from the show which, according to the rules, "have no significance other than to lend atmosphere to the game board." Like so many game show adaptations, there's absolutely no way to put the wild TV program in a box. The makers of this game went to a lot more trouble than they probably had to in order to make it workable. The rules say to always play to 30 points, but you may want to adjust that goal up or down depending on how many players you have. (In a three-player game it will take, roughly, FOREVER to get to 30 points.)