Hungry Hungry Hippos
A marble-eating tabletop game introduced in 1978 by Hasbro.
Hungry Hungry Hippos, also released as Hungry Hippos in some UK editions, is a tabletop game for two to four players. It is manufactured by Hasbro under its Milton Bradley subsidiary. Toy inventor Fred Kroll first published the concept in 1967, and the game hit the market in 1978. Players aim to snatch up as many marbles as possible using a plastic hippopotamus model. For a time, it was sold under the "Elefun and Friends" label, sharing that banner with Elefun, Mouse Trap, and Gator Golf.
The game board is ringed by four colorful plastic mechanical hippos, each operated by a lever on its back. Pressing the lever makes the hippo open its mouth and extend its head forward on a telescopic neck; releasing the lever brings the head down and retracts it. Players release plastic marbles onto the board and then repeatedly press their hippo's lever to make it "eat" the marbles, which travel underneath into a small scoring area. Once all marbles are captured, the player with the most wins.
Early television ads from the late 1970s and 1980s featured a memorable jingle. In the 1990s, commercials showed brightly colored cartoon hippos dancing in a conga line and singing "Hungry Hungry Hip-pos!" to the beat. By 2009, the commercial's song was the "Elefun and Friends" theme.
In 1991, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment (ICE) released a redemption arcade version, a supersized take on the board game. A display at the top of the dome showed how many marbles each hippo had consumed, and more marbles meant more tickets for that player. The year before, Sinclair User published "Piggy Punks," a ZX Spectrum game by Hellenic Software inspired by the board game; it featured an overhead view of a board with four pigs, each controlled by a separate player, instead of hippos. More recently, another arcade game appeared, styled after the 2012 edition, with rideable hippos whose heads are controlled by large levers with handlebars.
In 2012, Emmett/Furla Films announced plans for an animated film adaptation of Hungry Hungry Hippos, alongside Monopoly and Action Man. Plot details were kept secret, and production was originally slated to start in early 2016, but the project entered development hell.
Rogue Judges, a volunteer judging group at Gen Con, ran the "1st Annual Hungry Hungry Hippos World Championship" in August 2015 and have held one every year since at the Indiana Convention
- Year introduced
- 1978
- Idea published
- 1967
- Inventor
- Fred Kroll
- Manufacturer
- Hasbro (under Milton Bradley)
- Players
- 2–4
- Objective
- Collect as many marbles as possible with a toy hippopotamus
Lore & Background
The game board is surrounded by four colorful plastic mechanical hippopotami operated by levers on their backs. When the lever is pressed, the hippo opens its mouth and extends its head forwards on a telescopic neck; when released, the head comes down and retracts. Plastic marbles are dispensed into the board by each player, who repeatedly press the lever to make their hippo 'eat' the marbles, which travel under the hippo into a small scoring area. Once all marbles are captured, the player who collected the most wins.
Reader's Guide
Hungry Hungry Hippos has endured as a recognizable tabletop game since its 1978 release, spawning arcade adaptations and a lasting presence in popular culture. In 1991, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment created a redemption arcade version with a supersized resemblance to the board game, where the number of marbles consumed was displayed and more marbles meant more tickets. A 2012 edition inspired another arcade game with rideable hippos controlled by big levers with handlebars. The game has been referenced in numerous television shows and films, including The Simpsons (1992), Donnie Darko (2001), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Breaking Bad. A volunteer judging group at Gen Con, Rogue Judges, ran a '1st Annual Hungry Hungry Hippos World Championship' in August 2015 and have continued annually at the Indiana Convention Center. A film adaptation was announced in 2012 by Emmett/Furla Films, but entered development hell.
Did You Know?
- The game was originally marketed under the 'Elefun and Friends' banner along with Elefun, Mouse Trap, and Gator Golf.
- In 1991, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment created a redemption arcade version that was a supersized resemblance of the board game.
- A film adaptation was announced in 2012 by Emmett/Furla Films but entered development hell.
- Mike Ehrmantraut loses a round of the game against his granddaughter Kaylee in Breaking Bad.
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