Thrift Treasure: Tangle
The year was 1964. “Meet the Beatles” was first released in the U.S. and their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” becomes their first #1 song in America. GI Joe debuts and the very first Ford Mustang is produced. Gemini I and Apollo 2 are launched and the Rolling Stones begin their first-ever U.S. tour. Also, Selchow & Righter Company issue the new strategy game, Tangle.
Ok, so maybe this wasn’t historical news. Especially considering it hasn’t been reissued in the past 50 years, I can safely say it wasn’t a roaring success. But we were delighted to find an almost-complete copy at a local yard sale for a dollar. Money well-spent!
Tangle is (was) a strategy game where players take turns trying to surround hexagon-shaped tiles with their transparent plastic pieces of varying shapes and lengths. Our copy was missing a small number of the pieces, but plenty were still present to play a 3-player game.
The premise is simple enough – while you are trying to surround individual hexagons you also need to prevent your opponents from capturing any.
In order to score, a hexagon must be surrounded by only your color. Mixed-color tiles yield no score. You definitely must plan ahead at least a couple moves to maximize your score.
Which size piece you play is totally your discretion. You do have a limited number of each unit, so use them wisely. When you surround a tile, you receive one point plus a bonus depending on the size of the piece you used to complete the surround.
Surrounding the specially-marked tiles will yield additional bonus in the form of extra points or multipliers. The first player to 50 points (or the highest score when all pieces have been played) wins.
Tangle is a 100% strategy game with no luck determining the outcome. It features a unique board-in-the-box design so you don’t have to worry about losing it. Too bad the same can’t be said for the 116 playing pieces – they’re small and fragile. I guess that’s to be expected from 50yr-old plastic! But even for its age, the design and concept is as fresh today as it was back then.
If you’re lucky, one might pop up on eBay, but you’ll probably have more luck keeping your eyes open at local yard sales. The original publisher, Selchow & Righter Company, was purchased by Coleco (Cabbage Patch Kids) in 1986 and then by Hasbro in 1989 when Coleco went bankrupt. What made their game library so popular? Scrabble! But the fate of Tangle? That’s a mystery we couldn’t unravel.
I haven’t played that in YEARS! What a blast from the past. I will have to be on the hunt for that next time I am thrifting.
We find a lot of cool games at the thrift store that we love to play. A lot of people clean out old game cupboards and donate them to the Goodwill and that’s where we score big time! This looks like a cool game to play, I bet you can still find it on Amazon or eBay too.
That’s a really neat looking game. I might have to scour eBay now to get a copy.
This looks like a great game for the boys and for family game night. Never heard of it before now. Thanks for sharing.
That is a blast from the past. I turned 9 in 1964 and I remember playing that game. My parents recently moved from a 4 story home they owned for 55 plus years and we had a 3 day weekend sale. We sold so many toys and games from the 50s and 60s and it brought back so many memories. I couldn’t believe my mom had saved everything but yet she had plenty of space to tuck everything away.
I have to admit I’ve not heard of this game before, definitely looks different! What a great find. x
that game looks like it would have me addicted in no time.
This looks like so much fun! Will have to track this one down for the family.
This looks like a really neat game. My family is big into games. I have not heard of this one. Thanks for sharing.
I haven’t heard of that game but it looks like it would be fun. Would probably take me a while to catch on though.
I have never heard of this game. What ages do you think it’s geared for?
I have never seen this game before. Now i cant wait untill i can get one it looks like so much fun.
I love the looks of concentration on their faces! I am a big fan of strategic games. This looks like fun!
never heard of this game, but would like very much to try and play it, what a great find
I wish I had this for my classroom. Second grade math is heavy with geometry.
I love finding great deals esp old games!!
I never heard of Tangle – even though I’m the child of a serious game-playing family of the 60s and 70s. Thanks so much for sharing!
That looks like the type of game that hubby and I would like to play. We have a few old games that they don’t make anymore and love them. Now I totally want to to find a Tangle somewhere.
What a fun game! I love strategy games like this and I know that my kids would love it as well.
I have never seen this one before and it looks like a great game to get the mind going!! It looks like it is really a challenge!
That looks like a really fun game!
Great review of a fun old game. I like to review old toys too.
This game looks awesome. I love how intricate the game board is and how engaging the game itself is.
Wow how interesting, my family had a lot of games growing up. Yet somehow I have never even heard or seen this game Tangle. A new adventure awaits …
This would be a great game to be converted to a computer game so you didn’t have to worry about putting all the pieces back at the end of the game, that was the only annoying part of the game. Also, you couldn’t loose the pieces if it was a computer game! I wish I had the instructions/rules, my game is missing them.
Just listed some replacement TANGLE pieces on eBay. Stay tuned as soon I will be listing a complete TANGLE set which includes all pieces, the game board, and the box showcasing a HUDSON’S sticker. The photos in the listing will have the instructions/rules and you can print them off.
Just listed some replacement TANGLE pieces on eBay. Stay tuned as soon I will be listing a complete TANGLE set which includes all pieces, the game board, and the box showcasing a HUDSON’S sticker.