Skip to Content

The Jetsons Game Board Game Review and Rules

The Jetsons Game Board Game Review and Rules

While I can remember occasionally watching reruns of The Jetsons when I was a child, I don’t remember being a huge fan of the series. I haven’t seen any episodes of the show in many years, but it is a show that I would like to watch at some point. I have always found shows and movies about the future from the past to be really interesting since it is fun to see what previous generations thought the future was going to look like. Due to Milton Bradley being obsessed with making children’s games based on cartoons in the 1970s to the early 1990s, it doesn’t surprise me that there was a Jetsons Board Game made. As a matter of fact the Jetsons have had four board games made with three of the games being made during the shows initial run in the 1960s and one board game based on the run in the 1980s. The game I am looking at today is the 1985 board game. While the game may be charming for fans of the show, The Jetsons Game doesn’t have much going for it outside of nostalgia.

How to Play | My Thoughts | Should You Buy? | Comments

How to Play The Jetsons Game

Setup

Each player chooses a playing piece and puts it on any gamespace. All of cards are shuffled and are placed out onto the four circles on the board in equal quantities. All of the payers roll the die with the player rolling the highest number getting to go first.

Playing the Game

On a player’s turn they roll the die and move their playing piece the corresponding number of spaces. Players need to move their pawn in the direction of the arrows printed on the board. If a player reaches an intersection where arrows point in two different directions, the player can choose which path they would like to follow. If a pawn lands on a space occupied by another player, they move their pawn to the next space.

If a pawn lands on a blue space, the player’s turn ends immediately. If a pawn lands on a space that features Orbitty the player will draw the top card from the pile associated with the section of the gameboard they are currently in. If there are no cards left in that pile, you don’t draw any cards on your turn. When you draw a card you could draw a couple different types of cards.

  1. Part of Your Character: If you draw part of the character that you are controlling, you take the card and put it in front of you.

    Finding One of Your Cards in The Jetsons Game

    The player playing as George found one of the three George cards so they get to keep it.

  2. Elroy Card: If you draw an Elroy card and don’t already have one in front of you, you place it in front of you. If you already have an Elroy card you put the card face down at the bottom of one of the piles on the gameboard.

    Elroy Card in The Jetsons Game

    This player found an Elroy card. If they don’t already have an Elroy card they take it for themselves. If they already have an Elroy card they need to put it on the bottom of one of the stacks of cards.

  3. Part of Another Person’s Character: If you draw a part of one of the other player’s characters, you show the card to the rest of the players and put it on the bottom of one of the piles. If the character belongs to none of the other players, it is removed from the game.

    Wrong Card in The Jetsons Game

    This player found one of the cards for one of the other players. They will put the card at the bottom of one of the stacks of cards.

  4. Rosey The Maid Card: Take all of the cards from the board (along with the Rosey card you just drew) and shuffle them. Redistribute the cards proportionally between all of the circles on the gameboard.

    Rosey The Maid Card in The Jetsons Game

    A Rosey The Maid card has been drawn. All of the cards on the gameboard are shuffled and new piles are formed.

  5. Orbitty Card: Move your pawn to any Orbitty space on the gameboard and draw the top card from that pile. Place the Orbitty card at the bottom of any pile.

    Orbitty Card in The Jetsons Game

    This player drew an Orbitty card. The card is put on the bottom of one of the piles and the player gets to move to a new Orbitty space and draw another card.

Winning the Game

When one player has gathered all three cards for their character along with an Elroy card, they win the game.

Winning The Jetsons Game

The Astro player has found all three Astro cards and an Elroy card. The Astro player has won the game.

My Thoughts on The Jetsons Game

I’ll be honest with you, there really isn’t a lot to talk about when it some to The Jetsons Game. The Jetsons Game is for the most part your basic Milton Bradley roll and move game. You roll the die and move the corresponding number of spaces. If you have played a children’s roll and move game from the 1980s you know what to expect out of the game.

The one somewhat unique mechanic in The Jetsons Game is the memory mechanic. As you travel around the board you and the other players will pick up cards. These cards picture different characters from the show. While a couple of the cards do something unique, most of the cards are just things players need to collect in order to win the game. To win the game you need to find an Elroy card and the three cards that make up the character that you are playing as.

While this is an addition to the typical children’s roll and move game, the mechanic really doesn’t add anything unique to the game. Usually you just luck into drawing one of the cards that you need to win the game. When another player finds one of your cards they will put it on the bottom of one of the piles and you need to remember which pile they put the card in. This memory mechanic is kind of pointless though since the card can only be put in one of four piles. Unless you have a terrible memory or are distracted you won’t have any trouble remembering where your cards were placed.

While it doesn’t really add much to the game, I will still give Milton Bradley a little credit for this mechanic since they actually tried to do something new with the children’s roll and move genre. Most children’s games from the 1980s consisted of just rolling to see who would reach the finish line first. While the memory mechanic really adds nothing new to the game for adults, I could see young children liking the mechanic as they move around the board looking for their cards.

Anyone familiar with these type of Milton Bradley children’s games shouldn’t be surprised that the game’s component quality is pretty bad. These roll and move games were designed to be budget games as I am assuming that they sold for only a couple dollars when they were initially released. The cheap price is reflected in the game’s quality though. Most of the components are made of thin cardboard. The artwork will probably appeal to fans of the show but there really isn’t anything else to like about the game’s components.

Not being a big fan of roll and move or memory games it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that I didn’t really care for The Jetsons Game. I just found the game to be dull and almost entirely reliant on luck. I am far from the target audience for the game though. Young children will probably have more fun with the game than adults since the game was designed to be simple. Fans of The Jetsons may also enjoy the game more than I did.

Should You Buy The Jetsons Game?

Not being a big fan of The Jetsons I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t really care for The Jetsons Game. Basically it is your typical children’s roll and move game with a very light memory mechanic blended in. Since the memory mechanic is so simple, the game basically comes down to whichever player rolls the best. The game’s component quality is far from great as well. Basically I found the game to be quite boring with little to no decision making.

If you don’t have any young children or aren’t a big fan of the Jetsons I don’t see any reason to pick up the game. If you have young children or are a big fan of the show, it may be worth picking up The Jetsons Game if you can get a good deal on it.

If you would like to buy The Jetsons Game you can find it online: Amazon, eBay