Goofy Golf Machine (1994)

Overview

Try as I might, I couldn't manage to fit this game with any of the mechanics mentioned above. I suppose that alone makes it fairly special. Also, the rules state that it's for 2-4 players, but I see no reason why one person couldn't play solo with it.

The Goofy Golf Machine is almost more a toy than a game. Like Mousetrap, the gameboard is dominated (in fact, consists of) a large Rube Goldberg-ish contraption. Players use a plastic "putter" to flick a small (about 1cm in diameter) ball around a nine-hole miniature golf course. Some holes require the ball to roll into an elevator which carries it up and dumps it into a spiral track leading to the hole. Others require the ball to be hit up a ramp into a basketball hoop or rebounded off bumpers. One hole even consists of a dangling plastic chicken that swings back and forth pendulum-style (a little oil might be useful for this one as there's too much friction as-is for the chicken to swing freely.) Players have three chances to play each hole. Whoever sinks their putt in the fewest shots is awarded a token--no tokens awarded for ties. The ninth hole has two holes, one harder to reach than the other. Players are awarded one token for sinking their putt into the easy hole, or two for the hard one. The player with the most tokens wins.