“Ants in the Pants” is a game designed by Marvin Glass and Associates, who sold the rights to William H. Schaper and was originally produced in 1969 by Schaper Toys. In 1986, it was purchased by Hasbro, which still manufactures and markets the game. The game is based on an idiomatic expression in English, which asserts that nervous, fidgety people must have “ants in their pants”.
The fundamental pieces involved in Ants in the Pants are:
– A free-standing pair of miniature, usually plastic, pants
– Several plastic ants, color-coded for each playerSome versions of the game also include:
– Characters who “wear” the pants, usually cardboard cutouts depicting the character and serving as backboards to deflect the ants into the pants
– Plastic suspenders (or braces) as obstacles
Place the pants in the middle of the playing area.Each player chooses a color of ants and takes a few ants.
Players take turns flipping their ants into the air and trying to get them to land in the pants. The ants are designed so that pressing the tail stores elastic potential energy, and when the tail is pressed and released, the ants spring into the air. The object of the game is to spring as many of your ants as possible into the pants.
The goal is to be the first player to get all of your ants in the pants.
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