The Grape Escape facts for kids

The Grape Escape is a fun and squishy board game that came out in 1992. It was made by Parker Brothers, which is now part of Hasbro. The game was designed for younger kids, aged 5 and up. It was only available for about a year, making it a bit of a rare find today!

In 2010, Hasbro released a similar game called Smashed Potatoes. This new game had the same rules but used potatoes instead of grapes. This might have been because Hasbro also owns the rights to Mr. Potato Head. However, Smashed Potatoes was also eventually stopped.

The game pieces in The Grape Escape were special. Players made their own "Grape Goop" figures using colorful Play-Doh. These figures looked like little grape characters. The main goal was to move your clay grape through a factory-style board. But watch out! The board had many plastic obstacles designed to squish or chop your grape figure.

If your "Grape Goop" figure was destroyed, you usually lost the game. But sometimes, you could re-mold your grape using a special template and start over from the beginning. The scary obstacles included a pair of scissors, a steam roller, a big saw blade, and a boot that stomped grapes. In Smashed Potatoes, the grape-stomping boot was changed to a french fryer.

How to Play The Grape Escape

Playing The Grape Escape is quite simple. Each player takes turns rolling a die. (In Smashed Potatoes, players used a spinner instead of a die.) You then move your grape figure along a path that looks like a factory conveyor belt. The spaces where the hazards are located also count as places you can land.

If you roll a "Grape Leap," you get to jump one space ahead of the grape that is currently in the lead. This can be a great way to get ahead!

If you roll "Turn Crank," you can use one of the game's machines. This lets you try to squish any grape that is on one of the four hazard stations. If another player's grape gets squished, they have to re-mold their grape piece and start all over again.

If your grape lands on the same space as an opponent's grape, their grape gets pushed forward to the very next hazard station. The first player whose grape successfully reaches the finish line wins the game!

Advertising and Fun Facts

The Grape Escape was mostly advertised on TV. You would see commercials during children's television shows. These commercials often showed animated claymation figures of grapes being crushed or sliced. All this happened while kids were shown having fun playing the game. The catchy theme song for the commercials was set to the tune of a famous Italian song called Funiculì, Funiculà.