Mystery Date was a board game first introduced in 1965 and was later re-issued with updates in 1970, 1999, and 2005. It involved players trying to gather three color-coordinated cards to create the appropriate outfit for your mystery date activity.
Doesn’t anyone care about melanoma?
Once you’d collected an outfit, you’d open the plastic door at the center of the board game to find out what kind of date was waiting for you. The four possible date activities were for a formal dance, a day at the beach, bowling, or skiing. If your cards didn’t match the date at the door, you closed the door and continued playing the game until someone correctly matched the appropriate cards with the date who was presumably just waiting indefinitely on your front porch while you got your shit together.
“Hello? I’ve been out here for two days while you pick an outfit . . .”
There was one other possibility waiting for you behind the door: the dud. I don’t remember exactly what happened if you got him, but I assume you lost the game as well as the respect of your family.
I’m not sure what a date with the dud entailed, but just imagine your worst Tinder hookup and I think that’ll probably be close enough.
My favorite part of this whole game has to be the magic I uncovered during my research because apparently, the 1999 version featured this secret beach date hunk:
That’s not a class, Tyler.
If you don’t recognize him, let me show you a more recent picture:
Tyler is Captain Motherfuckin’ America.
Anyone have a copy of Mystery Date I can borrow?
Emily Regan 