Shopping Gets Competitive in Mall Madness

Malls were huge in the 1980s. They were convenient one stop shopping options for people who needed different types of items at the same time. They were also the perfect place for preteens and teenagers to hang out and entertain themselves. Naturally, given the popularity of shopping malls, a board game was created to bring the experience home.

Mall Madness is a shopping themed board game created by Michael Gray and released by Milton Bradley in 1988. The object of the game is to be the first player to buy a certain number of items from their shopping list and leave the mall.

Players push the computer’s gameplay button which then directs them to move a certain number of spaces. The goal is to enter a store and buy an item buy inserting their credit card into the computer’s “buy” slot. Once the computer approves the purchase with a cash register “ding” the player gives the cash to the banker.

Each player starts with $150 to spend on their purchases. During each turn the electronic voice announces sales at two stores and a clearance at one store. This gives players the chance to spend less money on their purchases and avoid needing to use the game’s ATM. The first player to find and appropriately pay for six items on their list and return to the parking lot wins.

The game is set in a two-story mall filled with 18 stores, plus an ice cream shop, arcade, pizza restaurant, and restrooms. The stores sell men’s suits, women’s boutique fashions, jewelry, toys, sports equipment, books, electronics, shoes, pets, kitchen items, records, and more.

Updated and redesigned versions of the game were released in 1996, 2004, and 2020. These versions accounted for inflation by giving players a larger amount of money at the start of game and adding different stores.