1970s BP Offshore oil strike game makes a comeback

An old board game named BP Offshore Oil Strike, which came out in the 1970s and is adorned with an old BP logo is making a comeback, well actually may come back to haunt the company.

The strange and at the time, the not so popular board game made by Scottish company Printabox revolves around four players exploring for oil, building platforms and constructing pipelines, all in the name of being the first to make $120 million.

Players have to deal with the possibility of large scale oil spills and cover cleanup costs. You struggle with “hazard cards” that include phrases now part of our daily vernacular, including: “Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick cleanup costs.

Sound a little familiar? The similarity has led to discussions all over the internet. It’s prompted people to dig in their attics and put their old games up on eBay, many of which have promptly been snatched up.

As a part of the game, players work to amass a drilling empire. But the game comes with all of the scenarios of the present Gulf disaster. Even the game board and cover resemble images from the Gulf these days with rigs attempting to reach far into the ocean depths.

But BP Offshore Oil Strike players must also avoid the dreaded ‘hazard cards’, which state: ‘Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1million.’

Unhappily for BP, that is just one percent of the money it has forked out daily tackling the very real Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which has seen millions of barrels of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico.

Estimates show BP has spent about $3bn battling the Gulf oil spill and the company now faces a crippling final bill as record quantities of oil hit the ocean and the cost of fighting the largest offshore spill in US history rises.