The Insane Story Behind The Game Of 'Twister' You Never Knew

by N/A, 9 years ago | 2 min read

We've all heard of the game Twister, but what you may not realize is how it got its start, and then become a global hit for fun party-time shenanigans. Here's the story of Twister, or what it was almost called: Pretzel.

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In 1965 Reyn Guyer, an ad designer and inventor of St. Paul, Minnesota, was hired to create a display for Johnson shoe polish. While he was working on a mat with polka dots, an idea washed over him.

What if he were to create a board game where people were the pieces? His initial name for the game was King's Footsie, which he tested on various designers, and essentially all he needed to see to keep forging ahead was how much fun four people on mat in odd positions could have.

â€œIt didnâ€™t make any difference what the game was at that point, because we began to laugh so hard that it was obvious we were onto something.â€

That's what Guyer toldÂ Bill DeMainÂ of MentalFloss Magazine. Guyer next brought in Charles F. Foley and Neil Rabens to help with designs and pitching the idea around.Â

That's when the name Pretzel came to be known for this new game idea.

The were able to sell the idea to board game powerhouse Milton Bradley and the name Pretzel was licensed.

However, the name Pretzel was not legally available, according to Guyer. That's where the game of skillful balance came to be known as Twister.Â

Guyer stated this about the name change:

"â€¦Twister didnâ€™t seem to have the positive resonance that Pretzel did, nor did it really describe the game that well. But itâ€™s solid proof that it doesnâ€™t matter what you call something. Once you name it, thatâ€™s what it is."

The sexual innuendos that the game derived made some executives at Milton Bradley feel very uncomfortable, as it went against their clean-cut image as a company. Even retailers were confused by it.

Sears found it to be too hot for their catalogue, and wasn't sure how they could sell it. The minds behind it saw it as a money making dream, because all it took was a mat and a spinner.Â

Still, sales were sparse. That's when one final PR attempt was made.

Johnny Carson, along side actress Eva Gabor, was asked to promote the new game on an Episode of "The Tonight Show." The episode aired May 3, 1966, and Carson and Gabor were playfully tangled up with one another.

The PR move was a success and Guyer claims people were lined up 50 people deep at the New York Abercrombie & Fitch the next day. More notably, 3 million copies were sold over the next year.

Today, it's reported that 65 million people have played Twister, and it's made its way into all parts of popular culture with appearance in REM and Weird Al songs, and various movies and episodes of "Friends."

It was too sexual to sell in the minds of retailers. The name was changed multiple times. It seemed bleak for Twister, but it's gone on to become one of America's most popular games.

As for the creator, Guyer?

He went on to create the Nerf Ball, so he's done pretty well for himself on top of it all.Â