Now OJ Simpson faces trial by board game

Ohn Carlin Washington
Tuesday 10 October 1995 23:02 BST
Comments

J

You've watched the trial; you've seen the television movie; you've read the books; you've bought the O wristwatch. Now play the board game.

O Simpson, who will be blessing NBC tonight with his first post-trial television interview, is said to be contemplating a civil suit against the manufacturers of a board game called "Squeeze the uice".

In the game each player takes the part of one of Mr Simpson's six defence lawyers. Players roll dice to advance around the board. The winner is the player/lawyer who collects the most cash from Mr Simpson.

While the game can last many hours because the "O Defence Fund" is inexhaustible, pitfalls exist to ensure that sooner or later players go bankrupt and fall away. This can happen, for example, as a consequence of landing once too often on the "contempt of court: pay $10,000 fine" square.

Squeeze the uice is doing a roaring trade in California, where 300 toy stores stock it. But there is a rival on the way.

"The People vs O Simpson Trivia Game" is described by its inventor, Bill Zucker of Massachusetts, as "both a learning experience and a test of knowledge". Each player is a detective who moves around the Los Angeles area gathering murder evidence and answering questions such as "What is udge Lance Ito's favourite hobby?" (collecting hour glasses).

Mr Zucker says he will donate part of his profits to a shelter for battered women but also expects to become rich. "We're hoping it will be the hottest Christmas item of 1995," he said.

A competitor could, perhaps, be a tell-all book by Mark Fuhrman, the racist Los Angeles detective who ruined the prosecution case. Clearly Mr Fuhrman has money coming in from somewhere - possibly a publisher - for he has been seen holidaying in Bermuda.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in