Buckaroo is a game of physical skill that was first released in 1970 and is still selling in stores today! When the game was originally released the mule was white, over the years this changed to brown, the colour most players are familiar with. The look of the mule has also changed over the years, the 80’s version had a 2D head (as seen in photo) where as today’s version is 3D with a grinning face.
The rules are simple, the mule begins the game stood on all fours, players take turns placing the items on mule as gently as they can to stop the spring mechanism from being triggered. If you trigger the spring then the mule bucks and throws the items that were placed on its back. The player who triggered the spring is then out of the game and the other players start again and repeat until one player remains and is declared the winner.
Buckaroo Items
The items that players must place on the mules back are:
- Bedroll
- Canteen
- Crate
- Frying Pan
- Cowboy Hat
- Guitar
- Holster
- Lantern
- Rope
- Saddle
- Shovel
- Dynamite
Of these items the saddle must be placed on the mule first. After that you could put the items on in any order, some people had favourite items and favourite locations which they believed would have less chance of making the mule buck.
Below is a commercial from 2000, as you can see this version has both a 3D head and body, unlike earlier versions which only had a 2D head and looked more serious. Later versions of the game have the mule with a smiling face.
