Vintage 1937 Milton Bradley Game of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The story embracing the character of Snow White was first published in the 1812 collection of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  Written by the Brothers Grimm, this German tale became widely known and went through many adaptations over the years. In 1937 Walt Disney produced the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Milton Bradley was arranged to create a board game to go along with it.

This vintage game of 1937 has player’s being mostly dictated by the chance roll of dice.  And although games of today offer a bit more strategy for challenging play, playing the game still gives  joy.  This is partly because of the fascinating story it portrays and the pieces the board game utilizes.  These charming elements more than make up for the game’s shortfall of strategic value.

Within the box is a brief story on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  The game then includes the main features in the tale and displays the places mentioned onto the board.

The object for the game is like the happily ever ending of the story.  To win the game, a player must move his Snow White piece around the game’s path and into the House of the Seven Dwarfs.  Here, he must also move the Prince and hold a Kiss token in order to break the spell.  One other stipulation for a win is the Poisoned Apple token must not be in the House at this same time of win.

So the winner is the player who breaks the spell of the wicked witch’s poisoned apple by having the Prince, with a Kiss, reach Snow White waiting at the Dwarfs home.  The directions state:

“Seeing her in all her great beauty, he determines to give her a final and farewell kiss.  Whereupon the spell is broken and Snow White is restored to her lover.”

Various rules for game play involve the following wooden pieces:

A Queen (the wicked witch), Huntsman, Prince (one color for each player), Snow White (one of matching color to Prince), Seven Dwarfs, Poisoned Apple, and Kiss tokens.  (shown in order above)

As a collector of games, one of my favorite parts about old games is their pieces.  Even though the pieces in the Snow White game are made from wood, I find the different shapes, colors, and sizes unique, and love how the distinctions represent the character/item of the game.  Aren’t they cool?

The board pictures The Magic Grotto (where the poisoned apple is placed when not in use), the Huntsman Lodge (space for Huntsman), Prince’s Castle (space for Prince), and the House of the Dwarfs (objective space for a win) in the four corners.  The Queen’s castle (space for Queen) is next to the ‘Start space’, with the Mines (place for treasure sticks and Dwarfs) in the center of the board.

As Snow White moves around the board by the roll of dice, these rolls determine the amount of ‘treasure sticks’ a player receives (also shown above) (brief note: a Dwarf piece =7 sticks and so 7 sticks replace a Dwarf in a player’s hold).

These ‘treasure sticks’ are collected from the mines and represent the jewels of the Dwarfs.  They are used as payment to remove a Queen, Huntsman, or Poisoned Apple given to a player by his opponent, or to give one of these to an opponent.  The Characters (Queen and Huntsman) and the Poisoned Apple, limit movement, and create obstacles for players.

The charming old game is fun to play.  The timeless tale, with the mission to have the Prince save the sleeping Princess by giving her love’s first kiss, never gets old.  It’s as wonderful to play today, as it was over 75 years ago.