As a girl growing up in the ‘90s, there was nothing more exciting than finding out someone had a crush on you. While these days, gossip about crushes are happening via texts and snaps, back in the day it was all about the phone. I don’t know if guys ever did this, but girls definitely would call up their crushes, only to hang up amid a fit of giggles if someone actually answered the phone. These hang up calls were particularly popular at slumber parties with a large group of girls egging each other on. In 1991, a board game came out that emulated that feeling of calling up your crush without having to actually call up your crush and risk embarrassment. That’s right, we’re talking about Dream Phone.
In case you need a refresher, the goal of Dream Phone was to figure out which of 24 different potential secret admirers had a crush on you. How would you do that? By using the phone, of course! You would call up different dudes on the phone, and they would give you clues about who the secret admirer was. Most of the clues would be about what they weren’t, like the guy who has a crush on you doesn’t like ice cream (wtf?) and then you’d take your handy dandy deduction sheet and cross off ice cream in the Food Clues column. Eventually, you’d get enough clues and would call up the guy you thought was your admirer, and if you were right, he’d tell you, “You’re right! I really like you.”
If that sounds similar to the game Clue, you wouldn’t be wrong — creator Mike Gray stated that Clue was very much an inspiration for the game. The idea for the game actually came down to the wire, though. Gray and his team (of all guys) at Milton Bradley were tasked with coming up with a game for 9 year old girls centered around a phone. It was a Thursday, and they had to present something on the following Tuesday, so Gray quickly came up with the idea of girls calling up guys and getting clues to figure out who liked them. And thus, Dream Phone was born.
These days, Dream Phone is no longer in print, and considering how gender-biased the game was, it’s not really a surprise. The game was very clearly targeted at girls, and just girls who liked boys. Not to mention that some of the boys looked very much like men and not boys — we’re looking at you Carlos, Bob, and Dale. While the guys were somewhat diverse, let’s face it, they were mostly white guys. Dream Phone is truly a testament to the ‘90s, and we’ll just keep it in our memories of the countless slumber parties of our youth, where it belongs.
Did you play Dream Phone? Did you have a favorite guy you hoped was crushing on you? Let us know in the comments, but first, for an extra dose of nostalgia, check out this ‘90s commercial for the game:
- The designers called the bulky cordless pink phone “the pink slipper,” as it kind of looks like Cinderella’s glass slipper when you put it on its side.
- All of the pictures of the guys were chosen from a photo house by the designers — there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to it, they just chose the ones they liked the looks of.
- Creator Mike Gray also designed another hugely popular game for girls in the ‘90s: Mall Madness.
- You can find copies of Dream Phone on eBay, though to get a complete, working version, you’ll have to fork over around $100.
- The game was translated into different languages for many different countries, with the guys changing up their names and looks depending on the country.
- The designers called the bulky cordless pink phone “the pink slipper,” as it kind of looks like Cinderella’s glass slipper when you put it on its side.
- All of the pictures of the guys were chosen from a photo house by the designers — there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to it, they just chose the ones they liked the looks of.
- Creator Mike Gray also designed another hugely popular game for girls in the ‘90s: Mall Madness.
- You can find copies of Dream Phone on eBay, though to get a complete, working version, you’ll have to fork over around $100.
- The game was translated into different languages for many different countries, with the guys changing up their names and looks depending on the country.
