Discover Omaha

From an article found at: http://dataomaha.com/media/mm/omahagame.html

In 1978, three Omaha guys, one of whom worked for The World-Herald at the time, made a board game intended to teach people about their city. "Discover Omaha" was a simple dice-rolling game, in which players started at Eppley and rolled their way through the city. The board resembled Monopoly and was geographically faithful-ish to Omaha.

The game's creators were Bob Samuels, who was the director of Henningson Durham & Richardson Inc. at the time; Rudy Smith, who was a World-Herald photographer; and Charles Bryant, who was assistant principal at Bryan High School. Bryant, who died in 2004, was best-known as a Husker legend. He was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and was named among the 50 greatest Nebraska football players of the 20th century by World-Herald readers in 1999.

Smith said in 1978 that the game's "rules are designed so that people will become familiar with Omaha." Smith says now that "the purpose of the game was to learn the city's history." "We worked well together," Smith says of his fellow game designers. "We wanted to do something to make money. Board games were really hot at the time, and we decided to get into the business." The trio invested about $12,000 to get the game in stores. The games sold for about $7 a piece and, Smith said, were on the shelves at JCPenney, Walmart, Walgreens, Brandeis, Richman-Gordman, Mangelsen's, Sears, Oakview Mall and Younkers. The game sold pretty well, Smith remembers. "Then computerized games came out," he says. "They killed us."

"Discover Omaha" was intended for ages 8 and older. The game was just brutally simple. Players rolled the dice and moved their pieces across dozens of Omaha places, some still here, some not. Orpheum Theater, Rosenblatt Stadium, Henry Doorly Zoo, Civic Auditorium, Bank of Florence, Central High School, Joslyn Art Museum, Peony Park, Boystown, Southroads, Union Stock Yards, Crossroads, Fort Calhoun, Hummel Park, Great Plains Black Museum, Ak-Sar-Ben and many more. First one to Central Park Mall won. Along the way, players could be boosted or busted by landing on a red or blue spot. Red spots got you a violation card. "Your skateboard is parked in front of a fire hydrant. Go Back three spaces." "Littering is a No No. Help keep our city beautiful and clean. Go back 2 spaces." "You ran over neighbor's toy with your big wheel. Go back 2 spaces."

Landing on a blue space got you a Chamber of Commerce Information card. These included facts about various Omaha locations and organizations and advanced players extra spaces. "Memorial Park. A scenic World War II Memorial. Advance 1 space." "Omaha City Council. Has seven elected officials. Advance 1 space." "Old Market. A unique village type atmosphere located south of the Mall. Advance 2 spaces."

At the time of the game's launch the trio said one of the objectives of "Discover Omaha" was to call attention to the planned revitalization of downtown Omaha, which they hoped would help the mostly black near north side. Smith was concerned about the "black brain drain," young black people leaving Omaha. The game was in part a plea. "There are a lot of things to take advantage of in Omaha," Smith said, "if you avail yourself of them."

NOTE: This game is rare/protected and requires having a membership to play. See a Game Associate for details.