Activities Around the World: Hungry Hungry Hippos
Sure, Mensans love brainy stuff, but we also like silliness. HalloweeM, Chicago’s annual Regional Gathering offers plenty of both, including the opportunity to play Life-Sized Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Hippos? In a hotel?
Hungry Hungry Hippos is a children’s board game involving four mechanical, colorful, plastic hippopotamuses operated by levers on their backs. When the lever is pressed, the hippo opens its mouth and extends its head forwards on a telescopic neck. When the lever is released, the head comes down and retracts. Plastic marbles are dispensed into the board by each player, and the players repeatedly press the lever on their hippo in order to have it “eat” the marbles.
At Chicago’s ‘WeeM, people pair up; one person lies on a flat scooter (usually a luggage cart from the hotel) and another person does the pushing and pulling. A bunch of plastic balls (the kind used in ball pits) are dumped in the center of the room. The person on the scooter holds a basket or box and tries to scoop up as many balls as possible. (video from ‘WeeM in comments).
Chicago’s HalloweeM is a four-day gathering held on the last weekend of October and generally has 500-600 attendees from all over the world.