A parlor game that is “nerve-rackingly exciting for all segments of the population and for all ages”: with these words, Werner Schöppner from Essen tried to get his invention made in 1959.
The idea for the board game had come to the young bakery worker, unconfirmed sources claim, one day in the lavatory. He thought to himself: there should be a game where things happen as they do in life. Where friendships are made and ended. Where people cheat and deceive, win and lose. He couldn’t get the idea out of his head, and so he set to work. He took his inspiration from the classic Indian game Pachisi, among others. Schöppner showed his initial designs to friends and acquaintances, who were impressed. The first two publishing houses he offered the idea to, on the other hand, were not. But he was successful with the third, Otto Maier Verlag Ravensburg. Only when it came to a name for the board game did the parties fail to agree: Werner Schöppner suggested “Die roten Stopper” (The Red Stoppers) and “Sperrenknacker” (Barrier Crackers). Karl Maier, the son of the publishing house’s founder, was not convinced by any of these, so they went back to the drawing board. One day, Karl Maier reported to the inventor that, while he and his wife were trying out the game, he had taken away all her positions on the board and she had cried out: “You Malefiz!”. That’s how the name finally came about. It comes from the Latin word “maleficere” – “to do evil”.
“You Malefiz!”
Dutch graphic designer Alfons van Heusden was brought on board to design the game. His design seems twee and a little old-fashioned today. But in the late 1950s it was quite the scandal, with its depiction of a gunslinger and a voluptuous woman. When the game was unveiled at the 1960 Nuremberg Toy Fair, people were shocked at first. Nevertheless, Malefiz quickly became a big seller – and unfortunately a model for copycats: a French version was sold under the name “Barricade” and an American version under the name “Obstruction”. But the success of the original was not to be shaken. Werner Schöppner was able to see his game idea become a cult hit until his death in 1983. Malefiz celebrated its 60th birthday in 2019.
(Image: vvoe – AdobeStock.com)
