Don't Spill the Beans

Don't Spill the Beans is a children's board game for two or more players, originally designed by Schaper Toys and first published in 1957, later sold by the Milton Bradley Company and today by Hasbro. Aimed at children roughly three to six years old, the game centers on a small plastic cauldron balanced on a tipping base; players take turns placing plastic beans into the cauldron, trying not to be the one whose bean finally tips it over. When the cauldron spills, all of the spilled beans are added to that player's own pile, so a spill is a direct setback rather than the end of the game. Play continues around the table until one player has successfully placed every one of their beans into the cauldron without causing the final spill, and that player wins. Milton Bradley acquired the game in 1986 through its purchase of Tyco Toys, and Hasbro has continued to market it as a classic preschool game; early 1960s editions used real kidney beans in place of the later plastic ones.