Game Body Small Players Metal Eslpod Operation Plastic

"Operation" is a "table game" (a game played at a table, not while moving around) that was created in 1965. It is a "battery-operated" (uses batteries to run) box with the "image" (picture or drawing) of a human body that has many holes cut out of it. The game begins with a small plastic body part or other object placed in each hole, and the players must use small "tweezers" (a small metal tool used to pinch and grab objects) to pull the objects out without touching the "edges" (sides) of each hole. If the metal tweezers touch the metal edge of the hole, there is buzzing sound and the patient's red lightbulb nose "lights up" (a light turns on). Then it is the next player's turn.

The body parts include an "Adam's apple," which is the "common term" (used by ordinary people, not by doctors) used to refer to the "lump" (raised area) in a man's neck that moves when he speaks. There is also a "broken heart" that represents "heartbreak" (feelings of sadness and loss, especially when a relationship ends). Players can try to pick up "butterflies in the stomach" which represent feelings of nervousness or anxiety, especially before performing or speaking in public. And they can try to pick up the "bread basket," which is a plastic slice of bread and a reference to a common term for one's stomach.

In 2004, the game makers, Milton Bradley, asked players to vote on a new piece to add to the game. They selected an ice-cream cone in the brain to refer to a "brain freeze," or the intense headache many people feel when they eat something that is very cold too quickly.