These early Dodgems would still look recognisable today, with long poles connecting to an electrified grid in the ceiling. In the early 1920s, a patent was granted to Max Stoehrer and his son Harold for an "Amusement Apparatus" which became the basis for

Gardner, Martin (1987), "Dodgem and Other Simple Games", Time Travel and Other Mathematical Bewilderments, W.H. Freeman & Company, pp. 153–162, ISBN 0-7167-1925-8 . Burton, Anthony (2000). Traction Engines Two Centuries of Steam Power. Silverdale Books. pp.105–106. ISBN 1856055337. Although the idea of the ride is to bump other cars, safety-conscious (or at least litigation-conscious) owners sometimes put up signs reading "This way around" and "No (head on) bumping". [4] [5] Depending on the level of enforcement by operators, these rules are often ignored by bumper car riders, especially younger children and teenagers. [6] History [ edit ] I slammed my foot down, my sister was screaming “ Get ’em!!” like we were in some Mad Max movie and then BUMP!This poll uses a cookie which we have classified as ‘strictly necessary’ for the duration of your online session. Pursell, Carroll (2015). From Playgrounds to PlayStation: The Interaction of Technology and Play. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.65–66. ISBN 9781421416502 . Retrieved 24 September 2023. Gardner, Martin (June 1975), "Mathematical Games", Scientific American, Volume 232, Number 6, Scientific American, Inc., pp.107–108 . This article cites Wikipedia (or sources that take information from Wikipedia), in a circular manner. Please help improve this article by repairing any insufficient attribution if necessary and adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced or poorly sourced material may be challenged and removed.

Me and my sister shot each other a guilty glance, drove away sharpish and left the kid to be fished out by the ride attendant and returned to his mother and his gigantic, hulking, angry-looking father. The game can also be played in Misere, where you force your opponent to move their pieces off the board. [1] Theory [ edit ] Dodgem Corp ceased manufacturing dodgems 1970, but by this point there were many companies offering both traditional-style and modern dodgems throughout the globe. The Dodgems had established itself as a fixture at family-friendly occasions, and found its way to amusement arcades, cinemas, indoor leisure centres and many other locations. their Dodgem cars. They deliberately equipped their device with "novel instrumentalities to render their manipulation and control difficult and uncertain by the occupant-operator.” They asserted that “in the hands of an unskilled operator," a "plurality of independently manipulated... cars" would “follow a promiscuous, irregular, and undefined path over the floor or other area, to not only produce various sensations during the travel of the vehicle but to collide with other cars as well as with portions of the platform provided for that purpose." [7]

But when they were first invented in 1920, the whole point of going on the bumper cars was to… well, not bump into other bumper cars – hence the name “Dodgems,” because you had to dodge ’em. The board is initially set up with n-1 blue cars along the left edge and n-1 red cars along the bottom edge, the bottom left square remaining empty. Turns alternate: player 1 ("Left")'s turn is to move any one of the blue cars one space forwards (right) or sideways (up or down). Player 2 ("Right")'s turn is to move any one of the red cars one space forwards (up) or sideways (left or right). Dolan, Maura (January 1, 2013). "Ruling over bumper-car injury supports amusement park". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 8 December 2013. Whether you call them ‘dodgems’ or ‘bumper cars’, there’s no denying just how awesome it is to get behind the wheel. Of course, the name ‘dodgems’ does show that the aim of this game was originally to AVOID the other cars rather than bump into them, but people soon realised how much more fun it was to put the ‘bump’ into bumper cars.