After a series of pandemic-induced delays, the twenty-fifth 007 film, No Time to Die, has finally hit cineplexes. For more than fifty-eight years, the super-spy has thrilled movie-going audiences and provided toy and game companies with a lucrative market for licensed products and movie tie-ins.
These are some of games that helped kick-off the franchise in the early years, plus one unique entry set to be released in 2022.
James Bond Secret Agent 007 Game
(Milton Bradley, 1964)
Players take on the role as one of 007’s secret agents, spying at various exotic locations and rendezvousing with other agents to score points.
Fun fact: There are two different box covers for this game, one with Sean Connery as James Bond and another with a more generic looking secret agent.
James Bond 007 Goldfinger Game
(Milton Bradley, 1964)
Released to coincide with the third James Bond film in the series, the Goldfinger game pits secret agents against evil henchmen to apprehend the nefarious Goldfinger.
James Bond 007 Thunderball Game
(Milton Bradley, 1965)
Milton Bradley released the Thunderball Game to coincide with the fourth film in the James Bond series. Players act under the guise of secret agents and hop from island to island to locate and diffuse an armed bomb.
James Bond 007 Card Game
(Milton Bradley, 1965)
Featuring a photo of Sean Connery on the cover, the James Bond 007 Card Game challenges players to bet and bluff their way to victory.
007 Game (Milton Bradley, 1965)
In 007, players use letters from the word “BOND” to capture opponents’ tiles and score points.
James Bond Secret Service Game
(Spears, 1965)
Players go undercover as James Bond to travel to a remote island and secure a sensational new rocket fuel before it falls into the wrong hands.
James Bond, Message from M Game (Ideal, 1966)
Developed by Marvin Glass & Associates, Message from M was the first and only James Bond board game developed by Ideal. It challenged players to locate and capture one of Bond’s arch villains: Dr. No, Rosa Klebb, Auric Goldfinger or Emilio Largo.
SPECTRE: The Board Game (Modiphus Entertainment, 2022)
Scheduled for release in Spring 2022, SPECTRE: The Board Game flips the scripts as players take on the role of one of the many James Bond villains and compete against each other to become SPECTRE’s Number One.
Todd Coopee is Editor-in-Chief of Toy Tales, an online publication that covers toys and games past and present.
