BP’s Eerie Version of Battleship

In the 1970s, BP was still “British Petroleum” — but they were still an oil company, and apparently, even then they were drilling for oil out at sea.  For some reason, they branched out and issued … a board game.

Here’s the box cover art, via BoardGameGeek.com:

That’s right, BP’s board game is about the perils of drilling for oil offshore.  Apparently, the game even has a hazard card in it which reads “Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1 million.”  (Or, say, $20 billion.)

Bonus fact: Let’s look toward better known board game: Monopoly.  All of the properties in Monopoly are areas of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the surrounding area.  But one, Marvin Gardens, is misspelled — it’s actually Marven Gardens, with an “e”.  The typographical error remains in the game to this day.

Related: Battleship, from the 1970s.