Mouse Trap is a board game first published by Milton Bradley in 1916 for two or more players. Players travel as mice from one end of the board to the other, moving in a turn based manner guided by a six sided die, supplied with the game. Upon landing on a square, they either retrieve a piece of cheese, or assemble a piece of the Rube Goldberg-style mouse trap contraption that is the game's namesake. The contraption has gears, a marble which rolls from end to end down a miniature staircase, ramps, rubber bands, diving men, and ends of course in a mouse trap, specifically a dome-shaped cage which clatters down a toothed pole. Upon reaching the end of the board, all players travel in a circle, ending up underneath the 'net' of the trap, or on a space to 'trip' the trap. Operating the contraption requires a piece of cheese, gained earlier.

The object of the game is to trap the other mice, and to build the trap. It is similar to games such as Candyland, Life, or Snakes and Ladders, in that it does not require much strategy or planning, resulting in mostly minimal interaction. However, the unpredictable nature of the trap mechanism means that the game has an additional layer of sophistication that makes the game far more interesting than others where the chief randomizing agent are dice.

Different versions of the game exist, and whereas some have simply improved or altered the trap design (such as the removal of a spring on the plumbing assembly), others have altered the game's rules (removing the cheese from the game).

A children's gameshow of the same name was transmitted on the British channel ITV in the early 1990s as part of the Saturday morning entertainment show "MotorMouth". The game featured a scaled-up version of the board game's contraption, and contestants had to complete small activities round the outside of the trap (such as completing a mathematical puzzle, crawling through a tube or throwing objects into buckets to lower a drawbridge. At any point during the game a siren would sound, meaning that the trap had been activated. One team member would then have to run round the exterior of the trap and tag the other player who would attempt to turn the trap off before the ball-bearing hit the plumbing. If they failed, the grand prize would be "trapped" and replaced with a prize of lesser value. In the final part of the show, the contestants had the time it took the trap to run to answer 5 general knowledge questions to win the prize. It is often possible to note the cage slowing down as it made its descent, in an attempt to ensure that the contestants won the prize! There is also a keychain version of Mousetrap, which is similar, except all the pieces are miniature.


Details of the mouse trap contraption
This description accompanies the illustration on this same page. The player turns the crank (A) which rotates the gears (B) causing the lever (C) to move and push the stop sign against the shoe (D), which tips the bucket holding the metal ball (E) which rolls down the stairs (F) and into the pipe (G) which leads it to hit the rod held by the hands (H), causing the bowling ball (I) to fall from the top of the rod, roll down the groove (J), fall into and then out of the bottom of the bathtub (K), landing on the diving board (L). The weight of the bowling ball catapults the diver (M) through the air and right into the bathtub (N), causing the cage (O) to fall from the top of the post (P) and trap the unsuspecting mouse (i.e. the player who occupies the spot on the board at that time).