(i never played this game, so all i can really remember of it is a big blue bucket shaped like a pair of pants, and cartman from south park yelling "and take your goddamn ants in the pants with you!" when he doesn't get the toys he wants at his birthday party. so i did a little research.)
ants in the pants is a (i hesitate to say "
board") game for children three to six years, with two to four players. it's put out by an old favorite,
milton bradley. this game
has been around at least since i was a little kid, so i'll say it's
origins were in the early-to-mid 80's, though i
can't be sure.
there is indeed a
pair-of-pants-shaped bucket;
suspenders form the handle. but since i've grown up they've
fleshed out the concept a bit and attached a
black and white dog's head and upper
torso and arms. i don't know whether this is to make the game easier or more
difficult.
basically all the players do is "pop" these
huge-ass plastic,
multicolored bugs into the pair of pants. by pressing down on the back of the
bug and then quickly releasing, a child can cause the bug to
spring in a certain direction. in a way, it's a
surreal version of
basketball.
the dog serves as the "
backboard" off which the ants bounce into the pants "basket."
there are no "turns"; it's a
free-for-all (
just like real life!). whoever gets all of their bugs "into Fido's
bloomers" wins. because of the
simplicity and fast-paced nature of the game, it's billed as being a hit with toddlers, as well as an activity which helps them improve their
motor skills and build "strategies" (what kind of
strategy you need to flip ants in a bucket, i don't know). however, some parents have complained that the ants are nearly impossible to "pop," even for
adults.
i personally have always thought the game was rather
meanspirited. did fido ever
ask to have ants in his pants? i doubt it.
http://www.sofitware.com/zehe/m/ust/?i=B00000IWDQ knows far too much about this scary game.