Thrift Treasure: Hang in There! Game

With so many pieces, we were very excited to find this copy of Hang in There! at our Goodwill for only a couple bucks. Just one missing part would make the entire game unplayable. So why did it get donated? Maybe the family’s kids had outgrown it (that doesn’t happen around here). More than likely it was because the game was rendered inoperable because they left the two “C” batteries inside. Years of sitting on a shelf had caused them to corrode and leak all over the battery compartment.

There’s a well-known trick to cleaning up this mess. Distilled white vinegar will not only make quick work of the corrosion, it neutralizes any acids present. A couple teaspoons, toothpicks and Q-tips later, along with fresh batteries, and this copy of Hang in There! was working as new!

Hang in There! is played by two teams, one on each side of the board. Each team has five animals they want to move from one end of the jungle to the other. This is done via spinning trees. Some are controlled by the team, while others are shared between them.

Pressing the start button begins the music and a 3-minute timer. The trees will spin randomly, changing rotation direction without warning. With a game like this, it can be hard to visualize exactly how the game progresses, so take a look at this video showing an entire round!

Originally offered by Hasbro / Milton Bradley, Hang in There! is long out of print. There are plenty of complete copies on eBay for pretty reasonable prices. If you find one at thrift or a yard sale, be sure to check it for all the pieces and grab a screwdriver to inspect the battery compartment!

Do you enjoy battery-powered board games?