Twister Game Creator Charles Foley Dies

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 11, 2013 7:20PM

Volunteers fail in an attempt to break the World Twister record for largest game of 4,160 people at the Rogers Centre November 9, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Charles Foley, who was one of the co-creators of the party game Twister, died Thursday at a care facility in a Minneapolis suburb at the age of 82. Mr. Foley’s son, Mark, said he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Mr. Foley and Neil Rabens submitted a patent for the game, originally called “Pretzel,” in 1966. Toy manufacturer Milton Bradley bought it, changed the name to Twister and began producing the game, which became a pop culture phenomenon when Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played it on The Tonight Show. Critics, including rival toy companies accused Milton Bradley of “selling sex in a box,” but Mark Foley told The Associated Press, “Dad wanted to make a game that could light up a party.”

And did it. Twister has become a timeless classic, with over 65 million people having played the game. Its success is simple: Twister is one of the few games where human bodies are the game pieces, spawning scores of awkward social interactions, strained muscles and ligaments and keeping chiropractors across the country in business.

Hasbro, Inc., which owns the Milton Bradley brand, released a statement echoing Mark Foley’s sentiment. "What makes the Twister game timeless is the fact that it's always been about showing off your free spirit and just having some laugh-out-loud, out of your seat fun," the statement read.

Bill and Ted even beat the Reaper in a game of Twister.