Vintage 1968 Pop-O-Matic game board with clear dice dome and colored pegs (Kimble, the Finnish edition of Trouble)

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1960s · board games

Trouble

Pop-O-Matic bubble in the middle rolled dice for everyone. The plastic dome click is burned into millions of childhoods.

Era
60s
Released
1965
Category
board games
Availability checked
7/17/2026

From the archive

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The pitch

Trouble! Pop the bubble, roll the dice, and race your pegs around the board! That satisfying Pop O Matic dome in the center makes every roll feel like an event. Get all four pegs home before your sister does.

Why people remember it

  • You could not lose the dice, which parents loved.
  • Racing pegs around the board was simple and loud.
  • The pop sound was ASMR for competitive siblings.

Did you know?

  • The Pop O Matic dice bubble was patented by Kohner Brothers and became Trouble's signature feature.
  • It eliminated dice rolling off the table, a genius fix for car trips and airplane trays.
  • The same mechanism appeared in Headache and other Kohner games.
  • The popping sound is so satisfying it became a selling point in every commercial.

How people search for it

“pop o matic game”, “bubble dice board game”, “plastic dome dice game”

Tags

Questions people ask

Can you still buy Trouble?
Yes. The Pop-O-Matic dome is still the hero of the box.
Why double pawns?
So two players could share one color in a pinch, or teams could play.