The craze, though, did not last long. After a few years, Americans grew bored with the new technology, and it was expensive for theaters to show 3D films because they required two projectors, instead of just one. Fortunately for Hollywood, the trend lasted long enough to get the industry out of its slump and restore people's faith in films. In 1966, the Parker Brothers Company bought the rights to a board game called Ouija. Their first year producing it, Parker Brothers shipped two million copies of the game.
Players sit with their fingers resting on a plastic heart-shaped piece called a planchette.
They ask questions, and the planchette glides around the board, pointing to letters and numbers and supposedly spelling out answers. The common explanation is that one of the players moves the planchette without realizing it. Felt pads on the planchette let it move easily, and having several people touching it makes it hard to tell why it's moving. Some people think such boards are associated with the occult and are dangerous. Parker Brothers, however, says their Ouija board is for anyone aged eight and up.