It was a brilliant ploy by the guys when they unrolled the Twister mat. Their girlfriends, clad in high heels and mini skirts, only could blush and reluctantly join in what could only be called the adult version of peek-a-boo.

Twister is the age-old favorite that has brought laughs and sore joints to kids, teens and adults since 1966.

Moving your left foot to green seemed too simple at first, but as bodies overlapped bodies, the game’s simple beginnings turned into a marathon of embarrassing contortions that have sent plenty of people to the chiropractor.

Twister creator Reyn Guyer was a sales promoter hired by a shoe polish company to come up with a bonus to be used in a sales campaign. Guyer, who later invented the Nerf football, had been playing around with an idea for colored patches that went on kids’ feet and an accompanying foot grid. But instead of turning the idea into a sales pitch, he decided to make it into a toy.

Milton Bradley gobbled up the idea and called the game Pretzel. Pretzel turned into Twister, and the rest is royalty checks for life.

The idea that you were the pieces to the game didn’t attract many buyers at first. But when Johnny Carson played the game on “The Tonight Show” against Eva Gabor with hilarious results, Twister games began to fly off the shelves.

It still attracts a giant audience and students at NIU can add their own twists to the game. Once again, a game you enjoyed as a child can be turned into a drinking game.

For those who decide to unroll the mat again you can place coasters or pieces of paper on different circles. If a player is on one of these marked circles they are obligated to drink a shot – from where they are. So an official shot-giver must be there to spin the direction card for the players and to pour and deliver the shot to the player. Remember, the Weekender urges that you drink responsibly.

Drinking adds quite a large task to the game. Maintaining balance becomes more difficult as the game continues and, by the end, you will be lucky if you can tell whose foot is whose.

Overall, you will find a new appreciation for this classic that has stood the test of time.