Operation is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The game's prototype was invented in 1964 by John Spinello, a University of Illinois industrial design student at the time, who sold his rights to the game to Milton Bradley for a sum of USD $500 and the promise of a job upon graduation. Initially produced by Milton Bradley in 1965, Operation is currently made by Hasbro, with an estimated franchise worth of USD $40 million.

The game is a variant on the old-fashioned electrified wire loop game popular at funfairs around the United States. It consists of an "operating table", lithographed with a comic likeness of a patient (nicknamed "Cavity Sam") with a large red light bulb for his nose. In the surface are a number of openings, which reveal cavities filled with fictional and humorously named ailments made of plastic. The general rules requires players to remove these plastic ailments with a pair of tweezers without touching the edge of the cavity opening.

The removable piece "Brain Freeze" (an ice cream cone in the cranium) was added in 2004, when Milton Bradley allowed fans a chance to vote on a new piece to be added to the original game during the previous year. Voters were given three choices and could make their selection via the company's official website or by phone for a chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree. The winning piece beat out "Tennis Elbow" and "Growling Stomach".

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