Players take the role of children sneaking to the refrigerator late at night, trying not to wake their sleeping father (who lies in the middle of the board on a large bed).
If the color of a noise space matches the color of an assigned card that a player holds, they are safe; otherwise, the player makes one of several noises (such as rollerblades, a baseball, a noisy clown on TV, a barking dog, a tricycle, a broken vase, a cuckoo clock, a screaming parrot, a falling picture frame, a toy piano, a bowl of fruit being knocked over, a cat whose tail has been stepped on, a falling dish with a slice of cake on it, a loud radio, falling pots and pans, and a crying baby).
(The 1992 version included a slamming door, a falling coat rack, someone's foot tripping on the dog's food dish, and a wind-up toy soldier) Then the player who made that noise must press the button on the alarm clock next to the father a certain number of times as indicated on the space (ex: four presses for the number 4); if the father stays asleep, the player's piece can stay where it landed until the next turn.
[6] The game's success was cited as a contributing factor in Hasbro's 46% increase in net income after the fourth quarter of 1992.
[9] A children's book based on the game, Don't Wake Daddy: Late-Night Snack, was published by Scholastic Corporation in 2001.