10 Most Underrated SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes
3. 'Patrick! The Game' (Season Nine)
It's rare for SpongeBob SquarePants to pull its focus almost entirely away from the show's title character, especially with great results, so 'Patrick! The Game' is definetely an unique episode.
It centers around Patrick's struggles to invent a new, fun-to-play board game for his friends to enjoy after he and SpongeBob fail to appreciate their edition of the game "Certified Public Accountant" at the beginning of the episode. It's worth mentioning that the opening board game gag is one of the best introductions to an episode in SpongeBob SquarePant's history, simply due to the entire premise of an accounting themed game.
After several failed attempts to create a new game, all of which Squidward easily wins at, Patrick eventually invites his friends over for a Frankenstein-inspired mismash of board games.
It's clear from the start that the rules are nonsensical, much to the chagrin of Squidward, mostly consisting of a variety of in-jokes to popular board game franchises. Life, Monopoly, and more are all parodied in this episode in a way that's both clever and easy-to-spot.
Ultimately, there really isn't any big moral or life-lesson here, but the sheer number of quality jokes keeps this episode in the upper echelon of SpongeBob SquarePants programming.