Hip hippo ray! (Chad Valley Hungry Hippos)

Member Name: karalouk

Product:	Chad Valley Hungry Hippos
Date:	06/08/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun game for all ages

Disadvantages: Noisy, small parts, appears to send everybody crackers

Hungry Hippos is yet another classic game that I have fond childhood memories of and is still on the shelves today.

The game is set out on a plastic, red, square shaped base and has 4 different coloured hippos attached to each side (blue, yellow, pink and green). Each hippo has a black lever attached to its backside, when the lever is pressed the hippo lunges its head fowards and opens its mouth. 20 small, white, plastic balls (like marbles) are also provided and act as 'food' for the hippos. The aim of the game is to choose a hippo and make sure your hippo eats the most food. When a ball enters the hippos mouth the black lever should be released which causes the hippos mouth to snap shut (and traps the ball inside) and the head to move back into position. The ball then falls down into a small storage area. Each hippo has their own seperate storage area for the balls they collect and the hippo with the most balls at the end of the game (when all of the balls have been eaten) is crowned the winner.

The game is recommended for children 4 years and over, because of the balls I assume. The game shouldn't be left laying around if you have young children as it really can be dangerous.

Hungry Hippos is a game that is fun for all ages (children and adults, but mainly children) and is good family fun. Although the game is fairly simple it tends to set off everybodys competative streak and sends everybody erratic and into a total frenzy - instead of tapping the hippos, everybody seems to just whack the hell out of them as fast as they can! The game soon turns from a technical and tactical game, into a total game of luck. Because of this the game is also extremely noisy.

It can be played with up to 4 people and each game usually lasts around 40 seconds or so. It is very quick and easy to set up and the educational aspects of this game are that it can help develop hand-eye coordination and counting.

Hungry Hippos is available at all good toy retailers and costs around £10.00 which in my opinion isn't bad at all.

Overall a classic, family pleasing, must have game!

Summary: A classic.