You're going down! (Hasbro Downfall)

Member Name: pink19

Product:	Hasbro Downfall
Date:	12/11/08 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quite a simple game, lots of fun

Disadvantages: little bit fiddly to put together

Downfall is a game for two people. The age recommendation for the game is age 7+.

The object of the game is to be the first person to get all of your counters down through the cogs and into the chute at the bottom.

Assembling the game is pretty easy but can be a little confusing when it comes to putting the cogs on. Once you have assembled it on your first go, you will not need to do this again. The only thing you will need to do is detatch the chute to put it away in the box each time you play the game. To put the game together you need to-
1. Lock the Downfall unit into the chute by placing it into the holes and pushing it along until it locks into place.
2.Place the launcher onto the top of the Downfall unit.
3.PLace the cogs onto the unit. You have cogs labelled 1A-5A, these are placed onto the A side of the board. There are numbers 1A-5A on the board to show you where to put them. Then you repeat on the opposite side of the board with the cogs labelled 1B-5B.
4.There are arrows on the side of the board and cogs, these need to be aligned before starting play.

You are now ready to start playing.

The game is placed between the two players so that neither can see either ones side. Each player has a key and takes two lots of different coloured counters numbered 1-5. These are placed in each side of the launcher and they can be put in in any number order. Decide who will go first. That player then uses their key to turn one cog, this can be turned as far round as you want to and then you leave you key in the cog that yo have just turned. The cog can only be turned in the direction that you start to turn it.
Next the other player has their turn. They are not allowed to turn the same cog that you have left your key in, so they need to turn a different one. It then comes back to you and again you cannot turn the cog that the other player has turned. If you wish to turn the cog that you turned on your last go, dont take your key out just turn the cog. You can follow any path you choose to to get your counters down to the bottom and into the chute. If you have your last counter in the bottom cog you are then able to push the other players key out if they have their key in there, you will then win the game. The game continues back and for between the two players until one player has all of their counters in the chute at the bottom. It doesn't matter what order the numbered counters are in.

Each turn of the cog could be helping the other player as the slots on the cogs are in different positions on each side, you will not know if you are helping them or not.

There are two extra cogs in the box labelled 4c and 5c. These can be used if a player is winning all the time, just swap 4b for 4c and 5b for 5c and this player plays on this side of the board.

This is a fun and exciting game as you never know what your opponent is going to do and you never know how well they are doing. In my experience this game can be played with slightly younger children as long as they play with an adult to help them along the way.

Summary: a good, fun game