Anger Management anyone? (Frustration)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Frustration
Date:	15/01/09 (203 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: addictive

Disadvantages: only for four players

I have been helping out at work with the kids club we run for the last couple of weeks. It has given me a chance to sit down and play all the games that I used to play when I worked there full time.
One of the firm favourites with the kids has to be Frustration. It is a very simple game that all ages can almost play with a bit of help, proving to be ever popular over the years. Even I remember having this when I was a child.

** What is the aim of the game? **

Frustration is a board game that houses space for it's counters, enabling them to stay in one place, avoiding them being spilt all over the table when an player gets a bit too excited.
The game is played with up to four players, but a minimum of two. The dice is also housed in a dome in the centre of the board. This is great as you won't lose the dice as can happen with many games.

If you've every played Ludo or games similar then you will understand the aim of the game is to be the first player to get all your counters round the board and into your home squares.

** How to play **

Each player has a different coloured counter. You can choose between red, blue, yellow or green. There are four counters for each player.

Once you decide which player will go first, the turns usually rotate in a clockwise direction.
Each player takes it in turns to press the domed dice in the middle of the board. The dice then rolls itself inside the dome, avoiding all those sneaky rolls to get a high number.
Once a six is rolled then the player can move one of their counters out onto the board from their home slots.

The general rule of thumb to frustration is that
- if you land on the same space as another player, you can send them back home
- rolling a six gets you a second go

I appreciate every set of players may have their own tweaked version of the rules, but the above are the ones I have always played by and stand by when playing with the kids.

** Who wins? **

The player who wins will be the player who has managed to get all four counters around the board once and into their home squares first. The end of the game can get quite tense and frustrating, hence the name of the game, due to each player getting closer to home and no-one managed to roll the correct number on the dice to get their counter in the right spots.

** How long will a game last? **

An average game of Frustration will last about twenty minutes to half an hour. If there are only two players it can be slightly less.

** Why is it called Frustration? **

I think it's called Frustration because the domed dice in the centre of the board enables players to be a little more vigorous than usual when rolling a dice, and therefore they get to take their frustrations out on the dice.

** What I think of the game **

As I mentioned the game could be played by young players with a bit of help. I think this encourages Frustration to be a great family game, especially when you can include younger members.
From my experience of playing it at kids club, the children never seem to bore of the game. One game at a time is often enough for their attention spans but it's a game they will always return to often.

I find myself being drawn to Frustration when we have a spare few minutes during the afternoon, as it's a game we can also leave and come back to should we need to. The board is designed to be sturdy and with the enclosed dice and slots for the counters, then the risk of losing all the places on the board is reduced.

Whenever I sit and play this game, I always find from experience that the children playing will always become quite lively and it sparks a lot of excitement when they manage to send one of their competitors back to the home squares. It makes me smile to myself to see some harmless competition between them whilst knowing they aren't taking it too seriously and having fun at the same time.

** Specs **

Frustration is made by MB and will cost around £15 from many online stores. There are other makes of Frustration you can buy which will go by a slightly different name but available for less money.
The game is suitable for ages four and up, I would say three years with help.

Summary: a great kids game for all the family to enjoy