I remember having this as a kid, but more recently the design of the box and indeed the look of the game itself has changed, making it look a bit more 'modern. It's not the most thrilling of games, and yet it had an enjoyable quality in its simplicity.

Frustration is a Habro game that's been going for a little while now. It's suitable for 2 to 4 players and the game play is quite straightforward, making it suitable for children aged 6 and above (and adults too, of course!). You get 4 counters of 4 colours, one colour per player. Inside the box will also be the board; around the outside are squares you move across, in the centre a 'slam-o-matic-, and 4 paths leading up to the centre with 4 spaces to put your counters in to. The idea is that you try to get around the board from your starting position and get all 4 of your pieces back in to your path. The first person to do that wins. Of course, there are a few rules, such as having to get a certain number in order to first move your counter from the starting position.

The slam-o-matic is basically a plastic dome that's slightly flexible. You push down on it and it 'pops', shaking up the die inside with a satisfying pop sound. This will then tell you how many spaces you can move one of your counters. If you get a certain number, you can choose to move a new piece, and try to move more than one of your counters around the board in one go. There is some degree of strategy, but it's still very much a game of luck. You need to be prepared for the chance of another person's counter coming up on yours and sending you back to the start. It can, therefore, get frustrating; you may have all 4 of your counters out and be over half way around the board, only for the person next to you to get some lucky rolls of the die and send all your pieces back to the starting line.

This isn't a game that really inspires or teaches anything particularly useful at the age of 6+, but it's a reasonably fun game to pass some time. I actually used to quite enjoy playing this, always keeping my fingers crossed for a lucky roll. There's a nice sense of satisfaction getting all of your counters to the finish, but it takes some time and patience as you need to get just the right numbers on the die to get the pieces to fit in the 4 finish places. I believe a few tweaks to the rules have been made to up the game's sense of enjoyment, but I actually quite like its simplicity. It makes it easy to play so that almost anyone could join in.

At its RRP, this is about average for a board game, and I would say it's a reasonable quality set that should last a while, and being made by Hasbro, that's what you'd expect.

RRP £12.99
[Also reviewed by me, gothic_moon, on Ciao]