I've just dropped an ollie (Kerplunk)

Member Name: EggMan

Product:	Kerplunk
Date:	19/07/09 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nerve jangling fun

Disadvantages: Time consuming and fiddly to set up

I used to love playing this years ago, it is a very addictive game. In the box you get, plastic pieces which make up the kerplunk structure. This comprises of a base, with compartments numbered 1 to 4, in which a plastic cylinder sits in the centre, a spiral plastic helter skelter like slide mechanism which clips around it and a ball type top with many small holes in it. A bag of coloured marbles and lots of long multicoloured cocktail like sticks.

Construct the kerplunk structure, place all of the sticks through the holes in the ball type top to produce a web like matrix inside the ball and place all of the marbles into the ball. The marbles settle and sit in the ball on the sticks.

Aim of the game:

Pick a numbered compartment, then each player takes it in turns to remove a cocktail stick. During each players' go they carefully remove a stick. As they do, inside the ball, the marbles begin to move, remove the wrong stick and marbles will drop through the ball, race round the helter skelter slide mechanism and roll around the base. Collect the marbles and place then in your numbered compartment. Though the real aim is to remove a stick without dropping and collecting any marbles.

Verdict:

Kerplunk costs around £12.50. The game is a game of chance and luck, trying to prevent any marbles dropping and landing in your compartment. This is a very good family game which certainly gets the nerves jangling when pulling the sticks out. One main criticism of the game is that it can take a bit of time putting the game together and placing the sticks through the ball, younger kids seem to be a little impatient when doing this and they soon lose the will to play. The quality of the plastic structure as with most things these days is not what I remember it to be when I played this as a kid.

Summary: Good game but kids soon get bored after each play