My children have always been fond of the 1969 book, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle, so when we received this game as a present for one of their birthdays this year from their Great Aunty, they were keen to play the game.

In the story, a little egg turns into a caterpillar, who spends a whole week munching on various foods he finds, until he eventually has eaten so much, he wraps himself up in a cocoon, When he emerges he is a beautiful butterfly.

The game has been designed totally with the book in mind. The images used are from the book, and the aim of the game is to follow the plot of the book in a linear manner around the board.

The box itself is sturdy and the lid is identical to the story book. Upon taking off the lid there is a square board that folds to a quarter of its original size, and a spinner. There are then food pieces which are the items seen in the book such as strawberries, pears, oranges, plums, sausages and cheese. The counters are 4 little baskets to hold these food pieces when it is time to pick them up.

The first time we played it, I had to assemble the spinner, make the 4 little boxes, and pop all the food counters out of a larger piece of card. This was a little time consuming and fiddly, so I would recommend doing this before the kids are ready to play the first time, they are then left assembled in the box, so every other time we have played we have managed to set up quite quickly.

The game is for 2-4 players, aged 3 up. My youngest can play it, but he is getting a bit bored by the end of the game as it is quite a long one. At least 20 minutes I would say.

You all start at go, spinning the spinner to work out how many spaces you need to move. Unlike a traditional dice, there are 1-4 on the spinner, plus one section is a moon and if you land here you miss a go.
If you land on rectangular squares along the 2 sides of the board, you need to stop and spin until you get what it says on theat square. When it asks you to spin a sun, that is pretty easy as the sun image is on 1-4 on the spinner. It can take a while if you land on the one rectangle where you need to spin a moon.

There are then bigger circles on the top of the board. Here you stop to pick up 5 fruits, then 4 picnic foods, then 1 leaf to feed the caterpillar. These are stored in the center of the board until needed. This isn't too bad, but can take a couple of goes to get 4 or 5 items when the spinner only goes to 4.

At the end of the game, you reach a beautiful butterfly.

The board is very nice to look at, and quite well made. You need to be a bit gentle because the counters and the food items are only cardboard, but as long as you are not too heavy handed, they are well made and fairly robust.

The spinner is also a nicely made piece. It moves freely without any sticking like you sometimes find in cheaper less well made games.

The game is accessible to 3 year olds, but I do find myself having to help with the counting, particularly when picking up the food items over a couple of gos. The kids also both need me to keep reminding them of the rules, and reading out the instructions to them.

It is not a game that has come out that often, but when we have played it, we all do enjoy it. I usually manage one game with both boys, then my 5 year old will ask to play again while my 3 year old opts to do something else.

It reinforces counting, naming different food items, and encourages turn taking and playing nicely together, so I would recommend this one as a game that all can join in with.