A couple of years ago during the run up to Christmas my neighbour knocked on my door and told me she had loads of toys that her son had out grown and barely played with and would I want any of them for my son. My son and I went next door to her house to have a look at some of the toys and one of the things my son chose was the game pop up pirate and this is my review of it.

==What is it?==

Pop up pirate is a game which seems to have been around since I was young! The fact that it is still a popular game even now is testament to the quality of it really.

The game is made by Tomy who are in my opinion a trusted manufacturer of toys. They describe this game as "the pirate poppin' game that's a barrel of laughs".

The game comes in a cardboard box which is mainly yellow in colour but which features pictures of the pirate popping as well as one of some children playing the game.

The game is suitable for children aged from four years and for 2-4 players so it is a good one to play as a family I think. The idea of the game is simple in that you just slide plastic swords in to the barrel in which the pirate sits and when one of them makes the pirate pop the person who inserted it in to the barrel is out of the game.

==Our experience==

When my neighbour gave us this game it was brand new and inside the box everything was still untouched which I guess is testament to how many toys her son must have been bought when he was younger! We had to do a little setting up with this game the first time that we played it but it was really just a case of popping out the twenty four plastic swords as they were all stuck together with a thin plastic and then sticking a few stickers on to the barrel. Once this set up is done for the first time you obviously don't need to do it again and it is just a case of dividing out the swords and placing the plastic pirate in the barrel and pushing down until he clicks in to place and so this really is a game that you can grab and play quickly to fill a few minutes or play a few times if you are looking for a longer game.

There are twenty four swords in this game and there are six of each red, green, blue and yellow so each person can choose a colour. Obviously this only works if you have four people playing and as it is usually just my son and I we will have two colours each so that we are using all of the swords just in case the pirate doesn't pop up early on in the game.

As you play this game you need to pop one of your coloured swords in to a slot in the barrel in which the pirate is sat. We have found that sometimes the pirate can pop up after the first sword but in other games it will be the last or certainly near to the last! This is what makes this game so fun I think because you can't really predict when it is going to pop up and so it always seems to make us jump when he does! The tension as you are running out of places on the barrel to stick your sword is quite amusing as you are almost willing the pirate to pop up on someone else's go!

I see no reason why a child of three years couldn't play this game to be honest and whilst some hand eye coordination is required to pop the swords in the holes in the barrel I do think this is something a three year old could manage. My son still enjoys a game of pop up pirate now he is seven and to be honest I do too so I think this is a game which will last quite a while in your house as it is one of those games which people of all ages will have a go at. It is nice that there is no skill involved in winning this game too as it makes it a more level playing field if adults are playing against children for example.

A game of pop up pirate really won't take long at all even if you have to insert every sword in to the barrel to make him pop up. You are looking at just a few minutes each game and so we do tend to play a few games in a row just to make it worthwhile getting the game out and setting it up. It is a great game to play with your children but it is also easy for them to set up and play with their peers independently too. If you are playing with four people you can eliminate a person each time the pirate goes pop and so a game will last longer in this way.

Pop up pirate costs £9.39 currently on amazon and I think this is a good price to pay for a game which all the family will be able to play and which will last many years.

Thank you for reading my review!