Shhh, Careful or Tigger will BOUNCE! (Ravensburger Bounce Bounce Tigger Game)

Member Name: English Lady

Product:	Ravensburger Bounce Bounce Tigger Game
Date:	06/12/05 (176 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Short, simple, educational , good for all ages

Disadvantages: noisy (switch it off ! ), pieces could be lost, instructions are sketchy

What are Nannas for if not to spoil their Grandchildren? On a recent trip, Nanna Kath bought Beth a Bounce, Bounce Tigger for no other reason than she loves to spoil my little one.

Beth has seen this Tigger game advertised on TV a lot, and always asked for it, so I was interested to see if she'd enjoy it as much as she obviously thought she would.

My daughter is not far off her fourth birthday, and this game is listed as suitable for children 3+, so it seems she's about the right age for it. It set Nanna back £9.99 from Woolworths, which sounds not a bad price if it's a game that my daughter enjoys and plays regularly, but will the product in the box, live up to expectations?

Bounce, Bounce Tigger is suitable for up to four players, but can be played solo as well, which is an advantage with a young child who is likely to get bored with repetition a lot later than his or her adult counterparts. Ok, so before we start the game, how easy is it to set up?

Tigger comes out of the box ready to play, well unless you want the added sounds, then you need to insert 2 AA batteries into a battery compartment which is sealed with a screw, which you will need a screwdriver to undo. Ok, now you've got a plastic, 8 inch (approximately) bright orange, stripey Tigger and green grass base from the box. Set him down on a table, or a hard surface (he won't pop down on carpet properly) and you'll see his little arms flop forlornly to his sides. To play the game they need to lock and stick straight out.

Now this is a little fiddly, and the instructions don't do a terribly good job at describing this process, so it took me a long time to work out how to pop Tigger down, till he clicked in his base, ready to play.

The Key is in the button on the right side of the game. You need to slide this all the way to the back of Tigger so that Tigger's tail is anchored straight whilst you gently push down on his head or shoulders (I find a double handed grip on his tiger-ly shoulders works best) and wait for the "click." Once you've got him with his arms up you can slide that button forward; the further forward it goes the more sensitive Tigger becomes. As far as I can see this isn't explained in the instruction manual, which is a big oversight, as it's a great feature which means you can set the sensitivity according to the age of child or adult playing, and the game can get harder and harder the more the child's hand eye co-ordination improves.

For the four Year Old Beth I move the dial forward only a few centimetres, this gives her the ability to put on a few items before Tigger pops, meaning she doesn't get frustrated by not being able to put things on before it bounced. When we first set up Tigger, I didn't know about the slide button, so he was a pain to set up and would bounce with the first item every time, so neither mummy nor daughter were impressed. Thank Goodness I worked out the slider or it'd have been returned and this would have been a far more negative review!

Right, so Tigger is primed, ready for action (Much like Pop up Pirate or Buckaroo) and now you have to hook up his 12 favourite items for him to take on his picnic. These vary in weight from the heavy honey pot to the light butterfly and lamp, and some are more awkward to balance than others (the butterfly net and the hat are difficult to balance, the walking stick is easy) and your child will learn a lot about this as they play the game.

There are two ways to do it. The youngest goes first, and picks a piece, hangs it on Tigger then the next oldest takes one piece etc etc etc till Tigger POPS! If you make Tigger Bounce, you sit out the next round. (Though, we don't bother with this rule, we just giggle and play again, keeping a tally of who makes Tigger bounce the least, if we want a "winner.") And the second game involves the youngest picking one item and keeping hold of it, then the next oldest picks and so on round and round till all the pieces are gone. You place your pieces on Tigger and when he pops, any items that pop off go back to the person who picked it, and the others stay on as he's re-set, and the winner is the first person who's items all stay on Tigger.

Version one is the easiest for younger players I think, game two being for older players who want to play a little longer and have a bit more challenge.

Typically games last from under a minute (If Tigger decides to bounce first time) to 15 minutes or so, which is perfect for young attention spans! Tigger is very educational, helping children with their hand to eye co-ordination, turn-taking as well as teaching them about weights and balance.

Beth loves her Bounce, Bounce Tigger, and squeals every time he pops and scatters the pieces everywhere! She will happily take turns, though is often a little over-eager in taking her next turn, and so far we've played where no-one is a winner, because it seems pointless, as basically we're playing for the joy of hearing Beth Squeal when Tigger Bounces!

Mummy is pretty impressed too, and as a family game this goes down well, entertaining enough for adults and children alike for a few rounds ever now and then. Children can play with Tigger on their own BUT I have to set Tigger up for Play every time for Beth, she just can't get him to click down on her own. I just sit by her whilst she's playing, popping Tigger down every now and then whilst doing something else as well. I don't know how long Tigger's "Clicking" mechanism will last, I've been quite rough with him and he's held up well so far, his plastic is solid, but I do imagine he will wear down over time, I'd imagine you'd not have to worry about this for a good few years though.

So all in all I recommend Bounce, Bounce Tigger to you, though Ravensburger need a new instructions writer, as the most important element of the game was missed out from the manual. I also think the bouncing noise is annoying and adds nothing to the game experience, so far we've left it switched off, only using it with the bouncing noises once.

Even without the sounds though, this is worth £9.99, it's entertaining for all ages, simple and enjoyable. As long as you keep it in it's box and keep a track of it's 12 pieces (as with all small pieces, they're easily lost) this should be a game that is played with over and over again.

Summary: Load up Tigger carefully or He'll BOUNCE!