Flippin' Penguins This Christmas (Tomy Flippin' Penguins)

Member Name: MrsDave

Product:	Tomy Flippin' Penguins
Date:	05/01/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: This is a good idea for a good price

Disadvantages: The idea needs a few changes to really work properly

We purchased this game from Amazon shortly before Christmas to ensure our grandson had a family game that he could be included in. This cost us just under £10 when we purchased it but Amazon have now raised the price to £12.72 with the RRP remaining at £12.99. We thought this would be good value for money and although we have been a little disappointed with this game overall, the price is reasonable for a battery operated game such as this is.

The idea is that there are three flippers around the rotating iceberg wheel which can be used to launch the penguins up onto the central iceberg with. In theory this is great but in practice we found the flippers, being placed over bumps on the base rather than fixed, kept on moving every time we tried to flip too hard. It was a real annoyance that bought gameplay to a halt every five minutes or so.

The penguins are easy to knock off the iceberg too which is frustrating for young players. As soon as they get their penguins on, another player knocks them off again. The skill required for this game outweighs the luck required so adults have to really hold back when they play this game to give children a fighting chance of winning. Unfortunately this is something our grandson picked up on and asked why we weren't trying properly!

In theory this game is brilliant. It's fun for all ages and it is especially good fun for Christmas. In practice I think the manufacturers need to rethink the design a little and perhaps even add some kind of adaptor to the flippers to make the game easier for children and harder for adults.

Summary: A good game that could be better.