Mmmmm if only this cake was real! (Vivid Imaginations Fifi's Stack a Cake Game)

Member Name: Rhiana

Product:	Vivid Imaginations Fifi's Stack a Cake Game
Date:	14/04/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not over complicated, simple and entertaining game.

Disadvantages: None.

There's no shortage of character merchandise on the market these days and games acount for a huge chunk of what's available. I usually find however, that appart from the characters initial appeal to young children, they are usually over priced and over complicated. We have lots of board games relegated to the cupboard and never seeing the light of day, because they are just too complicated or boring to engage my daughter for more than that first play.

Fifi's Stack a Cake Game made by Vivid Imaginations was bought for her birthday by a nursery friend. To be truthful I wasn't expecting much from it.

It doesn't consist of much. Theres an 8 inch plastic model of Fifi holding a plate, with a stand to steady her. There are 20 circular food items representing ingredients of a cake (sponge, cream, blueberry and strawberry jam and sprinkles) and a dice with pictures of the ingredients on each side, and a miss a turn.

The game can be played in 2 ways, both of which require at least 2 players. Firstly you can play by sharing the food pieces equally between all players and taking turns to roll the dice. The aim is to build a cake using all your pieces, by rolling the dice and adding the ingredient shown. So if you land on cream you add a piece of cream, but if you don't have the ingredient you have to miss a turn. The game is made more complex by the pieces being bumpy, so a little skill is needed to stack the cake really high, and if you cause it to collapse then the pieces that fall are added to your pile! The winner is the player to be left with no food pieces first.

The second way of playing is less structured, and the pieces are piled in the middle rather than being shared out. The aim here is to build a high cake without it toppling, but theres no winner or looser.

I have to say, I am really impressed with this game. It's beauty is in it's simplicity. It's easy for pre-schoolers to understand, it doesn't require any battery opperated mechanisms which often fail and dissapoint. The Fifi figure is sturdy and doesn't fall, the food pieces thick and chunky and easily identifiable, with just the right amount of bumping to require some skill and concentration when stacking. It's also very sweet looking (I like Fifi) and colourful.

It's fun and developes hand to eye co-ordination. Undoubtably my daughters favourite game, and one I don't groan inwardly when she wants me to play.

This game is reccomended from age 3+, however I wouldn't hesitate allowing a child of 2+ using it, perhaps with out the dice (if they still liking sticking things in their mouths) as a good introduction to board games.

Ours was bought as a gift, but available from Amazon for £5.39 and in my opinion worth every penny.

Summary: A thumbs up for the character merchandise this time!