My five year old son was given this Whac a mole board game as a Christmas present. It has remained a firm favourite of his.

What is it ? It is a game based on the arcade classic 'hitting' game, where you wallop all sorts of creatures from crocodiles to spiders over the head with a mallet.
This is a play at home version where you hit little hard hat wearing moles on the head to score points and beat the clock.
It is made by Mattel, so you are getting a good quality game from a trusted name.

How to play - There are five moles on a base unit, the one we have looks slightly different from the picture one as ours is on a round base and not square.
The unit takes three AAA batteries which are fitted in an enclosed section of the base -you will need a screwdriver for this part. Also in the box is four coloured plastic mallets.

There are two ways to play

Solo : This is where all the moles randomly light up and you have to hit as many of the lit moles as you can before the time runs out. At the end the middle mole tells you your score.

Against other players : This is where each player selects a colour and when the mole wearing your chosen coloured hard hat lights up you give it a wallop. At the end the middle mole reveals each players score.

What we thought of it - When my son first opened it he was excited, he loves the arcade versions of this game and was thrilled to have his own one.
Setting up is easy, and once the batteries are in there is no set up at all. This is great for quick games when time is limited. It also means that the children can play without the need of adults help.
We love playing the game, it is fun and easy and the whole house enjoys it.
Beware though, it can get a bit competitive, my husband and I had a bit of a challenge going on for a while and it wasn't pretty.
The kids love playing it and it is always one of the first games my son chooses to play.
I love the solo play feature too, which enables my boy to play on his own if there is no one to play with or if after an hour the rest of us have lost the will to live but he still wants to play.

The game costs about £20, which I think is quite expensive for a child's game. Having said that we play Whac a mole at least twice a week, it is one of our most used games and despite it's constant use, it remains as good as the day we got it. So it is good value in the long run.

The game is for children age 4+