This Game Causes Trouble :)
Written: Jan 18 '01 (Updated Jan 18 '01)
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Pros: Easy set up, minimum pieces to clean up or lose. Great for all ages
Cons: a bit expensive, I had to change the rules a bit.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a simple game for all their children to play. Fun, simple, and it brings families together. Who needs more?
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| angelsbear's Full Review: Milton Bradley Trouble |
Grandma was looking for a game for all three of my boys to receive on Christmas day. She wanted to get something they could all play together with minimum parts to get lost. My boys are super about losing parts. Normally with one play, the box is destroyed and crucial parts are missing in action.
While cruising Kay-bee toys on the day after Thanksgiving--yes, we are nuts--we discovered Trouble. We had actually thought about another game, even had this said game in our bag--but when we saw the price of Trouble, a inexpensive $5--normally $12.99, we made the decision to pick that up instead.
I was familiar with this game and knew it was very easy to set up. I also knew there were no little extras to get misplaced. Minimum pieces to pick up meant the boys, and not my vacuum cleaner actually might pick them up. There aren't any thrills to this game. You have only the necessities to play.
On Christmas morning, Grandma arrived and the kids opened their presents like mad men. This was their first Christmas spent with Grandma and Grandpa and they cherished it. Once all the presents were opened--and wrapping paper strewn around my entire home--the toys they could play with by themselves were tried out. When they tired of this, they decided they wanted to play something together. The first thing they reached for was the game Trouble.
My youngest, who is now seven, took it out of the box and it definitely isn't like I remembered when I was a kid. But, then again, when I was a kid, my parents may have already assembled it. In this new version (to me it is new) the game board had to be attached to the cardboard bottom. This is easy enough, and my seven-year-old did it with ease. You then take the little rubber "feet" that are supplied with the game and stick them in the places cut out for them. This is where my youngest got confused and so I did this step for him. If you aren't sure about this step, a diagram is included in the instruction book.
The setup and play is very basic for Trouble. You have four different colored pegs in yellow, blue, red, and green. Each color has four pegs. Total pieces to lose? 16! There are no die to get lost as it is entrapped in the ever famous bubble called the "Pop-O-Matic". The kids love this feature and once they stopped popping it, we were ready to play.
The instructions are very clear and easy to read. The object is to get all four of your pegs out of "home" and around the game board one time. You then have to get them in their safe "finish" area, and to do this, you need to get an exact number of spaces to actually move them in correctly.
In my opinion, Trouble comes in a few ways when it comes to this game. The first way, hence the name, is when your peg occupies a space and another opponent lands on your peg, your peg is sent all the way home. When your child has worked very hard to get this peg out, it can cause a lot of distress even though it is a game. Also, If you choose to take a peg out of "home" and then roll again, moving a different peg you then leave your first peg vulnerable in the "start" space. Another player can then come and land on this space, putting you right back at the beginning. This leads me to the biggest area of "Trouble" in this game for my children.
To get out of your "home" area, you need to pop a six on the die. You can then move again, as with a pop of six, you would roll again. I played with my three sons and I along with my oldest and youngest, continued to get the roll of a six quite often. My middle son on the other hand, got only a small amount. Of course, each time he got out and half way around the board, one of his brothers would come along and send him home.
This was absolutely no fun for my son. So I decided to let him either roll a one or a six. His brothers didn't have a problem with this, as they wanted him to play as much as he did. This brings a more enjoyable game night and we now always play this way.
To win? Simple, whoever has all their pegs in the finish spaces first wins. You then play until you have a second and third place winner. This seems to please the kids as they can play to finish.
All in all this game is very fun and simple. It is geared for children ages five and up. I enjoy it, as there is very little set-up and minimum mess to clean up. There isn't any reading required, just the ability to recognize numbers and Trouble helps with that. Kids learn their numbers quick when playing this game. Especially that number 6:)
Trouble can be an expensive game at times for what is included, but this is a classic that seems to always go on sale.
Well, I better run before I get in Trouble, I promised the kids that I would play a game with them.
Have fun!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 5.00
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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Epinions.com ID:
angelsbear
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Member: Tammy
Location: Upstate NY
Reviews written: 98
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
I am a Mom to 4 boys, ages 20, 18, 15 and 4.
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