My 8 year old daughter bugged me for weeks for this toy. Her birthday was last week, so we got it. It was $25!!! I couldn't believe it. I can see $10, but really. . . it was easy to find at Walmart.
Assembly was a snap---literally. There are 2 legs that elevate one end of the game'board' that need to be snapped on, and one decorative backboard (no purpose, really) with fish, and one tray at the bottom to catch playing pieces as they roll down (are "eaten"). The bottom tray doesn't snap on, so if you need to move the game, you'll have marbles and fish everywhere.
To store this, you'd have to either take it apart to get it back in the box, or leave it assembled and put it somewhere by itself (which would take up lots of room, as you couldn't stack anything on top of it). Bad design in that regard.
At first I thought the game was going to be rather boring, but it actually has some suspense to it. To win, you have to get each of your fish to the safety of the pool at the top of the gameboard (behind the piranhas). Each player has 3 fish--either the purple set, the yellow set, green, or orange. There are four lanes of play, and you can put your fish in any lane you want, even if someone else is also using that lane. Each lane consists of 5 "spaces", which are little teeter-totters that the fish sit on. If they get 'eaten', the teeter-totters will flip over, making the fish disappear (and roll back down to the starting position).
To move, you roll a die. You can move one fish all the way up and then start another fish, or put all 3 fish on the board at once, or whatever you want. But you can only move one fish per play.
The 'catch' to this otherwise straightforward game is that there are piranha marbles (clear marbles with pictures of piranhas in them) that may be called into play. When these are used, they are placed in little cavities at the top of the gameboard and then released by pulling a lever. At that time, they disappear underneath the lanes of the gameboard and start flipping fish over (eating them).
There is a little strategy to this. . .. but also a lot of chance. You cannot jump another fish when moving. . . you can move side to side or forward, but not diagonally. So if you get behind another fish for 'safety', it may trap you or make you waste moves going sideways around it. When you roll, you can roll "1", "2", or even "0" (a picture of a blue fish). That part is pretty straightforward. However, one side of the die is a picture of a piranha. If you get that, you roll again. If you get a blue fish, you don't roll any 'piranha' marbles. If you get a "1" or a "2", you put the corresponding number of 'piranhas' at the top of the game (4 lanes to choose from; put them anywhere you wish) and pull the lever to roll the piranhas. If you roll another piranha (2 in a row), then you put all 4 piranhas at the top of the game and pull the lever. (Note: 4 piranhas at once will not necessarily clear the gameboard.)
The piranhas are big marbles that roll down the gameboard, underneath the fish. Wherever they roll, they cause the gameboard spaces to flip over, dumping the fish (and then the fish rolls back to the starting position). An orange piranha is on the underside of each gameboard space (it's what the marbles hit on the way down, to make the spaces flip over), so you see where the fish were eaten (then you flip the gameboard space over to allow play to continue). Now you would think that by choosing a 'lane' of play, you would flip all of the fish in that lane over. BUT, there are little pegs on the floor of the underside of the gameboard, so the piranha marbles don't roll straight down. It is more like those 'plunko' games at fairs---they zigzag all over the place on the way down. So you really don't know where the piranhas will go on the way down. You can put one piranha on the right lane, pull the lever, and it might take out the left and middle rows on the way down. It's all chance. Just because you roll the piranhas doesn't mean you won't be taking your own fish out!
The game could take a few minutes or all day, depending on when the piranhas come into play. You could have all of your fish near the top when someone rolls piranhas and takes them all the way back to start. So you just never know.
It's a good game for kids that don't like to lose, and have a hard time with games. It's fun, and you can play several games at a time, so chances are they will win some and lose some, regardless of how you play. (So those parents that let their kid win at games won't be able to control the outcome of this game, and junior may actually lose for once!!!). You can't rig this game in anyone's favor. So it's actually pretty cool in that regard. Parents actually get to play without worrying about whether or not they should rig it, because they can't rig it!!!!
Overall, I think the game is rather novel. I wish it was easier to store (you'll need to use a ziploc bag to store your pieces), and I wish it didn't cost $25. But it is a quick (usually) game that can teach your kid to win some and lose some!
The box says ages 5+, but it's a quick learn, and I would think 3 year olds and up should be able to handle it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 25 Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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