Hyper Dash Game for Kids

Details: Wild Planet's Hyper Dash game is for children 6 and up, 1-8 players.  It is the target tagging race course game.  Parent Magazine Mom Tested a ward.  Comes with 5 numbered and colored targets, and the Hyper Dash unit.  Trick commands mix up the action.  On the Hyper Dash unit you have 3 buttons: menu, power, go.  This is a lightning fast challenge of speed, accuracy and agility.   Directions: set up a course, race against time, tag the targets, dash for the best time, indoors or outdoors, solo or head to head or in teams.  Requires 3 AA batteries not included.

My Review: We just bought this for the kids to be a Grandma's house game.  She has a great yard and indoor space for them to play this.  After opening up the box and reading the instructions (which we didn't need to read everything) on which game options there were, what team options there were, and went to town.  We had everyone play solo first just to get the hang of what this game wants up to do.  For setting up the course we just put the targets in a long line in the correct numerical order.  Then we played, we went with level one (which you wouldn't know about until listening to the Hyper Dash tell you), since it was our first time playing, and we were letting my 4 year old play along.  It was pretty fun, and challenging at the same time.  We had to run or lean depending on whether it was an adult or child playing, to get each target the Hyper Dash would call out.  The tricky commands did mess us up a bit, but after we figured out what they all meant we were able to do much better.  Right now my 4 year old is challenged by level one, my 7 year old is challenged by level 2.  And as adults we're having fun just playing and watching the kids.

Things we've learned by playing you wouldn't have known otherwise:  Read the trick command codes before playing.  The Hyper Dash doesn't need to be slammed over each target, but rather it just needs to fit and then the top just slightly clicks down over the target to tag the target.  My 4 year old was slamming it down and missing because the Hyper Dash wasn't tagging his targets, Mam Ma was tagging slowly but not getting the handle to click down.  So after teaching them at trick it helped them play better.  Even though there is a power button it doesn't turn the voice off, it just  turns off by itself after a period of not being used.

Pros: this is a really fun family time game, my 4 year old can play, not annoyingly loud, creates movement or exercise, indoor and outdoor game

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Lego Mouse Trap Game

Details: Hasbro U-Build Mouse Trap game for kids 6 years and older.  A 2 - 4 player game, with a twist.  Change your traditional Mouse Trap game with Lego's.  Build your board and chase down the cheese!  Launch your mouse and race for the cheese!  Game Contents: 106 U-Build bricks, 8 walls, 4 mouse marbles, 4 small cardboard cheese hills, 1 large cardboard cheese mountain, 1 trap part, 1 space boot part, 1 die, 1 20" x 20" game board, 1 label sheet, assembly guide, game guide.  Don't get trapped as you search for the cheese in outer space.  Play it our way, or change things up.  Find all the cheese, customize the game-board, add in some of your own twists and truly make it your own.

Disclaimer: This game is no longer being sold, however we got one brand new from a store, I'm not sure when these have been taken off the market.

My Review: My children love this game!  I have a 4 year old boy and a 6 year old boy who play this game on a weekly basis.  The game pieces are Lego's, and do fit with the regular Lego's my kids play with, so whenever they are done with this game, it'll be easy to just put all the Lego pieces in their Lego sets.  It took us about 10 minutes to set up the board, the directions weren't very clear about how the pieces go together, which pieces were for what, but looking at the pictures on the box really helped us the most.  This is basically Mouse Trap on the Moon, complete with space ships, the cheese moon, rocket ships etc.  The "cardboard" cheese hills and mountain are really card stock, and have a hard time staying in the correct position because they have been folded for so long.  The rocket ship boot doesn't really work very well.  So we improvise for it to work.  In fact even though it says on the box it only comes with one, in the directions it tells you that there should be 4, one per color of mouse.  This is the first time I've ever had to make or rather put together the game die.  The outer walls work okay, but don't really stay put either.  Aside from all these little things that annoy my husband and myself, my kids and their friends love playing this game.

Pros: kids love this game, Lego's make this fun to play with

Cons: little things will annoy adults, no longer being sold in stores

My Rating: thumbs up and down