Well it’s not that often that Ryan gets to review something all by his self, it’s usually me or the girls or all of us as a family. On the occasions he does get something, you can always guarantee it’s something very exciting that he loves. This time it’s the pretty famous Hexbugs , which without a doubt will once again be a big hit this Christmas.
So what are Hexbugs?
If you have children, it’s very likely you cannot escape knowing what these are, but in a nutshell they are “Micro robotic creatures” and pretty clever ones too when they want to be. They come in all shapes and sizes with lots of new ones being added year after year. They have been around since 2007 with the collections rapidly booming with some strange, unusual and rather colourful micro beasts.
Ryan was already familiar with Hexbug and has had a few since they became popular. The one drawback with Hexbug is of course their size. They are small and easily lost and easily trodden on or dropped, therefore these tiny creatures need lots of TLC to keep on going.
Ryan was recently sent 3 micro Hexbug robots. Two of these are known as Aquabots and are specifically designed for use in water. The other Hexbug robot resembles a large cockroach. The batteries are luckily already included and they can be played with straight from the box.
This tiny bug fits easily in the hand but despite its size it is quite intelligent.
An on/off flick switch operates the Hexbugs. Once on it crawls and moves pretty fast and even moves on our thick living room carpet, tho it’s obviously much better on non carpeted flooring. It scuttles aroud like an insect would and the intelligent bit comes with it knowing how to get around obstacles. Rather than barging into things it seems to sense, stop and turn, it also seems to respond to voice and shouts too. Don’t ask me how, I don’t for a minute pretend to know how these things work. Watch Ryan’s video and see.
The Aquabots require water for best play. This can be the bath or a bowl and special Hexbug fish bowls can also be purchased. Ryan has a shark aquabot and also the new “Zombie” aquabot which also resembles a shark but a much fiercer one and it glows in the dark too.
Ryan already had a bowl he could use and was pretty eager to pop them both in. Again they operate from a tiny flick switch and also come with batteries which are the tiny watch type.
And yes they actually swim like the real thing and flap their fins and tails and are clever enough not to bang into each other nor the tank sides or anything else you place in with them. I don’t think it would be a good idea to put them in with real fish tho which was suggested by Jordanna.
Anyway here’s the fish video!
I think Ryan needs a bigger tank if trying to put two in together!
Hexbugs can be found in most good toy stores and prices vary for individual models, I have found they are not overly expensive and just take care you don’t leave them on the floor as they are small and not always visible.