Over the weekend we have been having lots of fun playing our (award winning) new game from Ravensburger. This is “Bugs in the kitchen” and possibly one of the craziest games I have come across.
There is a little bit of setting up before you can play which involves placing plastic clip parts underneath the play board, attaching the main board and then the main pieces but once it’s assembled, it stays that way and fits back in the box too.
As well as the game board you also get a dice, cardboard tokens and the main piece which happens to be an actual HEXBUG Nano.
The game board is a rather messy kitchen with 4 traps, one in each corner with some left over bits of food in each one. Cutlery shaped pieces – knives, forks and spoons are placed in certain positions on the pegs underneath and then turned into various maze patterns (as per instructions).
The Hexbug starts off in the middle of the board and at first seems trapped within the maze of one sealed square. However this kitchen maze is set to change once play begins.
The dice has all 3 cutlery symbols on plus 3 question mark sides ?. Now players take turns rolling the dice and which ever cutlery symbol it lands on is the piece they then move. If it’s a question mark then the player chooses any of the three. Any knife, fork or spoon can then be moved thus changing the cutlery maze and allowing the bug more space to find the food hidden in one of the four traps.
When enough cutlery pieces are rotated then the bug will navigate it’s way to one of the food traps of the players. When it falls into a trap that player gets a game token and the board is reset to one of the starting patterns with the bug back in the middle. The winner being the first to get 5 tokens.
All 4 of us (me and kids) are loving this game. The age guide is 6 and over but even Izebella being just 3 has more than got the hang of it and happily joins in with us She has even won the odd game, beating us all. The game does take thinking and strategy when deciding which piece is the best one to rotate. Whilst a certain piece may help clear a path to your trap, it may at the same time help another player get the bug to theirs faster. As well as geting the bug to your trap you also need to try block other players from doing this before you, therefore the closest pieces may not always be the best choice.
The hexbugs are pretty clever little gadgets, they seem to sense when to turn and when something is in their way and seem to navigate a clear pathway where possible. It’s quite amusing when they get close, we end up almost cheering them on to come closer.
Here is a video clip of ours in action.
Four players can play with a minimum of two. Blocking rails even come included to block off the unused traps if less than 4 players.
It really is an exciting and fun family game to play and even with the maximum four players it does not last too long so plenty of time for another go. Sometimes the hexbug will jump over a blocking cutlery part which the kids find pretty hilarious.
This game retails at about £24.99 from most good game stores and Amazon.
This game has won a few awards including – Toy Testers TV Gold Award – Voted for as the “Most Fun Toy 2014” by children aged 4-15, the Toy Testers loved Bugs in the Kitchen.
• Toy Testers TV loved Bugs in the Kitchen so much, it was awarded a second Gold award in the Games category 2014
• Winner – Dad’s Choice Award for 2015.
Buy from Argos
