Wild Planet Animal Scramble
From Wild Planet:
Animal Scramble is a really fun game and we thank each customer for their honest feedback; it was through your reviews that we learned how to improve the design of this toy. Our engineers and have made alterations including re-designing the pegs to be more durable and keep the animals on their bases. If you experience any problems at all with this game, we ask that you please contact us via email at animalscramble@wildplanet.com.”
From the makers of the popular Hyper Dash games, Animal Scramble is the listen-and-learn game of animal tag. Set out the animals, and listen to the giraffe call out friendly, encouraging clues. Which animal is green? Who says “rooooar?” Kids must scramble to the correct animal and tag it with the giraffe. This active learning game lets kids move, have fun and build coordination as they learn colors, numbers and animal sounds. Five levels of run-around fun, from easy to hard, allow this game to grow with your child. Requires three “AAA” batteries, not included.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good educational game
My 4 year old loves this game. The only downfall is that the animals don’t always stay put on their green platforms if she gets carried away and is playing rough. That is really just a minor issue, though. This was one of her favorite gifts for Christmas.
5 Stars Great for special needs children
I bought this game for my nephew who has special needs. He absolutely loved it and my sister-in-law was excited to have a game he could play with his sister or by himself. So far I haven’t heard anything bad from them about the durability…only positive comments. So glad I found this…he is a tough one to buy for!
3 Stars good for kids as young as 18mo but still too fragile
I read the reviews here before I bought this so I knew what I was getting into. My 18mo old loves this game. I don’t know if she’s a genius, but she can play the level 1 on her own just fine. My 4 yr old likes it but the highest level is too easy for him, he prefers Hyper Dash which we got for him this Christmas. I love that this game will grow with them; by increasing the level they will be given new challenges and still have fun with the same game.
I saw the reviews that say the pieces of this game break easily but I also saw that supposedly Wild Planet had made improvements to the peg. Well as of Christmas 2009 they had not. My monkey broke on the first or second play and I tried to super glue it back together. Oddly this plastic isn’t the kind that works with superglue. So now I’m using a drill and a nail to make the connection much stronger. The engineer who designed this peg obviously doesn’t have children. It’s about 1/16 of an inch thick and 1/8 and inch tall. After drilling into the piece to create my own peg I see they had plenty of room for a much thicker and taller peg.
All in all I have to rate 3 stars becuase of the promise this game holds. It’s imaginative, active, educational, and fun. However, the fragile pieces leave me with a bitter feeling that they could’ve done better. I’d advise skipping this one and going straight to the more durable Hyper Dash if you child is 3+.
4 Stars Too Cute
We bought this on a Super Saver (wouldn’t pay full retail for it) making it a good value. We set it up spreading out the little animals around the house. It was so very adorable watching my girl zoom by to each animal! She loved watching me (”Mom”) run back and forth as well. We have only used one game so far and can say have gotten our moneys worth already. My favorite thing about this is that she is content to do all the running with me cheering her on. She gets some pent up energy out and I can sit/rest watching her but still be a part of it. I have a difficult time keeping up with her energy, she is 4 and I am 41 single Mom. By far this is the best thing I have come across to assist in that area. Looking forward to the other games on it.
As far as durability, perhaps others are rough on it. My daughter is an only child and has not learned yet to be rough. She gently puts the giraffe over each piece before racing to the next. She isn’t even that concerned with her time, more just want to get to each animal quickly and cerrectly.
4 Stars The kids love it!
Our grandson’s, almost 3 & 4, absolutely love to play with this game. They have been playing it every day so far. They have a blast running around tagging the animals. It’s so cute to watch their excitement when they are playing with it. The sound commands are clear and the game is easy for them to learn and play. Too bad Animal Planet designers did not create animals that would stand on their own, because the stands for the animals leave a lot to be desired. One of the boys grabbed an animal and tossed it, the stand peg broke off inside the animal. I tried super gluing the animal to the stand without much success, and I finally used silicone to attach each of the animals more reliably. So far, that seems to be working. That is really the only complaint that I have about the game. Well, except for the fact that the monkey was MIA for a day and the boys were upset because the game couldn’t be played without him.
Once you get past the stand issue, I think it is a wonderful game for the younger kids and I recommend it. I would definitely buy it again for another child.
Filed under: Classic Board Game Reviews