Customer Reviews

Cooperative Game of Jungle Suspense Danger and Teamwork, Caves and Claws

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My 5-year old niece is an only child in a neighborhood with few kids, so I was looking for a game that would be fun and easy for her without either driving adult players up the wall or boring them to tears. Not only does Caves and Claws fill the bill, but it turns out she can even play the game alone. And she does -- frequently! It's simple, silly, and fun, while fostering an appreciation for the idea of scientific expeditions. The only drawback is that the pieces are rather thin cardboard--as often as this game gets played with, I doubt it will last more than a year or two.

This game is fantastic! I play this game with my 2 boys (ages 4 & 6) all the time and they never get tired of this adventure game. We play it in a verity of different ways and work together to make every game a success. One of the best features of this game is it requires cooperation, you can't win unless you work as a team. This feature alone has taught my guys cooperation and at an age when they are becoming very competitive. In addition to encouraging cooperation we have learned logical thinking and planning and a whole bunch about archaeology as I have used the game to lead into real archaeology lessons that they now incorporate into the game. Oh also this game encourages creativity! Buy this game and go on an adventure with your kids and with out the TV or computer! (Note: I've had the game about a year now and the kids still play it often!)

I want to add some important notes to the previous reviewer's comments. If you can get one or two years' regular play value from any board game, you are doing very well. Most don't last a few months. Secondly, the manufacturer, Family Pastimes, always supplies replacement parts at modest cost for mailing expenses, so you don't have to worry about the game becoming obsolete or unplayable. Family Pastimes has been in business for over thirty years and doesn't deal in fads. It keeps making the same games as long as someone still wants them. And someone always does!

After reading all the glowing reviews on this product, I was somewhat disappointed upon playing it with my son for the first time. First of all, it's not really "cooperative" in the conventional sense. Playing with my son was the equivalent of the two of us playing as one player and just taking turns. Yes, there are separate game pieces for each player, but other than that you have the same goal and same tools to get you out of trouble. There's really no kind of strategic cooperation to speak of.

The bottom line is probably that my 8 yr-old son is too old for the game. The age range is supposedly 6-9. I would say it is better for 4-7. I believe that kids in that age group may find it fun.

This game is really fun. If you kid is five, I would recommend it for him or her. I like to change the rules to make it easier to win. The cards are very small and they might get lost, but I haven't lost them so far. This game is really easy because if someone else loses, you loses and if someone else wins, you win.

I played this game last night with my 8, 6 and 3.5 year olds. When I saw how involved the directions were, I thought there was no way this game was going to work for us. To my complete surprise, we all had a great time! The game itself is fun, in an Indiana Jones kind of way, but playing also provides an opportunity to teach crucial life skills, like listening to each other's ideas, building consensus, and sometimes sacrificing your turn for the good of the whole group. My pawn got stuck in a cave for a couple of turns because we all decided that it was more prudent to save our remedy cards in case we needed them elsewhere, and sure enough we did. Then all three kids got stuck in the other cave while I discovered the final treasure and took it back to the tent. The nice thing about the game is that you can make it what you want, so I pretended to get reinforcements from the tent and rescue the kids. Then we had high fives all around for completing the mission and getting everybody out safely. The kids loved it, and I loved being able to FINALLY play a game with them without any bickering, crying, and hurt feelings.

Cooperative games are wonderful for young children. All the players work as a team to travel the paths on the board to collect artifacts and overcome obstacles to win the game. My 5 year old twins (and my mother and I) love playing this game. Of course everyone wants to have the "stinky sock" remedy card that defeats certain obstacles. You use certain cards to create paths to travel on the board so the game is always different each time you play. I am looking forward to finding more games of team cooperation to play with my family. It is great to work together and win the game as a team with no young children crying because they didn't get to win. It's a very clever game. I only wish the game was more durable. The cards are pretty flimsy and I can see that they may not last over time (or the handling by my 2 year old). I may try to laminate them and see if that helps.

My six-year-old son has such a hard time with typical win/lose games because he feels bad if he loses and he feels bad if his family members lose. As we were setting it up, he whined, "Ohh.. I don't like games where you win or lose!" We just finished the first game, and while I think it will get boring after a while, it's easy enough for him to grasp, and has just a little strategy to it to keep it interesting. I agree that it's for younger kids, like the previous reviewer mentioned. I'm just so glad to finally play board games with him!

My 5 year old and her friends love this game. Because it is a cooperative game, there are no individual winners or losers (very important for 5 year olds.) There is an element of suspense with the obstacles and remedies. It is easy for adults to play along also. There is some strategy to win more easily, so it is nice to introduce that concept to the kids. They don't usually like to think ahead. :-)

I homeschool my kindergarten age son and I ordered this game to use as one of our "fun time" activities. The educational component is good for a 5 year old as it teaches cooperation and strategy. The game invovles using logic, critical thinking, and planning ahead. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to play, but the directions are clear and once you start playing, it makes perfect sence and was also easy for my 5 year old to understand after I explained it once. He loved it and every time we finished he asked to play again (we played 5 games the first time using). I agree with the age range on the box of age 6 and up. There are a lot of little cardboard cards that you use with the game that could be damaged by a child any younger than that; but the game components should hold up for a long time as long as they are properly taken care of. The length of time it takes my son and I to complete one "game" is about 15 minutes which is great. It can also be played by 1 player which my son was able to do after playing only a few games with me. It's very different than any child's board game I've ever seen and we'll definatly be playing this one alot!