Customer Reviews

Ring-O Flamingo

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ring-O Flamingo, a.k.a. "The Frantic Fling-a-Ring Game," is, as advertised, a game that is at least as much about ring-flinging as it is about being frantic.

Each player gets one of 4 plastic "lifeboats" each of a different color, each containing a set of 12 flat, flexible, plastic, lifesaver-like rings of a matching color. The rings are placed, one at a time, edgewise in a slot in the front of the lifeboat. To fling the ring, you aim your lifeboat, slot a ring, bend the ring towards you just exactly as much as you think necessary and then release it.

Your goal, should you be goal-oriented, is for your ring to land, quoit-like, around any of the 7 plastic flamingos (yes, plastic flamingos), and not around either of the two plastic alligators.

The flamingos and alligators fit into slots in the thick game board. Turned 90-degrees, they stand firmly enough to resist and staunchly deflect any inaccurately flung rings. The board is thick enough to withstand repeated reassembly.

Ringing an alligator is a bad thing to do and makes you lose two points. You get 2 points for each of your rings that is first to ring a flamingo, and one point for each of your subsequent flamingo-ringing ring.

Since everyone plays simultaneously, mastering the "frantic" part of this "Frantic Fling-a-Ring" game is as crucial to success as good aim. Since being the first to ring a particular flamingo gets you twice as many points, the need for speed is clearly established. And, of course, the faster you fling, the less accurate you become. The tension makes the game even more challenging, and instructive.

On the other hand, ring-flinging is so much fun that it almost doesn't matter whether you manage to get a ring around anything. It's as amusing just to fling the rings at each other, or to see how far or how high you can fling them. Which is what makes the game as alluring to a three-year-old as to your seriously competitive eleven-teen. You can try to fling rings into the box lid or against the wall (extra points for "leaners"). And for those families fortunate enough to have playful parents, it's a great invitation to share some moments of controlled and victimless mayhem.

Designed by Haim Shafir, Yakov Kaufman, and Yoav Ziv, the game works wondrously well. All the parts of the game reinforce the fantasy: the lifesaver rings, the ring-storing and flinging boats, the brightly colored and humorously rendered flamingos. The ring-flingers can be repositioned anywhere around the board to increase aim and accuracy. The rings themselves are exactly as springy as they need to be to flip and fly. And there is just enough luck to keep anyone from getting overbearingly good at the game. Hence the Majorness of the FUN.

Ring-O Flamingo is exciting and alluring enough to be played and replayed by everyone in the family. There are a lot of rings (48 of them). Hence, parents would be especially wise to include in their rendition of basic game rules the tradition of after-game ring-gathering.

I gave this as a gift and the mother reported that the kids have been playing it every day! The kids range from ages 4 to 9 so that's a bonus that they can all play together!

This is a fun game for both kids and adults. We laugh out loud every time we play this game, and we find ourselves playing it over and over. Set-up is easy. It has won several awards, including Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Dr. Toy's Top 100, etc.

I am a nanny/babysitter, and I bring this game with me to many children's houses. It is always a hit, and they always demand that I bring it back next time I come! One 4-year-old who can rarely be persuaded to step away from the TV asked where the "on" button was, and when I explained that it had no "on" button and that he had to make the rings fly himself, he said, in amazement, "You mean it doesn't have batteries?" LOL! You can choose to play a frantic game where everyone flings rings at once, or you can slow things down by taking turns and flinging one at a time. You can keep score by giving 2 points for the first person who rings each flamingo, one point for everyone else, and subtracting points for getting a ring on the crocodile; you can just add up the rings that land on anything; or you can forget about keeping score and just have fun! I have never met a child who didn't enjoy thins game. They also seem to really like helping to clean up by sorting the rings onto the correctly colored boats!

Bought this to have some games at my house for my 5 yr old grandson's sleepovers. He loves it...it's silly and fun!

My 7 year old likes this toy - she enjoys trying to get the ring around the flamingo. Its fun and easy to play - but rather on the boring side for an adult!!!

My kids are probably too young to really appreciate this game. My daughter is 4 and son is 2. Okay - I didn't expect my son to play this at all, but he DID pick up the rings and started flinging them after watching us do it. He doesn't know what he's doing but he was flinging rings almost the whole time we played so he was able to be part of this bigger kid's game. That was a plus!

My daughter at 4 - LOVED and understood the concept. But had a hard time aiming the rings. I can't say it was her age, however...because I had a hard time, too!

But, none-the-less, I can see the value. There's a point-counting aspect, aiming aspect, dexterity and just overall fun and excitement. Very nice game!

I play this game a reward during my therapy sessions with kids. They really enjoy it. It is hard to find games that are interesting for older kids, but this one does the trick.

This is great for ages 6 to adult. Our family played this with ages ranging form 26 to 66. It is good for 2 to 4 players. Since we had 6 players we played as 3 teams. simple game involving tossing rings by flipping them from the boats and aiming for the flamingos. Lots of laughs here. All players agreed it was a good game and would probably get it for friends they think would enjoy it.

This has become one of our favorites. It's fun for the adults as well as the kids, quick, and well-made.