ThinkFun River Crossing

by Think Fun

Product Features

• Four levels of play
• Forty challenge cards with solutions
• Travel or storage bag
• Teaches critical thinking, problem solving, and strategy development
• For ages 8 years and above

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 9 x 2.5 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008QJ1D
• Item model number: 7020
• Our recommended age: 8 - 12 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,007 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The journey home is a perilous one in this best-selling strategy game. Players begin by positioning tree stumps and magnetic planks on the game board according to pictures on each challenge card. The object is to get their fearless backpacker safely across the alligator- and piranha-infested lagoon by moving the planks between stumps. With an imaginative game design and varying levels of difficulty, River Crossing offers hours of adventure.

Product Description

Can the Hiker cross the river without getting up close and personal with gators, snakes and piranha? Move the planks among the tree stumps to help our hero across! This innovative new brainteaser is as challenging as they come and the jungle adventure theme makes it compelling to play. 40 Beginner-to-Expert challenge cards show where to place stumps and planks to start each game, and a magnet in our hiker's feet make moving the planks a snap. Getting all the way across...that won't be so easy!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Addictive, but don't lose anything, January 6, 2005

By 

George Bell (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ThinkFun River Crossing (Toy)

This game seems quite difficult at first, but becomes easier once you realize exactly what the rules allow. My 4 year old and 7 year old kids enjoyed it for a short time, but were unable to grasp the complexities past the first few levels and quickly lost interest (not surprising as this is below the manufacturer's age limit). I'm sure older kids would find this fun.

For adults this game is quite addictive, after a few days I was able to solve all 40 levels. If you look at the inventor's site [...] you will find much harder plank puzzles. However my 4 star rating is mostly because the 40 included cards are just a bit too easy to master.

An "equipment gripe" is that there are exactly the minimum number of plastic "logs" required to cover all games with no extras. We have now lost one of the two shortest logs and over half the puzzles require two of these so these can't be played any more (you can try substituting other items but the real logs fit nicely and have magnets inside them which is quite helpful playing the game). Fortunately ThinkFun offers extra game pieces for a fee (see their web site). I now have River Crossing 2, but without the missing piece I can't really play it.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars River Crossing - Another hit from ThinkFun!, January 20, 2005

By 

Carolyn K. "Mrs. Hoagie" (Hoagies' Gifted Education Page) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: ThinkFun River Crossing (Toy)

ThinkFun succeeds once again, with a simple idea... lay down logs to find a path from start to finish across the river. Place your logs carefully, and you'll get where you need to go, but don't get in your own way, and you can't jump over the water. 40 challanges included (plus 40 more in River Crossing 2!), that will keep even adults busy for quite a while.

Highly recommended for those visual / spatial gifted kids, and thier parents ;-) Stores in it's own nylon bag, a plus, since there are more than a few loose pieces.

Carolyn K., webmaster, Hoagies' Gifted Education Page

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent game for playing solo, December 31, 2005

By 

Learning All The Time "It's Never Too Late to... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: ThinkFun River Crossing (Toy)

Another great thinking game from "Think Fun". I belong to a homeschool "strategy labs" group, which is run by a former gifted and talented public school teacher, and she introduced me to Think Fun games.

My children thoroughly enjoy them, and have more patience than I would have expected to try and solve the puzzles.

A previous reviewer said that this game is good for "gifted" children, and I'm sure it is, but I think it is a great game for ANY child who likes to solve puzzles, regardless of their giftedness at them.

I would even buy this game (or perhaps River Crossing Jr, or Rush Hour) for a child who DOESN'T particularly like puzzles, because with some adult encouragement, the child may really enjoy it (thus learning that he/she DOES like puzzles) and improve his ability to think visually and plan several moves ahead - quite a nice bonus.