Customer Reviews

Wild Planet Animal Scramble

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

{Be forewarned! I am going into great detail because this is the first review and I may have spent less time in Target debating over this purchase if I had known this beforehand. Sorry for being so longwinded!}

I bought this game a few hours ago so I can't say how long it will last, but it sure is fun! I was going to get the regular Hyper Dash for my daughter even though it is for older kids, but I saw this one and (after much debate) I decided to get it instead. Not only is it adorable, but it burns energy. Although the regular Hyper Dash would probably have been more fun as a family game (adults enjoy it too, from what I hear) this game is very fun for her to play by herself or with a friend. Her and her cousin have been playing it in the "treasure hunt" mode, which is like hide-and-seek, for awhile and love it.

Here is how it works. There are 4 different modes of play (play alone, play with group, treasure hunt and memory) and 5 different levels. When you play alone, you spread out the four animals and the base (giraffe) calls out animals, colors, sounds, attributes or letters (depending on the level) and the child "tags" the corresponding piece with the base. You can keep all of the pieces in front of your child so that they can sit and play or you can spread them out around the room so that your child has to run around to get to them. We even put one up a couple steps so that the kids had to climb to get to it. At the end the giraffe tells you how long it took you to finish so that you can try to beat your record. Group play is the same except that the base tells you when to pass to another player. Treasure hunt is just like hide-and-seek. One player takes the giraffe and counts. The other player hides the animals and then the giraffe calls out the names of the animals one by one for the player to find and "tag." This mode is definately the favorite so far. My only complaint is that the giraffe only counts to ten and the kids don't have enough time to collect and hide the other pieces. There is no way to pause the giraffe either, so as soon as one person finds all the pieces he goes right into counting for the next person. I guess kids have short attention spans anyway, so they aren't complaining! In memory mode the giraffe calls out 1 animal name, then 2, then 3, etc. and the player has to find them in the order they were called.

Other than the issue in treasure hunt mode that I mentioned, there is one other thing that I was a little dissappointed about. The box that this game comes in cannot be used to store the pieces because it has a hole in the front that is big enough for the pieces to fall out. Even though I would prefer to have a place to keep the pieces, it's not dissappointing enough to take off a star. This game is still great!

Put simply:
The pros: Pieces seem durable, cute, many modes of play, daughter loves it, active game, unique and fun!
The cons: Not enough time to hide the pieces in treasure hunt mode, no box for storage.

I'm definately glad we bought this!

*UPDATE* - I took this into my Autistic Support class and the kids love it! It's hard to find games that all of the children will play, but they all participate when we play this one!!!

My 3 year old son loves this game! It is a great way for kids to expend energy! My husband and I really get a kick out of watching our son run around like crazy! We can play it with him or he can play alone, which we like. We have not experienced ANY problems with its durability. I think the two reviewers may have gotten untypical games. The animals in our game fit very snugly into their bases (to the point that our son has trouble pulling them apart at times). Our son and his friends are NOT gentle when slamming the giraffe on the animals, but it has held up fine. I agree with Jenna Hoosier's review regarding the "treasure hunt" mode not giving the kids much time to hide the animals, but honestly, the kids don't seem to mind. We have played this both indoors and outdoors and I would definitely recommend playing it outside. I think it's much more fun. The kids can spread the animals out much further and get to run more, which they seem to enjoy.

We also have Hyper Dash (which we like equally well), but I think my son enjoys this one more because he can do ALL of the levels instead of just a few like with Hyper Dash. We'll probably stick with this one for another year or so. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this game for anyone with kids 5 and under!

This game was at the top of our Christmas list for our 3 year old son. We were so excited about it- loved the concept and just knew our son would get into it. Well, come Christmas morning he did! He was super excited about receiving it, so we openend it and played. In the 1st game, yay FIRST use, two of the four animals broke off their stands. The little green peg made a clean break inside the tiger and the monkey. They can't stand, even though I've tried and tried super gluing, and the game just isn't the same. We could NOT believe the poor, poor quality and to say we were disappointed was an understatement. What a great game concept, but what nousey construction.

My daughter who is 2 and a half loves this game. It's fun, easy to use, and gets her moving. The bases are a problem though. Don't skip this game just buy some serious plastic glue (super glue won't work) and glue the pieces on the bases BEFORE you start playing. Don't skimp on the glue either. Skuff up the bases and animals with sandpaper, and put the glue on thick. I have clear glue and it isn't noticable at all. I think if I would have glued the pieces first this game would have lasted much longer. It still works but the monkey is sitting on my bar with glue all over his feet and rubber bands wrapped around his head to hold him down.

My son loves this toy. At around 3 years old, he's not much for hiding the pieces or even spreading them out, but he loves the excitement of the game and is getting the idea of "racing" to finish the game quickly. The biggest problem is that the small animals rest on little green bases (see photo) with the smallest pegs you've ever seen. These pegs break instantly. Three of the animals will not stand on their own, and the giraffe doesn't register the animals unless they are upright, so leaving them laying down isn't an option. After setting the toy aside for a few months (and almost tossing it), my husband finally had the genius idea of making bases for the animals out of playdough. It works great. They might get dirty if you put them somewhere other than a table, but they hold the animals up and make play possible again.

My 3 year old received this for his birthday, and 2 of the pieces broke within an hour of him playing with it. He loves the game, but the animals do not attach well to the bottom pieces. We tried to glue them back together, but the glue didn't hold.

My daughter LOVED this game however after 30 minutes of playing with it she broke all four pieces from their platforms just from hitting the animals with the giraffe. We glued them but they will not stay attached and if they are not on the platform the game will not work! SO my daughter was only able to use this game for 30 minutes! Buyer beware!

This is a great game that deserves more attention from the manufacturer. I played w/ my 5 year old neice, neither of us were rough with the game, and it stopped working after 30 minutes or so. It did not quit because of batteries or rough handling - it seemed to be the electronic borad inside the Giraffe. The manufacturer should put better quality into the production so that they eliminate dissatified consumers. This game needs better durability or consumers will avoid.

I gave my three year old this game for Christmas--and it broke the first time we used it. One of the animal pieces came off its base, and could not be glued back together. Fortunately, the sensor broke off with the monkey, so we can still use it, but this toy is not at all durable. (And when I say it's not reparable, it's not--even her stepmom A TOY DESIGNER used all her tricks and couldn't get it back together.)

This game is terrific. My daughter loves it. It kept her moving which is a need in the winter. However, the bases do not stay on the animals and the base of one of the animals broke within half an hour from my daughter playing enthusiastically. So we're gluing them back together.

Fantastic concept, bad execution.