Thinkfun Zingo Game - Review

Thinkfun Zingo Game

£12.99

"Zingo is great for all the family where players have to fill their Zingo cards with matching tiles from the Zingo Zinger tile dispenser. The first player to fill their card wins!"

I have to confess that we only got the Zingo Game out to distract our 2 year old while we reviewed the Silverlit Radio Control Heli Mission, but it did almost steal the show and has certainly been played with a whole lot more already.

It is a very well made toy with a lovely feel to it from the friendly cartoon illustrations on the thick card, double-sided playing boards and matching plastic tiles and the bright primary colours. The Zingo Zinger tile dispenser is a fabulous design with its side mechanism to release the tiles and the posting slots to return unmatched tiles.

We have yet to play an actual game of Zingo as intended by the creators but we have played numerous variations from simple naming of the picture tiles, matching tiles to corresponding pictures on the boards, dispensing and posting, and a new favourite - hiding the tiles beneath the playing boards and saying in your cutest 2 year old voice "Where thing gone?"

The instruction manual doubles up  as a 'Parent's Guide' that includes tips on how to improve your child's thinking skills.

Thinkfun Rush hour Game - Review

Thinkfun Rush Hour Game 

£12.99

"Can you manoeuvre your way through the gridlock to escape the traffic jam? This Rush Hour game features 40 different challenges that take you through the beginner levels through to expert."

Of all the wonderful and exciting toys in the Toyologist toy box, the one that got my eldest daughter most excited was the Thinkfun Rush Hour Game.

My daughter has a very mathematical and logical approach to life which probably accounts for the fact that games such as these appeal to her so much. She is familiar with playing games of this nature on the computer and showed me a phone app that is essentially the same but with blocks rather than cars.

It didn't take her long to get stuck into playing Rush Hour. The plastic board has a little tray underneath in which challenge cards are stored and a drawstring bag to store the different coloured vehicle playing pieces. It is all well designed and solidly constructed

We began with card one, placing it in the little slot on the board and using it as a guide to set up the pieces. Setting up was very easy and we were ready to try and solve the 'gridlock' to free the red car, as is the aim of the game.

Level one was fairly easy but the difficulty level quickly increased with subsequent cards.

When my husband saw the game he got very excited. It was a game that he had owned some years ago and couldn't wait to demonstrate it to us.

As I write this post, I can hear the now quite familiar "ca-clunk" sound as my teenage girls take it in turns to play.

What I like most about this game is the simplicity of it, how it packs away neatly, the fact that it can be played alone, that it becomes ever more challenging with levels of difficulty (you could also try to improve your solution time and number of moves taken) and how excited my husband gets when the little red car "ca-clunks" its way to freedom!