Peppa Pig Tumble and Spin Memory Game
As many of you may already know from some of my previous reviews, my three year old daughter is completely in love with Peppa Pig and has numerous toys and games associated with this character who can be seen on Channel Five's Milkshake morning show as well as on the sky channel of Nick Junior. The show features Peppa Pig and her family and friends as they go about their daily lives in five minute slots, bringing fun and laughter to young children.
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HOW FAST CAN PEPPA SPIN?
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I usually find that branded toys and games such as the Peppa Pig named ones are usually overly expensive for what they are, and quite often, the toys end up being quite flimsy. Goodness knows why I continue to buy them for my little girl with that in mind, though perhaps it is because my little girl already has me wrapped around her little finger - a scary thought at only three years old! I have found, though, tthat the Peppa Pig named games tend to work out to be a much better quality for the price than the toys, and so with this in mind, we came across this Peppa Pig Tumble and Spin Memory Game on Amazon shortly before Christmas which was being sold for £10.00 at the time though is now just under £9.00 brand new and a little less than this second hand. With our fingers crossed, we decided to purchase this game and hope for the best.
Christmas morning came and my daughter couldn't wait to play with her new toys and games, and one of the games which caught her eye immediately was this particular game. It is not surprising that it is an eye-catcher for little children as the packaging is what you would expect with a typical Peppa Pig game, with the bright colours and bold images of Peppa and George which is all easily recognisable to young fans of the show. The box also allows a sneak peek to the contents inside the box via a see-though window which is situated next to an image of the actual toy. The box makes the whole game look extremely fun and inviting and luckily, there was no real set up needed.
There are only a few parts to the main bulk of this game, a lot less than the size of the packaging indicates! The main part of the game is the spinner area. Included with this is a green, circle shaped dish which is decorated as though it is a grassy area, a matching dome shaped electronic spinner and a large Peppa Pig figure who clicks into the spinner very easily. The Peppa Pig figure, although quite large, is actually quite light, though weighty enough to help the spinner go around properly. At first glance, it looks a little flimsy, though I found it surprisingly well made and it manages to survive knocks and bumps without even a scratch appearing. My daughter even uses this figure alongside her smaller Peppa Pig figures in other play as the figure stands perfectly on her two feet. This figure clicks perfectly into the spinner which then covers the battery compartment which is securely hidden in the spinner and can only be opened via a small screwdriver.
Two AAA batteries are required for this game, which are not supplied though they do last a good length of time before needing changing. On the side of the spinner is an on/off switch (with no volume control unfortunately!) When you turn on the spinner, Peppa introduces herself with her well known voice from the television programme. She also says goodbye when you turn the base off again. During game play, when you spin the base with Peppa on the top, you hear the Peppa Pig tune alongside Peppa shouting various phrases such as 'faster faster' and 'this is fun'. Once the spinner stops, Peppa will call out a number referring to the game rules which I will outline below. Peppa's voice and the music is rather loud, and as mentioned, there is no volume switch, though I do not find it annoying overly much, though at times, Peppa's high voice does go right through my head and can cause headaches if your child does as mine does and spin the spinner for hours on end! The dish shaped base itself is made of a thin, yet durable plastic. The centre is dipped in to allow room for the spinner and is high enough to keep it inside there without it falling out. Around the outside are six slots; three red and three yellow. These are used to place the small markers inside (see below). My daughter found putting these in quite tricky at first, though one she got used to slotting them in the correct way, she was able to do it herself.
Once the spinner unit is all set up, which takes a matter of seconds, each player chooses a friend marker. There are four markers to choose from, allowing game play for up to four players, and each one is a different friend of Peppa Pig. The markers themselves are extremely flimsy, though, made with a thin card which has two areas; a circle area with the image of the character and a large arrow area which slots into the base. It is the area where these two parts meet which is the worst part of the marker, easily bent and after a while, easily ripped apart. Luckily, the markers we have are still in tact, though every single one of them are now bent unfortunately. Many of the bends occur when slotting the markers into the base. Once you have chosen your marker, you follow the instructions as to where you put your marker (ie: which coloured slot) depending upon how many people are playing. Personally, I do not see that it really matters where you put the markers in, apart from the fact that if you follow the instructions, it will space the players out more evenly.
There are 24 small square cards which hold a picture of each of the four friends as seen on the markers (six each). Like the markers, these cards are very thin and can be bent, though due to the shape, it is harder to bend these than the markers. Each card is a different colour depending upon the character, and holds the bright, bold images as seen on the box. These cards are shuffled and placed face down around the spinner unit.
This is where I found the instructions a little confusing for young children.
A player spins the spinner, which really needs a hard spin to make it go around properly which young children may find difficult, and waits for it to stop. Peppa will then call out one of three things outlined below. Usually, you would expect the person who spun the spinner to take the go, though the instructions say that it depends upon whose marker Peppa is facing, or has just passed, to whose go it is. This is a little confusing for little children so we take out this rule and simply say that whoever spins takes the go. This way also prevents arguments when my daughter is playing with my nephew of the same age as then they have an equal amount of turns.
The three phrases Peppa will call out are as follows, and whichever she calls out will depend on what the child does with their turn;
1. One - Player turns over one card and calls out the characters name. If it matches the childs marker then they get to keep the card, if not, they put it back where it came from, face down once again. This is where the memory part plays out as the other players have to remember where their own characters are!
2. Two - As with the one card, though this time the child turns over two cards.
3. Close Your Eyes - The child has to put back one of the cards they have collected. This is completed by the child closing their eyes and another player putting it back around the base. They an not tell the child where they have put it!
The game play is a simple one and ends once a player has found all of their six character cards. This can take anything from five minutes to twenty minutes depending upon the ability of the children. Older children will possibly find the game play a little boring, though it is a fun memory game for children from the age of two and a half. The box states three years though with help, I can see younger children benefiting from this game too. We changed the style of the game to suit our daughter and you can also change the game play in other ways such as removing cards not in use if there are less than four players.
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FINAL WORDS
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For £10.00, or slightly less depending on where you go, I would say that this is a great game. It not only helps young children with their memory, but accomplishes this in a fun way using a well loved television character. I can see the only negative to this game is that after a couple of years, the child will probably need a more taxing memory game as this is a very simple game, though my daughter is only three and loves playing this. She picked up the instructions very quickly and enjoys playing with us or our nephew and even on her own. Although the box states 2-4 players, my daughter has a great imagination and is able to play for a good length of time on her own and still enjoy it.
This game was voted the winner of the 2009 toy fair - best new children's game award.
Take Your Memory for a Spin 
This sounds fun, great stuff :0)