Poppin' Hoppies (Review)

Poppin' Hoppies is a new game for all the family from University Games. Utilising the age old fun spring-loaded children's toy that you press down and wait squealing with glee when it pops up unexpectedly, it involves catching them to earn parts to build your Hoppie character.

The game consists of a game board, seven coloured Poppin' Hoppies (two pink, two green, two blue and one yellow), and four sets of body parts (pink, green, yellow, blue).

Game play is very simple, which is just as well because we don't do complicated in this house; it ends up in heated debates and temper tantrums. And that's just me!

• Set up the board with the seven Poppin' Hoppies on the corresponding coloured circles. The yellow one is a special one and he is called P. Henry Hoppie.
• Decide upon a Hoppie outline that will be yours to construct.
• Everyone presses down the Poppin' Hoppies until they are suctioned down, keeping them pressed down until they are all engaged. Remove hands.
• The aim is to try and catch the Poppin' Hoppies as they gradually, and unexpectedly, pop up. They may pop up at the same time, some may take a bit longer. When you catch one, put it by your side and continue to try and catch the others. It doesn't matter which colour you go for.
• If one is missed, reset it and place it back into it's circle to be caught again.
• At the end of every round, each player takes a matching oloured body part for every Poppin' Hoppie they've caught. So if you've got one pink, two blue and one green Poppin' Hoppies then take one pink, two blue and one green body part.
• However matcing coloured pieces cannot touch! For example, a pink head cannot go with a pink body, a green arm can't be used with a green body, a blue leg can't be used with a blue body. You can have a pink head and a pink arm though because they aren't corresponding pieces.
• The Hoppies must contain all four colours and you can't have more than two pieces of one colour in a man, so if you catch yellow for the third time you can't have another yellow piece. You can however swap with another player if they are happy to do so.
• The winner is the first player to complete their man!

Poppin' Hoppies is aimed at children aged 5 years and over but we play it with The Boy with absolutely no problem, we have adapated it slightly: hands on knees and we don't restrict the colours when making the person up.

This is a really fun game which resulted in many squeals of delight from all three of us. It's quite retro in it's simplicity, design and gameplay which I love. Having won Best New Toy at this year's Toy Fair, I think it's going to be a really popular game which will allow for many hours of fun, without complicated play and the need for batteries. Although it's aimed at 5+, I think it's suitable from 3 upwards and I can see it causing much fun for years to come!

Poppin' Hoppies is made by University Games and is available to buy from Argos.

We were sent this game for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.