Orchard Toys Game Reviews

As part of my Toyologist role for Toys R Us, in my first box I was sent two games from Orchard Toys.  It will be clear to anybody who is a regular reader of my blog that I am an Orchard Toys fan as I've reviewed their products in the past and well, there's a badge over there that says so.  Toys R Us have sent me two games to review, the first is Rhyme Robber and the second is Football Game.

Rhyme Robber

Rhyme Robber is a fun rhyming game where the object of the game is to collect the most rhyming cards in your swag bag whilst being aware of robbers pinching your cards!  In the box is 4 rhyme robber boards, 48 rhyme cards and 1 rhyme guide board.

To start each player selects a rhyme robber board and places it in front of them. The rhyme cards are shuffled and each player gets two cards which they have to hold in their hands without showing them to anyone else, then a row of four cards are placed face up in the centre. The remaining cards are put into a pile face down, and placed next to the row of four cards.  The first player begins by checking whether either of their cards rhymes with any of the four cards in the centre, using the guide board to help them if they need it. If they do rhyme the player takes the card and tells the other players what rhymes ie rake rhymes with snake and places them on their robber board. They then take a card from the pile so that they are holding two cards again, and somebody else takes a turn. The winner is the one with the most rhyming cards at the end.

As with all Orchard Toy games there are educational objectives and for Rhyme Robber these are; encourages observation and language skills, develops sound recognition and rhyming skills, develops social communication through co-operation and turn taking and links with the National Curriculum English Key Stage 1.

My children really enjoyed playing Rhyme Robber. Neither of them needed the help of the guide board however I can see that it would be useful for pre-school and reception children who are just learning to read and spot rhymes, even though the game is aimed at 5-9 year olds. It's a simple but effective game and the fun brightly coloured game pieces are sturdy and good quality and should withstand a whole lot of playing with!

Football Game

The object of the Football Game, which is aimed at 5-11 year olds, is to score the first goal to win the game. The game comprises of 4 game boards, 4 football counters, 4 character stands, 1 whistle spinner, 1 goal spinner and 1 dice.  

To start with each player chooses a game board and a matching football counter which is placed on the football at the bottom of their board.   The first player begins by rolling the dice and moving their football the same number of spaces on their board. If the football lands on one of their own team then they can move their football up to the space shown by the coloured arrow. If it lands on the oppositions team (the ones wearing the white shirts) then they have to move their football counter down to the space indicated by the white arrow.  The winner is the first player to score a goal.

The concept is a bit like that old favourite, Snakes and Ladders, with the football passing backwards and forwards down the game board so it was quite easy for my children to grasp how to play. 

The educational objectives include; encourages observation, interaction and turn taking, develops instruction following and counting skills and links with the National Curriculum Maths Key Stage 1.

All the pieces of the game are fun and brightly coloured - I think that is definitely one of the things that attracts my children to Orchard Toy games - they love the illustrations on them and the cardboard pieces are great quality that won't fall to bits after a few games.

I think that we'll get loads of play out of these Orchard Toy games as all of the ones we have owned so far have been well-loved!  

Do you have any Orchard Toy games? What are is your favourite?