12 Frogs + 1 Person = Hopping Fun
Do you remember those triangle peg board games where you jump pegs trying to get down to just one? I know our family had one and at least one of our favorite restaurants had them on the table to entertain you while they eventually got around to making our food. I know I solved it once, but could never remember how I did it.
There’s a relatively new game by ThinkFun that takes this game to another level. With a frog and lily-pad theme, Hoppers allows you to relive your peg-jumping frustration and hopefully overcome it.
Unlike other games where keeping the box is a must, Hoppers comes equipped with it’s own storage. The plastic box houses a draw that stores all twelve frogs and the entire deck of cards. Cardboard box – meet trash!
What makes Hopper different than your standard peg game is the introduction of various starting patterns, all coded by their difficulty. The “Easy” cards will be rather simple to solve for everyone, including kids. But moving up to “Medium” and higher will definitely give everybody a challenge.
Here’s an example of the first board (an “Easy” one). In three moves you should be able to reduce the frog population to one.
This “Medium” layout is quite a bit harder. I must admit, getting down to just one frog took me quite a few trial-and-error turns before I finally figured it out.
Both of my girls and I enjoyed trying out the various puzzles and it should have some good replay value. The fact that it stores itself will lend it to being a good travel game.
I did have two things I wanted to mention that I would consider downsides. The best instructions on how to play are printed on the cardboard box, so I did dig it back out of the garbage to keep. The frog theme might also turn off older players because it does look like it targets pre-teen kids, but if you can get over that, you’ll have fun figuring out all 40 puzzles.
You’ll find Hoppers available on Amazon for under $15 and would be a perfect birthday gift for your child to give to a friend. ThinkFun also has a number of other offerings for all age ranges, so be sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter also!
(I haven’t been able to complete a “Hard” one yet, maybe you’ll hop to it quicker than I!)
This looks cute! I’m not sure my almost 4 year old could do it quite yet but I think her daddy and I would love it until she can! Thanks for the review.
This looks like a fun game! I’ve never been able to do the triangle game, either, but I think I could handle at least some levels of this one. 😉 Since there are challenges kids can handle, I would love to get it for my classroom, too.
This looks like a fun game. Wonder if my 5 year old could play. Thanks for the review.
Neat review and product Scott 😉
wow, i think my son will love this game. Thanks for this review
this looks like a hopping good time. i would enjoy it and it would make me think.
I used to love playing the tricky triangle game when I was younger! A restaurant we used to go to for breakfast had one on their table and I would play it every time we were there and then my parents bought me one! This game looks even better. I am sure my girls would love it!!
Looks like a fun family game! 🙂 And yes, the storage is such a life-savor. I always manage to destroy the cardboard boxes that come with games.
This looks really fun and challenging. Just what I like in games! Thanks for the review!
I’ve wondered how the Tricky Triangle game has stayed on restaurant tables for so many years. It’s so simple – or so you think, and it doesn’t use batteries. I like the frog theme of this game, and its not needing batteries is a plus.
I love the peg game. This would be great to keep my kids entertained. Thanks for sharing.
I’m pretty sure my son would love this game. Thanks for sharing!
This looks like a fun game!