Reviews (1)

Yahtzee Hold 'Em: A Bust!
This game; is a poor attempt to capitalize on both the Hold'Em craze, as well as the Yahtzee franchise.

If someone wants to play poker; they'll use playing cards; not dice.Besides; the original "Yahtzee!" game already rolls for full houses, straights, etc., the game is far from a unique concept.

The only redeeming factor is the parts seemingly will hold up--for the few times you play this game. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Especially appealing to energetic little critters, the classic toddler game Ants in the Pants requires no reading or waiting for turns. It's "One--two--three--Go!" and everyone is racing to pop all four of their bugs into Fido's bloomers. It's that simple. Plastic "ants" are big enough (2.5 inches) that even little fingers find it easy to perform feats of insect trajectory. A hilarious hit with the shorter set. --Julie Ubben ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Fun toy for young children
I had this game when I was a kid and I loved playing with it.
The pieces are charming, even though it tend to be pretty difficult operating if the muscle coordination is not good. I would not recommend this game to toddlers if they want to chew on the game pieces.

Ants have lost their jump
This is a classic game that still has concept appeal, however cheap materials is ruining the effect. We played this game as kids and had loads of fun. Bought it for my 4yr old, and found the game more trying due to the cheap plastic of the ants. The olden day ants were made of a harder plastic yet still flexible to pop in. Today's ants are thinner plastic and bend more easily, making them get out of shape with normal pressure and then they don't pop up , so the game is trying. You have to exert just the right amount of pressure to pop the ant and not squash him. We have tried on several occasions and with different individuals, with the same results. However, the appeal is still there, so when my daughter(4 yrs) who has a lighter hand and makes a score when no one else does, it's immediate delight. But even her lighter touch is not sufficient to get all the ants in without the ants becoming distorted. I would say to the toymakers use a little more umph in the plastic on the ants and you'll easily revive a classic game. The other downfall is the dog's suspenders do not fix into the box while assembled. So setup and takedown is required with each game.

Easy to play, but difficult for young children to master
Considering how few multi-player games exist for very young children, "Ants in the Pants" is a boon for parents. Unfortunately, it may be more fun for parents than for the youngest kids.

Making the plastic ants jump into the pants is fun, but my three year old son found it frustrating, getting no ants in after many minutes of trying. But he was dogged after I encouraged him to practice more. (It's difficult to assist kids in learning how to apply just the right pressure to control the jump of the ant.) After a while he got one in, but by that time he was mentally fried. Since then he has shown little interest in the game.

I personally find the game fun, so it's disappointing that my son doesn't. Obviously, you're mileage will vary. My advice is that it might be a better game for kids four and a half and older.

The game is fairly well made and the ants virtually indestructable. Other than the fact that you can lose the small ants, the game should last a while.

Considering the inexpensive price, it's worth a try. If all else fails and the kids bail, you and the Mrs. can play.

3 year old son loves it.
I bought this toy at a garage sale and my some really likes it. He has no trouble getting the ants in the pants - for the most part. He loves trying to flick them in. It's been great for teaching him about taking turns. Sometimes, he even plays with it by himself.

grandchildren fun
We have a ants in the pants game sans a few of the ants but
when the kids come to visit we have a grand time playing this
game and they always ask for it. so we rate it a fun game and
also a teaching tool. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The equipment is housed in a box at least three times biggerthan its contents, but if ever a game could confidently live by thatadage about good things coming in small packages, it'd have to be Fourin Line, a gravity-fed strategy-fest for two opponents. It's liketic-tac-toe played inside a coin collection display frame, as playersalternate dropping one of their 22 plastic chips into one column of aplastic grid six holes deep and seven holes across. The chip dropsuntil it hits bottom or lands atop a previously played chip; get fourof yours in a row--horizontal, vertical, or diagonal--and you win. Witha short paragraph of rules printed on the bottom of the box, andall-plastic construction of the chips, grid, and grid base, Four in Line isa triumph of simplicity, if not elegance. But the complexity surfacesduring the addictive hours spent playing this campaign of climbing andblocking. Not to mention the time spent cussing out Sir Isaac Newton.--Tony Mason ... Read more

Editorial Review

Show your steady hands and elementary structural knowledge in abattle against gravity when you play Jenga, a game of luck andprecision. First, assemble the 54 rectangular, hardwood blocks--smoothand shaped just right for stacking--into a three-piece-wide, 18-storytower. Then take turns removing the three-inch blocks one at time,using caution to keep the structure intact while stacking the removedpieces back on the top of the tower. As the tower rises, its basebegins to teeter--one wrong move and it collapses in a heap! Gameover.

Jenga allows adults to play architect and children to perfecttheir stacking skills and hand-eye coordination. There is no limit onthe number of participants--it can even be played solo. Butbeware: Jenga can be addictive. The instructions declare a 36-storystructure to be the mark of a real pro. How tall can you go? --CateBick ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Don't make the blocks fall
Jenga has always been one of my favorite games to play since I was a kid. You have to construct a vertical tower using 54 wooden blocks by putting 3 on each row. Then that's when the fun begins. Everybody who's playing has to take turns taking away one of the wooden blocks from anywhere on the structure, and then putting that block that has been removed at the top of the tower. Whoever makes the building fall is the loser.

Jenga can be a lot of fun for anybody of any age. It's one of the funnest games out there and if you're bored it's really great, you'll never get tired of playing Jenga. I recommend anybody to get this game.

Fun for Groups & Families
Not only is this toy extremely durable (how can you really break those small blocks of wood?), it's incredibly flexible as a toy. My brother at twelve (and I at 21) played this game for hours. When I went back to my computer/book/sleep, he'd stay occupied with the game -- playing it alone, stacking and re-stacking the blocks, creating houses and encampments as if the pieces were designed as building blocks.

As an adult, I don't enjoy card games or board games much, but I still appreciate having this game around the house. It's a game you can play with just about anyone, and although it does take some concentration when you're the one pulling out that precarious block, you can still converse and cavort while playing (as long as you've got the game on a stable surface!).

Jenga also helps teach hand-eye coordination, precision, patience, forethought ("what will happen if I pull out this block?"), and just a bit of physics -- some of the blocks are rougher, some are smoother, so friction comes into play.

I highly recommend this game to everyone, regardless of age!

Jenga
Jenga is so much fun! I just love removing and restacking the pieces. As it gets higher, the intensity also gets high. My cousin and I don't just use Jenga as a stacking game, we use it to play dominoes. Although Jenga is not an educational game, it is still the best stacking game for players of all ages. The wood pieces are very durable, clunking them to the ground won't snap or break them. Throwing the wood pieces against the wall also won't break them. Jenga is a durable and fun stacking game.

wow!
i have to say...this game is great! i am 13 years old and at my birthday party there was nothing to do! i pulled out jenga and everyone was having a BLAST within 5 minutes. i was so worried that everyone would hate my party but it turned out that it was all that my friends talked about the next week at school. i wanted to just say thank you so much for advertising this game because there was nothing, and i mean NOTHING to do at my party but when i took out jenga...that all changed! thank you so much again!

-shaunna, California

The Cheapo Version of Jenga
Wood blocks for the Milton Bradley jenga are not finely finished like I have seen from other manufacturers. Jenga blocks traditionally come in a wooden box that acts as a holder for assembling the blocks. Milton Bradley's loading platform is made of thin cardboard. This low quality detracts from normally fine experience of playing jenga. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A polar bear is happily skating across the ice. He's gesturing thumbs up. A big smile stretches his face. Uh-oh. What's that tapping sound? A block of ice just disappeared from his pond. And there goes another one. The polar bear is running out of room to skate. In Don't Break the Ice, two to four players take turns wielding plastic mallets and tapping out ice blocks. The goal is to keep the polar bear skating for as long as possible. But as the game progresses, ice blocks start falling faster and faster. And then, there goes the bear! Luckily, these ice blocks don't melt. The game can quickly be reassembled and soon the polar bear is skating again. This bear might lose his footing, but he's always got his smile. --Wendy Slotboom ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A great game
I still remember playing Don't Break The Ice when I was a kid, it was always one of my favorite games. I don't have any kids of my own yet, but I have a niece and me and her played this game for a few hours straight one day. She probably has even more fun playing it than I used to. It's a game that any adult can play with their kid, niece, etc. and have a good time with them. My niece especially gets a kick out of it when I break the wrong piece of ice and I lose. Don't Break The Ice can teach them some strategy skills if nothing else.

If you have any kids around, I recommend getting Don't Break The Ice, they'll have a lot of fun with it.

A Classic - though, of course not, "made like they used to"
My kids 4 & 6 got this for Christmas and they both love it, though my 4 yr old loves it more. This is a game that is short enough that they can play it together over and over again and it keeps their attention. It takes my 6 yr old to "build" the ice into the tray though. The box that this comes in is very cheap (like most of them nowdays), you may want to get a plastic bin with lid to keep the pieces in. Also, nearly impossible to fit everything back into the original box (especially for little kids). I was surprised at first how much they played it over and over again, but then remembered how much my sister and I loved to play it when we were kids :).

This one is a classic
I loved this game as a child. We still have the one I played with 16 years ago.

Break the Ice is a simple game anybody can play. There is a man sitting on a big piece of ice. You want to knock out the pieces around him, but not knock out piece that will send him falling. It's simple enough but it does take some stratedgy.

We have a lot of kids that come through my house for different reasons, and I've never met one that didn't get a kick out of this game. It's a fun family game and a must for a small child.

Mom to a 4yr old
The is a classic game, whose appeal has not been lost. NO batteries or flashing lights etc... My little girl at 3 loved this game. It was one of the first games she could play, that the adults(aunts, uncles etc) and older kids (8&9 yr old neighbors, cousins) were willing to play with her and not be bored themselves. So consequently she got to play again and again. The downfall is it does take an older child or adult for setup. So if you need a game to draw your toddler into the mix at family get togethers, this is it. We have not had problems with durability like the other reviewers.

An inexpensive classic
Games for small children are notoriously hard to come by. "Don't Break the Ice" is one of the few available and a classic in its own right.

My young son loves this game and we play all sorts of variations including moving the main ice piece that holds the bear to different places so we can experiment with the "physics" of the game. (So there is a true educational element.) We also try to put the ice pieces back in the frame using different patterns of insertion. This helps kill the time factor in getting the game pieces ready to play.

With its minimum of rules anyone can pick this game up in a minute. It's fun and can be played by "kids" of all ages. Given its low price, it's a no miss. Even if little children get more fun out of making the bear fall than not, so what? Think of it as a more versatile "hammer & peg bench" toy.

There are some durability issues. If one of the tabs that hold the ice breaks, you are out of luck. The frame consists of two pieces that slide together and the connection is prone to breakage. Still, at this price point it's a lot easier to replace than many of the fragile toys that cost far more. In fact you could buy every toy in the Milton Bradley "Cootie" line and still be under the cost of just one other plastic toy.

A good bet for a good price. ... Read more