Ravensburger Bugs in The Kitchen - Fun Family Board Game for Kids and Adults | Engaging Brain Teaser | Educational Toy for Ages 6-15 Years

I bought this as a family game after my daughter played this at a friend’s house for hours! It takes a while (about 15 minutes) to set up for the first time as it is quite fiddly. I would recommend help from an adult. Pegs need to be located, pushed and then clipped in place in quite a precise way. Each peg is a piece of cutlery, which acts as a wall. The die dictates which cutlery type you twist (knife, fork, spoon or any). The instructions provide a choice of patterns to arrange the cutlery/walls. Each starting pattern has a trap in the middle where you place the bug. The Nano-bug comes in a test tube shaped container. It moves remarkably like a roach! No batteries are required. Slide the bug’s “on” switch and away you go. This is a game for 2-4 players. The really good thing about it is that is is very easy to play. The instructions are simple and you don’t need to keep checking the rules. The aim is to turn the cutlery/walls to direct the bug into your corner. You are rewarded with a token. The winner has the largest collection of tokens. This is a fast paced game. Once constructed from new it can be opened and played quickly, without setting up time. The rules are so simple and it doesn’t really require any skill as there is quite a lot of luck involved. This is a great game for all ages to play. Unsupervised, I would recommend this for ages 6+, but much younger children would be able to play this with family. The only down side is the noise - a loud rattle! Fantastic, manic fun! I would recommend this game.

My wife didn’t see the attraction when I suggested to buy this game as a Christmas gift for our children aged 6 and 9. I should say that she has a mortal fear of any create with more than 4 legs. Despite her aversion I pushed through and as a gift it was a tremendous success not only with the children, but even with my wife and the in-laws. Playing the game causes a huge amount of excitement, at least in our family with hyper-energetic children, comparable to a less animal-friendly beetle race. In fact the enthusiasm and loud shouts of bug-encouragement and excitement gets a bit too much in our small space household in particular given that the game is very frequently played for the moment. I must say I quite like the game play as its combines fast paced action and thinking, after all the bug moves at a reasonable pace and the person whose turn it is will have to act quickly. At the same time I’ve notice that the children start to develop some forward thinking strategies after having played it a few times, where they try to create paths before unleashing the bug from its starting position. So there is a little educational value to it as well. There are many variants and clones of this game already. But we decided to go with the trusted German Ravensburger brand from which we already have a series of board games that have sustained decades of kid’s play. This Bugs in the Kitchen game is no different; it’s very attractively presented in a sturdy, colourful cardboard box. The cardboard of the box and the parts is robust and resilient printed with deep colours. You will pay up for this ‘official’ version, but I must say I’m glad we did given the very frequent play sessions. Next to the cardboard tokens, trap doors and die, also included are 24 plastic cutlery parts that act as moveable maze panels. these need to be but in place, which consumes a little bit of time. The main part however is the Hexbug, that comes in a 'laboratory' container. I must admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by the bug. I expected a piece of highly sophisticated micro technology that would move around, driven by some level of AI. Well, it’s just a vibrating piece of plastic that after turning it on randomly moves around through its vibrations – if it moves at all, sometimes it just finds itself stuck in a corner for a long while. Anyway, this doesn’t really restrict the joy of playing the game. And the children certainly don’t complain. The set up and understanding of the game is pretty straightforward. It will take you less than 2 minutes to read the instructions and to get ready to play. Children will just have to watch or participate once to understand. The rounds of the game can be fairly quick so it quite suitable as well for the youngest players with a limited attention span. The age advice is from 6-years. But I’ve seen much younger cousins playing this with quite some skill. An official game, where one player collects 5 bug tokens can take from 15 to 30 minutes. But you can also just play a single round or agree that the one winning 3 tokens wins. Conclusion; if you are looking for an attractive game that can be played in a limited amount of time; buy this. I would recommend it highly. Perhaps some ear plugs should be advised as well for those not playing.

We bought this from the Christmas list of our newly 5 year old nephew. It was a little too old for him though his brother and adult relatives enjoyed it immensely. Easy to set up and fun to play and we all appreciate it having 4 different templates from which to play so you can vary the game as you go along or from one time playing it to another. The unpredictability of the bug and the rules that you are allowed to cajole your opponents into responding swiftly all help too as do the easy to follow and accessible instructions. Once we had played it with our older nephew we bought a 2nd box for ourselves and enjoyed playing it with our friends and their kids over the Christmas period and all had a laugh and liked its unpredictability.

Got this for my daughter who loves HexBugs, in fact she has 16 of them. You will need to assemble the game first by inserting the plastic connectors in the base (adult is best as they are stiff), popping out the holes on the cardboard base, placing the base over the wholes, clipping down the plastic knifes, forks and spoons. These go in a certain order so look at the instructions - we just put them don first and had to take them up again and start again. You will also need to pop out the cardboard trap bases, walls and counters. Playing is straight forward, just place the hexbug in the middle of the board, turn it on and take it in turns to roll a dice. If it comes up a spoon, open a spoon gate by turning it 90 degrees. If it is a knife, turn the knife, a fork turn the fork and a question mark turn anything. The aim is to get the hexbug to fall in your trap in one of the corners. Sounds easy, but the little bug can bump into the closed gates and turn around easily. You have to try to think one step ahead to try to open a gate so that he will go to your trap. Best to stick a time limit of say 5 seconds per move, otherwise you start watching where it goes for several seconds before deciding which gate to open. When the bug falls in your trap, you have a counter. Then reset the maze and repeat. The first to 5 counters wins. I did find that the bug did sometimes fall over and turn upside down, sometimes it righted itself but mostly we had to turn it over ourselves. My daughter loves it, it is easy to pick up and if you already have hexbugs, you can use one of those instead to make a change. Overall a good game if you can pick it up around the £15 mark, a bit steep for £35.

A great family game, which is ideal if you haven't got time to play a longer lasting board game like Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, game of life etc. We purchased this game as we enjoy playing family board games, but wanted something a little different and can be played quickly if short on time. We saw it advertised on TV and my daughters put it on their Santa lists & I must admit it did look like a bit of fun. When you first receive the game you will need to assemble it, by pushing the knives, forks & spoons into the slots on the board, not sure how important it is to follow the plan provided of where to put each one, but we did all the same. It is a easy game for 2-4 players and can be very fast and frantic and my daughters aged 7 & 11 love playing it together or with other friends & family members and I must admit to secretly enjoying it and its competitiveness. The idea of the game is to get the Hexbug caught in your trap to earn a token, and first to get 5 tokens wins. To do this you roll the included dice, which will land on either a knife, fork, spoon or question mark (your own choice) and turn the corresponding piece through 90 degrees to either make a route to your trap or prevent it heading towards another players trap. Although the game is listed as 6+ I think younger players if supervised (as to not to eat the HexBug) would be able to enjoy and easily play this game as there is as much luck as skill involved in playing this game.

Absolutely love this game! It was bought for my son for Christmas, as he had seen it advertised on the TV. Great game for all the family. My youngest child of 7 understood the game and could even help set it up, which was easy. It causes so much excitement and gets the adrenalin going when you want the bug to come you way and you are quickly shaking the dice to move the piece to open a pathway for the bug to come to your trap. However, as quick as you move a piece another one is being moved by the next player, You have to act quick and think quick. Highly recommend it

My son asked for this for his birthday. I wasn't initially convinced, but have changed my mind now it's arrived and we've played it for a few days. It's a great game, both for children and adults. Very simple in concept -- you throw the dice and move the indicated utensils to try to direct the bug towards your trap, making sure you also try to block the paths to your opponents. It's far more challenging than it sounds. This game is simple enough for young players to participate, but taxing enough to challenge cunning adults. It's also fun to play.

PLEASE NOTE: This will take an adult or older child (teenager) a few minutes to assemble BEFORE you can start playing. Everything you need is in the box and once this game is assembled it can stay in the box which is definitely an added bonus. Instructions are included and PLEASE make sure you put the utensils in the correct positions as shown. They click in place and not designed to come off at the end of each game. Aim of the game? To get the bug to go into your food compartment of which there are FOUR to choose from: fish, cheese, chocolate and bread. If less than four people are playing, blocks are included to block off up to two entrances. The size of the box/board is approximately 42.5cm x 29cm. Size of bug is 12cm in length. How do you get the bug to go into your food? You roll the die. On that die there is a fork, spoon, knife and three question marks. If it lands on a specific utensil you can only rotate the said one. If, however, it falls on a question mark you can rotate whichever utensil you desire. The aim is to block the ant going to your competitors but it is definitely not as easy as it looks. Speed does play a part in this game so for younger kids could cause some frustration. The bug? It just moves around at random in the area it is being allowed making a clicking noise. The LR44 battery required is provided. Our daughter purchased this for her young brother's birthday and it has been a definite HIT! Would highly recommend for those of you looking for a new, fast paced and exciting game. The first one to get 5 tokens is the WINNER! Happy playing, Liz

Such a fun and interactive game to get kids and adults involved. The game is sturdy and well made . Well worth the money. The hexabug can get stuck when the battery (one LR44) is low so have some extras on hand. Also need to play this on a flat surface and not on the carpet as an uneven surface affects the movement of the hexabug. Love this game!

Es un juego divertido hasta ahorita todo bien su calidad es buena espero que dure pasas un rato entretenido con amigos y familia

思った以上に早く届けてくださってありがとうございました！ 子どもが大喜びでした！

Fantastic game, we are playing every evening. Lots of fun trying to catch a bug.

Schönes Spiel. Coole Kakerlake. Die Kids haben ihren Spaß daran. Bugs in the Kitchen (UK Version) anstatt Kakerlakak bestellt, ist ein paar Euro günstiger. Kann das Spiel nur empfehlen. MfG