Showing posts with label Christmas Gift Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Gift Ideas. Show all posts

Tuesday 25 August 2020

Rockpool by Gibsons Games - A Review

Over the past couple of months, we have had the opportunity to try out three games from the Gibsons Games range of products. Our last two reviews covered Quirk! and Pass the Bomb! The Big One! which were both great fun, but today we have been testing out Rockpool, which is an educational game suitable for children aged six and above.

Rockpool comes in a lovely shell shaped box, which has lovely bright images across the front. There are recommendations along the bottom of the box that advise the age suitability, a suggestion of 2-6 players and an approximate game duration time of 10-15 minutes. The rear of the box provides a short description of the game in a variety of languages and it is described as being a great game for family fun! We therefore couldn't wait to put it to the test.

On opening the box, we found the following contents inside:

  • 36 Team Cards
  • 65 Shell Cards
  • 15 Creature Cards
  • 10 Starfish Cards
  • 14 Dog Toy Cards
  • 12 Rubbish Cards
  • 8 Wave Cards
  • 1 Rockpool Board
  • Instructions

To begin play, each player has to pick their own team. There are six teams to choose from and each team consists of 5 Child Cards and 1 Dog Card. One person then shuffles the Stone Cards and divides them into seven separate piles, which are to be placed around the Rockpool game board. 

When it is your turn, you need to take a Stone Card from the top of any pile and then place it face-up so everyone can see it in the Rockpool. Each player takes turns to do this until one of two things happens. Firstly if someone reveals a Wave Card, then the sea washes away the Rockpool's contents, which means that all the cards from the Rockpool are now out of the game. The Wave Card must then be placed face-up next to the pile of stone cards that it was selected from.


Secondly, someone can shout to empty the Rockpool, which can be done at anytime. You need to shout the right word and use a Team Card depending on which card has just been added to the Rockpool. The Stone Cards when placed in the Rockpool can reveal shells, dog toys rubbish, starfish or other creatures, so its important to make sure you shout the right word at the right time otherwise you must pay a penalty. The game is completed once all eight Wave Cards have been revealed or all Team Cards used.

At the end of the game you score your cards and the player who has the most Team Cards paddling in the Rockpool is determined as the winner. The score numbers are low and easy, making it simple for young children to add and subtract their own total. Riley really enjoyed doing this himself and used a piece of paper to keep count. We all liked the concept of the game, as well as the environmental message that was shared throughout play.


Overall we enjoyed this game, but Riley who is 7, did find the instructions difficult to understand when they were read out. However, he soon got the hang of it during game play and found it easier to learn whilst playing, rather than through the written advice. We all agreed that the graphics were great for children and the images were very clear and vibrant. With an RRP of £12.99, I think it is good value for money compared to other games and it can be purchased from good toy retailers including Amazon.

If you would like to find out more about Rockpool or the other products in the Gibsons Games range, then you can visit their website or social media pages on the following channels:



*Disclaimer - We were gifted this game for the purpose of writing an honest review of the product. All thoughts and opinions are my own unless otherwise stated. This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.

Friday 22 November 2019

Mardles hugARmals Dragon - Toy Review

It's safe to say that Riley loves a good cuddly toy. I have lost count of how many he has and I am surprised that he can even fit in his bed for the amount of teddies. Like most children, he loves to use his imagination and will often pretend that his toys have come to life and will create play scenarios to involve them all. He was therefore delighted when he was recently sent a beautiful Mardles hugARmal Dragon, which can be brought to life in front of your very eyes, by using a clever and innovative app.


Our lovely Mardles hugARmal Dragon is so soft and features wings on its back, sparkly fur, bright blue eyes and glossy ears, making it a lovely toy to cuddle up to. It is a great product to be enjoyed by children and it is very easy to bring the cuddly toys to life, by simply downloading the Mardles app and scanning the special badge.

I love the fact that the Mardles app is free to download, but also, once you have used your wifi connection to add it to your device, then it will work anytime and anywhere, whether you have an internet connection or not. I think it is great that it does not need to depend on wifi or data to be used, which means that Riley can play with his toy whenever he likes. There are also no in-app purchases available, so there is no need to worry about children asking for add ons, or running up an expensive bill.


We downloaded the app without any issues onto two devices, a Samsung Galaxy S10 and a Huawei P30 which both run on Android. This was really quick and simple to do and within minutes Riley was able to to enjoy playing with his dragon. He scanned the badge on the dragons foot and was very quickly able to interact with the toy and make it do a whole host of exciting things on the screen. You can even stand next to the dragon on the camera and have photos taken!

Riley was able to change the colour of his dragon, make it fly and even get him to take a nap. His favourite action though, was making the dragon dance on the disco floor which he found hilarious! If your child isn't a fan of dragons however, then there is also a gorgeous Unicorn version of the toy, which looks fantastic too.


Overall we absolutely love the Mardles hugARmals Dragon and it has really helped Riley to use his imagination in bringing it to life. I really like the fact that the app is free to download, easy to use, plus it is both child and parent friendly. The cuddly toy itself stands at approximately 30cm tall, is really soft and feels a very good quality. It has an RRP of £24.99 which I think is very reasonable for a toy that can be enjoyed time and time again. I would happily recommend this to others.

Mardles hugARmals are currently available to buy on the Mardles website, QVC and Amazon. If you would like to find out more about Mardles and their product range, then you can find their website and social media pages on the following channels:

Website - https://www.mardleslife.com/
Facebook - facebook.com/mardleslife
Twitter - @mardleslife
Instagram - instagram.com/mardleslife


*Disclaimer - We were gifted this product for the purpose of writing an honest review of the toy. All opinions are my own unless otherwise stated. This post contains an affiliate link.