Chutes and Ladders
by Hasbro
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List Price: Buy Used: from $3.85 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Chutes and Ladders
Customer Review: Why is this game a classic?
Summary: 2 Stars
I just played this game with my oldest son who is 6. I felt like we had fallen into in infinite time loop anomaly, and a boring one at that.
Where to start?
First, there's the cheesy cardboard gender specific pieces, and if you have a combination of genders not supported by the pieces, tough. Why not just do something colorful and abstract like other games. Add to that the cardboard stand-up pieces are too tall and continually falling over and getting in the way when opponents are continualy passing each other and landing on the same squares as they are continually reaching for that magic 100 and getting sent down a slide to oblivion only to begin the process again.
Then there's the infinite and tedious gameplay. Move in straight lines back and forth on a mostly featureless board counting up to 100 as you spin a spinner and hope against hope that you get to climb a ladder and avoide a "chute" (which is actually a slide).
I suppose it's great if you want to teach a child to count to 100 and keep playing at reaching a goal no matter how much bad luck befalls him or her, but Candyland can do that (well, not the 100 part but the goal part, and the kids don't need to know how to count to 100) and it's a lot more fun.
The other adults (my wife and a friend) that I mention this game to both remember playing it as a child and changing the rules just so the game will finally end. So, what's the point in this game?
Seriously, this game might have been great in its day, whenever that was, but you've got a lot more options now. Those kids don't stay little and cute forever, so why not buy a geniunely fun game to play with them?
Customer Review: Flimsy pieces
Summary: 4 Stars
We ordered Chutes and Ladders for our four year old. He enjoys the game, but there are a few things that we don't like.1.The child needs to be able to visually recognize the numbers 1-100, so that they know where to move. If your child, like ours, can't do this yet it becomes frustrating with having always to tell them where to move. It feels like you are playing for them. So, we play lots more Candy Land that Chutes and Ladders. So, this game probably isn't good for preschool children - unless you are willing to give them considerable help (which means no games played among just the children themselves).
2.The game pieces are made of cardboard that fits into little plastic stands. After several times of putting the cardboard into the stand the cardboad becomes compressed and will no longer stay in the stand. So, you will need to try to leave the stands on all the time, or you'll have to glue the pieces into the stands. Considering how classic a game this is and that families will play it for generations and hand it down, it would have been nice if they could have come up with better pieces (like the nice plastic pieces in Candy Land's anniversary edition).
3.In the last row of game play there are three chutes with only a couple of spaces separating them, which makes it VERY difficult for anyone to win and the game to be over. This gets annoying after a while and frustrating to little people.
So, we like this game, but it isn't our favorite. Be aware of your child's ability to recognize numbers and handle game frustration.
Customer Review: Taught moral values so subtly...
Summary: 4 Stars
The object of this game is to reach square 100 first, using a spinner numbered 1 through 6 to indicate how many spaces to move ahead on the board. Some of the squares are "rest" spaces -- nothing happens to the cardboard children that the players move around the board. Other spaces have chutes (more commonly known as slides) the character swoops down, back toward the beginning of the game, on which are depicted scenes of children behaving badly -- pulling a cat's tail, breaking a window, stealing cookies from the jar. Of course, there are also ladder squares, with illustrations of the children performing samaritin-esque good deeds (helping someone across a street, mowing the lawn). Each of these scenes is a narrative -- first the action, good or bad, then the consequence at the top of the ladder or at the end of the slide.The scenes depicted are truly unobjectionable moral issues (who can argue that pulling a cat's tail is not such a good thing for a child to do?), but the randomness of the spinner removes the players a bit from the feeling that they're actually being rewarded or punished -- it's just a game, with a subtle golden-rule theme.
I played this game many, many times as a child, preferring it by far to CandyLand!
Customer Review: We love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this game as a child and now we enjoy playing it with our son. He turned 3 recently and loves it!!
He already knows his numbers (he has played with number flash cards for months) so this aspect of the board was no problem. I do agree that it is a little confusing as to which way to go but it's not that bad.
My husband told our son that the chutes are silly so now he says "ahhhh!" when he has to go down one and really enjoys that part. I really don't think games go that long-no big deal with the time factor to us.
I do agree that the artwork stinks! I also think the big headed kids aren't great. I have 2 older boards (one from the early 70's and the other from mid 70's) and my son does prefer playing on those. The pictures are much more straight forward and easier to understand.
All in all though this is a classic game that is lots of fun. We have explained to our son what the consequences mean and it's so cute when he lands on a ladder- "I mowed the lawn;now I get to go the circus!" It's great to pretend you're a big kid, isn't it?
I did email the manufacturer to complain about the bad graphics but other than that, we are satisfied!
Customer Review: NEW PARENTS PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW...
Summary: 1 Stars
There are three items* SOMEONE should warn parents about before they buy them. This is one of them. I only wish someone had told ME years ago...
Yes, this game is cute and easy to play. Yes, it's famous. And yes, it's probably educational.
But be warned - it is THE most boring game in the universe. After ten minutes you will find yourself in a stupor. You'll look at the board and begin trying to calculate how much time it will take for the game to END. Soon you'll feel the urge to throw your chair through the window...not the loving-family-ambience you were expecting.
AND EVERY TIME YOU THINK THE GAME IS JUST ABOUT OVER, YOUR KID FALLS DOWN A CHUTE AND HAS TO START OVER ALMOST AT THE BEGINNING. You will find yourself lying to your children, telling them a "2" means "Move 4", and secretly scribbling over the chutes at midnight with a fat-tipped indelible black marker while spouting gibberish and drooling.
Let your kids play this at pre-school. Give it to the grandparents. JUST DO NOT ALLOW THIS GAME IN YOUR HOUSE IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY.
*the other two are Candy Land and the book "The Little Engine That Could"