I've been taking a real trip down memory lane lately, introducing the Madhouse Mini-testers to modernised versions of things from my childhood. First they got to taste Wham Rockets, based on the Wham chews I used to eat as a kid, then we received a new board game called British Bulldog. Any fellow children of the 70's and 80's will already be nodding their heads wisely, remembering the real life version of the game that generations of kids played, before it was banned for being too dangerous (which is silly - you may have ended up with a grazed knee but it was certainly no worse than skipping or playing kiss-chase - I bet that's been banned too now though, on the grounds of sexual harassment !!).
The board may look a bit like a Scrabble board but don't worry, it's incredibly simple, as was the real-life version of the game. You have two "homes" (known as Home Wall and Far Wall in the board game) on either side and players need to move from one of these safe areas to the other, without being caught by the Bulldog in the middle of the playing area.
There is one blue Bulldog counter and four red Runner counters, but it's designed as a game for two players, one as the bulldog and one controlling all four runners. The red player wins if they manage to get all four Runners to the Far Wall and the Bulldog wins if he manages to catch all four Runners. The red player has to roll two dice, one to give the number of spaces and one to give the direction. The Bulldog doesn't need to roll dice - it just moves one space in any direction it wants. If it manages to catch a Runner, the blue Bulldog counter is placed on top of the red Runner and it can now move up to two spaces in any direction, and so on for each extra Runner caught.
There are some extra bits thrown in to keep it exciting, such as Teacher squares, which act as safe spots for Runners to hide in, or Bulldog squares, which mean that the Bulldog can easily nab any Runner silly (or unlucky) enough to land on one ! When all remaining Runners have reached the Far Wall, it's time to switch ends. The Bulldog has to give back one captured Runner and play starts all over again.
I wasn't sure it would work as a board game but it really does. It's simple but exciting and, as it is a mixture of strategy and sheer luck, players of any age can go head to head and have a good chance of winning.
The Madhouse Mini-testers had never heard of real-life British Bulldog but they loved the board game version. I really like the board game too in its own right, but also because it's a nice trip down memory lane !
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £14.95
for more information : www.littlewigwam.com
Disclosure : We received a British Bulldog game in order to write an honest review.
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looks great but i expect my son would prefer the real life version! I wouldn't, though, having cut my head open playing it when I was 8 - still bear a grudge!
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