Monday, 23 December 2013

Boom Boom Balloon review


Having several children with quite a large age gap between them (4, 8 and 12), it's not always easy to find a game that the whole family can enjoy playing together, but we have a new family favourite : Boom Boom Balloon.


The box contains three pieces of red plastic that you need to slot together and a bag with 12 balloons in it. I was actually quite annoyed when we set it up for the first time because the instructions say you absolutely need a balloon pump but don't include one in the box. However, we discovered that you don't need a pump at all - you can blow the balloons up (not too big) then carefully put them in place once they're inflated. Youu need to wrap the end around the slot to hold them in place, just like the balloon sticks in McDonald's.


Once that's done, you're ready to go. You have ten sticks (but only nine holes so one is surplus to requirements) that you push into various holes around the red structure. 


Each player rolls the die to see how many "clicks" they need to push in. If you get 3, for example, you can push one stick in three times or choose three sticks and push them in once each.


It's very exciting watching the balloon get more and more misshapen - it's quite impressive how much a thin piece of rubber can withstand actually !


There was so much giggling going on that even Madhouse Daddy joined in, and he never wants to play games so that's really saying something ! Whoever makes the balloon pop loses, but nobody really cares about winners or losers because you're all too busy having fun !

When you've run out of balloons, you can buy more from Spin Master if you want the proper ones with a face, or you could replace them with regualr balloons. I think we'll do that and just draw our own faces on them !

It's a hilarious game that's fast and fun with absolutely no complicated rules to explain. The red plastic structure isn't incredibly sturdy and it was quite hard to dismantle at the end of the game, but it's still a really good game that players of all ages will enjoy. The box says 8+ but there's no reason at all why younger players can't join in, as long as you carefully pick up the pieces of broken balloons and they're not scared of balloons going pop. I think this would be a good party game too.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £17.99




Disclosure : We received the game in order to write an honest review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Board game review : Fibber

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