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We are big fans of board games here and have more than our fair share. The team at Gibsons recently sent us three of their family games to review and up first is the wonderful Rockpool. This game has been busy winning awards so I was excited to see this one in the bundle that arrived with us.
What is Rockpool?
Rockpool is aimed at 6+ and can be played with 2-6 players. You take turns to add stone cards to the rockpool, each one revealing something different underneath from shells to starfish to rubbish or shell stealing creatures. You need to time it right and shout to empty the Rockpool for your team, taking the shells and adding them to your collection.
The premise of the game is simple, but it takes time to master; taking care to shout to clear the rockpool before a wave washes it away.
Playing the Game
Rockpool comes in a shell-shaped box and contains 124 cards, the Rockpool board and instructions. Each player chooses a team (the teams are different colours) of five children and one dog.
The stone cards are placed in seven piles around the rockpool and the players take it in turns to add a stone card to the rockpool. Each card has something different on. You need to watch out for wave cards which wash the contents of the Rockpool away.
The game can last from around ten-30 minutes, and ends when all team cards are used or all eight of the wave cards have been found. You then add up the scores for the children and dog in your team to calculate who wins.
What we thought of the game
The children enjoyed this game, and I think the suggested age of 6+ is about right. It does need an adult to play alongside for the first few rounds though as it takes a little bit of getting used to. The more we have played it, the more the children have realised the strategical element and are getting better at working out when to shout to clear the Rockpool.
The quality of the game (the boards and cards) is great so it will stand up to being played with time and time again, and I really like the strategy side of it. It’s a nice way of introducing this side of board game playing to children. I also like the environmental message to clear up rubbish and the rewards for doing so within the game
You can purchase Rockpool direct from Gibsons
