With family game nights being a firm favourite when it comes to things we like doing of an evening, it’s becoming a challenge to find new games to play. Don’t get me wrong, there are several games that we play time and time again, or ones that are always at the top of T’s suggestion list if given the choice. But, sometimes, we don’t fancy playing tumbling monkeys four times in a row.

This month, we were sent Monster Splat to play with, a game by Ravensburger that requires a little bit of coordination and skill, but is a lot of fun at the same time!

Please note: At the end of this post is an affiliate link, meaning I get a few pennies if you purchase the game via my link.

Splat!

Monster Splat is a fast paced, high energy game for 2-4 players and suitable for 5 years and up, although T is four and got on with it just fine.

The aim of the game is to get around the board by collecting ‘monsters’. Simply choose your piece – which represents a ‘slime’ monster – and then flick the spinner to choose which monster needs to be caught. Catch/match the correct monster to the spinner and you move forward, but if someone else catches it before you then they steal your points and move forward.

Included in the box is the following:

• 4 Slime Hands
• 4 Slime Monster cards
• 10 City Monsters cards
• 1 Trash Can card
• 1 Spinner with pointer & Holder
• 4 Playing Pieces

As someone who really doesn’t like slime I wasn’t liking the sound of this, however once we’d unboxed I saw that the ‘slime’ is simply some very sticky jelly-like rubber.

The game is really easy to learn, and because of it’s fast pace, most games last between 10 minutes (if you’re truly skilled) and 20 minutes – perfect for after school. I imagine if there are more players or those with less tuned coordination it’ll take longer. That being said, I’m not the most coordinated person (I broke my foot getting changed once) and after a few minutes practising I was able to snatch a few cards.

The only hurdle was when we’re all going for the same piece – which will happen – resulting in a few tangled pieces. It didn’t take long to untangle ourselves, however a four year old isn’t the most gentle of creatures when trying to untangle jelly from jelly, meaning we often had to grab T’s slime hand from him. I don’t know how durable the ‘slime’ is, but we were weren’t willing to test it out!

Other concerns we had were around how long the ‘slime’ would last against players accidentally dropping the hands on carpet or leaving it out in the open for a period of time, however the last point is covered by making sure pieces go back in the plastic sleeves they came in.

Thought has also clearly been taken when it comes to the box. So many of our older games have such wasteful packaging, however Monster Splat has taken care of this with their box being part of the game. Instead of a board to travel around, you work your way around the edge of the box – which I think is really space saving and more economic.

The game retails under £15 in most shops, which I think is good value for money. The game is good quality, with the cards made out of semi-thick card, and the box is bright and colourful – as are the pieces included. T spent more time giggling at the noise the slime hands made (or peeling it off the back of his neck from some overzealous aiming)  than actually playing the game, and when we did play he picked the rules up very quickly and had fun playing.

For parents, this is a really quick and simple game that doesn’t require much thought. After a few games it became incredibly silly and we were laughing alongside T. This will make a great game for after Sunday lunch or after school

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We received Monster Splat in exchange for an honest review, however all thoughts, opinions, and imagery our are own.