Last month we celebrated our son Craig's first birthday. Anyone visiting our house on Sunday would think they had stepped into a mini branch of Toys R Us because of the vast amount of toys everywhere.As my parents have been away for a few months now they came laden with gifts for Craig's birthday, and so that Gemma didn't feel totally left out they had given her a pile of jigsaw puzzles and games. One of the games that she received was an old favourite of mine, Pop Up Pirate. I had played this many a time when I was younger so I knew Gemma would love it too.
Made by Tomy Active, Pop Up Pirate is aimed towards children between the ages of 4 upwards, and 2-4 players can join in the fun. The game is nicely packaged in a bright and breezy box with a picture of a cheery looking pirate sitting in a barrel with swords sticking into it. I can't quite understand why this pirate is looking so happy, I certainly wouldn't be if I had half a dozen daggers sticking into my backside.
As we open the box we find the bits and pieces that make up the game. There is a bright blue base unit that is shaped like a disc. It is brightly decorated with a marine theme, namely octopus' and sharks. There are more stickers supplied for your children to stick on to add to the theme. The centre of the base is slightly raised to allow the barrel to sit on.
The barrel as you would expect is made of brown plastic and it has little slits running down the sides. The purpose of these slits become clear when we find the bag of small plastic swords. The swords which are extremely strong and durable are pushed into the slits. But more about this later.
First let's meet our little pirate friend. Again, made from strong plastic, this jolly little character looks very much like a pirate with his curly moustache, bright coloured bandana and eye patch.
To start the game each player chooses a colour of sword. There are four colours to choose from; red, yellow, green and blue. As soon as the squabbling over who wants what colour has subsided, push the pirate firmly into the barrel. You will hear a click telling you that it is correctly in place.
Each player will then take it in turn to stick a sword into a slit in the barrel. Each sword entering the barrel could make the pirate pop up at any time, and this adds tension to the game. The loser is the first person to make the pirate pop. No batteries are required for this game as it is springloaded.
It is best to supervise your youngsters while this game is being played. Because of the speed at which the pirate pops once he's had one stab too many, he could cause quite a bump on the head, especially if your head is too close to the game. I can imagine that quite a few black eyes have been received while playing this game.
Also, I would recommend keeping the swords out of reach of small children. They are the perfect size for being swallowed and as my son is at the age where everything goes into his mouth we have to make sure Gemma doesn't leave the swords lying around. The swords can also leave a nasty mark if in the wrong hands. Gemma's cousin who came for a visit got into a bit of a temper because he lost the game and decided he would stab the winner in the arm. Luckily it didn't pierce the skin, but it did hurt. This is where it's important to have a responsible adult present as it could so easily be someone's eye that gets stabbed.
Since my daughter received this game we have been pestered into playing it every day. As Tomy is a name I have known for many years, I have complete faith in it lasting a very long time.
