Busytown Eye Found It!
Overall Rating: 9/10
Age: 3+
GLAM Age Range: 3-6
Number of Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 15-20 min
Publisher: Ravensburger
Complexity: Low
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: Such a cute game, although be warned it takes up 6 feet of floor space to play. My kids have had little to no exposure to the Busytown world so I was skeptical about introducing a Busytown themed game to them. However, pretty much all of the reviews I found comparing this and the Disney Eye Found It! games said this one was the better version. Finally I decided to try it out ... and it turns out the general consensus was correct. FYI, the outside of the box says Busytown is ages 4+ but the rules say 3+. Weird. Age 3 and up makes more sense though, as my 3 year old can play the Busytown version so much better than the Disney version and everything is larger on the board so it doesn't take as long to find objects and the game itself is shorter with fewer spaces to travel to get to the end. And it's cute! All the little illustrations and animals are fun to look at. My kids were able to set this game up solo and play it successfully and they never seem to be able to do the same with the Disney version.
How to Play: Your goal is to get your character to Picnic Island at the end before all the food is gone. It is a cooperative game, everyone needs to make it in order for you to win. You have a spinner and you can either move forward a certain number of spaces, land on a pig spot (they eat a piece of food and then you get to spin again), or you can land on a Goldbug. This is the search aspect of the game, you then get to draw a card and set up the timer to find as many items (balloons, ladders, etc) as you can before time runs out. Everyone moves forward a corresponding number of spaces for how many items you find. One of my very favorite parts of this game is how everyone has to meet on the ferry boat towards the very end and then you all travel together to Picnic Island. Genius! You have your individual tokens that move along but ultimately you travel as a group to the finish. It's amazing how much this one twist helps my kids work as a team.
Variations: The timer is really fast in terms of search time to find items, you can pay as much or as little attention to the timer as you like when you play. A child ready for more of a challenge could play as two players and choose which one they wanted to move depending on what they roll.
Similar Games To Check Out: Disney Eye Found It!, Mystery Garden, Journey Through Time Eye Found It! Card Game, Disney Eye Found It! Card Game