Kerplunk Sloths Game
Overall Rating: 8/10
Age: 5+
GLAM Age Range: 4-12
Number of Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 5-10 min
Publisher: Mattel
Complexity: Low
Available At: Amazon.com
Quick Take: You are not too fancy to play Kerplunk. Games like this serve a purpose - they are fun, rules are minimal so it's easy to get up and running right away, and kids can play it independently! Kerplunk sloths takes away the annoying marble element, and adds a fun sloth theme. It's quieter to play and you aren't going to have runaway marbles. We are sending this in to my daughter's 2nd grade classroom as an option for a game to play during indoor recess. It checks all the boxes - not too loud or messy, it's not a big deal if you don't finish an entire game, and kids can play without the teacher having to help. If you lose a piece or two, no big deal, the game still works. It does seem to be a bit of a cheap plastic thing, but they include a few spare plastic sticks so that helps at least. Well worth it for the novelty factor and the price!
How to Play: Whoever gets the fewest sloths wins. Place the sticks in the tree and dump sloths in and shake them around and replace any that fall out until they are all settled and in place on sticks. Take turns rolling the die and pull out a stick of the corresponding color from the very top of the tree. Any sloths that fall down to the bottom are collected by the player who pulled out the stick. If the sticks of a particular color have run out and you roll that color, your turn is skipped. Continue play until all the sloths have been collected.
Variations: My oldest son instantly figured out that you could strategically place your sloths on a lower stick if you angled the stick correctly as you pulled it out and aimed for a lower stick. I thought this was cheating, my other son thought it was definitely cheating, and my husband thought it was fantastic strategy and to be applauded. Define your take on this particular strategy before you play a game.
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