More like a KER POW than a Ker-Plunk!
Written: Apr 14 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sells for ten dollars
Cons: Difficult to fit the tubes and connector together!
The Bottom Line: Could be fun to see who has the steadiest hand
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Ker Plunk |
A few weeks ago one of the student therapists at our support group was opening up a box of Ker-Plunk! for the kids to play that afternoon. I should have stuck around a few minutes to see how this was set up and how many took to complete the task. When I was at Rite-Aid I looked around for Ker-Plunk! to see the box for age limits and the price. This is recommended for ages 5-12 and selling for $9.99.
Last week when my children’s father arrived with a rather large bag from Toys “R” Us, which contained a duplicate Lego toy, a truck we could do without and a video we already have I used this opportunity to make a return for some store credit. After cruising the game aisles twice I finally found Ker-Plunk! selling here for $9.99 as well. Honestly I did not take another look at the box since the price was right and I assumed my younger son would be interested since he likes pick-up sticks and pick-up snakes. I was hoping the sound of the marbles dropping would entice him to join in the game playing or at least he would want to line up the sticks when the game, Ker-Plunk! was not being used.
I recall playing Ker-Plunk! as a youngster and it just so happens it has been around for thirty-five years. My seven-year old wanted to try this game out before the Yahtzee box so we opened it up thinking it would be a breeze to put together. Well it turns out my son now understands the word “frustrated” as we both were in that frame of mind trying to get the tube and connector pieces together. The contents of the box consist of the following:
Tube top – purple piece of plastic that has slots to fit the connector and the hole for the marbles to go down
Tube bottom - same as the top except a larger slot for the marbles to trickle out of into the base compartment
Base - round purple plastic with about four inches room for the marbles to rest in, numbered one to four
Tube connector - a flexible purple plastic round piece that needs lots of bending and patience to attach to the bottom tube and then the top tube. This contains the holes for the sticks to slide into to reach the other slot located on the other side
Marbles – there are 32 consisting of ten each in boring gray, yellow and green shades. The box does mention that colors and decorations may vary. Very disappointing to see the box depict orange, pink and green shades.
Sticks - there are 30 sticks that are easy to remove from the plastic. There are ten pink, orange and green sticks. It would be nice if the sticks were the same color. Also it is noted in the directions that the sticks are purple, yellow and pink.
My son actually put most of this together after I walked out of the room aggravated by the connector that hurt my hands trying to squeeze it onto the bottom tube. The bottom tube just sits in the middle of the base. I told my son this was not a fun game before we even got it together and he wanted to know why I bought it. I explained to him that I had no idea this would be so hard to put together and he replied exactly what I was thinking. “ They should have had it all put together inside the box!” I agree with his statement so we stored the tube and connector inside the box and it is staying that way!
The next step would be to take turns sliding the thirty sticks into the slots by turning the base around making sure you have a good section filled up. Once this is done the final task is to open the plastic bag containing the marbles and slowly drop them into the top hole on the tube. They will be sitting in that tube awaiting for one false move via the hand that removes a stick and lets the marbles fall.
It does become bothersome to have to rotate the tube for each player’s turn, by moving it and holding the base in place at the same time. It was kind of rickety a few times and once the top tube came off and that created havoc for us. With only two players you will need to use another number to store your marbles because they cannot fit in just one section. I would think four players would have more fun with this game of chance and skill. Ker-Plunk! is over when the marbles are all out of the tube. The player with the least amount is the winner. There will likely still be sticks remaining in the connector section once the winner has been determined.
There were times that while turning the tube for the next player that the marbles were still falling down so it would be feasible to wait for them all to come down before rotating for the next player. This game is easy to play once it is set up and a fast game at that. This works on memory skills seeing where the holes are for sliding in the sticks and eye hand coordination for removing the sticks. There is a two-year limited warranty by Mattel, Inc.. Ker-Plunk! is not recommended for children under the age of three due to the marbles being a choking hazard. The directions are written in English and Spanish through out the steps.
The sticks are placed to the side after removing with only one being allowed per turn. The person to the left is the next player after the first player has been decided on. It is mentioned in the directions that the second player begins his turn once he has touched the tube or base. This would mean you should wait before touching the base because any marbles that drop after you touch the base or tube would be yours. The marbles are to remain in your numbered compartment until it is time to count them. My son liked playing this a few times once we figured it out and took a break and then placed it in the box for another day. He has not asked to play this yet but I am planning on getting it out for his father’s visit next week.
When putting Ker-Plunk! together I really did feel like it was a KER-POW and never felt the need to say Ker-Plunk! once any marbles fell down. My son liked being the winner each time and he checked out the sticks’ location carefully before removing a stick. He was happy when he was able to get the sticks out with no marbles falling. I thought he was proudest when he was able to put the tube and connector together and able to make a nice design when placing the sticks in the connector before removing them once the marbles were added.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 9.99
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
bonniesayers
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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