Lost 4 Words Game Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Linda Curtain
Despite living in a world of high-tech, my grandchildren still love to play a board game so with Christmas creeping ever nearer, I was very pleased to receive the game ‘Lost 4 Words’ from the Happy Puzzle company to review.
Lost 4 Words is a table-top word game which requires quick thinking and word recognition to find a word that you can put before or after the four words on the card to produce four new words. Working as individuals or as a team, players race against the sand timer to find those elusive words and move up the scoreboard. The first player to answer fifteen words is deemed the winner.
The Happy Puzzle Company is a company based in Elstree in Hertfordshire and is renowned as a quality retailer and manufacturer of puzzles and games which are educational as well as fun. Established over 31 years ago, they have a range of over 300 award winning products, providing challenging, entertaining games suitable for a wide range of ages and abilities.
Lost 4 Words came presented in a very sturdy storage box with the illustrations immediately making you aware of the concept of the game. Within the box were no less than 500 word cards – certainly giving a wide choice of playing opportunities. Also included was a small sand timer, four coloured peg markers, full, clear instructions and a sturdy score board which the pegs fitted into. I loved the idea of the score board as you could see easily who was in the lead as you moved up the board. All the pieces fitted neatly into the box for storage.
We played the game as individual players initially and then tried it with everyone playing together with the first to get the answer moving up the board. This seemed the best way for us but other players may find other ways to play. The first player to answer 15 questions won the game. It was great to have a game that didn’t require any setting up!
Whilst an interesting and thought provoking game, I found the grandchildren lost interest very easily. This may have been due to their ages -recommended age of 10+ – as the youngest player was only 9. It certainly seemed an educational game – and extremely good within this category – rather than a fun game. I will be trying this game with some adult friends who (hopefully) will have a greater knowledge of the English language.
With so many available word cards, it may be advantageous when playing with younger family members, to pre-sort the cards according to their abilities. This game could also be used individually as a brain training exercise to see which cards you could find the answers to without playing an actual game.
Whilst as a family we found this game quite challenging, any game that gets the family together and instigates discussion has to be a good thing!
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £19.99
For more information or to buy direct from The Happy Puzzle Company, visit www.happypuzzle.co.uk. Also available to buy from Amazon here.