Giddy Up Board Game Review

Reviewed by Jo Tebbs

As a parent, I’m always looking for toys and games which can help stimulate my little one’s imagination and keep her busy, whilst at the same time ensuring she’s having a total blast with whatever activity she’s carrying out. When I saw the ‘Giddy Up’ board game, I thought this looked like a super fun and novel board game to let her play with, so I was very excited to get given the opportunity to review it.

In essence, this board game’s premise is that your child will be riding their very own ‘hobby horse’ (horses head on an extendable pole) whilst following a set of commands for their horse. Hopefully, it’s a much safer way (or at least one would hope!) than riding a real life, 4 legged, hairy friend, and certainly much cheaper than owning the real deal or paying for horse riding lessons!!!

Overtime, I have come to find that there are very few board games that can actually be played by a child on their own, or which requires minimal parental supervision and intervention. However, the Giddy Up board game offers exactly that (especially in the free play ‘Training’ mode).

Giddy Up is not the typical conventional board game whereby you sit in one place to play it. Be warned, your little one will be required to move (or in my daughter’s case ‘gallop’) around a room whilst completing the command tasks as she tightly holds onto the reins of her horse. On a wet dreary March day, fortunately my lounge room did offer enough space to keep my little lady sufficiently occupied with this board game. In the summer, especially for the ‘Cross Country’ element of the game, you could always let your little jockey trot around the garden and burn off some of their endless energy.

The game consists of 3 modes of play including Training, Cross Country and Challenge.

Training enables your little one to learn each command skill required to play the other 2 games and also allows for general ‘free play,’ so your child’s imagination can be let loose and run wild! There are a total of 5 specific command skills to learn including feeding, patting, stopping, trotting and jumping.

To play the ‘Challenge’ element game, your child will need to listen and follow the commands that their horse gives them. If they carry out the wrong move though, the game ends and they have to start again. If they carry it out correctly, they get given another command to try and complete. The game teaches about following directions, reactions and consequences of making the right or wrong decision.

For the ‘Cross Country’ game, 10 command cards will need to get laid out over a course (hence why this is an ideal game for outside or at least requires some indoor space) and then your child needs to complete the course that’s been set up. This may require a little parental assistance. You could always add an extra element of timing them and see how quickly they can successfully complete the course. Although, you are required to use a specific start and finish card for this particular mode, the rest of the course set up is your choice, so there are lots of variations on the ‘track’ that your budding little horse rider can complete.

The Giddy Up board game created by IDEAL, is targeted for children aged 4+ which I think is a realistic minimum age for this game. Although it says it’s not suitable for children under 3 due to small parts and a potential choking hazard, I can’t actually see what a younger child may choke on, but I think the gross motor skills required to hold onto the horse and to read/ follow the commands successfully for the purpose of the games, does require a child of 4+ years. Most 4 years old won’t be able to read the command cards so may need some adult assistance with this (they will likely learn which card means what specific activity though), and some cards have pictures that are self explanatory so a child will easily be able to follow them. There are also a few extra other cards which can be used in the Cross Country mode like doing a 360° turn to add to the fun factor and make their course more exciting. The horse’s head isn’t too heavy either so your child shouldn’t struggle with the weight associated with holding this horse up whilst they canter around.

The board game itself is made up of 3 parts; the main interactive, electronic horses head, an extendable, plastic telescopic pole and the plastic reins/ handle. The pole screws into the base of the head (extends to about 40cm) and the handles/ reins clip onto the side of the head. The command cards are stored neatly and safely in a plastic little holder that slots into the underside of the horses head (next to the turning on switch).
Please note that 3 x AAA batteries are needed to operate the electronic head but these are actually included when you purchase the toy (a pleasant surprise if you ask me – I usually end up hurriedly searching for batteries when new toys are opened!).

The aesthetics of the horses’ face and facial expression is very cute and you can’t help but smile when you see your little one trotting around holding onto this board game.

To actually operate the machine, a double sided A5 leaflet found inside the cardboard packaging provides all the information required. The instructions are relatively simple and straightforward to follow. When the machine is turned on, a funny, cartoon like voice helps to guide you to the correct settings and modes, but sometimes the machine itself can be a little temperamental to get the correct settings installed before your child can then play with their chosen mode.

My daughter adores her new horsey friend and loves all the sounds it makes, like chomping noises when you press the tongue to feed the horse, and the clip clop sound it makes when she tilts it forward as she trots around the room. I have to admit, I think the sounds are very realistic and extremely horse like!!

I absolutely love the concept of this unique board game and I think it has so much potential if IDEAL could fine tune some of the temperamental issues we experienced with operating it. My little one sometimes gets frustrated when she can’t select the game mode she wants, so she just has to turn it off and back on again to then try enter the correct settings again. Even if your little rider purely uses this board game in the Training mode, they will have tons of fun and laughter when playing with it, and hopefully it will wear them out a bit too!!! This would make for a lovely Birthday or Christmas present for any little boys or girls, whether they are interested in horses or not!

Why not visit the John Adams Leisure Ltd IDEAL website at www.idealboardgames.co.uk to see other board games that are available in their range of products.

Rating: I would rate this product 4/5

The RRP for this item is £24.99

You can buy the Giddy Up Board Game from the Smyths website here.