Slimy Joe by Ravensburger Review

Reviewed by Elly Sax

The Slimy Joe game contains everything you need for a fun filled family game time. It is suitable for children 4 years old and up which means everyone can have a laugh racing against the clock. The object of the game is to take it in turns to save the flutterbies from the slime inside Slimy Joe’s mouth, but don’t take too long because Slimy Joe is hungry and if the time runs out he may just chomp down on your hand.

Made by world renowned games company Ravensburger the quality of the game does not disappoint. The outer box is really colourful and sturdy, great if you are buying for a gift which might need to be posted or if you are ordering online for delivery. Once opened the box contains the plastic head of Slimy Joe, it is made from really strong purple plastic and has a sturdy base, helping keep it steady during the game. Inside the purple head is a green tub for the slime, the slime comes in a resealable bag but for gameplay is emptied into the tub inside the head of Slimy Joe. I thought this might be awkward to do but the green tub can be easily removed whilst you fill it with slime, then returned to the head when you are ready to play.

Along with the slime you also get 16 flutterbies and 8 leaves, all of these get put into the green tub before the game begins. The set up for this game is really quick, it took us about 5 minutes to set up the first time as we had to get used to the game but once you know how to set it up it is even quicker. You can leave the slime inside the green tub rather than putting it back in the resealable bag after each game is finished, the lid provided for the tub is really secure, you just have to remember to store the game flat, and if you chose to do this then the setup would be even faster. I was worried that the slime would be messy but it is really well contained and comes off hands very easily. My other concern was that the flower head closing on your hand would be painful, although it comes down pretty quick it doesn’t hurt at all, even the younger players we had found it was fine.

I like the fact the gameplay was fast paced, I also liked that if Slimy Joe snapped shut it didn’t necessarily mean that the player had lost, just that it was time to keep the game moving. The game was easy to understand, even for younger players, and it was good fun, it is not easy to discern leaves from flutterbies when they are in the slime so you don’t know what you have caught until to pull your hand out. Another major bonus for me was that the game requires no batteries, so no hunting around on Christmas morning for the right size or hanging around while batteries charge. Overall I really rate this game, especially for younger players, it is good for teaching turn taking and with the in built timer you are guaranteed that turns do not take too long and the game keeps moving at a good pace.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £20.00

This product can be purchased from the Argos website here.