Trouble (game review)

This week we’re going to take a peek at the game of Trouble. Trouble is a game I remember playing (and loving) as a child, and it is on that Bobble is currently a huge fan of. The game has changed since I was a child through both board style and board additions.

The basic premise of Trouble is to get your 4 pegs into your home. Fairly simple. Youngest person goes first. You can get out when someone else “rolls” a 1, or you can get out on a 6. If you get a 6, you get to go again. If your move makes you land atop another player, they are sent back to their start. You do not have to have the exact number to get into home to win (so if you rolled a 6 and you only needed to move 3 spaces to win, you still win).

I have to admit, though simple, this game is really frustrating for me. The board is much flimsier than it used to be, and is really only a piece of cardboard for the game board, and only held down by a bit of plastic overlay in a few spots. The pegs used to sit into a groove, now they rest over a nub. This is frustrating because if you push the popper, sometimes the pegs all pop off and you have to put your pieces back on. The popper also doesn’t pop all of the time.

As far as game play goes, it’s great for teaching strategy and counting (up to 6). What isn’t so fun is the addition of warps and XX squares (which are “go again” spaces). In theory, it’s really not so bad. Realistically, though, you have a really good chance of getting most of the way across the board. Every three or four spaces there is the ability to either “warp” to the other side of the board, or a chance to go again. Add in the fact that you might even get a 6 (so you can go again) some of those times, and turns can be never ending.

My husband gets frustrated easily with this game because it can be difficult to get out, so he’ll just sit in start while Bobble is out with a 6, pops another 6 (so he warps across the board, then goes again), gets a 4 (which landed him on a XX space from the warp space), and then anything over a 3 puts him in home. It happens a lot more than you’d expect.

If you’re considering the game of Trouble, I would highly recommend trying to find the original version. It was a lot sturdier, and a lot less annoying. Otherwise, I wish you infinite patience, and lots of other kids to play the game with your child so you don’t have to. It is still a good game for strategy and counting, it’s just more annoying than it needs to be.

No reading is necessary to play this game.

Trouble can be purchased at any major retail store for approximately $10. 

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All products mentioned were purchased by me, and all opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.