Wonder Forge Richard Scarry's Busytown, Eye Found It Toddler Toy and Game for Boys and Girls Age 3 and Up - A Fun Preschool Board Game,Multi-Colored

I bought this as a Valentine's Day present for my 4 1/2 year old daughter and she loves this! She loves the Richard Scarry book "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" (and specifically Goldbug) and this game has many of the same signature characters in it. In the box, you get the board which is in 3 pieces that you lock together like a puzzle, a timer, 4 large character movers, a spinner, 10 mini plastic orange magnifying glasses, a cardboard boat and cardboard food, and Goldbug mystery cards. I like that this game is a cooperative game in that there isn't one winner - you work as a team to find the objects on the board using the timer, which is great for the preschool set. To play you spin the spinner and if you spin a number, you move that number of spaces. If you spin Goldbug, you take a Goldbug mystery card and search for that object as a team all around the huge 6 foot long board (this is not a table game because of the size) and try to find as many of that object as you can together, putting a magnifying glass on the ones you find before the timer runs out. Everyone moves the number of spaces per object found. For instance, if you find 4 wrenches, everyone moves 4 spaces forward and then remove the magnifying glasses. If you spin "Pigs Eat" you take away one of the cardboard foods on the picnic blanket at the end of the board. At the end of the board path, there is a cardboard boat and all players have to get on before the boat can move to try to make it to the Picnic Island before the pigs eat all the food. We really love this game and it's great quality time and builds cooperation skills, thinking skills, and searching skills. The board itself is made pretty sturdily but you do have to fold the board to put it back in the box, so over time it does have the potential to get torn or split. I wish that they'd make the board thicker and just make it more than 3 puzzle pieces so you wouldn't have to fold it. I love that all the familiar characters are present and searching for the objects for Goldbug mysteries is actually quite challenging, even for adults, because the board is so busy with so many images on it. My daughter doesn't find it frustrating or overwhelming because she usually ends up finding more than me! Because there are so many objects to find, you really can't memorize where they are which keeps it challenging. I originally thought it would be better if the objects on the mystery cards would be printed in color instead of black and white, but I think they did that because the object isn't always the same colors on the board. Overall, this is made really well and lots of fun for our family to play!

Busy Town has quickly established itself as a family favorite and our three- and five-year old absolutely LOVE it. They're not quite old enough to play it without supervision, but after a few weeks with this game, I wouldn't be surprised if they're playing by themselves in the next 6 months or so. Right now, we play it as a family - the goal is a "team victory" and it's far less competitive than many other games. Even our 20-month old cooperates and helps out, often holding the timer or "removing a piece of food from the picnic blanket" when the game calls for it. We've purchased or received three other boardgames for our family in the last couple of months and none have been as enjoyable and educational as this one. There are two that I would recommend against: (1) Chutes and Ladders Disney Princess was beloved for a few days by our daughter, but has been largely forgotten; and (2) Candyland - The World of Sweets Board Game is not as durable and while the kids enjoy it, mom and dad do not. The other game that we WOULD RECOMMEND is Sequence for Kids . The kids love the Sequence game and there's enough strategy involved that mom and dad stay engaged. It's probably a little bit too advanced for our kids and the overall educational value is probably not as high as Busy Town, but it's also a five-star recommendation from us and we're enjoying it immensely. Educational value on Busy Town is high as the game is good at getting our kids to count the number of spaces they need to move, doing basic math for determining how many they need to get, searching for certain objects, and building vocabulary as we talk about the different objects on the board. The board is huge - stretching out 6 feet - and everything is very durable. We lay it out on the floor and all move around as we're searching for the objects. Highly recommended for 3-8 year olds and for family play!!

Since buying Richard Scarry's Busytown, we have played the board game as a family at least three times a week! My four-year-old enjoys spinning the wheel to take a turn, counting the number of spaces her character is allowed to move, and giving away picnic food to the pigs. Most of all, she likes searching the board game for hidden objects. The game board is more than six feet long. It comes in three pieces that connect like a puzzle. At first, we tried playing the game on our kitchen table. This did not work very well when going on a Goldbug Mystery in search of a hidden object -- so we now set-up the game board on the floor. This allows us to more easily search for hidden gems (without having our little one sitting on or laying on the table in search of objects). Although the game board comes with a sand timer, we currently do not use it. We have found that it often takes us longer to find an object than the sand timer allows. So, we modified the rules and currently take our time looking for hidden objects as a team. We like that this is a team game, so all of the payers win or lose the game together. This allows everyone to celebrate a victory together or learn from a defeat. Overall, this is a great board game that is teaching my daughter patience, how to take turns, and simple math, among other things. I intend to buy this game for others as a gift.

My 3-year old daughter loves this game. She hasn't a clue how to play it, but she gets excited whenever she sees the box, and wants to play it right away. The game is actually pretty simple. It's cooperative play, though everyone gets their own character and turn to spin the spinner. You move your character the number indicated on the spinner, pig Will and pig Won't eat one of the picnic snacks, or you spin a Goldbug search to draw a card. Everyone searches for the item indicated until time is up, marking their finds with the little plastic magnifying glasses, and you move spaces equal to the number of finds. The goal is to reach the picnic before the pig brothers eat all the picnic snacks. You can modify the rules to suit younger players. We forgo using the timer and magnifying glasses, and spins that land on the pigs only sometimes cause them to eat (they kept winning the game!). The searches are surprisingly difficult; Busy town is really busy, and there are a lot of places where objects like buckets can find. If you're playing with a really young child, you might find that when you squint, a flower pot can be a bucket. After all, buckets and flower pots have a similar shape, and both hold things. You can bring in discussions about how things are alike and different this way. Fun game for the little ones, with replay value for a good number of years (the searches are hard!!). I am not generally a fan of the "everyone wins" philosophy, but it works well here and for this age group. ADDENDUM: It's now 2019 and my kiddo is 7. She still likes the game, and has great fun playing it. It's especially a favorite when stone of her friends on the spectrum come over - simple rules, details to pore over, and co-op play are fun for everyone.

My kids love Richard Scarry's Busytown and this was bought for them for Christmas. The game point of the game is to get to the picnic area before the pigs eat all the food. There is not competition between players but against the "pigs" so this is a definite plus when playing with siblings. The youngest player goes first which is always a big hit for the youngest in the group. Each player gets a turn to spin and get either a number of spaces to advance, a choice of food to take from Picnic Island or to solve a GoldBug mystery. The GoldBug mystery consists of looking all over the 6-foot board for the object pictured on the GoldBug card. For every object you find you place a magnifying glass on it. The amount of objects you find is the amount of spaces everyone moves towards the ferry to go to Picnic Island. My kids love this game, however, it is above both the five year old and the two year olds (almost three) level of finding skills. I say this because the egg timer that comes with it runs an estimate of one minute. There is a lot of board to look at with only one minute of looking. Even with me helping the kids we were not able to find many objects within the time frame. While this will help make the game stay fresh for longer, the elder child got frustrated and the two year old lost interest. While the game says for 3 and up I personally think that the game is probably a better fit for at least five year olds and those that have a good attention span. The construction of the game was very sturdy and all pieces are well made. The colors are bright and the board is indeed very "busy". A con of the construction is that there are a lot of little pieces that can easily be lost, however, that is the only con regarding the design of this game. I gave four stars instead of five because of the time frame in which objects had to be found and because of my perception of the actual age group the game is directed at ( 5 versus 3).

When my own daughters were growing up, all of Richard Scarry's wonderful books were favorites to be read and loved over and over again. The same was true for Busytown board sets. Recently when my older daughter and her two little girls - ages 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 - were home for Thanksgiving, we all found an original Busytown set at home (in the dusty attic) and brought it down to play with all over again. Everyone loved it! At that moment I knew that I had to find more such toys for our granddaughters, and the Busytown game was perfect! All ages can enjoy this beautifully illustrated game - our two-and-half-year-old LOVES to be the "keeper of the time" - and the fact that all players are able to move together after landing on a "Goldbug" space promotes a very enjoyable and positive experience of cooperation and teamwork. I think it's really important for little people and especially non-readers to be able to join in a fun adventure that can be shared with such friendly, make-believe characters as Lowly and Huckle. (Furthermore, the "pigs" who have the chance to "steal" the picnic are just as cute as all the other beloved Scarry characters!) The cardboard characters aren't as durable as I wish they could be, but perhaps we'll all learn - as we continue to play this wonderful game - to treat it more gently. Then - years and years from now - it, too, can be found in an attic, dusted off and shared with a new generation of bright-eyed youngsters who've discoverd the joys of Busytown and all-things-Richard-Scarry.

This game is a regular "pick" by my children (ages 3 and 5) for game night - which is almost every night at our house. It is a great game for preschoolers. It's not too long (think CandyLand or Chutes and Ladders marathons) and is simply fun for both the kids and adults. Simple concept - spin, move your piece towards the ferry; once everyone has arrived at the ferry you head to Pig Island. I call it a "cooperative" game, meaning you work together and win or lose as a group. Well, either the pigs win if all the food is gone, or the team wins if you get to the island before the food is gone. (For the record, I do like games that have winners and losers at times too because I think it teaches kids a good life lesson that you don't always win - and how to be both a gracious winner and a gracious loser. Check out Hide and Seek Zoo for a great game for preschoolers that has a winner.) But I also enjoy the game that promotes working together and harmony. As for Busy Town, my kids love it when they land on a gold bug mystery card and everyone gets to look for the item on the long game board and actually I enjoy that too. You would think as many times as we have played it, that we would know where everything is, but there are plenty of cards with items to hunt for so it hasn't been an issue at all. Love it and highly recommend for families. We've had kids as old as 10 who enjoyed this game and wanted to play again and again but simple enough for my 3 year old to play.

I bought this for my 3 year old grandson for Xmas and it ended up staying at my house (I day care him). I really love it. I loved chutes and ladders and candyland as a kid, but not so much as a young mother of 3. That stuff got a little old and boring, but you played it for your kids. Busy Town is totally different! It's actually fun for us old folks. There was thought put into this game. Most importantly, all the players play as a team and either win or lose against the pigs on picnic island. No tears, no rivalry between players. The game has a good time span, not too long for the little ones (or the older ones either;). This game teaches teamwork, promotes cognitive and counting skills, and definitely stimulates memory skills. And best of all, it really isn't boring!!! The game board and pieces seem to be well made. Be aware that when assembled, the game board is long (maybe 6 ft.) so if you don't have a table that long, you will be playing on the floor.

Brilliant ! Blast from the past for parents & children alike. We played with 2 adults and 2 teenagers & really enjoyed it .Simple instructions & easy to understand so looking forward to playing with much younger family members . A game is quick too - ideal for preventing boredom ! Working together helps you to progress- proper teamwork . We loved seeing Lowly worm , Bananas Gorilla & the rest of the gang

Got this today and played multiple times. Very exciting game even for me as an adult. My 3-year old learned the rules in the first round and loved it. Looks sturdy and beautiful. The long board makes it interesting for kids as they have to walk alongside the board to spot the shapes while the clock is ticking. I typically buy games based on friends’ recommendations. This one I bought based on online reviews. I am glad I bought this. Update: The board tore apart along the folding lines on two spots. It is a design flaw as it easily tears apart along those lines. We can still use it though. We just put the pieces beside each other. Would still give five stars overall.

We are serious Richard Scarry book fans, but this game is just as great! Huge long board makes it different to most and good fun to play (not boring for adults like most kids games!)

This is such a fun game to play with the family. Perfect for little kids. Easy to learn and follow with many hours of fun to be had.

Un juego rápido, divertido, emocionante, todos los disfrutan, desde los peques hasta los abuelitos. Instrucciones fáciles de entender y aprender y, lo que más me gustó, es que no es un juego de competencia, sino de cooperación. A mí hijo se lo regalaron de cumpleaños y nos gustó tanto, que compramos otro para regalar.