Recently we were sent the Who Shook Hook game to review. I thought straight away that it looked great and that Mr Z would really enjoy it, and I was right.
Who Shook Hook is a board game suitable for ages 4+ and features characters from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. You can play with 2-4 players. The aim of the game is to collect all the treasure from the hammock without disturbing Captain Hook, and players can use a variety of tools to help them pick up the treasure. Each game would last around 30 minutes, although it depends whether you knock off Hook quickly as that will bring the game to an end!
The game includes a fold out board and detachable spinner, two palms trees and a hammock which are very easy to set up on the board, four character play pieces, 12 treasure pieces (4 styles of treasure, each in 3 colours) and 4 tools: leaf tweezers, fishing pole, shovel and sword. All of them pieces and board are well made and of a good quality. The graphics on the board are really nice and bright and very appealing.
The rules and instructions are simple to understand so we were easily able to get on with the game and Mr Z understood the concept with no trouble at all. He really enjoyed the competitive element of making sure he got the most treasure and did not disturb Hook.
I was happy to see that this game will improve fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. It can be a challenge to pick the treasure without knocking anything else off, so it did take some concentration but Mr Z was quite easily able to manage once he had thought about his techniques! There are some other surprise elements of the game, to add a bit more excitement – for example if someone spins and lands on the broken bridge, then any player whose counter is on a bridge must give one of their treasures to be fed to the crocodile!
The game has achieved a Highly Commended award in the games category for both the Right Start Toy Awards and the Rainbow Toy Awards. This is well deserved for an excellent board game which is great fun for young children. As soon as we had finished the game, Mr Z wanted to play it two more times straight away, and I can see him getting more hours of enjoyment in the future too. Mr Z doesn’t actually really watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates a lot but that did not affect his enjoyment of the game at all. I’m sure most children are generally aware of characters such as Captain Hook from Peter Pan even if they don’t watch the show, and you don’t need any further knowledge to enjoy the game.
I can picture this game being really popular at Christmas and I would recommend it as a great choice of board game and an ideal gift!
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
That looks like fun x
i really like the look of this game, i think my brood would enjoy it
It does look like an excellent game. Jake is always popular and the board is huge! 🙂
It is a great game isn’t it