Do you like to sit down, relax and challenge yourself with puzzle and logic games? They can be lots of brain-teasing fun that keep your mind active and working in tip-top condition. Rush Hour, from ThinkFun, is a portable STEM logic game where you must try to free your car from a traffic jam, and it is excellent fun!
Rush Hour is a single player logic puzzle game for players aged 8+. It is a sliding block game that comes with 40 challenges, from beginner to expert and is suitable for all the family. Players must try to manoeuvre their car through the traffic jam and out of the exit. A excellent logic game that is superb for challenging yourself and a game that helps to develop critical thinking skills.
In the box:
- Traffic Grid
- 1 Red Car
- 11 Blocking Cars (various colours)
- 4 Blocking Trucks (various colours)
- 40 Challenges (with solutions)
- Game-Go Bag
- Instructions
Rush Hour is played on a grid that is 6×6 square traffic grid spaces. It has a slot on top to place the challenge card that you are attempting to solve and a storage drawer for Challenge Cards not in use. The objective of the game is to select a Challenge Card, which come in four levels of difficulty; beginner (green), intermediate (orange), advanced (blue) and expert (red), lay out the vehicles on the grid as shown on the card and try to manoeuvre your red car through the traffic to get out of the exit. There is a lot of congestion to get through and can be quite challenging to solve.
Once you have selected a Challenge Card, place it in the slot on the top of the grid and layout the vehicles accordingly. The idea is to manoeuvre your car (the red one) out of the exit by sliding the other vehicles forwards and backwards out of the way. The vehicles cannot be moved by lifting them up out of the way or going sideways.
Whilst it sounds very simple to achieve your goal, and initially the beginner levels can be to ease you in, it very quickly ramps up the difficulty level and requires a lot of logical and critical thinking to free your car. Whilst manoeuvring the different vehicles around, to solve the puzzle you may need to go a few steps back to make a one-step gain. If you do get stuck and want to cheat, the answers are on the back on each card (but that defeats the object of the game and ruins the enjoyment).
The board and vehicles are very sturdy and feel like they will last for years to come. The cards are neatly stored within a tray under the traffic grid, which also keeps them protected from damage. The whole game can be stored in the supplied drawstring bag, which also makes it a very portable travel game.
There is no limit on play, the challenges don’t need to be solved within a specific time frame. And there are no minimum or maximum moves to solve the puzzle in. It can be played at any time, playing as many moves as you want, playtime can be minutes or days – it’s up to you. It is perfect game for taking a break and keeping your mind active and challenged.
Overall, I have enjoyed the challenges of ThinkFun’s Rush Hour, it is an excellent logic game for children and adults. You do have to be methodical in your thinking to solve the puzzles and not get frustrated easily. You will make mistakes and have to go back on yourself to go forward. It is excellent for developing and honing different skills such as critical thinking, logical thinking, patience, concentration, forward thinking and seeing the bigger picture.
Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise and playing Rush Hour is a great workout for your brain, young or old. The different levels of difficulty make it perfect for children and adults.
If you want a game to challenge yourself and play in your own time frame, then I can highly recommend ThinkFun’s Rush Hour.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £19.99
For more information, visit www.thinkfun.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.
