Quick View
The Game: Hamsters vs Hippos coming to Kickstarter October 20, 2021
How Many Players: 1-6
Age Range: 14+ (I believe much younger audiences could easily play this however)
What Type of Game: Press your luck, strategy game
Difficulty/Complexity: Low
Average Length: 15-30 minutes
Replayability: High
Geek to Geek Media was provided with a prototype copy of this game. Images may not be the same as the final product.
We have been notified that some colors will be changing from what is shown here.
What's The Story
In Hamsters vs Hippos you play as an adorable hamster who has recently escaped your enclosure at the zoo. While making a run for it, you happen to notice a pond with beautiful lotus flowers in it. Unfortunately, beneath the surface of the water are some hungry hippos looking to make you into a snack. Gather what lotus flowers you can before the hippos get you! The hamster who was able to gather the most flowers by the end of the game wins
What the Gameplay Feels Like
Well, it feels FUN!
Hamsters vs Hippos is a game about pressing your luck. As your little hamster hops around on the lilypads you are trying to gather lotus flowers. With each hop, you are hoping that the backside of each lilypad does not hide a hippo.
Each time you land on a lilypad you flip that card over to see what is beneath it. Once a card has been flipped it cannot be stepped on again. You might get caught by the hippo and lose all your collected flowers for that round or each lilypad can also uncover special things such as splashing into the water and losing an action, getting a special 3 point flower, or nothing at all. When the suspense becomes too great, you can hop out of the pond and secure your collected lotus flowers. Whether caught by a hippo or by hopping out of the pond, you are out for the rest of that round.
The game goes for 4 rounds and the player who has safely collected the most flowers wins.
What I liked
First and foremost, the art and quality of Hamsters vs Hippos is beautiful. Whether it is the adorable colorful hamster meeples or the artwork on each lilypad tile, it is exceptionally well done. Even the lotus flowers themselves are high quality and comfortable to hold and play with. The developer has since said that the colors of the flowers will be changing from pink and purple to pink and blue so as to make it easier to distinguish between them.
The gameplay can go pretty quickly and is a ton of fun. This is a very versatile game as well, as you can play it solo or with up to 6 people! The simple instructions and easy adding of points at the end would make it suitable for younger children as well in my opinion. Although you do need to be careful around small children (and cats like mine) as the lotus flowers are small and apparently tasty.
What I didn't like
Honestly, there isn't much I didn't like about this game. Other than my cat consistently attempting to steal the flowers.
TL;DR
In short…Hamsters vs Hippos is awesome and everyone needs to support this Kickstarter.
You won't be disappointed.