Image Courtesy of sbilbeyAll of my 'Light Reviews' aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them, the options involved and general flow of play.
My reviews on children’s games aim to outline any educational merits to the game as well as the appeal they will have for the audience they were intended for…kids.
Summary
Game Type - Children's Board Game
Play Time: 10-30 minutes
Number of Players: 1-4
Mechanics - Roll and Move, Push Your Luck
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Can be learned in under 10 minutes)
Components - Excellent ++
Release - 2002
Designer - <PERSON> -( Fleeting Foxes, Highly Suspect, Marrakesh, Piratissimo)
Overview
Viva Topo! appears to be one in a new line of Children's Games from Rio Grande Games. This new range appears to target a variety of age groups but the one common trait between them all is the superb production values.
In Viva Topo! the players are transported into the realm of mice. There aim is to plunder this Cheese Paradise for as much of the good golden stuff as they can get their little mousey paws on. But of course there is a catch in the form of the CAT, who wants to turn this world into a delicious mousey paradise. The player that manages to amass the greatest cheese haul by the end of the game is the winner.
The Components
I swear this game is trying to become the Spinal Tap of kid's games as it strives to achieve a component score of 11! It really does look that good.
The Board - The board depicts the world of our ambitious mice. The center contains two key spaces, the starting place for all the player's mice and Cheese Nirvana - the ultimate goal that contains the 6 piece 'whole cheeses'.
Around the center lies the track that the mice and the cat must traverse. various icons are printed on these spaces which I will get to later.
The corners of the board then feature 4 Mouse Houses and it is in here that the other cheese pieces are placed at the beginning of the game.
Image Courtesy of Werbaer
Mice - Next come the adorable mice. Made from wood they have a beveled edge under the head, which allows them to sit flat but at an angle so their cute buts stick up in the air. Protruding from those buts are tails made from nylon and these are threaded through the body of the mouse to also poke out the front to create a nose.
The rears are painted in vivid primary colours (perfect for the age bracket targeted) of blue, green, red and yellow to denote which player they belong to. The cute factor is then sent off the charts with the addition of felt ears and simple markings on the face to add character.
The mice really do appear to be hand crafted but I can't believe that would be possible in this modern age of mass production and profit margins.
These mice really remind me of games my German grandparents brought back from Germany. The quality is really something else compared to the traditional cheap components of modern family games. 470
I think a company called Selectica are the component makers.
Image Courtesy of cubsfan31
The Cat - The cat is a good deal larger than the mice (2.5 times taller) and is coloured red. This is good for reflecting the danger that he poses to those little mice. He enjoys a material tail but still gets the felt ear treatment. Simple markings flesh out his face and two hands on his tummy reveal that he is hungry.
I'm sure it wasn't the intention, but he kind of looks Mexican to me (the yellow ears reminding me of a Sombrero), and that reminds me of the wicked cats from the <PERSON> cartoons of yesteryear. Ok I may have some issues...
Image Courtesy of Jonesey
Cheese - That leaves the cheese. Cheese comes in 5 sizes - 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 slices (while cheese). These are also made from wood, coloured yellow and red lines delineate the number of cheese pieces.
Image Courtesy of patchwerq
Dice - The game uses a D6 for movement. Four of the faces are standard values featuring the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Two of the faces are special as they feature a 1 and a Cat symbol. These allow a player to move 1 space in addition to the cat also moving.
The dice is made of wood and is quite large. The size is good to help avoid swallowing for little ones, but they are likely to need to hands to hold and roll it.
Image Courtesy of changeling
I can't say enough about the components, they are fantastic. 336