Haba is probably most well known for two things: high-quality kids games with fantastic production values… and those bright yellow boxes. You’ve seen them. They’re kind of hard to miss. And when you see one, chances are there’s a remarkably well crafted, incredibly fun game inside.
Rhino Hero is no exception.
The concept of the game is rather simple–it’s a stacking card game. You build a tower, floor by floor, by adding walls and ceilings. Be the first to place all of your ceiling cards without knocking over the tower. That’s pretty much it.
I mean, come on, what were you expecting? Haba makes games for the littlest gamers. And I have to tell you: my 3-year-old took to this one right away!
Each player is dealt a hand of ceiling cards (that are designed to fold in half so they can be placed on end), and, on your turn, you need to place (one or two) walls and then balance a ceiling on top. The higher you go, the more precarious this becomes.
Each ceiling card has marks indicating where the next player must position walls, and some have other symbols with various effects, such as making the next player lose a turn or draw an extra ceiling card or causing a change in the direction of play. This is also when the rhino comes into play.
Some ceiling cards have a Rhino symbol on them. When these cards are placed, the next player needs to move the Rhino Hero from wherever he is to the top of the tower. This adds an extra layer of dexterity.
However, if your kids are anything like mine, their little sticky hands are basically made for dexterity games like these. They’re completely careless, but they never knock anything over. Then along comes Dad’s clumsy adult hands, and, no matter how slow and steady I try to be, it all comes tumbling down.
Haba has labeled the game for ages 5-99, but it can certainly go younger than that. It plays in a quick 5-10 minutes and is super easy both to set up and clean up.
Rhino Hero (like most Haba games) is highly recommended for early gamers… and, admittedly, it’s also a lot of fun for those of us with a few more years under our belts.
