Matthew BaileyThe fact that I’m going school shoe shopping tomorrow signifies that summer is indeed coming to an end. As we enter the last two weeks of the summer holidays, it’s evident that I’m going to comfortably beat last year’s record of 45 seeing as we are 2 days away.
I haven’t done very well at actually keeping to half of the games I originally planned to include. There have been more sessions with Henry (2) than expected, fewer evening sessions with Jack (he seems tired a lot at the moment), and I have also ended up buying loads of new things. If there’s anything from that original post you would really like me to try and cover in the next 2 weeks, please let me know (link below).
Game 44 of the “Bailey Family Summer 2023 Board Game Bonanza” is “Buckaroo,” played by Jack (.8.) and Henry (2).
“Buckaroo” is a mainstream game produced by Hasbro that I assume we are all fairly familiar with and have come across and played at some point in either our kids’ childhood or our own.
If not, “Buckaroo” is a dexterity game where you set a plastic mechanical donkey that has a sensitive latch trigger mechanism inside that can be caused to buck if disturbed. The point of the game is to place as many items on the donkey as you can without getting him to buck. It’s a fairly simple dexterity game and even though it is very plastic, it’s actually quite enjoyable. As far as mainstream dexterity games go, you could do a lot worse.
The reason I actually wanted to include this in this summer’s marathon (apart from the fact I am trying to maintain a general cadence of mainstream children’s, hobbyist children’s, and hobbyists’ games to ensure variety) is that I realized that not all “Buckaroo” sets are created equally.
I remember the set I had as a child and I recall being quite good at it. In fact, the reason why I lost interest was because it was a bit too easy. When we bought our current set for Jack, probably when he was about three, we found it extremely difficult even as adults, even when set to its easiest setting. I remember playing this with a group of adults and we were all shocked at how difficult it was to actually put anything on the donkey, even on the easy setting, and even more so on the hardest setting. After that, we haven’t really played it all that much, except occasionally when it comes out during playdates.
A few weeks ago, when we were at one of Toby’s friends’ houses, they suggested that we play “Buckaroo,” and they had, visually at least based on the box, the exact same set that we do. What I did realize, however, is that their version was much easier to play and much less likely to buck even when set to the exact same settings. Clearly, there is quite a high level of manufacturing tolerance when these things are produced in the factory, leading to some sets being a lot more difficult than others.
So, I purchased another set a few weeks ago on sale at Sainsbury’s, and as luck would have it, this set is much more balanced and much more enjoyable. As such, Jack has enjoyed introducing Henry to “Buckaroo,” as it is super easy for even a two-year-old to understand the concept, and it’s quite fun when it bucks. It has also helped Henry practice his fine motor control and the concept of being delicate.
I don’t cover a lot of mainstream games on here, but if you can get a good set (and hopefully my original set was just a bit faulty), then you could go a long way.
