Matthew BaileyGame 13# and the first “Then” game of the “Now & Then Summer Marathon 2024” is “Rhino Hero”
The last time we reviewed “Rhino Hero” was way back at the end of our 2021 summer marathon, in which all of the reviews were only a few lines, and “Rhino Hero” actually shared a review with its larger sequel, “Rhino Hero: Super Battle.”
At that time, the game was played by Toby, who was three and a half, but this time I am playing with Henry (2). I have added a photo of Toby playing from 3 years ago for prosperity. Totally forgot we used to play games in the living room instead of the kitchen.
“Rhino Hero” is a fun little dexterity game where you get to build a wobbly tower with cards and try to avoid making it collapse. The goal is to be the first to get rid of all your roof cards without knocking over the tower.
So, you start with a deck of roof cards. On your turn, you place wall cards according to the markings on the previous roof card. Then, you place one of your roof cards on top. Some roof cards have special symbols that make things interesting, like reversing the turn order or making the next player draw extra cards in an “Uno” kind of way.
Oh, and there’s Rhino Hero himself – a little wooden rhino. Whenever a roof card shows a rhino symbol, you have to carefully move Rhino Hero to the newly placed roof card. This adds an extra challenge because it can make the tower even more unstable. He’s also a super cute meeple.
You keep taking turns, building higher and higher, and the first person to run out of roof cards wins. But if you knock over the tower, you lose. It’s simple, but trying to keep that tower steady while moving Rhino Hero around is surprisingly tricky and a lot of fun.
“Rhino Hero” is really good fun and introduces quite a few simple mechanics to a young player. You can happily play this with a two-year-old, but equally, there are enough things going on here that even adults would enjoy playing this. I am not usually keen on games where there can be a loser as opposed to a winner, but in this case, the games are so quick that as long as you approach it as a bit of silly fun, then there is plenty of chance to just play again and swiftly move on.
The components are the usual Haba high quality, with a nice foil layer on the roof cards to indicate what the special ability is. It also comes in a small-sized box, which, for those of us who seem to have a new board game arrive in the post on a daily basis, is a welcome change.
It is currently looking unlikely that I’m going to be looking at “Rhino Hero: Super Battle” this summer, but I will just say that it is a slightly more complex cousin I personally don’t think it is as good a game as “Rhino Hero” due to the simplicity and effectiveness of this base game.
If you are looking for a dexterity game for very young children, this is definitely one of the best. Equally, if you’re looking for a game to give as a birthday present, this is the one I usually recommend people go for (along with “Sink N’ Sand”) instead of an Orchard Toys game.
Great stuff.
