Game: Gulo Gulo

Thread: Re: Great game for my small family

tomchaps — 2008-09-05T19:15:24+00:00

My son is almost 3, and while he likes playing with the pieces, so far we haven't really played a "real" game of this yet. He loves it, though...

Thread: Re: Great game for my small family

scottsnew1 — 2008-09-05T05:24:10+00:00

i play it with my almost 3 year old twice or more a day by his request. he loves it!

Thread: Re: Great game for my small family

Larry Welborn — 2008-09-04T17:58:10+00:00

I agree that this is a great game, especially for children 7 and younger.

Thread: Great game for my small family

jeremycoe — 2008-09-04T16:37:28+00:00

Yesterday I received my copy of Gulo Gulo, so we played it last night for the first time. Playing were me, my wife, and my 3-year-old (almost 4) daughter.

We were immediately impressed by the quality of the components. The girls thought the Gulos were cute. I couldn't disagree.

The rules were simple and straightforward. It took most of the game, but by the end my daughter figured out she had to be careful getting the eggs. If she had realized this at the beginning she would have destroyed her parents. All of us set off the egg alarm a time or two, but my daughter set it off the most. We all ended up on the final tile at the end of the game and amazingly my wife was able to dig out the purple egg (it was quite buried) without setting off the egg alarm and won.

We all had a lot of fun and look forward to playing this again.

This is a great game that I'd recommend for everyone, but especially for a family with young ones, since it allows you to play a fun and competitive game with them.

Thread: Re: Loved By Kids, Feared By Adults, Respected By All

antiussentiment — 2008-07-12T11:33:53+00:00

nice review...

i actualy think there is a little stratergy for adults that children of the younger type do not grasp here. we're not talking ASL type thinking.. but... well you know what i mean. just because somthing is small does not mean it does not exsist.

also i like the way you use the dice for your rating at the bottom of the review.. but why not make the rating out of 6? if so would you still give it a 4???

a.

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JYoder — 2008-07-10T06:21:27+00:00

The Agony of Defeat

Thread: Re: Need clarification on egg alarm

boltongeordie — 2008-06-30T16:44:39+00:00

I agree. And no, the rules don't mention pushing an egg out but I would have to say it is outside the spirit of the game.

Thread: Re: Need clarification on egg alarm

minordemon — 2008-06-30T09:14:15+00:00

The rules say When an egg fall out of the nest. So when you drop it while putting it in the bag is no problem.

In my opinion pushing the egg you want out of the nest, letting it fall out of the nest, and grabing it of the table is not legal. (I don't think the rules mention this specificaly)

Thread: Need clarification on egg alarm

jeux2societe — 2008-06-30T07:22:24+00:00

Hi,
Apart from the alarm pole falling on the table, a player may trigger an egg alarm by dropping an egg on the table. I'm not sure whether it applies to any egg including the one you are trying to steal (once in a while I dropped the egg I'm supposed to steal just at the last moment ) or only another egg that falls off the nest (although the latter never happen)
I'm confused because the rule says "Egg Alarm!: If *another* egg falls out of the nest during a stealing attempt..." and "Things to keep in mind when stealing an egg from the nest: The Egg ALARM only goes off if the alarm pole touches the table or *an* egg falls out of the nest..."
Can someone clarify?
Thanks,

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JYoder — 2008-06-09T12:20:32+00:00

Daughter Watching Mommy's Turn: During and After

Thread: Five players, three generations

bnordeng — 2008-05-27T17:42:03+00:00

My parents called me on Monday on their way back to town and asked if we'd like to get together for some grilling. My wife and I packed up the kids and headed over. My kids asked me to pack up some boardgames to bring with so we tossed Gulo Gulo, Rattlesnake and Chicken Cha Cha Cha in the car.

After eating, my kids played two games of Rattlesnake with Uncle G and Auntie O. In the first game, my youngest (2 yrs) was the first to rid herself of all eggs and win. Poor Uncle G, who is a bit of a gamer, was struggling with the magnets and Auntie O won their second round. They all had some laughs.

Then, Grandma and Grandpa (my parents who love games) sat down with me and my two girls for a game of Gulo Gulo. Grandma had played once before a long time ago, but Grandpa had never played. I knew he would be in trouble (like me) as my relatively thick fingers were passed on through his side of the family. We all had several laughs when Grandpa was unable to even get his wolverine on the board in the first 3 or 4 turns.

My 4 year old and Grandma were running away but eventually dropped off and Grandpa did make a come back. It was myself, my 4 year old and Grandpa who reached the last tile about the same time. I got the first crack at the stack of tiles and was somehow able to plow through all 5 in a row with setting off the alarm (the baby Gulo tile was on the bottom of the stack). There were only about 6 or 7 eggs left in the nest at the end of the game. After losing to my daughters over and over again in this game, it was nice to finally win.

Still, I think the best part of the game was watching Grandpa just barely touch the nest and still send the egg alarm to the table. Then, one of my daughters would use their seemingly magnetic fingers to gracefully pluck whichever egg they needed while Grandpa would just shake his head in disbelief. And, on one occassion when the alarm looked ever-so-precarious, one of my girls inadvertantly hit the nest pretty hard and a few eggs moved, but to our astonishment, the alarm stayed in place. Grandpa seemed to set off the alarm if he breathed in the wrong direction.

This game was pure entertainment.

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

Karlsen — 2008-04-09T21:38:00+00:00

kiwifirst wrote:
Ah, I can picture you standing there in your dining room games storage area trying to pull off a Plie without having your knees pop or lock up. Yes, there should be some medical warning on that game

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

kiwifirst — 2008-04-09T18:14:53+00:00

Karlsen wrote:

Angelina Ballerina Match and Dance Memory game perhaps? Daughter the Younger is a big fan of that too!

Ah, I can picture you standing there in your dining room games storage area trying to pull off a Plie without having your knees pop or lock up.
I played with Emma and a friend, she whooped us, we couldn't stop laughing at each other. She thought it was rather funny too. She didn't think much to our ballet steps.

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

Karlsen — 2008-04-07T21:15:35+00:00

kiwifirst wrote:
Oh and Angelinas ballet something or other, you want laughs, play this one, you have to get up and perform a first position or a variety of other ballet steps and stances. She won.

Angelina Ballerina Match and Dance Memory game perhaps? Daughter the Younger is a big fan of that too!

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

NeonPeon — 2008-04-07T19:58:58+00:00

Ok, thanks for your input...and I await your June report.

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

kiwifirst — 2008-04-07T19:36:21+00:00

My 4 yr old has been playing this since 3, she is very good at it.
Other games she likes are:

Niagara (modified rules)
Pic Picnic
Carcassone (no farmers)
Midnight Party (whoooooohoooooo huuuuugooooo)Sorry had to do that.

She used to like Feed the Kitty but now finds it frustrating that you have to depend on the dice, oh trained so well.

Oh and Angelinas ballet something or other, you want laughs, play this one, you have to get up and perform a first position or a variety of other ballet steps and stances. She won.

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

weevol — 2008-04-07T17:44:13+00:00

NeonPeon wrote:
Nice report.

My buddy's son is 2 and 8 months...Do you think Gulo Gulo would make a good third birthday present? He (my buddy) seems to think the kid is too young for games right now...

At 3, my daughter would likely have just grabbed all the eggs out of the bowl and declared herself the winner. She would have been too impulsive to wait for her turn and would have thought it was funny when she tipped the post over.

In your situation, it's hard to say, BUT your buddy's son will eventually dominate the game, even if he is not quite old enough to play yet.

I will give an "update" to this report to let folks know how my daughter does in June.

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

NeonPeon — 2008-04-07T17:37:17+00:00

Nice report.

My buddy's son is 2 and 8 months...Do you think Gulo Gulo would make a good third birthday present? He (my buddy) seems to think the kid is too young for games right now...

Thread: Re: Harder than it looks!

fivecats — 2008-04-07T17:23:09+00:00

it's also a great game to pull out at gatherings with adults. typically women will have much smaller, thinner fingers than the men and this gives them a similar tactical advantage to your children.

my wife liked this game so much that she surprised us all (our thirty-something daughter and her finace) by asking to play it several times throughout the weekend.

weevol wrote:

The game is sort, extremely light and enjoyable. I don’t think you can play without laughing.

exactly the reason we enjoyed it so much.

(although i'd say it was "short" instead of "sort".

...

Thread: Harder than it looks!

weevol — 2008-04-07T15:05:42+00:00

I was visiting a friend who said his kids loved Gulo Gulo. Since I have a 3 ½ year old and I want to introduce her to some more games soon I thought I would give it a try to see if I thought she would like it.

So my friend set up the game for me and his two children, Brian and Ian, to play. I could tell by the anticipation in their eyes that they thought they could easily defeat me.

My thoughts as the game was being explained was that I would do well, I just needed to be very steady and I would beat the odds with my nimble adult hands. Needless to say, I overestimated my fine motor skills! When I wasn’t knocking out an egg or two I seemed to stir the bowl of eggs enough to topple the stick! The boys laughed hysterically at my every faulty maneuver.

Each of us “lost our eggs” a few times during the game, but I was by far the most clumsy and had very little chance against the boys. At the end of the game, I was about halfway to the bowl and his sons were neck and neck battling it out for the dexterity crown.

About five minutes later, Ian (who was the youngest) was doing his victory dance.

The game is short, extremely light and enjoyable. I don’t think you can play without laughing.

This will be a good birthday gift for my daughter this June. My humble pie will undoubtedly be served yet again.
_________________
edited for misspelling of "short"

Thread: Re: Are you clumsier then a 5 year old?

coyotelaughs — 2008-03-31T04:54:03+00:00

1Wif wrote:
I don't like it. What is wrong with me? Every other parent likes it, but I find it dull, dull, dull. What am I missing that you're clearly getting?
The game besides the egg draw is preaty dull if your expecting an adult game. If you take it for what it is a nice quick change of pace compared to the very boring other kids game then you might enjoy it better. I would rather play a thousand games of Gulo Gulo then one more game of Candyland or HiHo Cherrio. At least in Gulo there is a feeling if only in a limited fashion of control. And besides its nice to play a game where the kid holdes most of the hole cards. All i can say is try again and if not remember the other portion of the review this is an AWESOME drinking game.

Thread: Re: Are you clumsier then a 5 year old?

wmshub — 2008-03-31T04:24:01+00:00

1Wif wrote:
I don't like it. What is wrong with me? Every other parent likes it, but I find it dull, dull, dull. What am I missing that you're clearly getting?Wow, I have no idea.

Don't you hold your breath as somebody tries to pull out an incredibly tricky egg? Isn't it exciting when they succeed, and nice to commiserate when they fail? And don't you like trying your very best in a game of skill against your kids, and still losing more often than not?

So much to like, I don't know how it can fall flat, but obviously it does sometimes!

Thread: Re: Are you clumsier then a 5 year old?

1Wif — 2008-03-31T03:19:38+00:00

I don't like it. What is wrong with me? Every other parent likes it, but I find it dull, dull, dull. What am I missing that you're clearly getting?

Thread: Are you clumsier then a 5 year old?

coyotelaughs — 2008-03-30T15:03:27+00:00

Gulo Gulo: A dexterity game made for children but also fun for adults.

Conclusion: (for those too lazy to read the whole thing) If you have small children or like a good "adult beverage consumption" game. Buy it now.

How many players can play? 2 -6

Age game says 5 and up. But this can easily be played by a smart 3/4 year old.

What is the quality of the components (bang for the buck)?Gulo Gulo shines in this department. This game has wonderful crafted components. The tiles are very heavy cardboard that will withstand the rough use of little hands. The little wolverine(polar bear per my 4 year old) figures are cute and made of hard durable plastic. The bowl and eggs are made of a nice hard wood. The only minor gripe is the pole (egg alarm) is a little thin and fragile compared with the rest of the components. This will not be a problem if the game is played with an adult but left to there own devices the little ones might be able to break it. for around $25 the value cant be beat.

How easy is it to learn? Its a kids game. Very, for adults,inebriated or not, as well as children. A simple ruleset.

How long does it take? 20 min. 25 with full compliment of players.

What itch does this scratch? A game that you can play with your children in which you dont have to "take it easy" on them. You can actively seek to win and they can and will beat you. Also this is an outstanding "adult beverage" consuming game.

What is the replay value? My 4 year old loves it and would give this a 10/10 replay value. And since she likes it and requests it ad nauseum, I have played this quite a bit and I can honestly say that because the game relies on its dexterity component that it is as challenging on the 10th game as the first.

Does this game reward skill or is it a pure luck fest? The game rewards nimble fingers. The tile flipping is pure push your luck. But the dexterity portion does reward little fingers.

In Conclusion: Gulo Gulo is wonderful game that for once you dont have to go easy on the kid to let them win. They have as much or better chance of winning then you do. Also it is a wonderful drinking game that you and your buddies can enjoy at the bar or at home. It is worth the purchase and will fit a nice niche in any gamers collection.

Thread: A Game Where Kids Have the Advantage Over Adults

fivecats — 2008-03-18T21:42:31+00:00

Our daughters fiance had this game out the last time we visited them and, on a lark, we decided to try it.

He described Gulo Gulo as deceptively simple, although one that his young cousins took great delight in playing, particularly because they were beating handily. After the first few rounds, we found out why.

In Gulo Gulo coloured, wooden "eggs" of different sizes are placed in a small wooden bowl along with a stick with one of the eggs at the top of it (as a counter weight). Your task, from turn to turn, is to remove a particular coloured egg from the bowl without having the stick fall. Do so and you progress along the game board. If you don't, you move backward.

The game board is laid out anew each game, so the order in which you progress -- and take out eggs -- varies from game to game.

There is, of course, no great strategy involved in Gulo Gulo. No deal-making, no amassing of armies along the enemy's boarders. There is, however, a lot of very silly fun, especially for those who have larger fingers than some others.

My wife (loving, Chess Snob that she is) and our daughter, being blessed with smaller hands and fingers than I, did extremely well at the game. My wife, much to her own surprise, found herself enjoying the game quite a lot through repeated replays. I, with my larger hands, found myself using a variety of words that I would not have used if small children were in the room.

For adults looking for a fun game to play with their children (or children at heart) I highly recommend Gulo Gulo. Tiny fingers with good manual dexterity have a definite advantage over your typical adult.

Gulo Gulo would also make a good party game for people who aren't "into games".

(One thing to be aware of with small children: the small, coloured eggs look an awful lot like Peanut M&Ms. So much so, in fact, that we ended up having to buy a bag of Peanut M&Ms before the weekend was out due to the overwhelming power of suggestion. Keep Gulo Gulo out of the reach of really little ones... or party goers who have had a bit too much to drink)

...

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Toynan — 2008-03-16T22:43:13+00:00

Side of the bax: Gulo falls into the water

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Toynan — 2008-03-16T22:41:34+00:00

Side of the Box: the Gulo is surprised by the bird !

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Toynan — 2008-03-16T14:12:34+00:00

Side of the box : Gulo is ready to jump, bird is approaching

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Toynan — 2008-03-16T14:10:41+00:00

Side of the box : the Gulo is looking at the egg

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rbrockfam — 2008-03-09T23:00:29+00:00

Fun with Gulo Gulo

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rbrockfam — 2008-03-09T22:58:38+00:00

The Heart is Completed - And Pink Wins!

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rbrockfam — 2008-03-09T22:57:23+00:00

I Heart Gulo Gulo! My daughter wanted to build a heart when it was her turn to set up the Gulo Gulo tiles.

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rbrockfam — 2008-03-09T22:55:02+00:00

Strange Configurations - When we play Gulo Gulo, my kids like to take turns setting up the tiles in new shapes each time

Thread: Re: What a difference a year makes

wmshub — 2008-02-20T05:24:13+00:00

Nice session report, but some things make me think you misunderstand the rules...
YellowLab wrote:
We play with a house set-up where all the tiles are placed face down with the last tile being placed face up, i.e. the purple one. You can only go for the purple egg if you are standing on the penultimate tile. If you fail, then you go back to the last tile of the color you were standing on. This ensures if you are way in the lead, you can't make another attempt on the purple egg in your next turn. It will be at least two turns.This is the case with the rules as printed. Any time you fail, with any egg, you move backwards, and since the purple egg is always in the stack at the end (that you must be in front of to attempt), you won't be able to get back to the purple egg for at least another two turns.
YellowLab wrote:
In addition, if the purple egg is attempted and failed ALL eggs are reshuffled to make sure the purple egg isn't on top for easy pickings.Also always the case. In fact, the rules say that after any failure, you thoroughly mix all eggs together before putting them in the bowl. We pour all eggs into the bag, jostle it a bit, then pour them back into the bowl, and that always gives us a nice freshly-mixed bowl after any mistake.

The variation you mention is fine of course. But it's just odd that what you list as the reason for using it is also present in the original game.

Thread: What a difference a year makes

YellowLab — 2008-02-20T00:12:04+00:00

Initial Impressions
This is a very colorful game. There are plastic wolverines in six vibrant colors. Wooden eggs in bright primary colors (as well as green and purple). In addition, there are tiles with bright artwork depicting wolverines snatching colored eggs from nests.

I purchased this game last February as a gift for my family. I had read here on the 'Geek that this is one of the best games for families with small children. I haven't been disappointed with this purchase. Everything is of high quality and is durable for the littlest of gamers.

Gameplay Goodness
With my dad visiting us and the kids getting a little rambunctious, I thought it would be a good idea to bring out Gulo Gulo. We hadn't played in nearly a year. There were six of us, my dad, my wife, me, my 7 yo daughter, my 5 yo daughter and my 3 yo son. We play with a house set-up where all the tiles are placed face down with the last tile being placed face up, i.e. the purple one. You can only go for the purple egg if you are standing on the penultimate tile. If you fail, then you go back to the last tile of the color you were standing on. This ensures if you are way in the lead, you can't make another attempt on the purple egg in your next turn. It will be at least two turns. In addition, if the purple egg is attempted and failed ALL eggs are reshuffled to make sure the purple egg isn't on top for easy pickings.

After setting up the path, we were off. The first three tiles were all green, so the alarm was triggered fairly early. But once, the next tile was flipped, everyone wanted to jump the bank of greens. The remainder of the path was fairly random with a few clusters. We all ended up near the end at the same time, but my dad was the first one to grab the purple egg for the win.

Everyone enjoyed the first game and wanted to play again, so the path tiles were mixed and a new path was created. Everyone got off to a quick start, except for me. My first three turns I had bad luck and triggered the alarm. By the time I moved off the start position, the rest of the wolverines were already half-way down the path. However, it doesn't take long to get back into the game (if you don't trigger the alarm). Soon, I was in the lead. However, the last tiles before the purple were all green (totally opposite of the last game). Needless to say, the alarm was tripped multiple times. Finally, my 7 yo pulled the purple egg from the basket - on her second attempt - in order to win the game.

Critiques & Conclusions
As mentioned, this is a high quality game suited for families with small children. Last year my son couldn't really play well. This year, he was able and played well. It is one of those games that both kids and adults can play and enjoy together. Children have smaller fingers and can deftly pluck the eggs out of the basket. Adults have a harder time, but may have a more strategic method to picking colors in order to move their wolverine the furthest with the lowest risk. That allows the two age groups to both play and be competitive.

In addition, if you miss pulling an egg and have to go backwards, it doesn't take long to be back in the game. In the second game I failed three times in a row and soon was in the lead. By picking egg colors that can move your pawn far up the path, a player who is behind can quickly overtake the leader.

This game is an ideal family game since it can be enjoyed by all from about three years old.

Thread: Re: Basic review (introducing families to gaming)

ltbaxter — 2007-11-15T01:31:50+00:00

Excellent review of an excellent game! My family really enjoys it, and I *love* that the least of my little ones is on an equal footing with everyone else.

Thread: Re: Basic review (introducing families to gaming)

Crim — 2007-11-14T22:01:10+00:00

I just got this for my 5 year old. He loves it. He has won 5 out of 6 times.

Thread: Basic review (introducing families to gaming)

kat644 — 2007-11-14T18:58:25+00:00

I don't know of too many fun games that are skewed in such a way that kids naturally possess a skill that makes them better than adults at that particular game. But Gulo Gulo is precisely that kind of game. Having little, nimble fingers goes a long way toward winning this one, and as for the adults -- well, despite the fact that we tend to have bigger, clumsier fingers, this game is way more fun and playable than Candyland. (Of course, it's not hard to beat Candyland, I know.)

The mere title of this game, Gulo Gulo, begs the question: what in the world is a Gulo? Okay, I'll tell you. Gulo gulo is another name for the wolverine. In this game, the players represent a family of wolverines, looking for one particular family member that has been caught by the local swamp vulture. Why? Because the wolverines' favorite pastime is stealing (and eating) swamp vulture eggs, and Mama Swamp Vulture has had just about enough, so she took Gulo Junior into custody.

In their search for Junior, however, the Gulo family continues to swipe eggs. So there you have the idea behind the game. Gulo Gulo is recommended for ages 5 and up, and can accommodate 2-6 players.

When you open the box for Gulo Gulo, you'll find some very high quality components ("bits"). First, you'll have a wooden bowl, which serves as the swamp vulture's nest, and 22 wooden eggs (in 5 colors) that just barely fit in the nest. You'll also find a wooden stick that serves as Mama Swamp Vulture's "alarm pole." To set up the nest, pour all the eggs into it, and insert the stick into them so that it is standing (relatively) straight up.

You'll also find 23 "yard tiles" and a "Gulo Junior" tile. Each yard tile has a dirt path design on one side, and a gulo with an egg on the other side. To set up, mix Gulo Junior in with 4 randomly chosen yard tiles and stack them (face-down) near the nest. Then randomly arrange the rest of the tiles -- with the dirt path side facing up -- in a path leading away from that stack. The path can meander around your table however you'd like it to, and I've found that kids enjoy the fact that they can set up the game to look however they want it to.

Finally, each player gets a little wolverine playing piece that they place at the beginning of the path.

The hungriest player goes first (although, while I find this to be a clever an humorous way to pick the first player, you may want to simply appoint a starting player if you fear a long argument between your kids about who's hungriest!).

A player's turn basically has three parts:

1. Turn over a path tile (this step may be optional, as you'll see later).
2. Attempt to sneak an egg out of the nest.
3. Move your gulo appropriately.

You must turn over a path tile if there are no face-up path tiles in front of your gulo. Therefore, the first person must turn over the first path tile (since they all start out face-down). Then, he or she must try to steal an egg out of the nest that matches the color of the egg on the tile (it will be red, blue, green, or yellow), without setting off the "alarm" -- aka, without making the alarm pole fall out of the nest and hit the table.

If there are already face-up tiles in front of your gulo, you have a choice. You can turn over the first face-down tile in the path and attempt to swipe a matching egg, or you can try to swipe an egg that matches an already-face-up tile that's ahead of your gulo on the path. For example, if the first player turned over a red-egg tile, the second player can either turn over the next face-down tile or simply attempt to grab a red egg (since that tile is already face-up).

The way you move your gulo depends on how successful your egg-swiping has been. If you manage to nab an egg without setting off the alarm, move your gulo forward to the next tile of that color. If you set off the alarm, you must move your gulo backward to the next tile of that color (or to the beginning of the path, if there are no tiles of that color behind you).

Once the alarm has been tripped, all previously-removed eggs are mixed back in with the others, the nest is re-filled, and the alarm is re-set.

Play continues around the table with players stealing eggs from the nest and moving forward (or backward, as the case may be). Once players get to the small stack of tiles by the nest, they're close to finding Gulo Junior! Players make their way through the stack, and the first player to find the Junior tile and to then successfully remove a purple egg from the nest (there are 2 of them) wins the game.

Let's take a look at a game in progress so you can see how a turn might play out:

In this case, the blue player has 4 options (each represented by an arrow). He could try to swipe a red egg, and move to the red tile; he could try for a blue egg and move to the blue tile; he could try for a yellow egg and move to the yellow tile. OR, he could flip the first face-down tile (which is in front of the yellow player). If he chooses this option, he'll have to try for whatever color egg that tile contains. Note that if that face-down tile is red, and he successfully gets a red egg, he can still only move up one tile, since you always have to move to the next tile of that color. Also: if it's yellow's turn, he only has one option. Since there are no face-up tiles in front of him, he'll have to flip over the next tile and go for whatever color egg is revealed.

The game sounds simple enough, but let me assure you -- things can get nerve-wracking. Should you turn over a face-down tile (that could allow you to jump over your opponents) and risk the fact that it might be green, when you can clearly see that grabbing a green egg will definitely trip the alarm and send you backward? Or should you just grab the highly-accessible blue egg, but only get to move forward 1 tile? In addition, the more eggs that are successfully removed, the more precarious the alarm pole becomes and the more likely you'll be to set it off.

You can see where having tiny fingers would come in handy at this game. I've been amazed to watch my son carefully slip his fingers into the nest and nab an egg without disturbing anything else. Meanwhile, every time I try to get an egg, I feel like a clutz, and usually end up bumping and shifting all the eggs around in my efforts, not to mention regularly setting off the alarm.

[Background: This review, in a slightly modified form, originally appeared on my personal blog. My blog would most likely be labeled a "mommy blog," and is read primarily by women, many of them mothers themselves. My goal in writing game reviews for my blog is to introduce others (particularly families) to games they might not find during a quick trip to Wal-Mart or Toys R Us. For this reason, I sometimes do not get into intricacies of the games I review; I've found that informative, but simple, reviews work best for my readers.]

Thread: Loved By Kids, Feared By Adults, Respected By All

Wyll — 2007-10-03T14:44:21+00:00

When it comes to playing with Lady X, she is pretty much game for just about anything that comes her way. Being six, I suppose that is her style. However, she does have an older sister (Jemgirl – 10) and a younger sister (Princess S – 3 almost 4) who aren’t as keen as her on their choice of games.

So, when I picked up Gulo Gulo, I was quite surprised that everyone loved it… even The Queen Of The House.

Initial Thoughts

Gulo Gulo is a game that rewards little fingers and punishes clumsy adults. The average game plays a bit longer that a session of Rat-A-Tat Cat, but I do find that the children do not mind the longer playing time. I think they love the fiddly bits and colors of this game.

Object Of The Game

To reach the end of the path of colored tiles and find the baby wolverine.

Components

Inside the rather large box, you receive a cute little wooden bowl, a cotton bag, 6 Gulo pawns, 24 octagonal yard tiles (including 1 Gulo junior tile), 1 alarm pole and 22 eggs in 5 colors that you will come to hate if you are an adult.

Right off the bat, I have to say that the coloring of the game is very much an eye catcher. The pawns are not your traditional primary colors, but more of lighter hues that look very sharp. The “eggs of evil” are painted in bright colors and the art on the tiles is very cute.

I also have to comment that the box is rather large for the contents that are packed inside. The game can easily fit in a Ziploc freezer bag for traveling, but I must advise caution with the fragile alarm pole. It’s about as sturdy as a stick used to make vegekabobs (maybe even less so). I highly recommend picking up a sturdy travel toothbrush tube and keeping the stick inside of that, even if you’re not planning on getting rid of the box or traveling with the game.

Gameplay

Once you have set up the wooden bowl of eggs and made a path of facedown tiles leading to a stack of 5 at the end (containing the Gulo junior), you are ready to play.

(1) On your turn, you can have two choices. The first is to turn over a facedown tile. (the first one at the end of the face-up tiles). If you do, you are committed to picking out that color of egg from the nest…regardless of how bad a “lay” it has. The second choice is to pick the color of a face-up tile and fetch an egg of the matching color from the bowl.

(2) If you manage to take an egg from the bowl without having the alarm stick fall out of the bowl, you may move to the next tile in front of your pawn of the color you were going for.

(3) If the alarm stick falls out, you have to go back to the first tile of the color you were going for.

(4) Once you reach the last tile before the stack, you get a chance to start looking for Gulo junior. On your next turn, flip over the top tile of the end stack and place it at the end of the path. If it is not Gulo junior, you must fetch the matching colored egg from the bowl. If you are successful, move ahead to the tile. If not, go back to the last tile matching the color of the egg you missed.

(5) If you flip the Gulo junior tile, you must fetch one of the purple eggs from the nest. If you do, you win! If you do not, you go back one tile.

Rule For Young Players or A Faster Game – This rule is for the end game and instead of having to wait a turn, a player may immediately flip to the top tile when the reach of the end of the path. If they flip a Gulo junior tile, they automatically win without having to get the purple egg. Personally, I’ve never had to use this rule as the youngsters seem to snatch eggs

Strategy v.s. Luck Factor

The rules make a reference to strategy, but I really don’t see it. It claims that maybe you’d be better off picking the color of a face up tile as opposed to being thrown to the mercy of the unknown color of the face down tile (with egg placement in the bowl being the deciding factor).

If you could see how swift and deft my little ones pluck those “eggs of evil” from the bowl, you’d realize that this game is all about the fingers. To heck with egg placement.

I personally think the main factor in this game I dexterity. Egg placement and tile laying are random, but the little fingers of my children have a much better chance of snatching an egg than my slender, shaky fingers. Up until I played this game, I thought I was pretty nimble.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, even with the “eggs of evil” jokes, this is the favorite game in the house with adults and kids alike. Everyone (even grandparents) can play it and with six pawns, even large families can all play at once.

The game is also good for helping teach children their colors. With Princess S, we get her to say the name of the color on the tile she picks and say the egg color she picks out of the bowl. It didn’t take long for her to master her colors and she was only just 3.

On a lighter, adult note, I’d even go so far as to recommend playing this game after a few alcoholic refreshments. Apart from trying to get the eggs out through blurred vision, your opponents may either be yelling for you to screw up or holding their breath like each pick was the final shot after the buzzer in a critical basketball game.

Recommendation Summary

Wyll's Recommendation:

Fun Factor (5 Point Scale):

One Line Summary: Fun, colorful dexterity based game for ages 3 and up

Thread: Re: Session/Review: A man, an angry wife, and a 4 1/2 year old

Sinister Dexter — 2007-09-23T13:22:33+00:00

TileGrout wrote:
I cannot recommend this title enough.

QFT. Welcome to BGG, Shawn!

Thread: Re: Session/Review: A man, an angry wife, and a 4 1/2 year o

wmshub — 2007-09-22T23:55:15+00:00

Actually, it is a great drinking game, and was one before it became a children's game.

Picture this: A bowl of peanuts with a swizzle stick stuck in them. People at the bar take turns picking out peanuts and eating them, and when the swizzle stick falls out you drink. It's essentially Gulo Gulo, played with things you find sitting in front of you at a bar!

Nice session report.

Thread: Session/Review: A man, an angry wife, and a 4 1/2 year old

TileGrout — 2007-09-22T20:20:04+00:00

I think this has been said many times on this site before, but my wife does not like to play board games. She is enthralled with computer games and poker, but board games do just not sit well with her. Well, I recently picked up a copy of Gulo Gulo and my four and a half year old and I started tackling it.
There are a ton of excellent reviews on this game already posted, so I won’t slog to deeply. I will say, though, that once we opened the box and the Gulos came out, the wife started to pay attention. The components were not only sturdy, but very cute and appropriate for the theme of the game. We set up the game in under two minutes and were off.
I didn’t quite read the rules as I was supposed to (and a shame since there is only maybe a page worth of text) and we initially faltered as we reset the egg bowl when the alarm touched the side of the cup. Once we realized that wasn’t the case, the fun began. My son, announcing himself as a master egg picker, made deft picks at eggs in the bottom of the bowl. I managed to get my shaky fingers around a few good picks myself. We were hooting and hollering so loud that the wife finally gave in and came over.
Two games later, her only complaint was that the eggs were slippery (and rightfully so!) The games movement system is absolutely excellent (eggcellent?) At no time are you so far behind that you cannot catch up and become competitive. There are a few strategic choices that must be made along the way making it more than just a simple dexterity game.
This is a wonderful family game. It may even be a great drinking game. I cannot recommend this title enough.

Thread: Revisited

Toasty — 2007-08-07T07:32:40+00:00

Here's a brief follow up session report 2 months on from first playing. I originally reported that the game was enjoyable and evenly balanced amongst the adults and children. How things change..

For the record, I've played the game several times since, however, my children have played it more. But this is a poor build up to saying that both children trounced me in the session

We played 3 games, Ethan (4) won the first and his egg stealing technique has improved ten fold. Lauren (6) won the last two games to take the egg stealing championship. She not only stole the eggs with adept vigour, but knew exactly when to play it safe or take the odd risk, most impressive.

It struck me that my technique hadn't improved too much, especially compared to Ethan and Lauren who seem to make it look like an art form! I lost mainly due to tripping the alarm a lot more often than the children, and my did they enjoy that

Thread: Re: A first go..

toonces2 — 2007-06-26T19:44:23+00:00

Similar experience here.

As mentioned on BGG somewhere, this truly is a game where the kids have an advantage and can quite easily be mom and dad. My 5 year old has an uncanny knack of being able to dive into the bowl with his little fingers and grab an egg, while that strategy just doesn't work for me!

A great, easy game to play with kids.

Thread: Re: A first go..

BrewB — 2007-06-26T13:41:33+00:00

Eggs-zellent!

Thread: A first go..

Toasty — 2007-06-26T08:27:49+00:00

Gulo Gulo was a gift for our 6 year old daughter and a first play was eagerly anticipated due to its good looks and good press here on BGG. So our daughter, 4 year old lad and game geek parents sat down to a session of egg grabbing shenanigans, would it live up to the hype?

First off, Gulo Gulos are Wolverines, lets just say, I can't watch a certain X-Men character now without thinking of cute polar bears

Secondly, the components really are good, the tiles, the basket, the eggs, the alarm, all very nice and just scream at everyone to start a game. Which we did..

It took a few minutes and a dry run to understand the rules, but once learnt, the essence of the game is simple. All but the young lad grasped the strategy, which is basically choosing the best colour (and size) egg to steal to best progress your Gulo Gulo toward victory.

The first couple of games saw everyone feeling out the egg basket and seeing which eggs trip the alarm and what moves you can get away with. Once a few eggs had been stolen, the tension really builds and it was great to see the excitement generated in our children as eggs were successfully stolen and alarms triggered, great stuff!

The game was played several times, a testament to how we all felt about the game (other games tend to get two or three runs at best). No one dominated the victories and everyone took at least one win, even our lad who played it bold as brass. He'd dive into the basket and pluck the egg of choice right out, no messing. This had a surprisingly high success rate, but none of the older players were brave enough to take this approach.

My daughter loved the game and was disappointed to see it packed away. By the end of the session she was thinking about the right egg to go for in terms of colour on the tile track and position in the basket, which was great to see. The lad was looking to move onto something else by the end of the session, but he enjoyed turning over new tiles and grabbing eggs, it'll take him a few goes before he grasps the progressive strategy.

Mum and Dad also enjoyed the session and found Gulo Gulo to be a game where we could compete with our children on an almost level playing field. Both children were as adept, if not better, than us oldies at stealing eggs meaning anyone could win.

In summary, a fun session was had by all and the game will definitely get pulled out again. I'm sure other family members will have just as good a time. Oh, and thanks to the BGG community, without whom such a game would not have been discovered!

Thread: Re: Teeny Fingers McGee vs. the Fat Fingered Gang

Tomaton — 2007-06-08T22:11:46+00:00

The title of this session report made me smile and was worth the thumbs up.

Thread: Re: Teeny Fingers McGee vs. the Fat Fingered Gang

Peter The Rat — 2007-04-24T14:07:09+00:00

A very cool session report!
Incredible, how smart your little child is!

Congrats and continue having fun!

Thread: Re: Teeny Fingers McGee vs. the Fat Fingered Gang

RockyMountainNavy — 2007-04-23T22:13:06+00:00

My youngest is also 3 years old and plays the "bears" game with the older ones all the time. The only rule exception we make is that when he drops the alarm, his turn ends and he doesn't move backwards. This simple fix keeps him competative (and avoids anguish).

Thread: Teeny Fingers McGee vs. the Fat Fingered Gang

jeblucas — 2007-04-23T17:55:53+00:00

Sivan, our three-year-old asked to play Gulo Gulo last night. This, in and of itself, is pretty awesome. Pfft. Who wants to read? Gaming is where it's at before bedtime!

Anyway, we set it up, and Sivan took her now traditional Pink and Black Gulos (she never moves the black one. She just knows she wants two, and she always takes pink and black.) I get stuck with Team Shades of Blue--such is my lot.

Sivan is pretty good about taking turns, though she does want to help me out when I have trouble grabbing an egg. This is practically every turn as my fingers are big sausagelike appendages better suited to holding things like giant Lost Cities cards. I set off the alarm two or three times, and she did once as well--actually moving backwards! Following this rule is not her strong suit. She keeps asking me, "I'm going to win?" I'm working on this--I want her to have fun playing, not just winning. I tell her that it's fun to just play, and that even if you don't win you can still have fun. This is starting to sink in (I think).

She did end up winning, after plucking three straight eggs to get to the purple one. I was impressed as the egg alarm was AMAZINGLY precarious at that point. She has dainty little laser fingers though--they're like fondue skewers.

Hadar (Ima) came out at that point and wanted to play, but Sivan wanted to mix it up (variant!). By removing the purple octogon and one blue one, a simplified Memory game can be played with the remaining 22 tiles--there are six each of red, green, and yellow, along with four blues. If you haven't played a Memory game with a three-year-old yet, be prepared to lose. Sivan almost never makes an error--it's a little freaky. I managed a tie this time, as Ima managed to pick up one pair leaving Sivan and I with 10 pairs each. (To her credit, Ima was exhausted). Sivan dealt well with this and helped clean up and pack the game away. Gamer in progress!

Thread: Gulo for two!

Phil68 — 2007-04-14T14:32:18+00:00

Gulo Gulo is a recent purchase and this was only the third time I'd played it with my two boys, Ryan (7) and Luke (5).

We didn't get off the greatest of starts. According to the rules, the hungriest player goes first. There was much gurning and claims to be starving (despite just having had breakfast) and I picked Luke to go first. Ryan promptly declined to play and departed in a huff! No amount of talking would change his mind so Luke and I played alone.

The game started slowly with the first four tiles different colours, so there wasn't the opportunity to leapfrog into the lead. Then followed a spate of reds and greens so more short moves followed. Steady hands helped as well - we had 11 eggs out of the nest before I triggered the egg alarm trying to fish the fourth and last red egg from the bottom of the nest. Fortunately, the frequency of red tiles meant I didn't have to go back to far.

We then had a run of green tiles (three in a row), followed by a run of yellow (another three), so the nest was starting to look quite empty again. A run of blue - green - yellow brought us up to the stack. Luke successfully got his yellow egg out of the nest, clearing the way for him to start on the stack next turn. I went for the last yellow - the final one - which would have brought me up to the stack... but I triggered the alarm! Arrggh! - I went back three spaces, giving Luke a clear run-in!

I re-filled the eggs, set the egg alarm and Luke went for it. The first tile off the top of the stack was purple! There was only one purple egg visible in the nest - not an easy steal tucked amongst some blues and greens - but Luke was straight in there! He fished it out and as the other eggs settled, the egg alarm tilted alarmingly... but came to rest on the edge of the nest, leaving Luke the winner, a fact that delighted him no end!

Thread: Little One Steals First

RockyMountainNavy — 2007-04-01T02:48:04+00:00

Gulo Gulo has been around the house for about six weeks now. My three older kids (12/11/9) use it as a filler when we have dead time. My youngest (3 years old) has often participated but never before as a player. Instead, he is the official alarm placer - often doing a great job of finding the most precarious of positions to leave the alarm pole in.

Today was a bit different. Little one wanted to play and the result was our first 5-way session of Gulo Gulo. Play was pretty standard for us - all players offer advice to others and words of encouragement (sportsmanship) are welcomed whereas mean comments are frowned upon (by Mom and me). All in all, it was a pretty regular game and we didn't have to bend any rules to let little one play. There were a couple of tense moments, but Lady Luck was smiling on his little fingers and he actually NEVER tripped the alarm. He also ended up at the nest first and was fortunate enough to find Gulo Jr. on top! He won his first game, and got hugs and kisses from everyone (even Mom who stopped by to cheer him on).

This game is not officially recommended for ones this young but don't let that stop you. Gulo Gulo is a FAMILY game that ALL can enjoy.

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

wmshub — 2007-03-21T07:11:02+00:00

Sigrdrifa wrote:
Are those the ones you get from Fred Meyer's?Yes, but I'm sure that just about every supermarket has the same skewers.

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

Sigrdrifa — 2007-03-21T00:52:46+00:00

Are those the ones you get from Fred Meyer's?

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

wmshub — 2007-03-20T17:02:11+00:00

Ours has snapped three times (the 1 year old went through a "play with big sister's things and break them" phase). We were able to glue it together each time.

But just in case, I keep a bamboo kebab skewer handy. It's exactly the same diameter as the egg alarm stick, so I plan on the "drill out and replace" when it finally becomes necessary.

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

Sigrdrifa — 2007-03-20T14:37:34+00:00

bucklen_uk wrote:
You could also make a replacement using modelling putty (milliput or similar) and a wooden rod.

GENIUS!! I've lived in the same fear since January when I gave my 4 year old "Glulo-Glulo" for his B-Day. Easy, relatively inexpensive, reproducible...

Why didn't I think of this?

Matt

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

bard — 2007-03-20T14:32:02+00:00

We had the exact same thing happen to us about a year ago. I sent an email to RGG explaining what happened and for a very small fee, they shipped me a replacement.

Good luck!

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

bucklen_uk — 2007-03-20T14:24:03+00:00

You could also make a replacement using modelling putty (milliput or similar) and a wooden rod. Just mould a roughly egg shaped blob of putty on the end of the stick and wait for it to harden. A model shop should have some thin dowel that would do, or a long wooden skewer would be fine too (just cut the pointed bit off unless you want to see some blood flow).

Only thing you might have to experiment with is the length of the rod - it will depend on the weight of the putty you've used. I suggest making it longer than you think you need and then cut it down a bit at a time until you get the length that works. Probably worth making several, if you have heavy handed kids chances are the replacement will get snapped as well.

Good luck

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

starkeyboy — 2007-03-20T14:16:19+00:00

I live in fear of the same happening to ours as we let out 5 year old play, un-supervised, during a party recently. Came out unscathed but can't help feeling it's only a matter of time.
The above suggestion sounds like what I would try. (I'm no woodworker, but have access to the tools to perform the task).
In keeping with the skewer idea, if you're a gin drinker, perhaps a small martini olive stuck on the end might serve. Could be turned into a drinking game too.
Good Luck! I'll be monitoring this thread to see how it turns out.

Thread: Re: Broken Egg Alarm

caradoc — 2007-03-20T13:04:44+00:00

I would suggest either breaking off the remainder, drilling out the hole and gluing in a skewer of some sort as a replacement, or contacting ane of the companies that sell the game and pleading your case!

Making a new stick for the old alarm will take a little bit of work, but wouldn't be too hard, depending of course on what equipment you have available to you!

I hope that helps! Sorry i can't be more definite!

Good luck!

Giles.