Toys & Games: Rush Hour Traffic Jam

The Rush Hour Traffic Jam Puzzle Game from ThinkFun is a game that we've bought recently as a family game and I feel it's worth a recommendation, as it's easy to overlook it.

It's something that we've found to be surprisingly entertaining for something that at first glance appears to be quite simple. In practice, however, while the game rounds start simply, they slowly increase in difficulty and complexity, making this suitable for anyone from age 8 to adult. (Although my almost 7yr old is currently enjoying working her way through it!)

While the basic concept of moving the obstructions around to clear a path is simple enough, the execution helps develop strategic thinking as the player works out the sequences required to free the blocked-in car.  We've since found that it's being used in our other daughter's school as one of their toys to help develop and encourage critical thinking!

The game itself consists of a traffic grid game board, a number of individually colored cars and trucks and a set of 40 challenge cards, ranging from beginner to expert.

Each card displays an initial arrangement of the vehicles on the board, with the objective being to move the various cars and trucks backwards and forwards one by one in order to clear enough of a path to allow the red 'target' car to make it's way out of the traffic jam and off the board via the exit route. If you do get stuck, there is a solution shown on the back of each card which at least proves each challenge is possible!

The 40 challenge cards consist of 4 complexities of 10 cards each (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert) but are numbered sequentially, so you can easily keep track of where in the sequence you are. They're sturdy cards, as are the other games elements, so should hold up well to repeated use.

This game, which on first sight appears to be just a pre-schooler toy, turns out to be a set of really quite additive challenges suitable for older children and adults, with the additional advantages of being easily transportable and not needing any batteries! If you like mental challenges, I'd recommend you buy this game today!

(By the way - Parents can expect to get extra use out of it – it's one thing to complete a card challenge once, it's quite another to be able to repeat it in order to help someone else who's stuck!)