How to Play
To begin the game each player takes one of the nets. Then on the count of three each player presses down four of the grasshoppers. When the grasshoppers pop up into the air, both players attempt to catch them in their net. Whoever catches more of the grasshoppers is the winner.
My Thoughts
When I was a young child I remember playing Grabbin’ Grasshoppers. I remember playing the game quite a bit and having quite a bit of fun with it. With every children’s game you fondly remember playing as a child, the question always becomes how well does the game hold up? In the case of Grabbin’ Grasshoppers, the game has some charm but it doesn’t last for very long.
For those not familiar with the game, Grabbin’ Grasshoppers is a young children’s dexterity game. You use the provided nets to try and catch the grasshoppers when they jump into the air. Since it is a young children’s game, it is not particularly hard. The provided nets are quite large in relation to the grasshoppers. You do need a little hand eye coordination in order to get the nets in the general vicinity to catch the grasshoppers but you don’t have to be that precise. As an adult the only real challenge is when all of the grasshoppers jump up at the same time which makes it impossible to catch all of them. Adults are also more competitive so they are more willing to mess with your net in order to stop you from catching the grasshoppers.
Grabbin’ Grasshoppers is not much of a game. I would actually consider it to be more of a toy than a game. The only reason that it could be called a game is that whoever catches the most grasshoppers wins. When young children are playing the game they probably care more about catching the grasshoppers than actually trying to win the game. Grabbin’ Grasshoppers also has the distinction of being the shortest game I have ever played. The length of one minute is actually being pretty generous. Some games last like 30 seconds. You usually spend more time setting up the grasshoppers and finding them after they jump up in the air. The game is so short and unstructured that it is just easier to just launch the grasshoppers into the air and try to catch them than to actually follow the “rules” of the game.
Even though it is not much of a game, it can still provide some fun especially to young children. I remember enjoying the game quite a bit when I was young and I think most young children would enjoy the game today as long as they like dexterity games. Now is it fun for adults? If you are playing the game with a young child you are likely to get more enjoyment out of it than if you play the game with another adult. As an adult the game is an unique experience and provides a little fun for a short time but it get stale pretty quickly. If you don’t have any young children, Grabbin’ Grasshoppers is more of a one time experience than something you will go back to time and time again.
Overall the components are solid. With use the gameboard will acquire some wear from the grasshoppers being pressed down on it. The nets are perfectly fine even though I think they should have been a little smaller so the game wasn’t so easy. The grasshoppers are a little hit and miss. They are constructed pretty well and should last if they are treated at least pretty well. The suction cups on the bottom of the grasshoppers can be a little hit or miss though. The suction cups tend to not stick as long as you would hope. Most of the grasshoppers pop up within a couple seconds of being pressed down. Meanwhile some of the other grasshoppers take a long time or never pop up at all.
Final Verdict
Grabbin’ Grasshoppers is your typical 1990’s children’s dexterity game. The game is quite easy and I believe children should enjoy it quite a bit. The game has its’ charm but adults not playing the game with young children will tire of the game quite quickly. If you have young children or you like 1980’s/1990’s children’s dexterity games I think you should consider picking up Grabbin’ Grasshoppers. If you are considering picking up the game for nostalgia purposes though and you don’t have young children, I would probably pass on Grabbin’ Grasshoppers.
