UFO Alarm! Board Game review for age 6+ from University Games

We spent a lot of time over Christmas reviewing some new games, and one of the favourites was UFO Alarm! from University Games. I knew my kids would be interested as soon as I read the description, and after playing I was proven right - it's terrific family fun.

Inside the box is everything you need barring 3 x AAA batteries. Unusually you have to put stickers onto the playing pieces, dice and the alien yourself, but it was easy enough and the stickers are lovely. The UFO is built using plastic pieces that slot and twist together to form a really firm model.

The board is a fairly standard large size, but during gameplay it seems tiny as your playing pieces travel around avoiding the aliens. Including underground passageways and an outside loo which you can hide in until someone else turns up. It's beautifully illustrated and full of detail.

Gameplay is very easy to learn, and based on following the two dice included, moving the farm animals (playing pieces) or the alien spacecraft the number of spaces shown.

Novelties in games always catch children's attention, and the novelty in this game is the UFO - which really picks up your farm animals and takes them into the space ship! It's actually such a blast to watch your sheep be abducted that the little children didn't mind losing. In a stroke of genius you can also carry on playing as the aliens once you are out, so no-one has to sit demoralised and bored waiting for the others to finish.

The UFO doesn't always abduct the playing pieces it hovers above, sometimes they escape and instead of a 'tractor beam', the UFO shows a red flashing light. This does make it an even more exciting game, especially if the UFO is over your last playing piece!

UFO Alarm! is great fun. Suitable for 2-4 players aged around 6+ it is a real family game to play together, and we had a lot of fun playing it over Christmas. My youngest is not quite 6, and gameplay is so simple he picked it up instantly. Younger children might be a bit rough with the UFO, but it is really well made and very sturdy, so it can withstand a bit of tough play.

From University Games, UFO Alarm! has a very reasonable rrp of £24.99 and it is available to buy in Tesco, Toys R Us and Argos, and online it's currently on post-Christmas offer on Amazon for £16.

We were sent UFO Alarm! to review.