Word Bandit from Drumond Park (age 8+) Review and Giveaway (sent for review).

This month Drumond Park have sent us a copy of Word Bandit to review. Suitable for 2 teams with any number of players, this is a word game which really caught the attention of my 8 year old. Recommended for age 8+, Word Bandit takes traditional pencil and paper word games and upgrades them, with the addition of a unique one-armed bandit.

There is very little plastic packaging, no assembly, no batteries and you can have the box open and be playing in under 5 minutes. Set up takes no time at all, even before first play you only have to add the sticker to the bandit front. Entirely Christmas morning-friendly.

Word Bandit is a fast-paced word game where players have to make words and initials using a selection of letters given to them at random by the Word Bandit machine. The machine is well made and works perfectly. It's a little light, so you do have to hold it still as you pull the arm.

There is a sliding door on the top which exposes the number of lines required for each game (1-4) and the letters are random enough that we haven't found it repetitive. There are a few 'wildcard' Word Bandit faces that can appear. You can designate these to be any letter of your choice.

Each round is timed, so the pressure is on and we found the timer was perfect. It runs out just at the point you decide you can't think of any more, but you have plenty of time to shout out all of the answers you immediately spot.

The gameplay board is quite big, but you move around it quickly. Players play in teams of any number and there are 4 different games to play depending on which colour space you land on, with each corner of the board giving you a reminder. All of the games follow the same format - Spin, Search, Shout!

Game 1: One row of letters
Red - Two letters - ANY WORD containing two of the letters in any order. For an extra challenge (or to make it harder for the grown ups) use all three letters.

Game 2: Two rows of letters
Yellow - Category questions - Answers can start with any of the letters shown, but need to have something to do with the word you landed on.

Game 3: Three rows of letters
Green - Initials - Find the initials of any famous person's name. From B for Beyonce to TPOW The Prince Of Wales.

Game 4: Four rows of letters
Purple - Winding Words - any word of three letters or more, spelled out by a winding sequences of letters. The letters have to be next to each other in any direction.

A whole game takes us around 45 minutes, so you don't need to commit a whole evening, but it's serious gameplay. My youngest really likes Word Bandit, which I'd never have forseen as he's not one for word games, so I'm very impressed.

Word Bandit is lots of fun and very easy to play. I do have an advantage over my 8 year old, I won't lie, but it's easy to alter the playing field by letting him have a little extra time, or taking some from me. It's a brilliant way to get youngsters to think about words and practise mental English rather than written.

Word Bandit is available to buy now priced £24.99rrp from all good toy and game shops, including online at Amazon (*affiliate link below). For more information about the entire range available see the Drumond Park website. To see my other reviews, search The Brick Castle for Drumond Park.

Drumond Park have offered one of my readers a copy of Word Bandit for themselves. Entry to the giveaway is via the Gleam form below, and all data entered will only be used to administrate this giveaway and won't be otherwise used or passed on to anyone else.

The giveaway is open to UK entrants only and will close at midnight Sunday 18th November. Full terms and conditions are at the bottom of the Gleam form. To see my other UK giveaways or find a link to help with Gleam, please see my giveaways page...

Word Bandit from Drumond Park (age 8+) Giveaway

We were sent our copy of Word Bandit for review. *Amazon links are affiliate, which means I earn a few pence as a thank you for my time if you order through my link, but you don't pay any extra.