#72: Kiki Ricky

Kiki Ricky

• designer: Gunter Baars
• publisher: Ravensburger
• date: 2006
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/5.52
• age: 4+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: in print
• cost: EUR 16.95 (Amazon.de, about $26.00)

Games can often be described in terms of "classic" games that kids play: Liar's Dice has a number of similarities with I Doubt It (sometimes known as Donkey or other less-family friendly initials) and any number of games are essentially sophisticated games of Chicken (Taj Mahal, anyone?!). In the case of Kiki Ricky, you're literally playing a game of King of the Mountain.

Mind you, it's a game of King of the Mountain where you main opposition is a maniacal rooster who showers eggs down at your chickens while you climb the 3-D board in order to reach his... back? Yep, that's right - the finish line is the rooster's back.

Each player has 3 chickens, each with a distinctive bit of headgear (baseball cap, football helmet or pith helmet) that start at the bottom of the mountain. On your turn, you roll the two dice and move a chicken up one level for each headgear symbol rolled. There are no pathways - you can place your chicken on any empty space on the level - some of the spots have things to hide behind!

If you roll an egg toss, you get to use the "rooster shooter" to send an eccentrically shaped egg crashing down the mountain. All pieces that are knocked down are "played where they lay" - for good (if you just tipped over) or for bad (if you rolled to the bottom of the mountain.)

And that's it. It moves pretty quickly, even with four players, which is a plus. Aiming the egg is difficult, which can lead inadvertent errors (hitting your own guy) which is endlessly entertaining... for the other players. It's plastic-y 3-D fun - what's not to like?!

One warning: don't let your child drop the egg directly in the bucket (one of the obstacles on the board). It took me some very careful surgery to extricate it - it fits perfectly. Well, too perfectly, since it doesn't belong there.