If you have been a longtime visitor to our site, you know how popular Bluey has been in our household! It is our favorite TV show (even mom and dad love watching this cartoon) and we have numerous Bluey Toys that we love to play with!
We have also expanded from just Bluey Toys – and have started playing some Bluey themed board games! One of the Bluey Board Games we got for Christmas was the Bluey Shadowlands Board Game. It is a fun family game that is easy to play – even for little kids.
The Bluey Shadowlands Board Game is based on the episode Shadowlands – which is Bluey and a couple of friends playing a game at the park where they can only walk on shadows and can’t touch any area not covered in shadows. It becomes a big adventure for the gang when they have to find a way to venture to their parents who have cupcakes – and of course valuable lessons are learned along the way. It is a fun episode!
So, here is our Bluey Shadowlands Board Game Review so you can see if it would be a great fit for your household!
Bluey Shadowlands Board Game Review
Let’s start with what is included in the Bluey Shadowlands Board Game. Included is four-character pieces – Bluey, Bingo, Coco, and Snickers – which are all characters from the show. In fact, the episode is Bluey, Coco, and Snickers playing the Shadowlands game.
Besides the character pieces, you have the game board, spinner, 30 cupcake cards, and this palm tree that you use to actually spin spots on the board. The game is for 2 to 4 players, is recommend for children ages 3+, and kids will like how the action changes every time that you play it.
The setup of the game board is a little tricky the first time that you do it. Step one is to grab the small green circular piece and the round board that has a bunch of arrows on it. This round board has three small circles on it in the very center that you line up with three small “pegs” that come from the small green circular piece. Press down with some good force to get the “pegs” from the green circular piece to stick to the round board.
Once those two pieces are together, you are going to place the rectangular game board on top of the circular one. There are four more “pegs” on that green circular piece that will line up with the circular openings located in the center of the main game board. Once those are connected, you want to connect the palm tree pieces to the center of the main board. This will keep everything together – and will allow you to use the palm trees to spin the board.
Don’t be frustrated if it takes a time or two to get everything to stick together. And you are also going to want to do this on a flat surface like a table. Normally we play board games on our living room floor – which has a pretty thick carpet. This game does not perform on that carpet, and the board will not stay together well.
Once you have setup the game, you can start playing. The objective is pretty simple – be the first to get to the picnic space at the end with 5 cupcake cards. You collect cupcake cards by landing on a cloud space that has a cupcake on it or if you turn the palm tree and cupcakes show up in the cupcake window at its base.
The other rules are pretty simple. You spin the spinner and either move your character piece to the appropriate color space based on what you spin, or you move the palm tree in the center one click because you spun a palm tree.
Once you’ve turned the palm tree, the space in front of you will change. If they are Dark green space with an arrow pointing forward, those are good “shadow” spaces. Those keep moving you forward. Yellow space with an arrow pointing backwards are sunny spaces and they move you backwards. You will keep moving forward until you get to the LAST shady spot before a sunny spot if you spin the palm tree. If you spin the palm tree and there is a sunny spot directly in front of you, you must move backwards until you reach the last shady spot.
If you get to the picnic space at the end before you have 5 cupcake cards, there is a path for you to take to go backwards to get the required number of cupcakes. If you have 5 cupcake cards, you don’t take this path and you go to the end to win.
You might have to help your children setup the game because that can be a little difficult, but once it is setup – the gameplay is very easy for them to learn. The games are also very quick – only lasting a few minutes at a time, making it a great option if you are looking for something quick and easy.
I think any child that is a big fan of Bluey will enjoy playing this game.
Final Bluey Shadowlands Board Game Grade
The Bluey Shadowlands Board Game is a really tough toy to review. The setup of the board game can be slightly difficult (I’m assuming that most people have that issue, and we don’t just have a bad board) – but the rules are so easy for children to follow. And if they love the TV show Bluey and have seen the Shadowlands episode, it is safe to assume they are really going to enjoy playing this game.
However, there isn’t anything extraordinary about the gameplay that is going to keep you coming back, although the premise is pretty original. And if you aren’t a Bluey fan, I’m not sure you are going to enjoy this board game as much as we do. So, I’m going to give it a silver star rating – but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being a Gold Star toy in your household.
Other Bluey Toy Links of Interest
Like we said at the beginning of our article, Bluey is a household favorite. Here are some of the other great Bluey Toys we have reviewed and played with.
- The Best Bluey Toys
- The Bluey Family Vehicle Toy Reviewed
- The Bluey Family Home Playset Reviewed
- Bluey Bingo’s Bingo Game
- The Bluey Grannies Figures Playset
I hope these Bluey Toys bring as much fun to your household as they have in mine!
