There's an understated elegance to Rush Hour, one of the most inspired and intriguing sliding block puzzles we've so far encountered here in the lab at gadgetshop HQ. It's designed to challenge players of all ages, teaching logical progression, problem solving and sequential-thinking skills. And that's just to open the box. This multi award-winning puzzle - and its inventor Nob Yoshigahara - have picked-up no fewer than 21 gongs in the past decade; a surefire testament to its longevity, durability and worldwide appeal. The objective sounds easy in theory. Drive your red car out of the playing grid and escape to freedom. But in order to so, you'll first need to set up the traffic on a game grid to match one of 40 playing cards, then shift all the blocking cars and trucks out of your way. This is more easily said than done, as a clear and transparent set of rules then come into play. To proceed, one simply needs to move one vehicle at a time, in a long sequence of moves designed to free the red car from the logjam and out of the parking lot. All of which will have one scratching one's noggin- and driving one to the web for a solution. Brilliantly infuriating - and infuriatingly brilliant.This captivating game could have been made with London's rush hour in mind. In fact Rush Hour was invented by American games company Binary Arts. In the US it went down a storm, winning various prizes including a national award from Mensa.

The objective of Rush Hour is to move the little red car out of the snarled up traffic gridlock that the game begins with. Rush Hour arrives with 40 challenge cards, which depict various gridlock scenarios to set up your traffic jam to. Use the coloured Troublesome Trucks and Aggravating Autos to reflect the chaos on your particular challenge card. Then all you have to do is move the blocking vehicles up or down on the grid in order to free up the escape route for your own red car. And yet this wonderfully simple concept is enthrallingly more difficult to execute. Who knows, maybe the real London rush hour is easier on the nerves than the Binary Arts version.

The challenge cards themselves offer four different levels of complexity and all solutions are printed on the back.

Yet not only is Rush Hour great fun but it can also boast strong educational benefits, teaching problem solving to children of seven years plus. In the US Rush Hour is used in some primary school maths classes. Even a smart four-year-old will find some reward by trying to replicate the traffic set-up scenario of the challenge cards.

Rush Hour can be enjoyed by one player or various players competing.

Suitable for children from 7 years old and all adults who enjoy an ingenious little challenge.--Victoria Mackenzie

A good gift - A+, 18 Nov 2008
I bought this last year for my then 5 year old son, but my 8 year old daughter enjoyed it more at the time and now they both play it - very good toy - keeps the mind going - even for the adults. Good for keeping them quiet for a while. Very durable - just don't lose any of the cars, (which shouldn't happen if they pack it away in the provided bag). I am now buying 'hoppers' this xmas in the hopes that it brings as much pleasure and quiet time!

Traffic jam, 07 Jan 2008
Bought this for my son for christmas. Thought it might be too difficult for him as he wasn't 5 until end Jan. However after only a little while he could easily do the beginners section! He really enjoys the game and concentrates quite hard whilst doing it! Great game would highly recommend!

A simple concept but great fun, 31 Dec 2007
Based on previous reviews I purchased this as a Christmas present for my 9 year old neice and have to agree with previous comments - this is an excellent toy. It had my neice, her parents and myself captivated for hours as we worked through the levels. Highly recommended.

Great fun for the whole family, 29 Dec 2007
What a great success this Christmas. A simple idea that kept everyone captivated for hours. This is an excellent educational toy for children, working out the strategy of getting the red car out of the grid by moving other cars really gets them thinking. Easy to set up with varying levels of ability suits everyone. My 8 year old can manage the beginner levels, whilst the expert levels keep the adults guessing for hours! Even my 92 year old nan found this enthralling, playing for ages. For the price this is superb value for money. The game itself is superb, buy it - you will not be disappointed.

Fun, makes you think and ideal to travel with, 23 Oct 2007
Like many of the reviewers here I bought this game for a kid's birthday, in this case my 9 year old niece. On the day I spent more time playing it than she did (which she wasn't entirely happy about!).

The game itself consists of a plastic gameboard, the size of a desk calculator, in which there is a drawer holding the puzzle cards. The board and game pieces (around 20 pieces) come in a handy carry bag. You'll need the carry bag to keep everything together neatly, but you don't need to tip the whole contents out to find the pieces you need, since there are not many of them and they are not tiny.

As a side note, since the pieces are not tiny and are brightly coloured you can easily find them if they fall on the ground.

As the playing the game, well it really makes you think and is also very fun. You get a smug feeling of superiority when you finally manage to figure the puzzle out.

The puzzle difficulty ranges from very easy indeed to ferociously difficult. The hardest puzzles had me stumped and I am supposed to be pretty clever! But don't worry, the puzzle cards also have the answers (on the back) so you can figure it out like that if you need to!

Although there are 'only' 60 cards or so, they are easily replayable as you are not going to remember the pemutations of every one.

I recommend this game, fun for all ages, intelligent and easily portable.

I'm already looking forward to visting my brother again so I can have another go...

Chunky, colourful wooden punch and drop. Children will love hammering in the 3 balls and watching them drop and slide out!

Geometric Sorting Board is made of recycled and preservative-free rubberwood. Only non-toxic water-based paint is used. Such paints have been scientifically tested by independently-accredited laboratories and found to be safe for children and non-polluting to natural water sources. Made in Thailand by a world-renowned environmentally-friendly company.

Shape sorting fun for kids on the move! Sort the six packages by shape & colour, then retrieve them using the driver's key hand. Or load-up & play the role of bus driver. Safe for babies of 12 months & up. Introduces many features of the WOW World range at this early stage to stimulate learning. Long-lasting developmental fun.
Features:

Durable & safe for babies (12 months +)

Friction powered bus with realistic engine sound

3 different shapes to sort through roof openings

Push button flip open tailgate releases shapes

Encourages development of motor skills

Introduction of real world themes 12 Months +

12 wooden blocks which feature four different pictures of Bob and his friends. Just put the cubes together to make the pictures. The other two sides make up the alphabet and numbers 1 - 12. A great way to learn the alphabet and numbers, as the blocks have to be put together in the style of a jigsaw. 18 Months +

A delightfully illustrated wooden sorter that has 5 different habitats and 10 chunky animal blocks who live there. 2 Years +

Sorting Trains shape and sort features will assist children to develop their hand-eye coordination by using their creatvity to build the colourful train set.

Wooden shape sorter with six colourful wooden pieces in three different colours and shapes. Great toy for recognition of shapes and colours and the development of hand eye coordination.

Size: 160x170x135mm/6.4x6.8x5.4"

This product is of excellent quality. It is made from good materials, will last while playing and does not break easily. Besides this it will give hours of playing fun and happy moments of time together.