Introducing Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game

HABA has always been known for the very best in quality in the products they produce and the Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game holds true to that same quality. This game is such a perfect example of how simplicity can be so deceptive as you will soon see.

Here you have a wiggling cow who goes by the name of Elsa. The game board has an image which is a simulation of a field or farm yard upon which you place the firm square shaped tiles which represent grass. Elsa is then placed on top of these grass tiles, (easier said than done.) You have to remember that Elsa is a "wiggling" cow. She must be carefully placed on the tiles or else her legs will wiggle and down she goes!

What comes next is each player has to take the wooden fork which comes with the game and try to see how much grass they can remove from beneath Elsa without her beginning to wiggle and topple over. The concept of this task is such a creative masterpiece of deception, creating an illusion of a simple task to perform which soon afterward evolves into a quite stimulating challenge which will keep a child thoroughly engaged.

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"A Masterful Creation of Stimulating Play"

One of the independent evaluators who took part in the evaluation of this game defined it so perfectly in just a few simple words. In her evaluation report she referred to the Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game as "A masterful creation of stimulating Play". There is no question as to the validity of her statement.

Fine motor skills, visual perception, coordination development, sensory stimulation. these are but a mere fraction of the many factors in a child's development which are stimulated for further growth and development from but a few moments of Play with this game. Critical skill development is a primary focus in our product evaluation; establishing what level of contribution that a product will provide in the development of these skills as well as many others. To get the very best out of a child's active Play with a product, it is important for it to have a strong stimulation on multiple levels for essential developmental skills.

With the Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, it hosts a design which is simple and unique. It delivers the right combination of essential features needed to capture a child's attention, encourage a longer period of active Play, and ensure a strong influence on skill development. To put complete the package, the game guarantees the strongest level of FunFactor™ in the game play. After all, a product can have all of the greatest features available yet without a generous level of FunFactor™, there is no hook to grasp a child's attention to make use of it.

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Independent Evaluator Reports

Obtaining An Independent Perspective...

In this section we will cover "Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game" from the perspectives of qualified individuals in the specific field associated with the product being evaluated. To accomplish that task we have called upon the assistance of two top level industry professionals who know their stuff and have the credentials to prove it.

Our professional and independent evaluators have formed their own opinions from extensive analysis and produced detailed, in-depth product evaluation reports connected with their study and evaluation of Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game. The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports which have been paraphrased in order to encapsulate the primary points of Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game.

PLEASE NOTE: The names of our independent evaluators are not disclosed to protect the privacy of these individuals upon their request. Their labors are provided at no charge to assist us in providing a well-balanced and qualified product evaluation summary. Their title is provided to clarify for our readers the specific type of specialist from which the information provided has been included in each product evaluation summary.

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PRODUCT: Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game

MEDIA PLATFORM: Board Game

MEDIA CONTENT: Skill Development / Recreational Strategy


Professor of Psychology B.A., M.A., & Ph.D. - Educational Theory Specialist

"Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is an interesting games, best suited for the pre-primary-primary level age group, yet still appealing to adults. The creative agenda is strong and influences the players to develop a narrative which influences the players to participate in repetitive play. Unlike most other gams, development of strategies for prediction of what other players will do next is not a part of the narrative. The idea of the cow and using a wooden fork to remove the tiles without the cow toppling over maintains a stable narrative which is instrumental in stimulation of active thought processing during game play."

"In the use of this game, an actively engaged player will be forced to adopt the use of comparative evaluation of game experience for a constant evolution of narrative development. This is established in the use of the wooden fork and tiles which are needed to be removed from beneath the cow without introducing the elements to cause the cow to topple. This creates a cascade effect which results in repetitive play and active engagement in strategic thought development. For a young child, this serves as an excellent stimulus for progressive skill development. For adults, there is an awakening of functional skills which in the past may have become more dormant from inactivity.”

"The creative agenda for a player with this game is not so a clear cut as other games in reference to exploration of strategy development to win the game. The player's main enjoyment comes from the quality of the narrative produced as a result of the character, variety of task options, independent choice selection, and completions of tasks."

"With Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, use of the 'look back strategy' with all players is diminished significantly. With this game the dominant factor needed to achieve the goal of winning the game is more on impulse response and strategy.

"Due to the structure of the game, logical progression for prediction of an opponent's strategic play is not applicable. The probability of the same game play being repeated anytime within a person's possession of the game is improbable if not impossible. This adds great value to the game due to the fact of the game encouraging repetitive Play."

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Curriculum Content Specialist / Board Game Evaluator

"In the evaluation of a board game, I have a specific outline of elemental components which comprise the basic structure of a well designed board game. The outline I am speaking of is shown below.

• An appealing title
• A good description of what the game is about, short yet informative on the game box
• A clear description of whether or not if the game is designed for cooperative play
• A clear definition of the player's role and options of play
• A well defined content scenario/instructions
• A well balanced price point vs game elements ratio
• A well structured & visibly appealing game board

The elemental components you see in the bullet list above, are but a brief portion of the entire list of what I look for to accurately determine where a game stands in my evaluation. With Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, the title of the game is a bit weak yet for many buyers, the unusual name may be the key element needed to capture a buyer's attention over another competing product. The packaging was suitable yet generalized. The balance of the considerations in my evaluation were acceptable with the exception of one. The game board was nothing to shout about yet considering the primary age group it is designed for, it still passes all the same.

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game was most interesting and passed my evaluation. My approval of this game is well earned. The cooperative play was strong even though this is more of an interest for children's games, and the instructions and players role were clear and simple."

" The game board was subtle in its color scheme and layout. Combined with the other game play pieces, it encouraged the children in our clinical evaluation segment to play repeatedly. The learning curve was short and simple to grasp which makes the game more enjoyable due to no extended period of learning to play."

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Consumer Hands-On Evaluation

Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact we put every single product we evaluate at the mercy of consumers in a hands-on evaluation where anything goes. Shall we see how "Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game" was seen with consumers?

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game was part of a consumer hands-on evaluation performed in a busy public area in Las Vegas/Summerland, NV area, along with generous number of other products. Having several products available for consumer evaluation all at once provides a more well balanced and unbiased evaluation of the products. Many of them had two or three copies available to provide a larger base of opportunity for consumer evaluation yet Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game managed to pull plenty its share of the attention and fun. It was rather interesting to see how what appeared at first glance to be a simple game with nothing eye-catching to myself, would soon turn out to be one of the popular games which the consumers were drawn to look at. It appears that one of the most redeeming qualities of the game was how it serves as a catalyst to create parent/child interaction in a child's Play. All it took was just one instance of a child asking their parent or guardian for help to get the cow to stand on all fours without falling over, then from that moment on they worked together to play the game.

A most unique feature of the experience in this event was how more often than not, the children would gain an edge at getting Elsa the cow to stand on all fours over the parents or guardians. Once they saw how the adult would approach working with the challenge, the child would take what they learned from the adult and build on that experience to learn how to master the task.

In reviewing the feedback forms which the participants filled out, we had such great enjoyment reading the variety of comments from each of the hands-on evaluation participants who played Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game. There was more than sufficient evidence of positive response on the feedback forms to demonstrate Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game proving itself worth our time to bring it to this hands-on evaluation event, it passed this segment of evaluation quite well.

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A Sampling Of Category Ratings

A small sampling of the individual category titles & rating scores from the complete product review itself for this product are featured here. The categories which have been selected to be featured in this product evaluation summary for public view, specify some of the primary points of how and why that specific rating score was reached.

• If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the complete review is published for public view.
• When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
• If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] Two Stars or lower from the complete review results, it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
• Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
  

The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation Summary are listed below.

CREATIVE AGENDA: Rating Level - [5]

* Creative Agenda - The Creative Agenda of a player represents what the player hopes to achieve by way of exploration in their game experience.

Creative agenda is a vital factor in the evaluation of a good quality game, whether it is a board or video game. This is especially so if it is an educational game. The creative agenda produced by the Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is unique from most others. It proves how the illusion of simplicity with the game is far from the real facts. Elsa, the cow character alone is a challenge in herself, which works as an intense stimulation to cause a player to develop a very strong creative agenda.

Elsa is enough of a stimulating challenge just to keep her legs from wiggling and then you have the challenge of removing the grass tiles with nothing more than a wooden fork! Truly stimulating and encourages formularized thinking. The potential number of creative methods which can be developed to win the game are literally limitless.

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game encourages a historical memory function in a player, which demonstrates recognition of the significance of experience, strategic planning and development, active thought processing, interactive social development, and executive cognitive functioning in learning, application of the newly acquired knowledge, and entertainment combined.

As we went over the notes, reports, and videotapes, the players were having a generous level of enjoyment from the game, yet at the same time were quite strong in making active use of memory recall, strategy development, and development of their own personal narrative for the game play method. In the category of Creative Agenda, Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game finished in this category with a score of [5] stars.

FUNFACTOR™: Rating Level - [4]

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game proved to be a real challenge to establish an accurate measure of the FunFactor™ associated with active game play. The game is so unique in its method of Play that the FunFactor™ is not a primary component. The game requires focus and concentration which still keeps the FunFactor™ level prevalent yet subdued to a minimal degree.

In reviewing all of our videotapes of Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game during all phases of its evaluation, it was established that the level of FunFactor™ was eclipsed by the need for focus and concentration that the FunFactor™ was diminished enough to lose a point in this category. In observation of all of the kids playing Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, their focus was on creativity, strategy development, and their own narrative being developed. Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game comes in with a score of "4" stars in this category.

GAME STRUCTURE: Rating Level - [4]

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game has such a simple game structure with a learning curve that is smaller in measure than the size of a tick on an elephant's backside. The narrative progression of Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is such that a player is driven to continue, to compete, and have fun doing it. The structure of the game maintains the attention of the player quite well while at the same time stimulating the player's desire to come back for more whether they win or lose the game.

Although the factors referenced above are well above average in the game structure of Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, the design isn't strong enough to take it to the very best in this category. Granted it is well above average which is a respectable accomplishment, yet the factors needed to bring in a perfect score in any category are just not there. Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is well above average in the category for Game Structure yet falls short of a perfect score by a single digit. Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game moves in smoothly with a score of [4] Stars in this evaluation category.

MARKETABILITY: Rating Level - [5 / 4] /

The category of Marketability was a perplexing category to determine an accurate score for Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game. The end result was a split score. The reason for this is that the board game has so many attributes which draw the needed attention in one specific market while in another market with a broader range of products to be compared against, the end result changes.

The unique style and structure of the game as well as the name of the manufacturer take Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game to the top of its game with specialty stores, while at the same time, when on the shelves of a larger store with a much wider variety of products to choose from Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is not as noticeable.

Taking all of the evaluation factors and results into consideration, Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game is on top of its game in one perspective and well above average in this category from another. In the category of of Marketability, Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game pulls a split score of [5 /4] Stars.

NARRATIVE PROGRESSION: Rating Level - [5]

Narrative progression is a different kind of creature to take into consideration when evaluating a game. It is a vital part of the design structure of a game design. In the design of a board game such as Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game, a smooth transition in the narrative or flow of the game must be maintained. This means taking on the challenge of maintaining the attention of the player while at the same time delivering content which will inspire a player's desire to come back for more.

Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game has to have a smooth progression of challenge in strategic development, while encouraging the player to develop their own narration to develop and grow in their level of play and learning simultaneously. Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game may appear simple yet is quite strategic in the Play design and moves in with a perfect score of [5] Stars in the Narrative Progression category.

RESPONSE LEVEL: Rating Level - [5]

BAM!!! In regard to response level, Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game was hitting hard with its stimulation to encouraging a strong response level not only form the game Play but also fro, the overall stimulation of critical skills. In reviewing all segments of our evaluation process on videotapes, Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game was undoubtedly like a limousine when it comes to response level from all of the players. The players are enlivened to keep playing again and again, determined to better their prior achievements. Wackelkuh - Wiggling Cow Board Game comes in with a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for response level.