The first pleasing thing about Gopher It! is the theme. The players take on the role of a Gopher that is in the middle of collecting a stockpile of food to survive the winter. Call me soft but there is something satisfying about a nature-based theme and it certainly appeals to its intended audience. The game consists of 39 food cards and these display apples, carrots and acorns. Each card also has a value of 1, 2 or 3 and a picture of the number of carrots, apples or acorns. The game begins by placing all of the food cards facedown and mixing them up. The aim of the game is to collect exactly 6 of any 1-food type and achieving this goal will reward the player with a trophy card. The first player to collect 3 trophies is declared the winner.
Now for the game play. The starting player selects a card and turns it over to begin their turn. They then have the option to stop there and keep the card or make another selection. If they choose another card they must be careful not to collect the same food type as the last card they revealed. If this happens their turn is over and the cards are discarded into the box and will not return. However if the food types are different then they can choose to stop there or take another risk and go food hunting again. A player can draw up to 4 cards in a single turn but of course the risks increase with each new search. If a player stops with a total of 6 in one of the food groups then these cards are traded to the bank and a trophy awarded. If a player should exceed 6 of a food type then they will lose all of these food cards and no trophy is awarded. Harsh but fair.

Gopher It! is a great game for two main reasons. The first is rather obvious in that it helps children to use their counting skills and become more confident with counting as they add their card scores together. However the greater benefit, which is less obvious, is that the game promotes risk taking amongst young children. Taking risks is something that many children are reluctant to do but it is an important attribute to develop as children get older. Whilst not all risks are worth taking, Gopher It! can help children weigh up the risks involved and identify if the stakes are worth taking that risk. Gopher It! is a neat little game that I highly recommend to any family.