R & R Games Hide and Seek Safari -Monkey

I bought the hide and seek monkey (and 2 extra wands) for my best friend's daughter, who is 3 1/2 years old and who LOVES to play hide and seek. Typically, I'd end up in closets, bathrooms, and behind couches while we played (I'm 40; this isn't as much fun as when I was a kid!). I thought that hiding a monkey would be a much better tactic. She LOVED this toy! Unfortunately, though, it is made from hard plastic (not very toddler-friendly), and a back foot broke off during the first week. Also, the sound the wands make is shrill and annoying for adults, especially when you have multiple wands going.I've just ordered the new, plush, "junior" version with the tiger for my toddler-friend. It looks like the wands for the regular version will probably not work with the tiger, but if the tiger works out, I'll probably order my beloved little friend some other junior hide and seek toys and more wands.I do think that the price is reasonable, and I'm thrilled that there are new, soft versions with better, more naturalistic sounds (assuming the description is accurate). If you're buying for a toddler, I"d go with the new junior version. But this monkey was certainly a great start and introduction!

This is the second Hide and Seek Safari animal we have owned. My kids loved the first one (the tiger) but it stopped working after just a few months. I went ahead and got them the monkey as a Christmas gift since they were so sad the tiger had broken. Now that we are on our second one, the limitations are becoming clear. It is still possible to have a fun time with the toy but you should be aware of a few things so the kids don't get frustrated:- The seeker want has to be pointed DIRECTLY AT the monkey's back in order for the beep to sound. If the holes on the monkey's back are covered or turned away at all, the wand will light up but not beep.- The wand seems to have some issues with the electronics. When we first opened the toy, some of the red lights would light up every time you pressed the button, not just when you were near the monkey as it's supposed to. I unscrewed the whole wand and took it apart to check the wiring connections, and not being an electrician I had no idea what I was looking at, so I screwed it back together without changing anything and, presto, the lights worked as they should. However a few days later those pesky lights came on again, until I gave the wand a good shake and they went off.- You have to make sure whoever hides the monkey presses his red button as the very last step before giving the all-clear for the seeking to begin. Otherwise, if you have taken a good bit of time in hiding the monkey, he may have turned himself off in which case the wand will not work. There is no on/off indicator light or anything on the monkey, and the directions just say he turns off "after a period of time", so I have no idea how long that is, but we did have one disappointing game where he could not be found and the reason turned out to be that he was turned off.- The wand gets false readings from CFL lightbulbs. We found this out by mistakenly "finding" the monkey in several lamps till we figured out the light bulb was causing the signal.I'm hoping the monkey lasts longer than the tiger did, and I'm curious to test the tiger's wand with the monkey and see if it will work, in which case we'll at least have an extra wand.

I purchased this game for my 7 yr old as a gift and it was very exciting for a while. The idea of searching for a toy by wand was very interesting, but proved a little bit difficult if the toy was placed behind heavy doors or in a place with many metals, such as in a closet or kitchen. We purchased an extra wand so a friend could play along, but again, if placed in a large area with too many hiding places available, the search could quickly become tiring or boring. At times the wand would light up when no where near the toy and completely miss lighting up when close to it. It might be more fun for a younger child or when placed in easier to find locations, but overall my child quickly lost interest in this toy after a very short time (and she LOVES to play games!) I purchased the monkey version and the construction of the toy seems very durable. I think the concept for this game is very cute and offers a new idea from board or video games, but the fun is short lived and may not be worth the money spent.

I rely heavily on reviews prior to purchasing something, so I knew I would be gambeling when I bought this. However, I figure with three monkeys and 6 wands, at least one would work. WRONG!I bought one for my two boys, my three neices, and my other sister's girl. My mother in law purchased extra wands so that all 6 kids could play.The idea behind the product is GREAT. I would pay 2x the price for one that actually worked because all of these kids love hide n seek. Not a single pair would work though. We tried every wand with every monkey. Some would give a very faint signal when you were about 1 foot from it, other didn;t even light up.One monkey was about 1 hour out of the box when my niece (about 2 1/2 foot tall) dropped it on the carpet and the arm broke off.What a dissapointment!Save your money!

I got this for my 4 year old grandson for Christmas, and we had a blast. We didn't have any of the problems other reviewers mentioned with not being able to find it if it was under blankets, etc, and we didn't have a problem with other electronics interfering. We just had fun. Of course, my grandson turned the tables on us and insisted on hiding it while we searched for it. The box advertises a T-Rex toy also, but the monkey is good. He took it home with him, and hasn't been back out due to the weather, but his mom hasn't told me of any problems yet. We haven't had it long enough to determine how durable it is, but it seems sturdy enough. The limbs are poseable, so I could hang it partway in the dogfood bag (or other places). Educational? Who knows.

Not much for the money it cost it wasn't as interesting to the little boy as we expected poor we thought

Lots of fun