U-Build Connect 4

Fun twist on an old game!

This is really two great toys in one--not just a board game, but a true building toy as well! I read all of the reviews for this toy before I bought it for my five-year old son for Christmas. The negative reviews complained about the building aspect of the toy, rather than how it actually functions. I think the building aspects and the bumper aspect is what makes this Connect Four so SPECIAL.BUILDING ASPECT:This is a true building toy--very much like LEGOS (actually they are Lego pieces without the Lego symbol)--and it takes a lot of time to build (158 small pieces). An older child or one that is very experienced with Legos can build it on their own--and have a blast doing it. Otherwise, a parent will have to build it with their smaller or inexperienced child. With that said, block out time and prepare your child! Tell them that you won't play the game until it is built. If you don't get frustrated and if you involve your child in the process then it will be both educational and fun!PLAYING ASPECT:This Connect Four is better than the original. It involves more strategy because the players have to adjust the bumpers in order to strategically block and place their chips. This makes it so much fun! The chips can get stuck, which adds another element since the player can "unstick" them until their next play. I think the bumpers add to the educational aspect of this toy, as it has a Science and Engineering aspect to it that the original doesn't have.I can't believe I only paid 10 dollars for a toy that has so many wonderful aspects to it. I'm glad I didn't blow it off by looking at the negative reviews. Although, I did appreciate truly understanding that this is an involved building toy before it becomes a game--which the negative reviews provided.

"Assembly is only half the fun" ... eh, nope. it was a hassle to build. I love LEGOs and so does my son, but we are not building anything cool here. just putting LEGO-like pieces on cardboard with pins, lots of annoying pieces. they did try to be inspired and add the blockers, a new gameplay element to Connect 4, so I could almost see the added value of that, but most of the stuff you build is completely static framing, wasting the flexibility of LEGO. there is not even much reconfiguration flexibility with the blockers. pointless assembly to play a glorified tic-tac-toe.I did put it together - my 4-year-old tired quickly - and I did make a point of eventually playing it to try the new blocker tactics, which seemed potentially fun ... but next time I looked the pieces were already coming off the cardboard, the pins loosened. just from it getting moved around some, not a single game played.like others said, save your time and money, get the original Connect 4 and a LEGO set, or even better, a LEGO board game. I rarely write product reviews, but this one annoyed me this much. and it was a birthday present for my son, from family friends, I feel bad.

My nephew loved this for his birthday. It was fun to put it together, and he got to play a great classic game when he was done building it.

It had far to many extra small parts......a number of the pieces were 1/4 " square.....easy to lose......no extra parts. One lost part...game over.

My 7 year old son put this together by himself, NO PROBLEM. It also stays together nicely. We have put the game away in the box & taken it back out at least 4 times now -- no problems.Playing this game involves strategy, geometry, and a bit of luck! As a parent, it is nice to have the kids see cause & effect of angles & even multiple angles. Also, the 'bit of luck' makes this game more fun for us - because it is a way to adapt our winning strategy when things don't go as planned.One unique strategy my son thought up was to INTENTIONALLY getting his piece stuck in the top part in order to BLOCK ME from using those slots to play. Pretty darn smart!I had fun with him, and enjoy this game.And - if you read the playing instructions - you'll see that they have included rules on how pieces over the top of the grid, and pieces that don't stay in the grid, affect the playing of the game.Don't get frustrated by HOW the game works, when THAT is all part of this NEW twist on an old classic.

The bad reviews of this game are unfair. You have to expect this is a building project with the added benefit of playing a game in the end. And yes my 7 year old need my assistance. But we had 2 fun building sessions before the game was finished and then we enjoyed the game. Certainly worth getting if it is discounted off full price. If you kid enjoys legos they should like this game.

You have to have a lot of patience to set up this game. I understand that it is Ubuild game but my boys were excited to play and it took over an hour to put it together. If you want to sit with your kids and build a board game that they will play for 15 minutes after building it for an hour go for it. Building it was not fun..not like legos. They just built it to play and they were really frustrated trying to figure it out. even I had a hard time trying to figure out how to put the game board onto the cardboard? the boys couldn't quite figure out all the rules with the bumpers. They are 9.