Ornament Review: Hungry Hungry Hippos - Family Game Night #6 - 2019 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Perfectly captures another great childhood game

Cons: All cons eaten by the hippos

The Bottom Line:

Hungry Hippos game

Now nostalgic ornament

That brings me a smile

I Was Hungry to Add This Ornament to My Collection

One of the things that draws me to Hallmark ornaments is the nostalgia factor.  That’s definitely been the case with the Family Game Night series since my family has always loved playing games.  Hungry Hungry Hippos was one of those games we loved, so I knew I had to grab this ornament.

If you’ve missed this game, you have really missed out.  You are controlling one of four hippos.  Marbles are released into the center of the game play area, and you press the lever on your hippo to get him to reach out his head and try to snag as many marbles as he can.  It’s that simple, but it’s a blast.  You can release them one at a time, or all at once.  Maybe you want to start with them in the middle of the game area.  Either way, it’s always a mad rush to get as many marbles as you can.  And did I mention the noise?  This is a game the Grinch would have hated because of the “noise, noise, noise, noise!”  While that isn’t the main reason I loved the game, it certainly wasn’t a drawback as far as I was concerned.

This ornament goes a great job of capturing the game mid-action.  Well, only the yellow hippo’s head is off the red game board, but the others have their necks out, so they have just taken their swipe at the marbles.  Someone has released a bunch of marbles because there are many in the center, although I am seeing a couple in the area where they go after they have been “eaten,” and a couple are still in the reserve waiting to be added to the middle.

This ornament represents a shift in the series.  Previously, the ornaments have featured the game box with about half of the game board coming out of the box.  This time, we get nothing but the game itself.  I’ve seen some people complaining about this ornament, and I’m wondering if that is partially why.  Personally, I love it the way it is, so I’m quite happy with it.  The complaints have been that nothing on the ornament moves and that this isn’t a classic game.  Neither of those bother me.  I love the fact that I have this game represented on my tree now.

This this is just the game shrunk to miniature size, you can easily set it out on any flat surface.  Maybe you’ll even want to include it in a scene of some kind.  You could do that year round since there is nothing that makes this Christmassy.  You’ll find the series marker on the bottom of the game.

However, I’m looking forward to hanging the ornament on my tree.  The loop is in a corner of the game board, which means the ornament hangs at an angle.  I love how it looks.  It makes it easier to see from a tree and just adds to the fun.

I’ve been loving this series since the very first one, and Hungry Hungry Hippos is no exception to the rule.  If you loved the game, you’ll be as thrilled as I am to have the ornament on your tree this December.

Be sure to collect the rest of the Family Game Night ornaments.

Original Price: $15.99