My 4 year old really has wanted this game, and this age group is the perfect target audience. However, we played easy, hard, and solo modes one time exactly. Then, the "orange" mole stopped working. "Game over", and one very unhappy little girl. They store where I purchased it will replace the game and I hope we have better luck next time, as this game seems to have sporadic problems with the electronics. With regard to educaitonal value, the HARD mode is entirely about listening attentively. Lights don't blink, just make a sound triggering a player to whack. This is an important skill to teach children, and there are few games where this kind of training is well camaflouged as fun.

My family loves it - everyone from my nearly 60-year-old mother to my 3 year old nephew. Playing it on the "hard" level can actually be quite challenging and get very competitive. It's good for the kids to learn colors, sounds, and cause-effect.

I bought this for my 3 year old for Christmas, because I always loved playing Whac-A-Mole when I was younger. He loves it. It is great for working on reflexes, colors, sound identification. It is so much fun. It has two levels an a single player option. The mallets are soft so they wont hurt too bad if you accidently get hit with them. Fun toy.

Purchased for granddaughter and she had everyone playing it with her in a matter of minutes... ALL loved banging the heads

I have three boys ages 6,3 and 2. They love this toy! There are different levels and all three of my guys can play it and not be bored. I love to hear them laugh while playing this game.

Love whac a mole. Was a little concerned, I admit, about the political correctness of this toy and teaching our little angel to "whac" things, especially with a new baby sister in the house, but the moles are so cute and funny, and the hammers so light, it's obvious that it doesn't hurt, and of course "the moles aren't real". I like the fact that there are different difficulty levels, but wish that the volume was a little louder (yes, I said LOUDER - hard for even me to believe) because with all the hilarity going on, is sometimes very hard to hear your mole. But overall, very very fun.

I bought the toy for my 18 months son, and i noticed that he liked the sounds comes from it, he still doesn't recognise the role of the game, instead of hits heads of the idol he start hitting me. even the leds are blinking but he still didn't understand the game. so it's not suitable for less than 4 years

I thought it had a memory type game in it, and it doesn't, the interest lasted just a short while, before it ended up just a smash and bang game!

My grandchildren loved their Whac a mole. All three of them could play together, or just one could play. It makes a lot of noise, but I consider that payback to my son.

I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY 5 YR. OLD GRANDSON. WHAT A HOOT. HE LOVES TO WACK THE MOLES. ITS GOOD FOR TEACHING DEXSTARITY AND WAITING FOR UR TURN. ALL AND ALL A GOOD GIFT TO GIVE.

Cute game; daughter loves it. Can play with people or alone. I don't know how long it will hold her interest since she only got it a short while ago, but so far, she seems to enjoy it. I wouldn't pay more than $15 or so for it though. I feel like that about most toys out today! Some are just way to pricey...not worth it.

I bought this for my 4 year old, and he adores it. It is noisey, and he gets to beat on the moles with a hammer. The game is loud, even on the quieter setting, and has yet to run out of batteries (he's now 5 years old). The hammers are plastic and very durable, he has beaten most of his action figures to death with the hammers. It is a great game if you want to improve hand & eye cordination, but can be complicated for small children. He gets excited and tries to bash all the moles, even when it's not his turn. If you like your children to play quietly this is NOT a game you should purchase. It does NOT have a silient mode, I wish it did. Overall, it is an ok purchse for me the adult, and a great one for my kids.

My grandson, 7 had a ball with this toy. He had played it at Chuck E Cheese and this was fun. Had a little trouble getting him to hit only when the light came on but he soon was in to it. Seemed hitting it harder nd harder was the most fun. He is apraxic so this is a good toy for fine motor skills.

My four year old certainly got bigger and more expensive presents this Christmas but if you asked him what present he wanted most this year he said...for weeks before Christmas...that it was Whack a mole. It's different than the old time game you played at arcades. The moles don't pop up but rather their heads light up quickly and you have to pound them on the heads with the plastic hammers before the light goes out. He loves playing it with the family or just playing it by himself. Fun game and we all get a lot of laughs playing it. Very easy game for young kids to play and he gets a big kick out of it. Recommended!

We have this game at work. Now, I will admit that we are a creative bunch, but we have a ball with it. We have a running hi-score board and the challenge continues. It makes for a lot of laughs and fun for team building. I am ordering another one.

My niece is 5, and she LOVES this game. She got it for her fourth birthdday and has not lost interest. The little moles make noises and light up. Even my 9 year old niece likes to play. I am waiting to meet another kid in this age group just so I can buy this game for them. Kids love it.

Truthfully, this game is not what I assumed it to be when I bought it; the moles do not pop their heads out of the ground like the Whac-A-Mole games at the arcade, but rather, simply flash when you need to hit them.

This was a reasonably fun game for our 2 1/2 year old for the first couple of weeks but he soon grew bored of it.

The default setting is not terribly challenging, although it does have an hard mode where your only queue to hit the moles is via a sound, which unfortunately, as the game is either too hard to or too easy, seems to be targeted to a older child.

We've had this game for about a year and everyone in the family enjoys it. There are three play modes: solo, easy and hard; in Easy, a light and sound let you know your mole should be whacked, while in Hard mode, only your unique sound is the cue. Up to four can play and we have played this with many ages, from 3 to 63, and everyone has had a great time. Our game has had a lot of whacks and still works very well. Excellent value and lots of fun!

This game was fun for our three year old the first time or two we played it; however, he quickly lost interest and the game now sits on his game shelf getting passed over for other games.

MY FATHER & STEP-MOTHER HAVE THIS GAME AT THEIR HOUSE & MY NEPHEWS AND I PLAY IT WEHN WE VISIT. WE ALL LOVE THIS GAME!!!!! IT IS SO FUN. MY NEPHEWS ARE 4, 10 & 12 AND THEY ALL REALLY ENJOY IT. THE GAME IS PLAYED LIKE THIS: EVERY PLAYER GETS THEIR OWN MOLE. (UP TO 4 PLAYERS) EACH PLAYER'S MOLE IS ASSIGNED A CERTAIN SOUND OR PHRASE. WHEN YOU HEAR YOUR MOLES PHRASE BEING SAID, YOU WHACK HIM HARD & QUICKLY WITH YOUR PLASTIC HAMMER. THE FIRST PLAYER TO REACH 100 POINTS IS THE WINNER. THERE IS AN "EASY" MODE AND A "HARD" MODE YOU CAN CHOSE FROM DEPENDING ON THE AGE AND THE SKILL OF THE PLAYERS INVOLVED. EVEN MY 4 YEAR OLD NEPHEW CAN PLAY THE "HARD" MODE. I PERSONALLY LIKE BOTH. WE HAVE A LOT OF FUN WITH THIS GAME. AND YOU KNOW BOYS. THEY LOVE TO BEAT UP ON ANYTHING! THANKFULLY THE GAME IS HOLDING UP VERY WELL. THIS IS ABOUT MY FAVORITE (KIDS)GAME RIGHT NOW. IT IS SIMPLE AND REPETITIVE BUT IT IS LOTS & LOTS OF FUN. YOUR MOLES' PHRASE WILL CHANGE WITH EACH GAME. SO YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER EACH TIME WHAT IT IS. THAT'S THE HARDEST PART. IT'S FUN TO SEE YOUR MOLE LIGHT UP WHEN YOU WHACK HIM ON TIME. I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS GAME FOR ALL KIDS. (ESPECIALLY BOYS!) MY HUSBAND AND I PLAN ON BUYING A SECOND GAME FOR USE HERE AT OUR HOUSE. THIS IS ONE GAME I ACTUALLY LIKE TO PLAY WITH THE KIDS. 5+ STARS. VERY COOL GAME!!!

This dull game really isn't worth your money.All you do is try to hit some moles that constantly make annoying sounds.After a few seconds,the game gets boring and repetitive.Save your money and buy Monopoly instead.

I brought Whac-A-Mole for my daughters 4th Birthday it is an excellent game and entains my daughter for hours on end!
It is great fun to play with the rest of my family.
I would highly recommend this toy to any parent its good fun and you can join in too!

Well, If your idea of a game is giving kids a hammer and wacking at stuff I guess this would be okay, It looks like it would hold up. But I found the kids were excited about it at first, but then became easily bored of it. I think 20 dollars is too much for it. And there are a lot better games out there. I would consider this more a toy that you pound on than a game, just my opinion.

This would be Okay for 2 to 4 year olds, but be prepared for your child 4 and older to become bored quickly and wish to play a game that requires more rules and interaction.
I recommend, Dot the Dog by Playschool, Get better Bear by fisher price, Let's go Fishing, Candy Land, Hi-ho Cherry- O, Connect 4 and Letter factory board Game by Leapfrog.

There are tons of kids games out there, most of which seem cheap or simply aren't fun to play. Whac-A-Mole is the opposite. No assembly required, this thing fires up as soon as you put 3 AA batteries inside. Grab a mallet and your kids and you are ready to play. Very simple but pulls you in to the gameplay. My kids are pretty rough on toys, and they let this game have it. They were smashing the moles as hard as they could and this thing didn't skip a beat. I recommend this one to any family.

This was one of our favorite gifts this Chrismas for our four-year old. She has been playing it with me all day! I can see myself playing the game when she's not here! It seems pretty well made, and the action is good, too. I would recommend this toy. It's really worth it.

We had this game when we were little, and it was a waste of money! It was not fun at all and it just took up a-lot of room. My sister got this when she was fairly young and it hurt our fingers when we were not careful. The hammer could hit your fingers and it can hurt little fingers even more. The sound affects are beyond annoying! This game seems fun, but in the end we wish we have never purchased it!

My son received this for a 4th birthday present and while the concept is cute, it's not that fun of a game. First of all the initial "set up" process takes time while the mole explains the sounds/rules etc. You can't play the game without listening to the instructions each time. Try getting a group of toddlers to resist hitting the mole's head when it lights up during the instruction phase! They don't want to wait! Also it doesn't really have any educational value. Not that everything must be a learning toy, but since Amazon gives the option to rate it, the only thing they might learn is remembering sounds by playing the advanced version, which I don't think most children who would play this would be able to do. Don't bother with this one. There are plenty of other games that are more fun!

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS GAME!!!!
I bought this game for a birthday gift for my 3 year old and after a month it just quit working in the middle of a game. It just got slower and slower until it quit. I tried new batteries and it did nothing. We may have played it five times in the month that he had it. I called Hasbro and they said they would send me a replacement but the game was back ordered and could take several months for me to receive it. My son was crushed that it did not work so I went out and bought him a new one. I decided that when the replacement one came from Hasbro I would just give it as a gift, I mean what are the chances of getting two games that don't work. We played the new one a couple of times the day I purchased it and put it back in the box and up in the closet. We got it out today and only the solo and hard levels work. I changed the batteries and still only had two levels working. Ironically we received the one that was back ordered today and it seems to work fine right now so I was spared having to see him disappointed again. I placed another call to Hasbro and asked them if they had any other complaints or had any recalls on the game I told them this was the second Whac-A-Mole that I have had problems with. They acted like I was the first person with a problem with it. They would not replace this game. I wish that I had read the reviews on this game prior to buying it and I hope my review will discourage someone from buying it now! Do not disappoint your child with this game.

Great game, lots of fun. My husband I even love to play it.
Only thing it's loud so you can't play it at night when others are in bed.

Bought this at an outlet for $6 or 8 bucks. The name was vaguely familiar and liked the idea of an action game. We have had no problems for 9 months, still working great. The time element brings out the competative spirit (watch those fingers). My spouce and I play regularly and it has held up fine. It is still a fun break from too many educational toys, and still promotes speed and real focus. Our 4 and 6 year olds cannot play each other because the older one will bully the younger until she just stops. Like every other game, parental involvement is needed (such a pity so many find this a negative). Worth a try for a competative, energetic kid!

This was a gift for my 3 yr old son. The entire family enjoyed playing it together on vacation.
You can play it together, or alone.
When playing it alone, it will teach hand-eye coordination.
He really enjoys it!

I bought this toy for my 4year olds birthday. We didn't even have it 3 days and it quit working properly. We replaced the batteries several times, but it still quit working. I returned the item to the store and exchanged it for a new one, but the 2nd one we had also quit working properly. My husband and I were playing with both our children, and none of us were hitting it very hard. We are very dissappointed that a game that costs this much can quit working after a few times. I would not recommend buying this.

My 4 year old daughter recieved this for Christmas and she still plays with it 6 months later. It is a great game for her to play with me & her dad or her grandparents. She loves to play games that the grown ups enjoy too. We have a lot of fun with it.

My 4 year old son received this toy as a Birthday gift. He played with it for about a half hour and all but one mole stopped working. He didn't drop it, the batteries were brand new, he was just playing with it as instructed. He was very disappointed as he WAS having fun with it. I wish I had read other peoples reviews before telling my mother he was interested in this game. I am planning on returning it, but after reading these reviews I don't think it will help. The game appears to be of very poor quailty considering the whole concept of the game is to "Whack" the moles on the unit.

We purchased this game for my son's birthday. Wish I would have read the reviews on here first. We all had quite a bit of fun with the game, but it stopped working after about 1/2 hour of play. I called the manufacturer the next day and they offered to send out a replacement. The person I spoke to on the phone said that I was the first one to call in with this problem. The second one arrived today... Well, my 4 year old was playing with it at the kitchen table while I was cooking supper. It stopped working! UNBELIEVABLE!! Well, my son is now very upset, asking if I still love him, etc. He thinks he broke this thing twice. He was hitting it with the mallet... but isn't that the whole idea? It did not get dropped, thrown or anything like that. I guess we will be returning it and getting a different toy. Too bad, it was pretty fun while it lasted.