We have so many board games the hardest part is picking which to play! So we are always pleased when we stumble on games a little bit different helping make our choice that much easier. The Plan Toys Balancing Cactus was definitely one of our most unusual games.

The game pieces are sturdy and well made.  It is also easy to play, with no comprehensive instructions to decipher. You simply place the base of the cactus tree down and then taking turns add a cactus piece each time. It can be quite a challenge depending on how the tree is progressing. One round eldest seemed to be building up and up, neglecting the outer stems, making it quite tricky. The person who makes the tree topple over loses the game.

I love how each game can be quite different as you can build up the cactus in various ways.  Learning about balance and developing children’s planning abilities as a result. They begin to consider carefully where to place the next piece depending on the weight distribution.

It is a helpful game to have in stock as children can go off and play it on there own (seeing if they can manage to use all the pieces without the cactus falling over) or competitively to see who will be the outright winner. When the game is not in use it could make a cute cactus ornament on display in your room. It is quite quirky and lots of people love cactus.

Available to buy from Amazon for £21, I think it’s a fair price for a lovely wooden toy. I actually quite fancy some of the other Plan Toys now. Balancing Monkeys in particular looks adorable!

Check out other games we have reviewed.