Viva Topo - a cat and mouse game for small children

Viva Topo was released in 2002 by Rio Grande games, and in 2003 it won the sought after “Kinderspiel des Jahres” award. This children's board game has won similar awards in Japan and Australia, and is recommended for children aged 4 to 8 years of age.

As I wrote in a previous hub, I enjoy playing games with my 2 and 4 year old girls, but I am totally over playing memory games, and don’t want to be forced to play “Princess Snap” just to get a little game tension happening!

Viva Topo is a game of chase. Each player has five beautifully crafted little mice. The mice venture out of their communal home in search of cheese, and must avoid being chased by a hungry orange cat. Mice may choose to duck into little safe cheese havens, but are then forced to remain there for the duration of the game. Eating cheese of course. The person who collects the most pieces of cheese is the winner.

Components

Like other games of its kind, the quality of the components are excellent. However, my 2.5 year old did manage to snap one of the quarters of the board tonight after our game. The board is made from sturdy cardboard, but its clever folding mechanism was foiled by my daughter. The game is for 2-4 players, and comes with twenty mice in red, yellow, blue and green. They are crafted from wood, with little painted faces, plastic ears, and little red string tails. They are very cute indeed, and commanded my children’s interest from the first opening of the box. There is a dice numbered 1-5, with the sixth side featuring a picture of the cat. There are twelve pieces of cheese, ranging from one single wedge to a full wheel of cheesy goodness. Lastly, the game has a hungry, brightly coloured wooden cat.

Gameplay

The rules are fairly simple, though I did have to look over them a few times to ensure I didn’t miss anything. Setup is straightforward. The mice are placed in their communal house. The cat is placed on a space with the cat and number of players on it. This ensures the cat moves around at a reasonably fair pace. The pieces of cheese are sorted by size and placed on the four corners of the board. The wheels of cheese are placed in the middle of the board beneath the shared mouse house.

Players roll a dice, and move their mice the required number of spaces. However, the player needs to choose which mouse to move, whether or not to visit a cheese house, or hold out for cheese nirvana. There can be no more than four mice on any given space, adding an additional consideration to the decision making. Once the cat has lapped the board, the cat progresses two spaces for every time the cat is rolled with the dice. Any mice that remain in the communal house after the cat has lapped the board are eaten. Any mouse that is passed by the cat is eaten. Only mice in cheese havens are safe.

The game is fun to play, although it can be a bit slow at first if the cat doesn’t move around. My girls like rolling the cat. They enjoy moving the piece around the board, and love the anticipation of being caught. They would rather roll the cat than move mice, unless they are ducking in to get some cheese. My 2 year old struggles to stay with the official game mechanics. Twisting the ears of the mice is equally as interesting. However, I have found that she has great enjoyment rolling the dice and putting her mice wherever she pleases. Surprisingly it doesn’t upset the rest of the gameplay, and means she can participate without having to “get it right”. She does like to sneak in a little extra cat action. My 4 year old enjoys collecting cheese, and is yet to see the benefit of holding out for bigger pieces. Her mice are routinely held up in the smaller cheese establishments. She adores the cat, but does like trying to get away.

I am looking forward to playing this children's board game when my girls are a little older and better able to grasp the strategies. However, it is easily adapted to their current developmental stages, and sure beats memory or snap. One of the reasons I chose this game was the long playability. There are not many games that can be played by preschool children that can still amuse the primary school aged child.

Rating: 7/10