We are on the hunt for a brilliant game for our Christmas Eve Box tradition and on this hunt we have been gifted Fruit Punch – Halli Galli to review.
If you are wondering what Fruit Punch – Halli Galli is then you will be even more baffled when I mention that it has a connection between a squeaky banana, a hotel reception bell and K-pop group BTS? The answer is a brilliant family friendly but very competitive card game that we have been gifted to review.
Fruit Punch was originally released in 1990 under the name Halli Galli – which apparently means revelry or merrymaking. This edition includes a hotel desk-style bell as seen in the video below. The edition we have been gifted has a squeaky banana instead of the bell. Haim Shafir’s design is very straightforward but it works so well and really doesn’t require any fancy designs or upgrades.
How Do you Play?
The Players take it in turns to flip over one card from the top of their individual decks, creating a face-up pile in front of each person. Each card has between one and five pieces of matching fruit on the front e.g. one strawberry, two limes, five bananas etc. At any point during the game if there are five pieces of the same fruit on display – either on a single card, or in total between players’ cards then the first person to smash banana in the middle of the table claims all of the in play face up cards. Unlike a lot of card games this one works on the premise that the person with the most cards at the end of the game, wins.
The game is so simple but yet it is the most competitive we have got playing a card game since we tried Frustration with all the children. It ended up being a lot more fast paced than we expected as the kids really wanted to be the person who could smash the banana. I knew this game would be a hit as soon as I read the description as we love playing Dobble and this definitely has some similarities to it with the matching element and making sure you are concentrating on the game in play.
Among those hooked by Fruit Punch / Halli Galli are the members of the K-pop group BTS, who have played Halli Galli multiple times on their reality show Run BTS. The band are really big board game fans, so this awesome that they love the game too, Ethan will love hearing that.
The rules specify that players must reveal cards by flipping them towards their opponents, avoiding any risk of a split-second advantage in seeing what card is being played next. The natural pauses that happen between each card reveal definitely add to the tension when playing.
The in-game penalty for a false slam is minor in the sense that you have to hand a card to each of your opponents but that could be the make or break when the game is near the end.
Our Verdict On Fruit Punch Halli Galli
Fruit Punch is a party game of simple pleasures, like the squeaky banana that becomes the games centrepiece. For a game that contains little more than a plastic banana and a deck of cards, it really is worth it and should be a game that is added to everyone’s game board shelf. It would make a great Christmas Eve Game as it really does create hours of loud, ridiculous fun.
Where Can We Buy Fruit Punch Halli Galli?
You can get your hands on your own copy of Fruit Punch Halli Galli at Amazon**
DISCLAIMER: This item has been gifted to us but our opinions do not reflect on the products company, or the thoughts of any social media companies we have shared this review on.
We give our 100% honest opinions on the products we test and we have declared it is an AD and gifted as required by the ASA guidelines
** This is an affiliate link – if you purchase from this link I may receive a few pennies from Amazon. It doesn’t increase the price you are paying.
