Wild Planet Hyper Dash
Hyper Dash is an award-winning fast-paced race course game from Wild Planet that encourages kids to be active and think on their feet. Designed to improve listening, coordination and math skills, this exciting game is easy to set up and is an ideal way to help kids aged six and above to practice addition and subtraction while exercising and having fun.
The Hyper Dash helps kids develop basic math and color and number recognition skills. View larger. |
The Hyper Dash uses RFID to wirelessly recognize targets. View larger. |
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What We Think
Fun Factor: 
Durability: 
(what this means)
The Good: Award-winning way to stay active; improves listening, memory and math skills
The Bad: Plastic unit may not hold up to lots and lots of rough play
In a Nutshell: Hyper Dash is a fun way for kids to exercise their bodies and their minds |
At a Glance
Ages: 7 and up
Requires: 3 AAA batteries |
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Fast, Easy Set-Up
The only set-up required is to install three AA batteries. Opening the battery compartment requires a small Phillips head screw driver, which means an adult needs to change the batteries. This keeps batteries in the right place during active play, but it also means that changing batteries on the fly requires you to have a screwdriver with you.
The manual is clear and concise, with descriptions of how to play and a list of all the special commands the Hyper Voice issues, so any child can be up and running in just a few minutes. There’s no button to turn the unit off, but it quickly shuts itself off when not in use to save battery life.
Getting Moving Quickly
The electronic tagger plays upbeat music and calls out voice commands to control the game, while players following the commands race against the clock to tag targets identified by color and number. Kids can play solo, up to four players can compete head-to-head, or up to eight players can work cooperatively in teams of two. There’s even a level where kids need to solve addition and subtraction problems to figure out which target to strike next.
With no complex set-up and no complicated directions to follow, younger children get started playing Hyper Dash quickly. Since players control where the five targets are positioned, there are infinite ways to play Hyper Dash. Combined with the fact that Hyper Dash offers four games to choose from with increasingly difficult levels to master, and it’s easy to see why even older, more experienced players (including parents!) stay excited about this game.
Four-Games-in-One
The original game, Hyper Dash, features the Hyper Voice calling out commands. Four different levels allow the players’ skills to progress. Level one includes only colors in the calls. The calls on level two are a little faster and include both colors and numbers, while level three adds special commands like “Double Strike,” “Triple Strike,” and “Reverse. ” Level four features the “CompuStrike” call, which require kids to solve basic math problems, such as “four plus one” or “three minus two. “
In Team Dash, a special command indicates when the Hyper Dash unit should be handed off, turning the race against the clock into a relay. The games Micro Dash and Team Micro Dash set out sequences that get progressively longer and trickier, providing a challenging test of memory.
The Hyper Dash unit keeps track of times and scores, and the Hyper Voice announces the winner at the end of the game, cutting down on arguments. With only one Hyper Dash tagger, kids will have to wait their turn to play in multiple player games. This can be both a lesson in patience and an opportunity to cheer others on.
RFID Technology for a Flexible, Durable Game
Hyper Dash uses radio frequency identification (RFID) to recognize the targets. The same technology is used to track packages and to identify books and DVDs in many libraries. This means that a wireless signal connects the Hyper Dash unit and the targets, so there’s no need to strike targets with force.
While the Hyper Dash tagger unit seems incredibly durable, it is made of plastic. Just because RFID technology means kids can tag targets lightly, it doesn’t mean they will. Our one concern about the game is the possibility that hard play will damage the tagger over time.
With RFID, there’s no limit to how far apart you set the targets. You can set them up at opposite ends of a football field for a serious test of endurance, or close together requiring fancy footwork. You can even them up next to each other to see who has the quickest hands. This flexibility makes Hyper Dash appropriate for both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Award-Winning Educational Fun
Kids have so much fun playing Hyper Dash that they don’t realize how much they’re learning. Parents will love the way Hyper Dash combines active play with lessons that support color and number recognition, basic math skills. The game’s format also inspires better listening and improves kids’ coordination. It’s no wonder that Hyper Dash has won an iParenting Award and a Seal of Excellence Award from Creative Child Magazine, along with several other honors recognizing it as an innovative, educational toy.
What’s in the Box
Hyper Dash unit and five plastic targets.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Great exercise for the body and the brain
Got this for my 9-year-old son for his birthday. He and his friends love playing the team-based games. The higher difficulty levels offer good math and logic challenges and really make them think while they are running around trying to tag the next target. The best thing is that you can increase the aerobic activity of each game as much as you want just by spreading the targets out further and further. My only criticism would be that sometimes the plunger-like mechanism isn’t the smoothest leading to a little frustration when tagging targets, especially for littler kids. Other than that, this is a definite recommend.
3 Stars Already Broken
This toy was a lot of fun, however, one month later it is already broken. We loved it until it broke.
5 Stars A+++
I have purchased one for every child I know and it is a hit every time. Even the grown ups love it! It can be played inside or out and has different levels for advancing ages. Highly recommended!
5 Stars excellent toy
Very entertaining and keeps my 7 and 3 year old occupied for a long time. It takes a little getting used to for someone younger than 4 to get the caps to fit right, but after that its a lot of fun.
4 Stars Great fun, but broke after only a couple months of use
My boys absolutely LOVED this game, but after only a couple months of use, it no longer works. We had a hard time turning the game off, it always wanted to stay on and wear out the batteries. Unfortunately, I ordered it in October as a Christmas gift, so was unable to return it once they opened it.
Buy/More Info
Kid Toys Electronics Aa Batteries, Aaa Batteries, Addition And Subtraction, Addition And Subtraction Problems, Basic Math, Battery Compartment, Battery Life, Having Fun, Math Skills, Number Recognition, Phillips Head, Race Against The Clock, Recognition Skills, Screw Driver, Screwdriver, Tagger, Upbeat Music, Voice Commands, Voice Issues, Wild Planet
