Family game
Hoot Owl Hoot!
Match colours together to fly the owls home before sunrise
- Set-up
- About 2 min
- Reading
- None
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Pre-schoolers playing their first real board game with a parent or an older sibling
Think twice if Your children are already 6 or 7 and want more of a challenge. The choices are simple, and Outfoxed! is the better cooperative step up
How we rate it
Learning curve. One of the simplest games on our scale: match a colour, move an owl. Peaceable Kingdom says 4 and up, and parents report three-year-olds playing happily with help.
Luck & skill. The cards you draw decide most of the game, including when the sun cards turn up. The real choice is which owl to move. Flying a straggler, or using owls in the way to hop further, can make the difference.
Interaction. It's fully cooperative and every hand is face up, so everyone can suggest which owl to move each turn.
Set-up. Choose a level (3, 4 or 6 owls) and put the owls on the numbered start spaces. Put the sun token at the start of its track, shuffle the cards and deal three to each player, face up. The youngest player goes first.
Reading. There's nothing to read or count. Each card shows a colour or a sun. An adult reads the short rules once. Players do need to tell six colours apart.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
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Is Hoot Owl Hoot! right for you?
Great if
- Pre-schoolers playing their first real board game with a parent or an older sibling
- Children who find losing hard, since the team plays against the sunrise, not against each other
- Practising colours and simple planning, such as choosing which owl to move to help the team
- Grandparents and small children playing together, with no reading or English needed
Skip it if
- Your children are already 6 or 7 and want more of a challenge. The choices are simple, and Outfoxed! is the better cooperative step up
- You want a game the adults will enjoy for its own sake. This is one you play for the child
- Your child is under 4. Peaceable Kingdom makes other cooperative games for toddlers, such as Smoosh and Seek Treehouse (ages 3+) and Panda's Picnic in the Park (ages 2+)
A place on the honours list
Good company to be in.
Recognition from beyond our table.
Major Fun Award, 2011 (Winner)
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award
Parents' Choice Award, Silver
Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products
FamilyFun Magazine Toy of the Year
How Hoot Owl Hoot! plays
The board shows a winding path of coloured spaces through a forest at night, ending at the owls' nest. Depending on the level you choose, you start with three, four or six owl figures on the start spaces, and the sun token at the beginning of the sunrise track. Everyone gets three cards, kept face up so the whole team can see them and plan together.
- Time to teach: about 3 minutes.
- Reading and language: There is nothing to read and nothing to count. Each card shows either a colour or a sun, and owls fly to the next space of the matching colour, so a child who knows colours can play from the first turn. A parent reads the short English rules once. The game does depend on telling colours apart, which is worth knowing if your child has difficulty with colour vision.
HOW TO PLAY HOOT OWL HOOT-KID TESTED AND REVIEWED · Dad life projects
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Play
Everyone keeps three cards face up, so the team can plan together. On your turn, play one card. A colour card lets you fly any owl to the next empty space of that colour, hopping over any owls in the way.
- 2Sun
If you hold a sun card, you must play it instead, and the sun moves one step closer to morning. Then draw a card so you have three again.
- 3Win
An owl flies into the nest when no free space of its colour is left ahead. Get every owl home before the sun reaches the end of its track and the whole team wins. If the sun gets there first, everyone loses together and tries again.
The full explanation: how a game of Hoot Owl Hoot! goes
On your turn you play one card and then draw a new one. A colour card lets you fly any owl, not just 'your' owl, forward to the next empty space of that colour. If that space already has an owl on it, you fly over it to the next free space of the same colour, so playing the same colour several times in a row can carry owls a long way.
Sun cards are the timer. If you have one in your hand, you must play it, and the sun moves one step along the sunrise track. When there is no space of the card's colour left ahead of an owl, that owl flies straight into the nest.
The team wins if every owl reaches the nest before the sun reaches the end of its track. If the sun gets there first, everyone loses together, and the rules simply say to set the owls back at the start and try again. As a small bit of fun, the rules also suggest saying 'Hoot!' each time an owl flies over another.
The decisions are small but real: which owl to move, and whether to help a straggler catch up. The rules themselves warn against letting any owl fall too far behind. With three owls the game is gentle, while six owls makes it much harder to beat the sun, so it has some room to grow as your child does.
What's in the box
- 1Game board
a winding path of coloured spaces through the night forest, with the sunrise track and the nest - 6Owls
use 3, 4 or 6, depending on the level - 36Colour cards
in six colours - 14Sun cards
each moves the sun one step - 1Sun token
- 1Rules sheet
From MindWare's product page for item GM106 and from both rule sheets: Peaceable Kingdom's 2010 printing and MindWare's 2018 printing list the same parts, with 50 cards in all. Only one edition exists; newer boxes carry MindWare's copyright. A Canadian store's listing says the colour cards are six of each colour.
Where to buy
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Hoot Owl Hoot! is a favourite first board game for pre-schoolers. Major Fun's reviewer found it easy to learn, quick to play and suitable even for very young children. A parent on Reddit who wrote up 31 toddler games gave it an A, calling it better than Candy Land in everything but theme, because deciding which owl to move is a real choice. The team plays against the sunrise, so nobody loses alone, but a child who hates losing can still be upset when the sun wins. Adults will find little in it for themselves.
What people love
- No reading or counting: knowing colours is enough, so three- and four-year-olds can take part
- Small but real choices, such as which owl to move and how to hop over owls to fly further
- Everyone wins or loses together, so no child is left as the loser
- Three levels (three, four or six owls) let it get harder as a child grows
Common complaints
- Holding a sun card means you must play it, which can feel like losing your turn; one parent simply lets their child play again
- There's little in it for adults, and children of 6 or 7 may outgrow it quickly
- A child who hates losing can still be upset when the sun comes up first, even in a team game
Based on 6 reviews and discussions
- Review Hoot Owl Hoot (Will Bain, May 2011) · Major Fun
- Players boardgaming with a toddler, 31 game reviews (Areign, February 2026) · Reddit r/boardgames
- Players How do you teach children to not be poor losers? (June 2016) · Reddit r/boardgames
- Video How to Play Hoot Owl Hoot - Kid Tested and Reviewed (Dad life projects, August 2020) · YouTube
- Award Hoot Owl Hoot (awards list on the product page) · MindWare
- Reference Educational game maker MindWare buys competitor Peaceable Kingdom (September 2017) · Twin Cities Business
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
More like Hoot Owl Hoot!
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| Compare the games.The details that make a difference. |
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Hoot Owl Hoot!
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ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
Outfoxed!
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ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
Dragomino
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Match colours together to fly the owls home before sunrise | A different fit The next cooperative step up, for ages 5 and up, adding simple detective work | A different fit Another first board game for young children, for when your child is ready to play to win |
| Players | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 |
| Best with | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| Play time | 15 min | 20 min | 15–20 min |
| Age | 4+ | 5+ | 5+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Imported | Imported |
| On this page | Explore Outfoxed! | Explore Dragomino |
More by Susan McKinley Ross
Another way into their collection.
More cooperative games
Different games. A familiar kind of fun.
The Mind
Play numbers 1-100 in order as a team, without speaking
Outfoxed!
Young detectives team up to catch a pie-stealing fox
Just One
Write one-word clues together, but matching clues get wiped out
Pandemic
Work together to cure four diseases before time runs out
Also worth a look (not in our catalogue yet): Smoosh and Seek Treehouse – Another Peaceable Kingdom cooperative game, for ages 3 and up.
Questions people ask about Hoot Owl Hoot!
What age is Hoot Owl Hoot! for?
The box says 4 and up. It has three levels, starting with three owls and going up to six, so it can grow with a child for a while. Children who are already comfortable with board games at 6 or 7 may want more decisions, such as Outfoxed! offers.
Does my child need to read or count to play Hoot Owl Hoot!?
No. Cards show colours or a sun, and owls fly to the next space of the matching colour, so no counting is involved. An adult only needs to read the short rules once.
Is Hoot Owl Hoot! made in India?
No. It isn't made or distributed here, so every copy is imported, and our Check price on Amazon.in button goes to Peaceable Kingdom's imported English edition. MindWare owns Peaceable Kingdom, so newer boxes carry its copyright. For even younger children, Peaceable Kingdom also makes Smoosh and Seek Treehouse (ages 3+) and Panda's Picnic in the Park (ages 2+).
What happens if the sun comes up before the owls get home?
Everyone loses together. The rules say to put the owls back at the start and try again, and since nobody beats anybody else, the loss is shared rather than personal.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Susan McKinley Ross
- Publisher
- Peaceable Kingdom (owned by MindWare since 2017), USA
- First published
- 2010
- Players
- 2–4
- Barcode
- 0643356046768
- Language
- No reading – There is nothing to read and nothing to count. Each card shows either a colour or a sun, and owls fly to the next space of the matching colour, so a child who knows colours can play from the first turn. A parent reads the short English rules once. The game does depend on telling colours apart, which is worth knowing if your child has difficulty with colour vision.
- Awards
- Major Fun Award, 2011 (Winner); Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award; Parents' Choice Award, Silver; Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products; FamilyFun Magazine Toy of the Year
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Hoot Owl Hoot! instructions – Peaceable Kingdom (PDF, hosted copy)
- Hoot Owl Hoot! instructions, MindWare printing (PDF, hosted by Capital Area District Libraries)
- Hoot Owl Hoot – MindWare (product page)
- Educational game maker MindWare buys competitor Peaceable Kingdom – Twin Cities Business (12 Sep 2017)
- Peaceable Kingdom Smoosh And Seek Treehouse – Toycra
- Peaceable Kingdom Panda's Picnic in The Park – Toycra
- Hoot Owl Hoot! instructions – MindWare (PDF, 2018 printing)