Just like the TV show, Rugrats opens up with the grandfather telling the young kids about his great adventures of the past. Tommy and the gang then fantasize about grandpa's tales and create a world for a board game based on the story. As board games don't exactly offer the most diverse styles of play, the three games each feature very similar play styles. Basically, the player gets to move a given number of spaces per turn, then lands on a square which initiates a particular action. The cycle repeats until one of the Rugrats wins.
The simple graphics accurately mimic the show, although as expected, the number of landscapes portrayed in a board game doesn't offer a much variety. While the characters' voices do create an atmosphere that accurately replicates the cartoon, they do annoy after a while as well. Not only do the characters say relatively long phrases, no option to interrupt or turn off their quotes exists either.
So why should a parent buy Rugrats for a child? Why not purchase a regular board game instead? One advantage the video game version offers is the ability for a child to play alone and let the computer control the three remaining characters. Indeed, the game always fills in the missing players, regardless of the number of human players. Thus, Rugrats always offers gamers the maximum amount of competition. Also, the familiar characters can make Rugrats more entertaining than a standard board game. Otherwise, both the regular and virtual versions are identical. So if a child is a huge fan of Rugrats and desires a typical board game, Rugrats is a safe buy. The game will most likely bore everyone else.