My youngest son will be 5 in a few weeks. We tried following the rules with cards but it was easier to just let him figure out things for himself. We don't find the cards necessary. We walk through the mazes and he punches the arrow for the direction then press go to find out if he was right. You can see the pride and excitement when he completes the maze and Colby's eyes light up at the cheese. He loves going through the cards but I have found the track to be a bit cumbersome to keep moving for each card so he makes up his own maze with the walls and tunnels. The tunnels don't fit well on the board but he is really enjoying this game. Highly recommend for his age. My older sons didn't have any interest.