12 Games of Christmas: Flipper Felix

12 Days until Christmas means that I have just enough time to knock out 12 games that I've been playing as of late, and 12 gaming recommendations that go far beyond the Candyland, Scrabble, Monopoly fair.

Flipper Felix
Generally, if I see a yellow Haba game box, I try to pick it up.  The German company is synonymous with quality components for their games which are aimed squarely at the younger set.  I managed to find "Flipper Felix" with a $1 price tag on it at a local Goodwill, complete and in unplayed condition.  This could not have been a better deal considering that "Felix" may have single-handedly gotten the Mu into boardgames.  Though "Candyland" and "Go Away Monster" have been played in our house, "Flipper Felix" has had staying power - and more importantly - focusing power, that has taught the Mu basic game mechanics such as rolling dice, counting movement spaces, rule-following, and light strategy.

"Felix" is set up with 20 colored fish hiding in the seaweed in the corners of the board, with the goal of rescuing all of the fish into the middle of the board.  Circling the middle is a great big, purple fish who will gobble up any of the fish already rescued in the middle.   

Players play cooperatively, attempting to rescue all of the fish together.  On a turn, a player will roll the "fishie" die which will result in either a small fish or the large fish.  If a small fish is rolled, the player selects which color fish to rescue from the corners of the board.  Should the large fish get rolled, the player then rolls a purple numbered die to see how many spaces the big fish moves around the board.  If the big fish lands on a space that has him gobbling up a fish, a fish of that color is placed from the middle of the board into the big fish's hollow belly.  Some spaces will have the big fish burping up all of the fish in his belly, where they return to the corners of the board.  The game ends once all of the fish have been rescued into the middle or the big fish eats 4 of the little fish.

The simple rules and action of the game keep my toddler involved in what's going on.  He loves to roll the dice and falls back on the floor in an "oh no!!" fashion each time the purple fish is rolled.  We have fun deciding which colored fish should be rescued, and the game has him counting pips on a die, moving the corresponding spaces, and recognizing which colors need to be placed in the big fish's belly. 

The building blocks of game playing are here, and he loves setting the game up himself and working through the mechanics of it.  Games can drag on a bit with bad rolls, and sometimes he decides he's had enough - but "Flipper Felix" has got him sitting down and learning how to play through a game with the core skills a little gamer needs to learn at 3 years old.  It's establishing the building blocks for more to come, and it makes his nerdy dad very happy.

Santa will be bringing him Orchard this year, followed by Monza for his birthday in the summer, as we start to gradually build his capacity for more rules and more strategy.  But let's hand it to Haba - no one really grows gamers like they do.

The 10 Most Head-Shakingly Inappropriate Sesame Street Parody Sketches

Couldn't agree more with Topless Robot on this one, though he left out "Socks in the City," which I find to be one of the most inappropriate Sesame Street parodies of all time.  This is the reason why the kids don't watch modern Sesame Street and we kick it old-school instead.

 

The 10 Most Head-Shakingly Inappropriate Sesame Street Parody Sketches

I'm a huge fan of Topless Robot for my nerd culture and news, but be forewarned that there's a hefty helping of salty language throughout and occasional NSFW content.  Keep it in mind as you're perusing. 

Father's Office: Griffin Crayola ColorStudio HD app and stylus

Your results will vary, guaranteed

When I heard that tech gadget company Griffin (for who's design and products I have an affinity) was partnering with Crayola to make a coloring app powered by a special Crayola marker-styled stylus, I was over the moon as both a father and a geek.  My hope was that the ColorStudio app would satisfy as a digital coloring book, making it a great substitute for the real thing when the kids and I were out and about and needed to pass the time; because though we do not always travel with crayons and coloring books, I never leave without my iPad.  I additionally hoped that the stylus would do double-duty as a marker replacement for the kids, and as a chunky/quirky stylus for me to use with my note-taking apps like Penultimate.

Sad to say, I couldn't be less impressed with this $30 package that looks great, but performs terribly on all accounts.

First of all, the ColorStudio App (which is free to download and audition sans-stylus, but unlocks the full potential once purchasing the proprietary peripheral) is lackluster in its responsiveness.  Though it has a wealth of cute, animated "pages" to color with digital representations of colored pencils, crayons, markers, and paints, there is a significant delay between placing the stylus (or finger) onto the page and lines being drawn by the app itself.  Color is always playing catch-up with your movements and the lack of smoothness in line drawing/coloring makes the program feel as accurate as if you were painting with a mouse.  I realize that children may not have the greatest accuracy when it comes to coloring, but the ColorStudio App almost accentuates the lack of fine motor control from developing toddler hands.

To compensate, the App defaults (and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to turn it off) to making it impossible to color outside of the lines.  Of course, part of developing fine motor skills, as well as exploring creativity is the ability to learn how to color within the lines, as well as feeling the freedom to do the opposite.  The excessive restrictiveness in this area not only hampers development of important skills, but also further disconnects coloring on the iPad from the real thing.

The stylus, for me, is the biggest disappointment in the whole ColorStudio HD package.  Promotional shots have the stylus looking sleek, metallic, and dare I say, adult.  In hand, however it is black and chrome plastic that feels like a toy requiring sensitive handling.  The plastic cap, in addition to not being able to place it on the back of the marker, ala, a true Crayola marker, is also easily misplaced and a potential choking hazard.  Be certain to know where this piece is at all time when using it with littler children.

In use, the stylus is battery-powered which is so the stylus can work with the ColorStudio App and differentiate between finger movements and stylus movements.  It works fairly well when using the App - kids can rest their hands on the iPad without the App mistaking hand-resting for pen movement.  But the amount of pressure required for the app to recognize the stylus is a little more than should be desired for a product designed for children's use.  Again, that in itself isn't a deal-breaker, but it definitely should cause some hesitation between plunking down $30 for the experience.

The tip of the stylus is rubber, as opposed to capacitive foam.  This is good for protection of the iPad screen from overzealous toddlers stabbing at the screen with their Crayola, but bad in all other aspects.  Pen movement doesn't feel natural across the screen, and the rubber is partially the reason why the stylus has to be pushed down in order to have the signal recognized.

Most disappoint for me, though, is that because of the design, the stylus can only be used with the ColorStudio App and can not double as a stylus for every day navigation or note taking.  The battery powered aspect of the stylus is such that it simulates capacitive touch but in such a way that it is turned on and off rapidly (you can actually hear the humming from this action when the pen is turned on).  So when attempting to navigate or take notes with the Crayloa stylus, the iPad only registers the touch for a moment before it loses it again.  So drawing a line across the screen in Penultimate results in something that looks like Morse Code, and attempting to navigate the iPad with a stylus means constantly losing momentum.  This aspect alone makes the ColorStudio HD app and stylus a deal-breaker for me.

My opinion? Spend $30 on real Crayolas and coloring books.

Game Closet Reviews: Quarriors!

Come out to Pla-ay!

With GenCon rolling around this week, I have to admit that I'm a little bummed to be in Sacramento rather than in Indianapolis (probably the only time in my life), surrounded by geeks of every shape, size, and smell playing every board game that will be released in 2011.

Despite being home-bound, I still feel like I have a leg up on a whole bunch of those nerds because I've been playing a Game-of-the-Year contender that'll just be hitting store shelves in the next week or so.

Game Closet Reviews: Isla Dorada

Two bright and colorful boardgames, each with bidding as its main mechanic were released at nearly the same time this year - Days of Wonder's "Cargo Noir" and Fantasy Flight's "Isla Dorada." Both Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight are known in the hobby gaming circles for their incredible production quality, and neither game disappointed in that area. 

I've already made my thoughts on "Cargo Noir" known (here's a hint: I wasn't a fan), but I held out hopes for "Isla Dorada" because of its theme and that it had some pretty impressive designers behind it, namely the prolific Bruno Faidutti with assistance from Alan "I Made Ticket to Ride" Moon.  As I read previews of "Isla Dorada" the only way I could wrap my head around the game was to describe it as "Like Ticket to Ride, but with a bidding mechanic, and only one piece on the board that represents all players." 


Huh? Stick with me..

On my iPad: Hey That's My Fish!

One of my favorite things about the iPad is the possibility of making the portable boardgame experience.  Now I don't think I'll ever want to play an tablet boardgame over a physical tabletop boardgame, but for gaming on the quick (or while traveling), you can't beat the convenience of the iPad.

"Hey, that's my Fish!" is one of those quick-and-simple games that's physical implementation takes almost as much time to set up as it does to play, so its iPad-ization is a welcome addition to my digital games library.

"HTMF" is a simple, abstract game where players control penguins attempting to amass more fish than their opponents.  The game is set up in hex-spaces, each containing a number of fish.  Players move from hex to hex collecting fish which and eliminating spaces for penguins to travel.  Should a penguin be left with no options for movement, it is removed from the game.  Once all penguins have been eliminated, the player with the most fish wins.

Super simple rules, but enough light strategy to make it a little more than the kids game it appears to be.

"HTMF" on iPad looks great and Fantasty Flight Games has developed a title that is bright and cartoonish, appealing to both kids and the casual gamer.  Pass-and-play multiplayer for up to 4 players really goes a far way in eliminating the need for the physical board game, since a game of "HTMF" can be played as a appetizer or transition game during a game night while another game is being set up.  Plus, its easy to knock out a single-player game while having a quick cup of coffee.

My only objection is the steep $5 price tag.  I find it insane that I live in a world where one can legitimately gripe that $5 is too expensive for a video game, but that's what a free-market economy gets you and I'm a Capitalist, so here it goes: though an enjoyable title, "HTMF" is really overpriced for what it is.  When much more involved games with better online implementations like the classic "Ticket to Ride" and the phenomenal, recently released "Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer" are offered at the $5-$6 price-point, "Hey, that's my Fish" just doesn't feel like that great of a deal.

If this was $2, "HTMF" would be a must-buy (and what is $3, right? Crazy. I know, but this is the cost-value analysis of apps); at it's current $5 it's still  worthwhile, but it's harder to recommend in the face of some of those other meatier titles that are available.  Still, $5 is a pittance for a quality transition game to keep the good times rolling while you set up your next tabletop game during the night.

review code provided by Fantasy Flight Games

The Rocketeer Flies Again!

First of all: it's been 20 years since Disney's "The Rocketeer" flew onto the screens which simultaneously makes me feel old and demands that they do something with the classic property. (Still one of the best superhero movies ever made.) Though the clip that follows was done by an independent animator, it proves 1) The Rocketeer is still awesome; 2) "Rocketeer" + "Star Wars: Clone Wars" = greatest hour of animated TV ever; and 3) Disney needs to hire this guy right now and greenlight his vision. Enjoy every moment of what follows:


The Rocketeer 20th anniversary from John Banana on Vimeo.

(via Topless Robot)

Game Closet Reviews: Confusion: Espionage & Decpetion in the Cold War

Stronghold Games continues to be the Lazarus Pit of the board gaming world - resurrecting classic, long out-of-print games for a whole new audience, and giving them the dazzling makeovers these games deserve.  Initially publishing Robert Abbott's deduction title, "Code 777," Stronghold went on to satisfy many childhood dreams by republishing and improving "Survive: Escape from Atlantis."  Both titles offered much-improved components over the original; the production quality and customer service for this "Little Publisher that Could" on the whole is evidence of their passion and commitment to preserving the legacy of these gone-but-not-forgotten titles.

The latest in the "Castle Line" of games (a term which probably has been defined by Stronghold, but I must have missed its explanation) is another Robert Abbott abstract deduction game which Stronghold wisely added a theme to in order to make it more attractive and, I suspect, gave Stronghold the opportunity to produce another beautifully packaged title.  Abbott's "Confusion" is now republished as "Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War."

Temper those expectations right now, comrades; though "Confusion" has a spy theme, the theme is really only surface deep - at its core the game is still an abstract-deduction title.  The Cold War theme is top-notch window dressing, and there's nothing wrong with that in my opinion.  Will the theme bring new fans to the game? I sure hope so because it's definitely worth playing.

"Confusion: etc, etc." is best thought of as incorporating elements of Chess, Stratego, Soccer, and a hint of Checkers.  And there you go - you should now totally understand how to play this game...

Another day in the life of Fatherhood

Today, instead of pulling out a pair of running socks from my gym bag I pulled out a pair of toddler underpants.

Guess I won't be running today, after all!

Equation for a Focused & Happy Toddler

Cheerios + Bowls + A Pair of Tweezers

Way to go, Lady Rad! Anyone else with incredibly simple, yet awesome activities for the young'in's during the hot summer months when you're a S@HM?