Got Game?

One day, for lack of anything better to do, my boys decided that they've been playing with the wrong toys and games all along (much to my chagrin). And proceeded to 'revise' what they already have to something even better. Or, in Miro's words, "I'm gonna make this right because they got it wrong." :D

First up, Kenji. Kenji loves writing and drawing and he's hogged all the art supplies in this household all summer. "It's more fun when you mix everything together!", he said as he made up his own board games with characters from Up, Toy Story, Super Mario Brothers, and Pacman. He asked me for a little help in drawing the characters but the game artwork and challenges ideas --all his. And he's thought of quite a lot!

Board game 1:  The Maze.  You pick a card to make your move through the spirals while being chased by a flesh-eating Pacman.

Board Game 2:  The Haunted Bakery. You have to go through every process to bake a delicious cake without being caught by the Pacman ghost.

Board Game 3:  Choose your own adventure with a huge floating house strapped with balloons in tow.

Meanwhile, Miro is more technological in his approach to fixing what isn't broken. Instead of making different games, he zeroed in on Super Mario and made levels for his rectified video game --which involved more brain work this time, in contrast to the original's main game trials of jumping on toadstools, and kicking and punching everything in sight to save the princess.

Level 1:  Mission Control.  Mario and Luigi have to be space men, of course.

Level 4:  Diamond Decoder.  You have to figure out the right arrangement of the colored diamonds to stop the laser from going off.

Level 9:  The Evil Penguin.  A new villainous character who challenges you to find the red key hidden in the red laser streaks under time pressure.

Level 12:  Final Stage.  With more new characters (including a Miro robot).  But the Super Mario winner flag is still there.

Speaking as a mother who used to spend her summers playing jacks on the curb or running around naked for a little game of tag (I was MUCH younger then), i am amazed and proud of what my boys had done. And somewhat disturbed. I think my kids need to get out more. Hmmm...