February Issue

• A New Year, a new word
  - Editorial
• Shine a Light
  - Candle trends with
  extra glow factor
• Gadget Magic -
  - Must-have culinary picks
• Smart games for a new generation
  - Strategy and logic-based fun is topping the leader board
• Bringing Special Back
  - Mother's Day 2010
• Caught Red Handed
  - Taking Stock of Security

Smart games for a new generation

Strategy and logic-based fun is topping the leader board in what
merchandisers say is a vastly growing educational toys and games market.

VANESSA O'BRIEN PUTS ON HER THINKING CAP

The past three years have seen a surge of interest in educational games, and it's problem-solving that's firing the imagination of kids and their parents, says Mind Challenge New Zealand general manager, Paul Manning. “The trend is really towards strategy and lateral-thinking games; it's definitely going back into those games that are fun, easy to learn, but very challenging.”

Manning believes increased market demand for more challenging toys is due to parents and grandparents becoming more involved in their children's education. “However, the games that are proving the most popular are so smart that kids don't even know they're learning,” he adds.

Auckland-based game developer Michael Kazula of Smartzone Games says making learning fun is the key to encouraging kids to ditch the Xbox. “If people don't have fun in a game, I wouldn't even call it a game,” he says. “If you can get extra benefits from it too, that's great.”

Kazula's strategy games The Battle of the Pyramids, Cobra Cubes, and World Passport support his philosophy, as does Australian top-selling puzzle game The Kaleidoscope Classic. Developed by psychologist Dr Mark Wood and mathematician/physicist Francis (Frank) Henry Dyksterhuis, Kaleidoscope's concept can be learnt in minutes and has millions of possible solutions, so it can be played time and time again.

Christchurch-based Pixel Park owner Tim Tripp says it's this long-term durability, coupled with high quality that consumers are looking for. The ticket price for wooden or dense cardboard board games may be higher, but buyers are willing to pay for long-term value if Pixel Park's 30 percent growth over the past year is anything to go by. “Good-quality strategy games like Settlers of Catan and Pillars of the Earth just seem to keep growing in popularity,” says Tripp. “We are definitely seeing an upside in the business.”

Today's educational games don't just focus on learning maths, but are multidisciplinary, says Tripp. “With strategy games – games that are educational – it's not just maths, but also geography, negotiating, etc.”

This multi-disciplined approach also links with a multi-player approach, with more emphasis placed on educating and developing social skills among players, says Mind Challenge's Manning. “There's a more obvious lean towards traditional board games rather than computer/technology based games of late,” he says. “There's not a lot of educational product for computers. The problem with computers is they remove that social aspect of game-playing. It doesn't help with interaction.”

Tripp agrees – he believes a large number of parents are beginning to feel uncomfortable about the amount of time their children are spending on the computer, so they're encouraging more social interaction in their playtime.

Along with the social aspect, a generation of budding greenies is seeking out educational toys and games with an environmental focus. Take Uberstix, for example. This modern-day uber-cool construction set is engineered to work with recycled materials, i.e. fast-food straws, ice-block sticks, paper cups, paper clips and water bottles. It also links with other construction sets such as Lego and KNEX. Then there's Power Grid, a strategy board game where up to eight players use economics, maths, geography, and resource management skills to manage a power plant and its waste.

For the traditionalists, numeracy and literacy games still feature, but with
a different spin. Mathematics is king in the new game Accumulate (a cross between mathematics and scrabble) and spelling/English dominates in Bananagrams, a new anagram game, says Manning. Their point of difference with traditional numeracy/literacy games is they're geared for a ‘now' generation with an ‘instant mentality'. “Kids don't want to sit around and learn games for half an hour,” says Manning. “They want to do things quickly.

They're looking for a challenge that they can learn really fast.”

Games to get you thinking in 2010

• Mathematical trivia games – like Accumulate, which is perfect for scrabble lovers too.
• Literacy games – like Bananagrams, which requires players to draw on their spelling and English skills.
• Strategy games – like Kazula's The Battle of the Pyramids, Cobra Cubes, and World Passport.
• Puzzles with added appeal – like Dr Wood's Kaleidoscope Classic which can be learnt in minutes and has millions of possible solutions – a top-seller in Australia.
• Multi-disciplinary games – like Settlers of Catan and Pillars of the Earth.
• Environmentally-friendly games – like the Uberstix construction set which is engineered to work with recycled materials.