Tag: play

Categories
Furniture Kids/Babies

Lemon Pie kids’ furniture enables the ultimate couch pillow fort

When you’re a kid, there’s nothing like building a fort to play in. All of the pillows, blankets and cushions in the house must convene in order to make the perfect fort. Lemon Pie was designed to give traditional fort-making materials a break. This product is made of different parts that can either be assembled into a couch or chair and then reassembled into a fort or any other kind of fun structure for kids. Designed from soft, flame-retardant materials, this is perfectly safe for children.

The oddly-named Lemon Pie certainly offers function not only for children, but for adults as well. It looks fun and forces kids to be imaginative in the way they build their forts. While it’s not the most attractive piece of furniture around, it’s still great for parents who don’t want their living room to become a full-blown play area. For the most basic chair, backers can donate $335 with estimated delivery in April 2015, if Lemon Pie can reach its $15,000 goal on Kickstarter.

Categories
Games

Medieval Siege Attack game invites ye to attack yon castle

The best games are the ones that involve strategy and not just luck of the draw. In recent years, Settlers of Catan has become popular, allowing players to build up villages by trading commodities such as ore and wood. Medieval Siege Attack from the UK is a similar game that brings you back, all the way to Medieval times. Little men cut out of wood guard your castle and attack the castle of your opponent using small catapults. The game requires a good strategy, so it’s not just about destroying the enemy. This game also comes with a number of paints, allowing you to “dress” your men and design your castles as you choose. For a set of two, backers must donate £60 (~$96) which includes 24 warriors and four siege engines. Estimated delivery is currently set at April 2015. Medieval Siege Attack is hoping to raise £15,000 (~$24,000).

While Medieval Siege Attack is a little on the pricey side, it still has a lot working for it. People love destroying things, first of all, and love customizing their gaming experience. The wooden materials and paint make Medieval Siege Attack more than just any other board game.

Categories
Games

Divorce! card game brings out your inner selfish ex

The Premise. Large gaming companies can make a game out of anything. Whether it’s becoming a princess, going to war or even living life, gaming companies love to make light of anything mundane or even depressing.

The Product. Divorce! The Game is a card came based on, you guessed it, divorce. With two players, this game takes only about 20-40 minutes. Divorce! centers around the splitting of assets, custody battles and lawyer involvement that most divorces entail. To play, one player draws two cards, one which they keep and another that they must give to their opponent, soon-to-be-ex. The cards either gain the player money or loses them money. The goal of Divorce! is to finish the game with the most stuff. Cards include winning custody of a child, worth $80,000, winning the house, or getting the boat. Other cards include lawyer involvement which allows the player to move assets off-shore, burn down the house just won by an opponent or even steal stuff back.

The Pitch. The campaign video shows couples playing Divorce! while swearing and yelling at one another in a strangely gleeful way. It really makes the game look like good, dark fun. The creators then explain the game, different cards included and call divorce “America’s pastime”. The rest of the campaign shows examples of cards in the game. Divorce! The Game hopes to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter.

The Perks. For only $20, you can get a Divorce!, quite the bargain. Higher tiers offer couple sets and the highest at $10,000 will get the backer a trip to NYC and a chance to repossess one item from the creator’s house. Totally weird, but in good keeping with the theme of the game. Estimated delivery for Divorce! is set for January 2015.

The Potential. We all know the old favorites like the game of Life and Monopoly that deal with the mundanities of everyday life and make them fun. It’s much more thrilling to lose money in the game world than it is in real life. Divorce! is a fabulous addition to this tradition. The campaign video alone will make you want to own this game. It’s too bad that only two players can enjoy this at once, however, the rules are nice and simple unlike other popular games. The game makes light of a typically serious issue and its cheeky, over-the-top scenarios are guaranteed to make you laugh.

Categories
Toys

Assembly takes kids toys building toys to human scale

AssemblyKids need to play and build with toys in order to learn some important spatial basics about the world around them. Many toys provide these lessons, but do so on a mini scale. Assembly allows children to build with tools that are life-size. It comprises of long wooden sticks that attach with special connectors, giving kids the chance to build structures, forts, or even time capsules in large sizes. For $149, backers will receive 26 connectors and 65 red oak sticks for delivery in November 2014. Assembly hopes to raise $60,000 in a 35-day Kickstarter campaign.

Categories
Tablet Accessories Toys

Osmo blends digital and physical games for iPad fun

editors-choiceThe Premise. Tablets and online games have captured children’s imaginations so much so that kids don’t seem to have fun off screen anymore. It’s difficult for parents to get their children to explore the three-dimensional world while competing with digital wonders.

The Product. Osmo is a unique gaming system that combines the entertainment of an onscreen game with the interaction of physical objects. With three different game choices, kids can hook up Osmo to a recent iPad and play onscreen and off at the same time. The games included focus on tangram puzzles and patterns, drawing shapes, and word scrambles. The accompanying base attachment clips over the iPad’s camera and uses Artificial Intelligence and a built-in mirror to allow the iPad to reflect the child’s movements onscreen in real time. In simpler terms, the iPad shows the child moving the shapes, for example, on its screen and uses this information to determine if the child is on the right track.

The Pitch. Osmo’s simple video shows one, two, and then a bunch of kids flocking to play with the product. The children ooh and ahh at the game and seeing the product in action will elicit the same reaction from viewers. Pictures of children playing with the device in a myriad of ways pepper the rest of the campaign. Testimonials from educators and parents as well as logos from a number of respectable news sources give the product some authority. In addition, Osmo’s campaign exists on its own website as opposed to on a crowd-funding site. For this reason, they have no public goal set on their site. They will be accepting pre-orders for backers until June 22nd.

The Perks. Osmo’s site offers only one reward. For 50% off of the retail price of $99, backers will receive the Osmo kit for only $49 with the base attachment, and Words and Tangram games (iPad not included, obviously). The creators expect to ship by late summer 2014. 

The Potential. To put it quite simply, Osmo is really cool. It’s the type of game that would be glimpsed at in a movie set in the future. Not only is it rare that a product for children combines the physical with the digital, but it also uses games that help kids’ minds to learn and grow. The retail price seems extremely reasonable and the pre-order price is an absolute steal. Osmo also lets kids play together, using several two-player modes, cutting down on the type of social isolation that screen games usually cause. All in all, Osmo will enjoy great success on the market, creating fun for children and parents alike.

Categories
Kids/Babies Toys

O-Rings surround kids, let the fun seep through

O-RingsKids use their imaginations while playing, which helps them to develop skills they need as adults. Many toys take away the need for imagination with fancy technology or touch screens. O-Rings are a simple way for children to enjoy playtime without all the bells and whistles. These rings vary in size, color, and density, allowing children to learn new things from each one while providing safety, comfort and many photo opportunities . Kids can climb, organize, imagine and create using the O-Rings. One small ring costs backers $49 or $360 for a full set estimated to deliver in December 2014. O-Rings hopes to raise $30,000 in a 46-day Indiegogo campaign.

Categories
Connected Objects Pets

Kittyo keeps your cat fed and entertained, hits paws on the remote

The Premise. For many people, pets are not simply animals taking up space in their houses while furring everything up, but are really members of the family. Leaving them for a week-long vacation or even a day at work can be sad. Unlike humans, pets can’t simply pick up the phone to talk which leaves the question: how do you interact with your pets when you’re away?

The Product. Kittyo is a device that lets you play with your cat when you’re not at home. This compact product dispenses treats, comes with a laser for your cat to play with, and has a speaker and camera so that you can watch and talk to your cat. Using wi-fi and an iOS or Android app, pet owners can interact with their pets in real time to control the laser and treat dispenser. Kittyo is roughly the size of a coffee grinder and comes with a shelf mount to keep it from getting knocked over by hungry kitties.

The Pitch. The video shows a bunch of cat people talking about how excited they are for Kittyo. It also shows the device in action, featuring a woman on her phone watching her cat chase around the laser that she’s controlling, pretty cool. The creators talk about how Kittyo is great for engaging fat cats that could use some exercise, which makes sense. The rest of the campaign shows the specs of the dispenser along with cute, irresistible kitten photos. Kittyo needs has a $30,000 goal for its 32-day Kickstarter campaign.

The Perks. Kittyo’s creators offer two early-bird specials of $99 and $119. The Kickstarter standard price of $139 is $50 less than the expected retail price of Kittyo. All tiers have an estimated delivery date of November 2014.

The Potential. Cat people will do just about anything to interact with their pets while they’re away. Recently the market has been flooded with these types of devices that use wi-fi to interact with cats. PetPal and iCPooch also let users talk to and watch their cats while away. Some focus simply on the dispensing of treats or food, like PETLY and Pintofeed. Kittyo is the first of these devices that have the added laser option which actually lets people play with their cats when they’re out of the house which is fairly cool. The price of Kittyo is also on the lower end of these products, which makes it that much more attractive. All in all, the Kittyo’s awesomeness will have backers thinking the product is the cat’s meow.

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands Toys

Moff wristband uses gestures, sound effects to make any object a toy

editors-choiceThe Premise. When it comes to a child’s imagination, any number of common household items can become tools for adventure or props to act out any number of fantasies. For centuries, the imagination has been enough to entertain, but what if there were real-world stimulus to add to the excitement of play?

The Product. The Moff band is a wearable snap bracelet that children can put on when they play make-believe. By syncing up with the Moff app on a tablet or smartphone, different modes can be chosen to simulate specified wrist movements into real-life sound effects for laser guns, sword fights, air guitar, or sports equipment. With Bluetooth support, acceleration and gyro sensors, and powered by a watch battery, the Moff is easy to put on and begin playing with immediately. For the time being, Moff only works with the five most recent generations of iOS devices, but Android compatibility is in the works.

The Pitch.  Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi introduces the Moff in a gentle, playful video that combines hand-drawn animation to represent the imagination and live play to demonstrate what the Moff is capable of. The entire presentation of all Moff’s campaign, from videos to pictures and even the app itself, is generally friendly and easy for children to understand and use as well. Moff is looking for $20,000 to get Bluetooth certification, finish tooling and bulk order the device’s internal components.

The Perks. A $45 pledge is required to get a Moff band for any child or child at heart. All products are expected to ship in July 2014.

The Potential. The Moff band is something that children should be very excited about, helping them bring their imagination into the real world. Having to be tethered to an app on a mobile device hampers the usability somewhat, as children will probably either still want to have a phone nearby to change settings or will be continually pestering parents to change the settings repeatedly. The novelty of these sound effects will be something that enraptures younger users, while those already attending grade school might look elsewhere for something more substantial. Still, children will love the idea of enhancing their play without having to break the action for sound effects.

Categories
Furniture Kids/Babies

OLLA lets kids build their bedroom furniture

OLLA 20140305091927-bed3[1]So if mom and dad have gotten weary of stuff that gets aimed at kids but that parents have to put together, OLLA just might make you smile. The modular system of hole bars and connectors lets kids build items such as a chair, desk, bench, even a bed. The light weight pieces are noted as being appropriate for kids between the ages of 4-14. For $228, a backer gets enough pieces to build a chair, and the building guide. Expected delivery is September 2014.

Categories
Toys

Curiositoys takes tikes beyond gift boxes and wrapping paper

The Premise. You know how at Christmas or on their birthday, kids often play with the box in which their new toy came and the wrapping paper more than the toy? Although, it does seem that they eventually get around to the toy that came with all of that. Even when parents get a new appliance, the kids will play with the box for days, sometimes even weeks.

The Product. If it’s boxes they want, then The Curiositoys can arrange for boxes to be what they get. The one drawback to the boxes that come with the toys or appliances is that they break down pretty quickly. The Curiositoys are touted as being much more durable, and that they are white encourages kids to tap into their artistic abilities and draw on them…rather than your home’s walls. However, it’s not indicated what materials are used to make The Curiositoys more durable. The toys are also supposed to be environmentally friendly. Items presently a part of the campaign include a small geometric figure, mailbox and curio pod.

The Pitch. The video for the $130,000 campaign makes some interesting claims. The Curiositoys are something of a kid magnet that allows parents to actually have friends over without multiple interruptions because the kids are fully preoccupied with their toy. Don’t video games do that? Oh, right. This gets them out from in front of the TV. Curiositoys is made of recycled materials; it is also supposed to inspire creativity – kind of like those empty boxes in which their digital and electronic toys come.

The Perks. There are a whopping 17 tiers from which backers may choose. The first level that includes a full-size Curiositoy, the Curiositoy Mailbox, is $34. Expected delivery is June 2014. For $68, a backer gets the Curiositoy curio pod and expected delivery of September 2014.

The Potential. Kids who enjoy arts and crafts or who mom and dad just think need some time away from their gadgets will be ideal for this toy. It’s also possible that grade school teachers, preschool teachers, daycares, and faith-based organizations that cater to children may also be interested in these items. Can’t wait? An item that is somewhat similar to the curio pod and  would be the Box Creations Corrugated Play House, which comes with markers.