Disney themed Taboo cards

Taboo is one of my favorite board games. It's fast paced. You get to play as part of a team. The outcome is not dependent on a dice roll or wheel spin.  It develops quick thinking, creativity, and vocabulary.  Best of all, it's a game where kids can hold their own with their adult opponents or teammates -- even though adults (usually) have the advantage of a greater vocabulary, kids can exploit their own shared vocabulary (Jammy: "How do you describe the black Maserati that we see on the way to school?" 3Po: "Sick!") and shared experiences (3Po: "What is MooMoo the cow's favorite food in Webkinz World?" Jammy: "Banana pudding!").

Some Thoughts on Videogame Violence

Last week we were invited by Ubisoft, a gaming software company, to their San Francisco office to check out their lineup of games for Nintendo DS before they are released this holiday season. They mentioned role-playing games and nurturing animal games that boys and girls can play, so I was intrigued. Besides, I can never resist a sneak peek, so off we went.

We were greeted at the lobby by this:

I have to say, this made me nervous. 3Po and Jammy were grinning from ear to ear at the sight of Commando Ubisoft, with his fatigues and nightvision goggles and mysterious-looking doodads strapped to his waist. My heart sank. I hope they don't end up trying out war games.

Until recently, I've been pretty negative about video games. Now that my kids have tried out video gaming systems with an educationaal slant (like the ones for the Leapster and Didj), I've loosened up a bit. Now I consider video games as a form of screen time, in the same category as tv watching, dvd watching and online gaming. It's entertainment that can help kids unwind and relax, and it's harmless in moderation, especially when the games have an educational component. These days my kids get 20 minutes to 1 hour of screen time per day. The length usually depends on how much screen time they've had in the recent past, how much homework or chores they have to do that day -- and I'll admit, how much time I need to work undisturbed. It's up to my kids to choose what form of screen time they want to engage in that day.

But we have much experience with video gaming systems for older kids like the PSP or Nintendo DS. And I still dislike videogames with violence in them. It doesn't matter that kids say they know the difference between the virtual world and the real world, that they would never consider spraying a whole field of people with bullets, or trashing someone else's car. I just think that repeated exposure to that kind of violence desensitizes them to the real thing, and when aggression is glamorized the way it is in violent videogames, kids might become more likely to react with aggression in real life situations because they have absorbed the message that it's what cool people or badasses do.

Fortunately, I'm happy to say that Commando Ubisoft did not make an appearance that day, and that Ubisoft actually has an excellent selection of nonviolent games for kids that emphasize exploration, strategy, creativity and critical thinking rather than mindless violence. And no, the games were not lame-o offerings that would put a 4 year old to sleep after a couple of days. The two games that 3Po and Jammy played definitely look like they would satisfy my young boys' obsession with battles and combat for quite a while -- because what could be more violent and destructive than dragons and dinosaurs?

I'm not naive, and my glasses are not rose-colored. I get that boys like to act out aggression and role-play good versus evil. I know combat can be rough, but at least in the two combat games that 3Po and Jammy played -- Battle of Giants: Dragons and Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs -- the violence stays firmly within a formal combat arena, and it stays firmly in the fantasy/nature realm. Dragons and dinosaurs tear each because it's in their nature to fight, and there's no question of extending this aggressive behavior towards humans. Also, both games encourage critical and strategic thinking when they allow the boys to customize their dragons or dinosaurs to emphasize certain traits that will help them win battles. Based on the 3Po and Jammy's limited experience with these games (they played for just over an hour, and most of that time was spent finding their way around since they have next to no experience playing with the Nintendo DS), I think it's a level of violence I'm comfortable with at this age.

One last point: I'm glad that Ubisoft understands that I'm not the only parent with these concerns. They're trying to get parents informed and engaged on their new Parent's Corner, a website where parents can find all kinds of information related to Ubisoft's games and video gaming in general. For example, parents can ask questions , learn about gaming safety, share experiences, and get age-appropriate recommendations for videogames for their kids. All in all, we had a lot of fun trying out Ubisoft's latest games, and I left feeling more comfortable about easing my kids (and myself) into the world of video gaming knowing that there are games out there that I feel comfortable letting my kids play.

We received sample videogames to try out, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own. Stay tuned for more Bonggamom Finds reviews of Ubisoft's lineup of Nintendo DS games for the holidays, featuring games from their Imagine, Petz and StyleLab lines.

Of Fish and Faces

Over the weekend, we were reviewing the Rules of Go Fish! before starting to play a hand:

Pea: So first, you ask everyone if they have the card that you want, like you say, Does anyone have a 5, and if they have it, they have to give it to you.

Me: And if no-one has the card you asked for, you have to Go Fish, right?

Jammy: And you say, Go Fish!

Pea: That's right. And then you have to pick a card from the pile in the middle. And what is it you have to say once you have four cards of the same kind and lay them down in front of you?

3Po: You say, In Your Face, Baby!

Mah-jongg memories

Have you heard? Family Game Night is back! It kind of makes sense, really; when your mortgage is under the water and your job prospects are shaky and a night out at GolfLand or the cinema can set you back $60, $70 or more, staying in and playing games is a fun, inexpensive way for families to bond.

That said, we don't have a Family Game Night tradition. Sure, we play games a lot, but we play "on demand", we don't have a regular weekly hour set aside. Maybe it's because my kids are still young. Family entertainment site Time to Play has a great list of games for game night, but almost all of them are geared for ages 8 and up (and the thought of playing Candyland or Whack-A-Mole for one hour straight makes me queasy). Or maybe because to me the term "Game Night" means one and only one game: mah-jongg.

Like many Filipinos, I love mah-jongg. It's kind of a family passion; everyone in my dad's family plays. One of my aunts likes to tell a story of going into labor during her weekly mah-jongg game. Her cousins / opponents repeatedly urged her to head for the hospital, but she refused because she was just starting to accumulate enough tiles for a high-scoring run. My maternal grandmother went to her regular mah-jongg game every single weekday for decades (now that she's ninety she has cut back to once a week or so). I grew up attending lunches and dinners where the grownups never failed to unfold the mah-jongg tables after dessert. My paternal grandmother taught me, my siblings and my cousins to play when I was 13 or 14. It must be in the blood, because we were hooked. Pretty soon we were unfolding our own tables. In my college years, mah-jongg nights with my cousins often turned into overnights.

Fast forward to 2009. All my aunts and uncles and cousins are in the Philippines, and I'm here. My sister and her husband are quite nearby, but you need 4 people to play (to make a "quorum", as we say). I've taught Alfie the basics and he seems to enjoy it, but without my family around to coach me, I tend to forget the finer points of scoring. I haven't played mah-jongg in years,and I'm not really looking for other people to play with. So now I guess it wasn't really the game that hooked me, just the enjoyment I got from being with my extended family. I miss my aunts walking behind us, looking at our tiles and giving us pointers. I miss their excited squeals when it looked like one of us was about to score big. I miss the bluffs and threats we'd trade to try to psych each other out. I miss howling with laughter at the silly superstitions (Don't sit beside Lia for the next game, she's lost the last 4 games so she's got "stinky" hands!). And I'd love for my kids to have those kinds of memories -- and maybe, that's what Game Night is really about.

Maybe it's time to start building memories for my own kids. We'll start with Candyland (maybe we can call it Family Five-Minute Game Time instead of Family Night). Over the years my kids' game repertoire will grow, just like mine did -- and hopefully one day I'll find myself shouting Pung and Chow right alongside them.