The Preamble
Here in New York, the weather is getting colder, the sun is setting sooner and it’s getting more and more difficult to get the little troops outside. As the parent of a very active two year old, I know from experience it can be a challenge to keep them engaged when your options are limited and they’ve grown bored with just about every single toy you have in your house. I had one day, a few weeks ago, where this was especially true, but found a solution!
Running out of creative ideas that could potentially peak his interest, I vaguely remembered a computer software that Circuit City used to sell. It that would allow children to tap away at the keyboard and with each key press a corresponding sound, image and color would be generated. I couldn’t remember what the software was called, but I figured there must be something similar for my Xbox. I decided to check out the Xbox Live Indie market channel for any similar content.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that was exactly like what I was looking for — which I actually find surprising, you would think there would be a bigger market for apps like this — but I did come across a few games that Logan really seemed to enjoy and kept his interest. And all for less than the price of a cup of coffee — each games cost $1.
The Games
I tried a wide array of game off of the Indie channel, but the ones that really seemed to hold Logan’s attention were:
Aquarium HD
Aquarium HD
Aquarium HD, essentially, turns your television into an aquarium. It has a ridiculously simple control scheme: One button drops food from the top of the aquarium, sending fish scurrying to the the top of the screen to feed, while another button “taps the glass” of the aquarium, scattering the fish in a variety of directions.
Additionally, you have the option to change the aquarium’s styles and background images. You’re also given the ability to control the type and quantity of fish present in the tank.
Read More About Aquarium HD at Xbox.com.
Fireplace
Fireplace
To be honest, I’m not even sure why this held onto Logan’s attention as much as it did. Fireplace is an animated version of one of those log burning videos that you can buy in lue of an actualy fireplace. Outside of changing the mantle and grate, there is almost little to no interaction with the application. However, just changing the scenery seemed to be enough to keep Logan glued to it for a while.
Graphically, the game doesn’t offer much — this fire isn’t going to fool anybody. However the sound of the fire burning is dead on. If you were to light a “fireplace” scented candle, crank up the volume on your TV and close your eyes, it might make a nice mental vacation.
Read More About Fireplace at Xbox.com.
Fireworks HD
Fireworks HD
You’ll need to be careful to find the correct game as they are multiple fireworks themed games available through the Indie Games channel. I tried each one, and all save this this one are very poorly executed.
Fireworks is actually a lot of fun and probably the game that Logan spent the most time with — and I’ll be honest, I spent some time playing it too. Each colored button on the remote corresponds with the available firework’s colors, while pressing up and down the on joystick respectively increases and lowers the frequency of the firework’s launching.
Adding to the effect is a decent soundtrack of explosion noises, invisible spectator’s who “ooh” and “ahh” at the show, and the fact the game makes use of the remote rumble feature everytime a firework explodes. You’re also given the ability to change the background image, setting the location of your firework display, but most of the images available only seem to “wash out” the explosions.
Read More About Fireworks HD at Xbox.com.
So those are my picks for simple games to keep little hands busy. If anybody else has other suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
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Boom Boom Rocket is pretty awesome. It looks like it may be similar to Fireworks HD, probably better scenery, but Boom Boom Rocket also has shapes that appear with the explosions too. The soundtrack is a collection of techno classical music, and it full of awesome. So awesome that I told someone that if I ever found the soundtrack, I would buy it instantly. One day I found it on Amazon.com and acted so impulsively that you would think it’s the last copy on earth. It’s really fun, but it may be pretty similar to Fireworks HD.
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Boom-Boom-Rocket/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8025841086a
I guess it’s worth pointing out that Boom Boom Rocket isn’t an Indie game
Still, it’s a great game. The draw of the indie games is that most of them are $1. If for some reason Logan loses interest in the game rather quickly, I’m not out too much.
I’ve found a couple indie games that toddlers can do: One is called “A Game for Alexander” which is really simple. The red, green and blue buttons change the color of the screen (and say “blue!” or whatever color is pressed), the Y/yellow button makes fart noises. FART NOISES! Brilliant!
Another is called “The Frog Game” (something like that). You’re a frog and you jump between two lily-pads eating flies. Really simple, and my 3.5 y/o really loves it when she gets a fly.
The last one is Tower Blox Deluxe. One button controls the dropping of a block on a stack of other blocks. Kind of like virtual lego tower building, but with just one button, which is nice.
Hey Spencer,
Thank for passing these along! I’m always on the look out for new activities for the little guys.