TechyDad

Growing up, I loved Rubik’s Cubes, but I had a horrible secret: I couldn’t solve one. I could get one side all solved, but that was it. After that, I was just helplessly twisting and turning until another color was solved… and the first one was scrambled. Still, I loved spending time twisting and turning them trying to figure it out.

A while back, I won a Rubik’s TouchCube and I loved it. It was just like the Rubik’s Cube, only with touch-sensitive pads. You could have the cube self-solve too. This was cool, but it wound up not getting used often. The problem was two-fold. First, I still couldn’t solve it on my own. Secondly, I didn’t have much time to spend trying to solve it.

These problems turn into advantages with the Rubik’s Slide. Mine happened to come without a manual. While this mistake was quickly fixed, I was able to figure it out in a few minutes. You basically have six possible moves: Slide Up, Slide Down, Slide Left, Slide Right, Twist Left or Twist Right.

Meanwhile, the “playing surface” has been simplified. No longer do you need to get 54 colors into the appropriate locations along a cube. Instead, you need to get up to 9 lit up squares (either red or blue) to match the appropriate pattern. Not only is this easier, but there are three modes of play: Easy, Medium and Hard. You can find the level that suits you best and play that one without feeling like the puzzles are way too difficult.

Rubik’s Slide has two modes of play. In Free Play, you solve puzzle after puzzle for as long as you like. In Lightning Round, you solve 10 puzzles as quickly as you can.

Here’s a video I shot of me solving a few Easy Free Play puzzles. (It looks more difficult than it is because I was videoing with one hand and twisting/sliding with the other.)

This is definitely a fun addition to the Rubik’s family and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s great for involved puzzle solving sessions or a quick game here or there. I’ll even be bringing mine to BlogHer just in case I get the urge to solve a puzzle or two.

Disclaimer: I recieved a complimentary Rubik’s Slide to review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own.

JSL and NHL love superheroes. From Batman to Iron Man to Spiderman to Ben 10, they love watching and acting out the exploits of various superheroes. So they both loved it when I introduced them to Hero Machine. They each had a blast creating their own superhero identity.

First, JSL made himself into Fire Guy:

He was quite adament that Fire Guy be blue and have a cape. Those were non-negotiable. I’m guessing his powers include the ability to throw fire around.

Next up was NHL. He came up with Disco Man:

When I asked why "Disco", NHL replied that it was because of his eyes. They looked like disco balls. (I pointed out a disco ball one time when we bowled a month ago. Good recollection!) He also declared that Disco Man had the power "to die sharks." I’m not sure how useful that power is in the day-to-day life of a super hero. If there’s an evil Shark Dude villian out there, he’d better steer clear of Disco Man.

Of course, I couldn’t let them have all the fun. I designed a superhero for myself and B. Now, we’re a superhero family!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe some evil needs to be vanquished! TechyDad, away!

The GeekDad Book Giveaway has ended.  I used Random.org to pick a winner among the 25 entries.

The winner is comment #8 made by Kevin(The DADvocate).  I’ve e-mailed him and he has 48 hours to accept his prize.  Congrats to Kevin and thanks to everyone who entered.  For everyone who didn’t win, you can purchase the book for under $10 on Amazon.com.  It is even eligible for free shipping if you spend $25 or more.

While leafing through Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share by Ken Denmead (enter to win it at my giveaway here), I picked “Build Your Own Board Game” as the project NHL and I should work on first.

First, we figured out the basic layout of our game. Luckily, Geek Dad supplies a game board layout to use and some pointers. We purchased two packs of index cards (unlined) for 67 cents each. We also bought 3 dice (1 six sided, 2 twelve sided) from a local comics shop for $1.50 and posterboard from a dollar shop (2 for $1). The only other piece we needed were game pieces. For this, I raided a giant set of Legos to obtain 4 Lego figures. The total cost of our materials: under $4 (including tax).

The layout of the game was going to be this: Each player would start with 20 health pieces. On their turn, a player would roll the 6 sided die and more their figure. If the player had under 20 health pieces, they would recover the amount that the die showed (up to 20). If the player landed on a green spot, they’d pick a movement card. If they landed on a red spot, they’d pick a monster card.

Here’s where the main gameplay would begin. Each monster card has two numbers: the color and type of monster. The player would need to add those numbers to get the monster’s health pieces. For example, red is 5 and dragons are 7. So a red dragon is 5+7 or 12. Once a battle begins, the player would roll both 12 sided die. The smaller number would be subtracted from the larger number. (Can you tell NHL likes math?) If the red die had the larger number, the player loses the resulting health pieces. If the blue die has the larger number, the monster loses health pieces. This repeats until one of the two is dead (no more health pieces). If the monster is dead, the player continues on next turn. If the player is dead, he moves back to Start and gets 10 health pieces back.

I cut some index cards in half and drew hearts on them. NHL colored them in and we had our health pieces.

The movement cards simply had my writing. The monster cards had my writing and a drawing (done by me) of the monster which, again, NHL colored in. I also printed the board game across multiple pieces of paper. We’ll glue that onto poster board, have NHL color it in and then possible laminate it.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Have you ever created your own board (or other kind of) game?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #45

Thanks to winning a contest over at Dad of Divas, I was able to check out the new book Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share by Ken Denmead. I was instantly overwhelmed, but in a very good way.

The book recognizes that not every dad is your stereotypical sports-loving, beer-drinking man. Some of us like Star Wars, role playing games, and other things of a geeky inclination. Since dads love sharing their favorite activities with their kids, the question becomes: How do we share our love of science, technology and other geeky subjects with our kids? Sharing some items might be easy. You can sit down with your kid and have a Star Wars marathon, but others might not be as easy to share. Chances are, a 7 year old won’t quite understand or have the patience for an adult-level role playing game.

Read more…

I reviewed an infrared laser BBQ thermometer a few days ago. While testing it out, my geeky gene activated (as it should when one plays with a laser with a digital display) and I was reminded of a mask. Why a mask? Well…..

Yes, that’s me…. wearing a shark mask… with a laser "attached" to my head. And yes, I know I’m a geek!

As a father, I have many responsibilities. I go to work Monday through Friday to pay our bills. I take the kids on excursions to let B get some quiet time. I cook dinners. I even change pull-ups and wipe rear ends. My most enjoyable fatherly responsibility, however, is training them in the geeky arts.

NHL already likes Star Wars. Both he and JSL love Looney Tunes. JSL will even, when prompted with “Rabbit Season” say “Duck Season! Fire! PSSSH!” (The sound of him imitating Elmer Fudd’s gun.) They also both love computers. NHL will beg to be allowed to learn more about computers and JSL has come to expect being able to see his grandparents via Skype whenever he wants.

On the superhero front, NHL watches Batman The Brave and the Bold with me and wants to know everything about all the heroes and villians. He gets especially excited when the heroes begin beating up the villians. (Perhaps too excited, but that’s a topic for another blog post.) He’s also watched Super Hero Squad, Spectacular Spiderman and X-Men: Evolution with me to get him into Marvel’s heroes and villians.

Read more…