By Andrew Liszewski
Oh sure, all the glitz of E3 might make the latest games look like tons of fun, but are they really? Probably yes. But in my old age I’ve also come to appreciate the simpler things in life, even when it comes to electronic gaming. And although it looks almost too simplistic, I think this ‘Thumb Stadium Electronic Game Kit’ available from ThinkGeek could actually be quite a bit of fun.
The build-it-yourself kit is just $19.99, and that’s probably because you don’t have to pay for some assembly line worker to put it together. But that also means it comes with the satisfaction of a job well done, if and when you actually get it to work. And besides a few wires and chips, the Thumb Stadium only has 2 buttons and a set of 3 red and green LEDs which allows you to play 1 of 4 different games including;
Game 1 – ThumbWar™
The object of ThumbWar is simple: press while the other player is pressing. If you do, you get a point.Game 2 – SlapJack™
During SlapJack, Thumb Stadium randomly flashes the center LED red or green. Be the first to press when center is green and get a point. Don’t press if it isn’t green or the other player gets a point.Game 3 – Jai Alai™
Center lights up ~ quickly press to “catch” your color. Press again to “throw” to the other player who has to catch on time and throw back. The time to catch gets shorter each throw.Game 4 – Reflexy™
Reflexy is a one-player game. The object is to quickly press the button that matches the color in the center LED. You go until you miss or are too late. The time to react gets shorter each turn. After the game, your score is flashed ~ Center = x10, Red LED = x1. Press the Red Side Button three times to restart.
Now I’m not sure why it needs 3 x AAA batteries, that seems a bit much given what little it does, and no matter how entertaining you find it I would caution against bringing it along on your next flight because I guarantee you won’t be making your plane.
