As far as the video kind, we're always looking for options we can either play with our kids, or at least play while our kids are around without scarring them for life. (I'm considering banning all Modern Warfare activity until the kids have been asleep an hour or more. Ahem.)
Nintendo's Wii Party game is now out and if you haven't spent a good, oh, 79 hours in a row playing it on family game night, you don't know what you're missing.
Wii Party is like Board Game 2.0, part rolling dice and moving squares, and part getting off your butt to pedal a flying bicycle, slalom ski, race through a path of grazing sheep or chop vegetables super fast using the controller to mimic the action. It's great for two people, but really it's at its best when you've got all four players live and in your living room so you're not using the computer-generated characters.
The House Party section is especially fun, as it actually has you passing the controller from person to person. And I love that some of the games are competitive, but some are collaborative, so we all work together towards a common goal. Like, say, beating Daddy.
I haven't gotten through all 80 games yet but so far, they're a blast. Our 3 year-old can play a few of the mini games along with us, and even if not, she just likes dressing up the Mii avatars and cheering for the coins and trophies won.
There's no fighting, no grenades, no sexuality; just wheel spinning, coin collecting, a Vegas-y 1960s soundtrack, and a weird Humpty Dumpty looking dude emcee-ing the whole thing in gibberish. At least in our household, what's not to love? -Liz
Find the new Wii Party game from Nintendo online at our affiliate Amazon



