It’s that time of year again, when kids will be out of school for the summer and parents everywhere are looking for ways to keep them entertained without screens. But smart moms and dads can use technology as a launching point to get kids outside. And these games that start their adventures by using tech can be fun for people of all ages to play together.
"Assassin" is a simple game of elimination that has been around a long time. The mission is to “assassinate” a target. Players run around trying to hit their assigned target (usually with water or Nerf bullets) until only one player is left. In the past, a moderator has set up a game, mixed names up in a bowl, and then assigned the targets. As each player tries to eliminate their target (with Nerf guns, water pistols or whatever weapon you agree upon), the moderator had to keep track of who got their target, and then assign them a new one until only one player was left standing.
A few years ago, three college students decided to make it a little more simple by digitizing the process, and The Assassin Game website was born. Now anyone can become an administrator of a game. Simply enter your information and decide on some rules. You can make them up from scratch, type them in on your own or follow prompts that ask you to choose things like time restrictions, location restrictions, throwing rules and safe locations. The administrator then receives an email with a game code which new players will have to enter if they want to join the game.
Each player also creates a pin that the website uses to validate assassinations. When you kill your target, your next target will be that person’s target. Make sense? When a player eliminates their target, they must ask for that person’s pin to enter on the website. When the assassin enters their target’s pin, they will then receive the name of their new target. The website keeps track of the rules for each game, all assassinations and has a game and global leaderboard. Players have participated in more than 4,500 games in their schools, neighborhoods and friend groups. There has been some concern about kids causing suspicion among neighbors when playing the game. The answer to this is to make clear rules on the website and make sure everybody knows about them and follows them. If you have a skittish neighborhood, maybe you only allow play during daylight, or only in certain locations. It’s up to the administrator to decide those details.
Amateur sleuths across the globe have the chance to play detective for a day with the CluedUpp app. This British games company is making stops across the U.S. and Europe this year, and teams of detectives can use the app to solve a murder mystery. For $46 per team of two to six players, the app lets you know the starting point and shows the whereabouts of witnesses. When teams locate the virtual witnesses, the app recognizes the location and asks the team trivia questions to unlock the witness testimonies. Teams use these clues to eliminate suspects until they figure out whodunit. This is a totally self-guided game, but the company expects around 100 teams to participate (and encourages dressing up), so it’s likely the pretend detectives will run in to one another. Kids are free up to age 16 and don’t count as team members. Prizes await those who finish first, have the best costumes, best team name and team photo. Medals will also go to the best little detective for the kids, and even the best K9 for doggy detectives.
And with the release of the film "Pokémon Detective Pikachu" this month, the Pokémon Go mobile AR game by Niantic is getting new life. For the rest of this week, players will have the chance to see Detective Pikachu in the game and he may jump in on a photobomb. Other Pokémon featured in the film will show up in the game more frequently for a limited time. This game was all the rage when it was first released two years ago. If you haven’t played in a while, or if your kids were too young, it could be time to give it another try.
Click here to watch Amy Iverson discuss this on KSL 5's "Studio 5."