***We received a product sample in hopes we would share our honest experiences here on the blog. Photos copyright Momma Told Me Blog 2015.
Momma Told Me: Don't touch the floor, it's hot lava!
When I was a young girl I liked to rough house. Nearly all of my friends through grade school were boys and I often was caught leading extravagant pretend play scenarios of cops and robbers, secret agents, and super heroes. We'd turn an ordinary yard into a mine-field or river of lava, the neighbor's dog into a dragon, and fallen pine cones into grenades. Climbing trees, camouflaging in bushes, and a general battle between good versus evil often ensued without a single toy or physical prop. Yes, I remember those days- but the children of today's generations, well, they seem to have a harder time disconnecting from their smartphones, tablets, and gaming systems.
Once a week we like to take our play group outside. Yes, we're fortunate enough here in Southern California that we can still enjoy mild afternoon weather in December- but today's game can be equally enjoyed indoors. In fact, that's one of the selling points for us on one of 2015's hottest games, Chrono Bomb. While this creative 'Spy' play game has a sophisticated battery operated element, it can be enjoyed just as much with absolutely no electronics at all, indoors or outdoors, with 1 child or 7 children.
What you'll find included with Chrono Bomb is a base 'Bomb' timer (that resembles a bundle of TNT with an LCD display, a Sensor Clamp, 4 clip guide hooks, a deck of 8 Secret Agent gear cards, and 2 Mission Cards. From the sensor and sensor clamp nearly 28' of guide string will feed, which is intended to be looped around the hooks on each of the provided clamps. Clamp the hooks at various heights to various pieces of furniture and create an imaginary string 'laser' field for young spies to navigate.
When we first saw this demonstrated, by a very nimble professional performer, at Sweet Suite 2015, we were skeptical of the ease of set up and re-play value. When we got our sample game we were again a bit overwhelmed- but the kids were eager to begin playing immediately. For the sake of honestly, despite two sets of brand new batteries and 2 adults initially setting
Chrono Bomb up, we were never able to get the wire to trigger the 'countdown' feature on the timer. The game is intended to be played in such a manner that simply brushing into one of the 'laser' wires will remove time from the countdown timer on the TNT/bomb, but we were unable to produce this effect nomatter how we leveled the trigger/timer or the feed wire.
As a result, the game moved outdoors- where we could have more freedom to play with the setup, and where the kids were still told their time would be reduced if they touched the wires. In all honesty, they never noticed they weren't having time deducted, because they were so engulfed in the activity of navigating wires and hunting for cards.
Essentially, what worked for us, was to create an imaginary 'spy' space outside in the yard using some bamboo gardening poles, old kid's play furniture from the backyard, and some random elements we'd introduce or add with each reset (a hammer, some books, a plant, etc.) The real play-ability value comes in with the included Chrono Bomb 'gear' cards, which you can creatively stash high and low throughout your spy field. While we kept the 'laser' strings in the sane configuration for all 7 kids, through 2 runs a piece, we played around with hiding the cards to make each run different.
I'd highly suggest Chrono Bomb as a sleepover or party game, as the child/agent preparing to run the spy field was blindfolded during the game's 'reset,' the kids who were onlooking played a part in giving verbal clues and encouragement as they had the chance to help hide the cards. No matter who was playing the spy, or who was watching the game, every child was excited and engaged. We encouraged agents outside the playing field to use clues such as colors, textures, and hot/cold/warm to help guide the child navigating the spy field through to the next card. Not only did we notice the children building dexterity and coordination when twisting through and under the guide wires, but creative thinking in searching for the hidden spy gear as well.
While we were unable to get the guideline to subtract time when hit- the decision to move the game outdoors and forego this feature really gave us a much broader area to play with and a more engaging/evolving playing field. The timer still counted down and timed each player as they collected all 8 cards- so we definitely had a competitive sense, but there was a little less anxiety over touching the wires- and more of a focus on creative thinking and having fun. Sure, the game never quite worked as intended for us- but it turned out to be an afternoon of fun every single child was engaged in from start to finish. In the end, those really are the best types of games! You can buy Chrono Bomb at a variety of mass retailers nationwide, including
Toys R' Us. Our 'secret agents' ranged in age from 4 to 11.
Did you ever pretend to be a secret agent as a child? What was one of your favorite pretend play activities as a kid?
What Daughter Says: Bring imaginative play back in style with a secret agent game that blends Twister and spy games.
