MARBLEHEAD - The first signs that the Cohen family enjoys games come in the pitching mound and two basketball hoops stationed in the cul de sac in front of their house. Indoors, they enjoy pool, table tennis, pinball, foosball, and air hockey. They play Monopoly, Clue, and Bananagrams. Croquet? They've had a set for about 15 years. It lies unopened in the backyard shed. Bocce? The sealed box is in the garage.
Here was a family ready to explore a new generation of backyard games that are part of what the Toy Industry Association calls one of the major trends of 2009. With concerns about childhood obesity and youngsters spending too much time in front of a screen, the old admonishment to go outdoors and play carries added urgency. The result is plenty of company for croquet and horseshoes and badminton.
The other day Mark Cohen, three of his four sons, and two of his children's friends sampled five of the newer backyard games at the Globe's request. They tried Ladderball and Washer Toss, horsehoe variants that started as homemade tailgating games and are now available on the shelves of sporting goods stores. They tried a tag-the-target game called Hyper Dash and a twist on wiffle ball called Junk Ball. They tried Nerf Dart Tag.
"Toymakers are definitely looking to get kids up and moving," said toy association spokeswoman Julie Livingston. "There are a lot of really fun games that challenge kids to be physically active and involve outdoor play."
Throw in the bad economy and the rise of the "staycation," and the summer season ahead is ripe for backyard fun.
"At the end of the day, kids want to play and they enjoy competing," said Jim Silver, editor in chief of Timetoplay.com. "This will be a bigger category this year than ever before. Families are on tighter budgets. They're looking for backyard games because they're not taking the extensive vacations they had in past years."
Wild Planet opened 16 years ago selling items that encouraged children to discover nature, then branched into spy toys after noticing that children used their bird listening devices in secret-agent games. In 2007 the California company launched its first active game with Hyper Dash, an indoor-outdoor race that has players tagging brightly colored markers as instructed by an electronic voice command. It became Amazon's best-selling toy of 2008, and Hyper games is the fastest growing brand in Wild Planet's history. Now the firm is getting ready to launch its fourth active game, the Disney-licensed Mouse-ke-TAG.
Fundex, an Indiana purveyor of indoor games and pool games and jump ropes, entered the outdoor game arena in 2005 when it started manufacturing tailgate games. Sales of its tailgating games are up 20 percent this year, said Fundex vice president Randy Harter. Toys R Us has increased the variety of outdoor games on its shelves this year, says spokesman Bob Friedland. "What we're finding," he said, "is a lot of customers are looking for things they can entertain themselves with at home for the entire summer."
For Mark Cohen and his wife, Valerie, parents of five, games are an important alternative to television and Xbox. (They limit viewing of the former and don't own the latter.) Mark, a 44-year-old transportation company executive who just finished law school, also coaches two youth baseball teams.
"We're fairly competitive," he said, "and we like to play things against each other."
Valerie, 44, remembers playing croquet and other games with her family growing up.
"We like the games where they're interacting," she said. "I'd like them to be close as adults. If they play together and do things together it will keep them as a close family."
The task before Mark Cohen and sons and friends one sunny afternoon was to test drive five new backyard games. They opened boxes, assembled games, read instructions — then played.
THE CREW
Mark Cohen, 44Transportation company executive, 2009 graduate of Suffolk Law School, and Little League coach.
Harry Cohen, 13
Seventh-grader who plays baseball and basketball, participates in chess tournaments, and runs.
Sam Cohen, 11
Fifth-grader who likes baseball and basketball, and sings and plays keyboard in a rock band called the Phatheads.
Matthew Nightingale, 11
Fifth-grader and friend of Sam who plays baseball, basketball, and tennis, and enjoys cooking fried rice and omelets.
Eli Cohen, 8
Second-grader who likes baseball, basketball, football and Monopoly.
Olivia Schlanger, 12
Seventh-grade girl next door who loves tap, ballet, and all types of dance.
HYPER DASH
Imagine a cross between tag and the arcade game Whac-a-Mole. Instead of tagging other players, the object of this race is to "tag" a brightly colored marker at the direction of an electronic "Hyper Voice" command. Spread out the targets to create a playing field, start the clock by placing the bell-shaped "Hyper Dash unit" over a target, and follow the instructions. The fastest time wins. "Red." "Blue." "Red." Matthew finished the course in 14 seconds. "Red." "Blue." "Orange." Eli clocked in at 15 seconds. With four levels, special commands, the opportunity for team or individual play, and the chance to run around, Hyper Dash was a hit. "Lots of fun," Olivia declared. "Overall, it brought lots of smiles."
LADDERBALL
Ladderball is a cousin of horseshoes but with a "ladder" that resembles a vertical drying rack and bolas, or balls, linked by a short piece of rope. Set the two ladders 25 feet apart and toss three bolas, one at a time. Land one on the blue, or top, bar and earn 3 points. The red, or middle, bar is worth 2 points, and the white, or bottom, bar is 1 point. The first player or team to reach 21 points wins. On his first turn, Sam overshot two bolas; the third wrapped around the white bar, but, alas, fell to the ground. Zero points. The only one who displayed any real skill was Mark Cohen, so it's no surprise that the consensus among the children was that Ladderball is too difficult. "It was almost too hard to have fun," said Matt. Olivia offered this suggestion: "If you got more practice, it might become a family competition." Other suggestions? Set the ladders closer together or play for fewer than 21 points.
NERF DART TAG
Nerf Dart Tag is outdoor laser tag minus the maze. The two-player system includes two vests, two Nerf guns, two pairs of protective goggles, and 12 soft-tipped Nerf darts. The object is to land a dart on the opponent's vest in one of four one-on-one games. Buy additional sets, and team play is possible - and, the Marblehead crowd agreed, would probably be more fun. Other suggestions? A vest with targets front and back. And a gun that reloaded automatically. "The bullets were probably very easy to lose," Harry said, "and it's very hard to hit the target because they can just turn away."
WASHER TOSS
Washer Toss is another cousin of horseshoes. The object is to toss a washer into the cup in the middle of a box for 3 points or into the surrounding box for 1 point. Each player tosses four washers per turn. The first player or team to reach 21 points wins. Here the game testers encountered technical difficulty. They opened the Wild Sales set to find one cup unsecured. The cup in the second box was knocked loose when a washer struck its side. Here again, Mark Cohen displayed the most proficiency. "You should watch how I do it," he said. "I have it on my fingertips." Still the children had more success here than with Ladderball. "Washer Toss was fun, except it was kind of hard," Eli said. "Sometimes it bounced out of the box."
JUNK BALL
In this baseball-loving family, Junk Ball entered the competition with most-favored-nation status. It's Wiffle ball with a movable red band that offers the possibility of pitching with holes open or holes closed. One side of the ball is scuffed, the other smooth. Throw overhand, holes open with scuff marks on the right for a screwball. Want a fastball? Throw overhand with holes closed. The home plate and pitcher's rubber in this "Home Run Challenge" set added little, the game testers said, but the bat and ball won kudos. "It's baseball pretty much," Sam said, "and baseball is my favorite sport."
THE BOTTOM LINE
Junk Ball and Hyper Dash were the favorites. "I enjoy games where you run around," Olivia said. Mark Cohen saw potential in Ladderball. "We would definitely play Ladderball again," he said.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
