We've had a lot of fun over the last few years playing with some great toys created by WowWee like the MiPosaur, Minion MiP Turbo and Untamed Fingerlings. So we are excited that WowWee is jumping into expanding their product lineup to include games! Their first game is on store shelves now at Target and is based upon one of my wife's favorite television show → (IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS.
(IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS is a hidden-camera tv series, which also recently hit movie theaters as a feature film, where a comedy troup goes out in public and says weird and crazy things or engage in slapstick routines towards unsuspecting people. Troup members are assigned undercover challenges where they have to get somebody to accomplish a zany task. If a Joker is unsuccessful than they have to receive "punishment" which is participating in a goofy activity that really embarrasses them. As if you didn't think the challenges they lost weren't embarrassing enough!
Now you can transform your own dinner party or family gathering into an episode of (IMPRACTICAL JOKERS). Available now at Target stores is the (IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS GAME - BOX OF CHALLENGES. Meant for ages 17+ for 3-10 players it includes 400 game cards for party hosts to act out (IMPRACTICAL JOKERS) style improv comedy with friends and family. A great way to add some funny to the fun of a party!
So do you think you got what it takes to be one of the Jokers? Now’s your chance to put yourself to the test with the (IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS GAME - BOX OF CHALLENGES from WowWee. Try pulling off undercover challenges on friends the get everyone involved in this 3-phase game. Phase 1: Mess with unsuspecting friends and family. Phase 2: Match uncomfortable scenario cards with hysterical action cards. Phase 3: The Punishment.
WARNING: This game contains challenges of graphic stupidity for players to complete to embarrass each other at home. Do not attempt with strangers! Are you up to the challenge and prepared to accept punishment? If so pick up (IMPRACTICAL) JOKERS GAME - BOX OF CHALLENGES from WowWee exclusively at your local Target store or at target.com
My kids had a day off school and instead of going on a road trip we decided to have a stay-cation adventure without leaving the house. We had a day of fun playing around with games, toys and some special effects that transported us back to the Mesozoic Era. The twins donned some masks that wholesalehalloweencostumes.com sent our way and wore their favorite dinosaur t-shirts to put them in the spirit to have a roaring good time.
DINOSAUR DECORATIONS
We decorated our place to look like Jurassic Park with some help from ATMOS FX. Utilizing their digital special effects, you can display images on your television, project them on walls or hang see-through sheets of material to create holograms in entryways and windows. Their dinosaur encounter collection allows Brontosaurus, Raptors, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex to tromp around a space.
As the family competed in a game of Jurassic World: Volcano Escape, engaged in a match of the dinosaur edition of Top Trumps, and played around with Fingerlings Untamed Raptors from WowWee, we had an impressive backdrop of rotating dinosaur scenes being shown on our tv screen. These dinosaurs moved about within a landscape meant to seem as if you are viewing them while taking a trek through a prehistoric wilderness. They also bark, chirp and roar adding sound to the visual imagery.
Show dinosaur encounter images on television screens through a DVD player or by inserting a USB drive into the TV. Or you can also use the ATMOS FX projector to display these images on a wall. A great way to add some temporary decorations to a room for a themed get together. We had raptors all over the place during our dinosaur fun day!
You can also cover your windows with plastic screening to display ATMOS FX images on them. How amazing would it be to look out the window and see a dinosaur walking by? Place the project outside your home and you can make it look like dinosaurs are roaming around outside your house. Another great way to do some interior decorating with ATMOS FX special effects.
The dinosaur encounter collection also has images with the landscape backdrops cut out that just show the dinosaurs with a transparent background. Why would they do that? Because by placing a clear coating over a door or a window you can create holograms of the dinosaurs. Project the images from inside onto your windows and your neighbors will think dinosaurs are inside your house. Place some screening across your porch and guests can be greeted by a T-Rex at your front door.
Hey look at this! Using the ATMOS FX hologram feature you can also make it look like dinosaurs are stomping around your house with you too. Another great way to decorate your place.
In addition to dinosaurs there are also ATMOS FX digital decorations with Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's and Valentine's Day themes. ATMOS FX special effects are a great way to transform anyplace into an impressive space for having a fantastic time in. For more information about ATMOS FX digital decorations and gear head over to atmosfx.com.
VOLCANO ESCAPE
Ever played Parcheesi? Volcano Escape is a dinosaur themed variation of the classic Parker Brothers board game, which itself is an adaption of the game Pachisi which originates from medieval India. Volcano Escape is based upon the 2018 blockbuster film Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom. In this game, just like in the movie, players need to rescue dinosaurs from Isla Nublar, home of the Jurassic World theme park, before the island is decimated by a volcanic eruption.
The goal of the game is to be the first player to evacuate four dinosaurs onto a boat that will whisk them off the island to safety. A custom die is used to determine how players' dinosaurs move around the game board. It has individually numbered sides from 1-5 with a sixth side featuring a picture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
During a player's turn, he or she rolls the die. If the die lands on a numbered side, a player either moves the amount of spaces shown on the die or can instead choose to use the turn to roll out that number of lava balls from the volcano. The volcano has a slide mechanism that randomly shoots balls to different parts of the game board. If one of a player's dinosaurs are hit by a lava ball it must return to its starting point on the game board.
If a player rolls a T-Rex they can place that non-player dinosaur someplace on the game board. No one can move past the T-Rex without rolling that dinosaur's image on the die. A player approaching the dinosaur has two turns to try and roll a T-Rex. If they don't their dinosaur moves back to Start. If they do they pass the T-Rex with their dinosaur. They can then choose to leave the T-Rex in the same spot, switch its position to another spot, or remove it from the Jurassic World: Volcano Escape game board.
The game involves some strategy but isn't too complicated to play. Plus spinning the lava balls through the volcano hoping to hit your opponents' dinosaurs is a blast. An entertaining game for all ages to play makes Jurassic World: Volcano Escape enjoyable for spending family time together.
TOP TRUMPS
Next we played the dinosaur edition of TOP TRUMPS. In this card game a themed deck is shuffled out to players. Themes range from animals and dinosaurs to popular television shows and movies. Each card has unique illustrations, trivia and statistics imprinted on it. The statistics on Top Trumps' cards are used to play out each round of the game.
The player to the left of the dealer picks one of his or her cards that has a statistic with a high number. Each player must toss a card into the middle of the group with the best number in that statistic category they can muster. Whoever has the highest number wins the round and adds all the cards from the middle into their own hand. The person who wins the cards then selects a new one for other players to try and trump. Rounds continue until only one person is left with all the cards.
TOP TRUMPS is both an entertaining card game and an educational tool. The illustrations, trivia and statistics all get kids learning while having fun. As children read through their cards they start thinking about the content contained upon them.
For example, each card in this deck has a different dinosaur shown on it with a description of the creature. From Brachiosaurus to Triceratops the Top Trumps deck contains 30 cards each highlighting a unique dinosaur. Every card though has the same five categories listed on it: height; weight; length; killer rating; intelligence and age. Cards have different numbers assigned to the various statistical categories. So players peruse their cards looking for the best numbers to beat the competition.
Let's play through a round with myself and the kids! I deal out ten cards to each player. So my daughter sitting to the left of me gets to toss out the first Trump card. She plays a Giganotosaurus calling out the category of WEIGHT which her card shows as 17,636 pounds. So my son and I need to try and trump her card with one that has a higher weight.
My son tossed out a Barosaurus with a weight stat of 88,819 pounds. He trumps her card so now the question is can I beat his? The highest weight any of the dinosaurs in my hand has is the 17,636 Pentaceratops. That won't beat my son's card so I toss in a Hypsilophodon that has all low stats including a weight of 110 pounds. The boy wins the round and adds all three cards that were played to his hand.
Winning the round, he then picks a new trump card and selects the category the rest of us need to trump. He selects Coelophysis and picks the age category that identifies how long ago the dinosaur lived on the Earth which is 225 million years ago. My daughter trumps his card with a Herrerasaurus that has an age of 230. Once again I don't have a card in my hand that trumps either if their cards. So I discard another one of my cards that has low scores throughout all the stat categories. The Protoceratops is only 72 million years old and its other stats are on the low side too.
My daughter wins Round 2! The twins now each have 11 cards and I have 8. The game continues until only one person is left holding all the cards. After about a half hour of playing, my son ended up as the TOP TRUMP winning the card game. After he finished his victory dance, the cards were reshuffled and we played a new game.
Beyond the statistics used to play the game, the cards on the dinosaur edition of Top Trump are filled with lots of other interesting information. Each card identifies either the country where a dinosaur's fossils were found or the museum where it is on display. There is a graphic that shows the height of a dinosaur versus that of a human adult and child.
My kids also really liked the Meat-O-Meter at the bottom of each card which identifies the dinosaur as a meat-eater, plant-eater or omnivore (eats both). Combine these features with the dinosaur trivia and illustrations also included upon the cards and you will have kids wanting to flip through the cards just to read them in addition to wanting to play the game.
Top Trumps is a wonderful game to play while spending family time together or for children to play with their friends. Along with Dinosaurs, other Top Trumps decks include Ancient Egypt, Bugs, Countries of the World, DC Comics, Harry Potter, Marvel's Avengers, Shopkins, Star Wars and World Soccer Stars. Overall there are more than 60 themed decks to choose from! Stop by toptrumps.us to check them all out for yourself.
UNTAMED RAPTOR
The kids also had a lot of fun playing with Fingerling UNTAMED toys from WowWee. These finger puppets are designed in the image of Raptor dinosaurs and will interact with you. These animatronic dinosaur toys will react when they are touched.
These UNTAMED raptors have swiveling heads, chomping jaws, and eyes that move giving the appearance that they are alive. Tapping your Raptor's nose or petting the back of its head will cause the dinosaur to give out a warning call, hiss or growl. Sometimes it will even roar!
Shake your Raptor up and down to get it to take a bite at you. Or lay your UNTAMED Raptor in the palm of your hands to get it to fall asleep. It may even start snoring.
Blow a breath of air into its face and you will make it sneeze. Beware though because if you place your hands on the dinosaur's head and butt it will also give out a toot. Dino fart!
If you have multiple Fingerling UNTAMED Raptors together, clap your hands. They will squawk a tune out for you in unison. There are seventeen UNTAMED Raptors to choose from. Take a trek over to untamed.wowwee.com to check out which ones you'd like to have your own dinosaur adventures with.
SNACKING ON DINOSAURS
After trying to rescue dinosaurs from an erupting volcano, trying to be Top Trump in a card game, and trying to tame some Fingerling Raptors, it was time for a snack. Sticking with our theme of the day, I heated up some Yummy Dino Buddies Chicken Breast Nuggets for the kids to fuel up on. It really was a day full of dinosaur fun!
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My kids went bananas for Fingerling Monkeys but they were even more excited to find out that there is now a dinosaur variety of these toys available from WowWee. Fingerlings Untamed are animatronic finger puppets in the image of Velociraptor dinosaurs. These Fingerlings interact with kids in a variety of ways that range from roaring to tooting in reaction to being touched.
Swiveling heads, chomping jaws, and eyes that move give Fingerlings Untamed the appearance that they are alive. Tapping your Velociraptor's nose or petting the back of its head will cause the dinosaur to give out a warning call, hiss or growl. Shaking your Raptor up and down may cause its head to swivel around allowing so the dinosaur's jaws can take a bite at you. Or lay your Raptor in the palm of your hands to get it to fall asleep. It may even start snoring.
Owning multiple Fingerling UNTAMED Raptors will let you play with them as a pack. Gather them together and clap your hands. They will squawk a tune out for you in unison.
There are seventeen UNTAMED Raptors to choose from. Take a trek over to untamed.wowwee.com to check out which ones you'd like to have for your very own dinosaur pet.
Any fan of the Despicable Me movies has dreamed about having their own troop of zany yellow creatures to serve them just like Gru does. Now you can bring home your very own Minion courtesy of WowWee. Some of my daughters favorite toys including CHiP the Robot Dog, Fingerlings, and MiPosaur have been manufactured by WowWee with the Minion MiP Turbo Dave Balancing Robot recently joining that list.
Minion MiP Turbo Dave brings one of the wacky minions characters from the Despicable Me movies to life in your own home. The toy incorporates a number of high tech features that provide for fun interactive experiences allowing your new loyal henchman to carry out all sorts of mischievous schemes for you. Accelerometers & gyroscopes allow your Turbo Dave to balance itself up right and whip around a room really fast while also allowing the robot to sense when it is being picked up. Capacitive sensor technology allows a Minion MiP to respond to being touched. Its sound detection system allows the robot to react to noises in its environment. Plus GestureSense allows your WowWee robot to respond to gesture-based interactions like swipes, claps, touch and more. So you can have lots of fun playing with Minion MiP Turbo Dave without the need of a remote control device!
Expanding upon the controllability of Minion MiP Turbo Dave there is also a free downloadable app for Android and Apple mobile devices and phones that allows the robot to be controlled via Bluetooth. There are a variety of games, like Fart Battle, you can play with Turbo Dave accessible through the app. The Minion MiP also has more than 140 sound effects taken from the Despicable Me and Minions movie soundtracks which are a hoot to hear! Additionally the app has a coding option within it that provides a STEM learning aspect to the toy by helping teaching kids, or adults, how to program the robot themselves.
There is a whole lot to discover about Minion MiP Turbo Dave and exploring all its abilities and options is exciting. Being able to interact and control Turbo Dave both through an app as well as by gestures, sound and touch really enhances the fun of its interactive capabilities. This toy has been very entertaining and everyone in our family has enjoyed playing around with it! It is recommended for ages 8+ and requires 4 AAA sized alkaline batteries that are not included with the toy. The batteries are the one negative aspect of the Minion MiP as it would have been nice to have a plug in rechargeable battery for all the use the toy gets from our family. Of course on the flip side of that critique is we've also like the product enough to be using it a lot.
To get some inspiration for the antics and adventures we wanted to engage in with our new WowWee toy, we watched MINIONS on Movies Anywhere before playing with it. Movies Anywhere simplifies your digital video collection by providing access in one place to movies from multiple studios purchased or redeemed through a variety of retailers. Redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-ray and DVD disc packages from participating studios or purchase a digital download of a movie directly from the Movies Anywhere app or website. Stream a movie to your television for a family movie night or download a film to watch by yourself on a mobile device. Watch your movie collection whenever and wherever you want with Movies Anywhere.
Bello!!! Who is in the mood to watch MINIONS now? A Geek Daddy has a digital download code for MINIONS courtesy of Movies Anywhere to give away. For a chance to win simply complete the entries within the rafflecopter form below before 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, December 17, 2017. One lucky winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Must be a United States resident over 18 years old to participate.
A special shout out to Costume SuperCenter who provided the costumes that allowed us to get into character for this post. Costume Super Center has a great selection of costumes for both kids and adults to choose from. Looking for a Santa suit for a Christmas party, a Jedi robe to go see Star Wars Episode VII in, or some Minions inspired outfits to add some fun to a family movie night party? A Geek Daddy gives CostumeSuperCenter.com a thumbs up for affordable prices, quality products, and dependable delivery of your purchases right to your front door in a timely manner. Costume Super Center can provide extra fun to any occasion!
** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **
My daughter went BANANAS when she saw the newest toy from WowWee -- Fingerlings! Some of her favorite toys have come from WowWee including MiPosaur and CHiP the robot dog. It looks like the toy company has impressed her again with these adorable robotic baby monkeys. Fingerlings will cling to your finger and are small enough you can take them with you wherever you go. Not only are they cute though but they'll actually interact with you! She's been playing with the Fingerling that WowWee provided A Geek Daddy to review nonstop since it arrived in the mail.
These cuddly baby monkeys actually come to life within your hands. Fingerlings can interact with you through more than 40 sounds and animations. Tap on a Fingerling's head to trigger a variety of different reactions. Hang them upside down by their tail and see what happens. They'll show affection when you pet them and fall asleep when rocked in the palm of your hand. Cup your hand in just the right spots and your Fingerling will even burp or fart! Clap your hands to get your robotic pet to sing or whistle to you.
Fingerlings Baby Monkeys debuted at stores this week and there are six to choose from. Each one is a different color and has its own unique personality: Bella (pink), Mia (purple), Sophie (white), Boris (blue), Zoe (turquoise) and Finn (black). Inspired by the rare finger monkey species that are placed at-risk whenever removed from their natural habitat, WowWee found a way to create a safe and playful way to provide every child with their own special fingertip hugging friend. To help preserve the real life monkeys, WowWee will be donating $1.00 for each of the robotic ones they sell in their first week of sales to WildAid, a nonprofit conservation group that aims to protect wildlife and end illegal animal poaching.
Based upon the reaction my daughter has had to Fingerlings Baby Monkeys and that they are reasonably priced at under $20 these are sure to be a hot toy this year for holiday gifts. These 5.5" tall toys are designed for children 5 years old and older and feature blinking eyes, turning heads, curly hanging tails, hands that grip and happy monkey sounds that I'm sure will delight kids. My daughter has been thrilled to play with Mia! Grab one now while you can find them on store shelves! They're available nationwide in the United States at Kmart, Toys R Us, Target, Walmart and other major toy retailers as well as on Amazon.com.
**A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **
My daughter has been fascinated with the notion of getting a robot dog. When she found out that I didn't have the technical prowess to actually build one she began searching store aisles during shopping trips hoping to buy one. She was ecstatic when I actually found her one and brought it home. We have a new addition to our family now -- CHiP, the robot dog, from WowWee.
My kids have had more fun playing with CHiP than with any other toy our family has had the chance to review for ageekdaddy.com this year. They've been playing fetch with it, having CHiP chase them around the house with its leash mode, and even doing yoga with their new robot dog. You have to check out the yoga poses it can do! Because of all the enjoyment it has brought my own children, it is a toy I highly recommend you consider as a gift to put under a Christmas Tree for a child in your life this holiday season.
CHiP comes with a recharger bed, smart ball, and smart band. Interacting with CHiP is what really gets children immersed
into playing with it and there are lots of ways to direct the toy as it responds to controls from an app for mobile devices, voice instructions, touch, signals from the smart ball and commands from the smart band. These interactions with CHiP provide hours and hours of fun.Vocal commands will have CHiP complete some impressive dog
tricks and robotic dance moves. Advanced touch sensors allow
CHiP to respond to being petted or having his nose nuzzled. The more CHiP is played with
the more the robot dog's behavior develops based upon engagement with its owner allowing
the toy to develop unique personality traits.
No two CHiP’s are ever completely alike based upon its cutting edge
artificial intelligence.
Wearing the smart band on your wrist allows CHiP to recognize and follow you. You can also use it to steer the robot dog around like a RC toy. Clicking a like button when CHiP performs in a manner that pleases allows the robot dog to be trained and helps shape its personality when it comes to interacting with you. The included smart ball combined with the
robot dog’s infrared vision allows the toy to play fetch, soccer and other
games with you.
The smart charger that
comes with him combined with the toy’s beaconsense capabilities allows CHiP to
find this bed that has been placed by an electrical outlet on his own when he gets tired
in order to get a recharge. Even a robot dog
needs a nap sometime. Wow this toy can recharge itself when its batteries run low ... very impressive! Plus there are no messes from fur or poop to clean up from this robot dog.
CHiP has high tech features that allow it to be smart and trainable but its AI also makes this robot dog affectionate and huggable.CHiP has quickly become one of my children's
favorite toys. Based upon the robot dog's top notch technological attributes, variety of interactive options that promote engaging in imaginative play, and the enjoyment its abilities and behaviors bring to kids, CHiP has earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval.
For more information about CHiP, please visit wowwee.com/CHiP
** A Geek Daddy was provided the featured product for free **
Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween this year. Halloween is always such a fantastic time for our family with all the spooky fun that it involves but it also has us having to be very cautious with all the treats that are passed around because our children suffer from life threatening food allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. We didn't want to exclude our kids from the thrill of trick-or-treating, especially with that being an exciting event that all their classmates participate in, but did set some important ground rules. No touching or eating their candy until they return home and my wife or I have screened what they've been given. Since 80% of the candy they normally receive is dangerous because of ingredient or production contamination issues, we have an annual tradition of our kids trading in their trick-or-treat candy for a special toy surprise they have been wanting. This year's Halloween special surprise was a WowWee MiPosaur - a robotic pet dinosaur kids can dance with, that will play fetch with them, and can be taken for walks with an electronic leash.
The MiPosaur is equipped with GestureSense™ Technology that allows you to control the movements of your pet robot with the swipe of a hand. Your MiPosaur will respond to 10 different hand commands ranging from moving right or left following your gestures to acting frightened if you cover its eyes. Yank its tail though and you'll see an aggressive side as it rolls around to chase you down. Push your hands toward it and the MiPosuar will sit back and the clap of your hands will have it pop back up on its feet.
There is also an app that you can download for free as part of your purchase price of this toy. The app will let you drive the MiPosaur around like a remote control car, play BattleMode games where you can challenge another MiPosaur or a WowWee MiP robot in gladiatorial combat, or feed your dinosaur different variations of food to alter its mood. The MiPosaur's mood will change in relationship to how you interact with it either being curious, excited, and annoyed. It will react differently to commands from gestures, the app and the included TrackBall depending on what it's mood is. Here's a tip, Fetch likes to be petted and given snacks after it follows a command or does a trick to keep it curious and excited.
My kids favorite way to interact with their MiPosaur, which they have names "Fetch" is to use the TrackBall. Your robotic dinosaur will follow commands from how you move the TrackBall around and which of its 6 mode settings it is set on. My children really like to play fetch with their MiPosaur which is "Ball Mode"-- roll the TrackBall around a room and the robotic dinosaur will chase after it. "Leash Mode" is also really fun which when activated will have your MiPosaur follow you around as if you were taking it for a walk on a leash.
My daughter just loves though more than anything else dancing with Fetch in "Dance Mode". MiPosaur really has some great speakers projecting sound effects and music. The music my daughter and Fetch are dancing to in this video is being emitted from the toy.
Other play modes you can set on the TrackBall include "TeddyBear Mode" where the ball becomes the robot's favorite toy, "Food Mode" where you can reward your MiPosaur with a treat to keep it in a positive mood, and "BeatBox Mode" where when it gets close to the TrackBall the dinosaur will begin to beat box. To change the modes on the TrackBall you just spin this dial on it around to the corresponding labels to activate.
My kids have really enjoyed playing with Fetch so this toy absolutely gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because of its fun factor and also because we haven't had any technical difficulties with it. Every parent knows electronic toys can really be hit or miss on how well they work and hold up to child play. MiPosaur has performed extraordinarily well from our family's experience.
The only knock on the product is that it requires 4 AA batteries for the robotic dinosaur and 4 AAA batteries for the TrackBall which needed to be replaced after a couple days of intensive play. A nice feature though is that the app does show you a power meter for your batteries so you know exactly how much of a charge you have left with the toy's batteries. Before buying you should also know this is an "indoor only" toy not because of durability but rather due to the sensor technology used by the toy. The impressive interaction abilities and treats that WowWee's sensors provide though more than makes up for the lack of being able to play outside with this toy. We also found that MiPosaur worked equally well on carpet, tile and hard wood floors.
** A Geek Daddy was provided the featured product for free to review **
Combining remote control cars with augment reality technology provides for hours of fun with WowWee's new battle pack of gladiatorial robotic enhanced vehicles (R.E.V.). The premise of this toy is to battle sports cars decked out with advanced weaponry in a gladiator match versus a friend or A.I. (artificial intelligence) using augmented reality to incorporate the battle features and sensors within the R.E.V. to provide interaction between the vehicles.
We were provided a R.E.V. battle pack from WowWee to try out and my kids have been having a blast racing these cars around trying to knock each others vehicles out of action with an array of weapons ranging from laser cannons to rockets to land mines. The battles can commence when you download an app for your smart phone which controls these high-tech
battle mobiles that is available at no additional charge through your
purchase of a R.E.V. battle pack at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us and Walmart. There aren't actually any physical elements to the weapons that come into play with these toys but rather they are incorporated into the action through the augment reality app on your smart phone, the sound effects projected through speakers in the cars, and sensors in the vehicles that project and accept digital data to allow the battle aspects of the game to take place. All these elements work seamlessly together to provide for a really challenging and entertaining play time experience.
It is nice that WowWee has bundled 2 cars together in their battle pack so right out of the box you can face off against an opponent either controlled by A.I. or another person using the control app downloaded onto a second smart phone. The A.I. on these toys is incredible! The sensors in each R.E.V. complimented by A.I. features allow them to interact so that the A.I. drone can run away from the human controlled vehicle shooting at it and also race towards the other car to launch its own attack. Each vehicle is outfitted with Beacon Sense technology, a proprietary indoor GPS system that enables them to sense their surroundings and navigate accordingly.
There are 5 A.I. levels to choose from to play against ranging from very easy to moderately challenging to whoa! this is really hard. The first two levels kept my kids amused for quite awhile but bored me pretty quickly. The third and fourth levels to select from were a bit more challenging and I had a lot of fun playing around with while my kids preferred to stick with the easy ones. The fifth level A.I. kicked my butt every time which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it shows playing against the computer isn't a pushover and really motivates me on improving my skills to take it on. From reading this paragraph you can probably tell that I enjoyed playing with these toys just as much as my kids did.
In addition to the A.I. mode you can also challenge a friend to head-to-head combat. We loaded the control app onto both my wife and I's iPhones and most of the time my kids spent playing versus one another rather than competing against the A.I. These cars really can pick up speed and whip around which was another impressive feature about them. Also they worked equally as well when we played with them on the hardwood floor of our dining room and the carpet in our living room.
Each cars take 4 AA batteries to run or else you can purchase an optional rechargeable battery to insert within the cars so you just need to plug them into an outlet rather than purchase additional batteries. We used the AA batteries in our R.E.V. Another nice feature is whether you or using AA batteries or the optional plug in power unit, the control app has a gauge that shows you the energy level in each vehicle so you know when it is going low well before your car dies out on you.
Setting up and getting ready to play with these toys was really simple and we got them up and running without a hitch. First you just download the app onto a smart phone or tablet. Note you do need to have relatively newer mobile devices though as the app wouldn't work on our iPad 2s that my wife and I each have but worked great on the iPhone 5Ss we each own. Make sure you check the tech requirements for the toy before purchasing it to make sure your smart phone or tablet is compatible because without the app you can't control the vehicles and play the games. Game play options include the head-to-head competitions versus A.I. or a friend that I've already mentioned in what is called "Arena Mode" or you can engage in "Campaign Mode" which provides a variety of challenges and scenarios that highlight the A.I. capabilities of these robotic enhanced vehicles.There is also an add on ramp you can purchase to engage in stunts with your vehicles and use in battle mode to provide an extra twist into the competitive combat play features of these toys.
Once you have the app downloaded on your smart phone and the batteries inserted within your battle mobile just flip the on switch located along the bottom of the vehicles to power them up. Then just activate the app and swipe your mobile device over the R.E.V. to sync them together. Pick the game mode you want to play and its battle time! Note you can only control one R.E.V. at a time from any one mobile device so the other robotic enhanced vehicle must be controlled by the A.I. functions or by another player using another compatible smart phone or tablet. If you have enough cars and smart phones though up to 16 people can play at one time in Arena Mode.
These vehicles are very sharp looking with their sport car profiles and are also very durable so they can take a beating crashing into one another, walls or other obstacles that may get in their way. Also they can really pick up speed and zoom around a room. The technology in these vehicles is designed for indoor use so make sure you have adequate space inside your house for these toys to race around.
While the recommend age for these toys is 8+ my 6 year old twins had no problem controlling these vehicles and really had a great time playing with them. Because of their durability, cool look, innovative use of technology, and the fun factor of playing with them, WowWee's R.E.V. battle pack gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval.
