NinjaGo: A Real Lifetm Game and Toy Review

NinjaGo in action

So Riley was given this little Lego game set called NinjaGo for his birthday a while back.Yesterday since they had the day off, Riley dredged it out of the toy shelves (after going to the doctor for a sore arm and the excitement of getting x-rays made of the arm) and he actually asked me to play it with him, since Casey had already immersed himself deep into a computer game of Heroes of Might and Magic. I dragged myself away from all of my Important Things I Was Supposed To Be Doing (but wasn't really doing) and sat down with him so he could explain all of the Rules and Regulations of Play.

The game comes with a set of cards, a minimal set of directions for rules and such, and all the parts to put your guys together. There are little Lego Ninja dudes that you put together and then you put them on a little Lego spinner top type of base, and the notion is that you set them spinning and they do battle and try to knock each other off of their spinners. Riley had read all the rules and set it all up and so we launched into a game. Well, the cards looked pretty impressive, with leetle teeny 6 point type on them explaining the moves each card allowed and how to play them.

It quickly became apparent that the card part of the game was completely ridiculous, with cards like these: "Magnetize: Opponent spins from it until a player wins, then remove." Um, whaa? Or: "Wall Of Fire: Stand up card. Opponent loses if spinner knocks it down, then remove." There was no explanation in the instructions of when to play the cards, in relation to when to spin the characters, whether you put the card in the middle of the spinning characters as they're spinning ("HEY! No fair! You just stuck that stupid card right in front of my guy and made him knock it down!") or before actual spinning of Ninjas commenced ("HEY! You can't put it right in front of my guy before he spins!").

So we gamely tried the game part. The basic idea we took from it was Last Man Standing, so that's what we did, and we quickly abandoned the cards completely and improvised.

"I flee sensibly from your Mallet Of Death, oh red doofus dude!"

"I am Skellington Guy! I am awesome, though I have severely truncated legs! Observe my mighty femur of Death, and be afeared!"

"I am NOT Red Doofus Dude! I am Awesome Flaming Master of...um, um,  something! We shall do mighty battle! Come closer, you unholy holey dude!

"AHAH! I have knocked you off your spinner, you incompetent red lout! Come back and I shall smite you with my dog bone of Death!"

"Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up."

"Avast! Aaarrgghhh! Come and I shall cleave your bony head in two! Oh, wait, I'm like, a Ninja. Um, why do I have a giant mace in my hand, then? Oh, wait, HAIIIYAH!!"

"Run awaaaaay!! He's chasing me!!! He's going to kill meeee! Oh wait, I'm a skeleton. I'm already dead, aren't I?"

"Happy friendly Skellington Dude wins the day! Only not really, since he doesn't balance or stay on his spinner as well as the other dude."

We ended up laughing like loons with Riley literally rolling on the floor laughing. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Really. It's been a long time since we laughed so hard at something so silly and funny.

So there you have it, a Real Life Game/Toy review. Probably not what the toy manufacturers would like to hear, but this is real life toys in action. ;)