Summer Games

This summer Tobias has been playing with new games and toys. Two in particular have dominated: Bionicle and Yu-Gi-Oh. While Bionicle are a series of robotic monsters that need assembly upon purchase (in typical Lego fashion), Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game. While they don’t at first sight seem to have anything in common, they both make use of myths and legends and involve battles of good against evil. In my opinion, Tobias is still a little young to play with them, but he seems to enjoy both nonetheless.

Both have complicated storyboards that (at least for adults) require study to appreciate. I myself have not taken the time to understand the different worlds these games or toys develop. However, with some time to spare, I decided to spend a few hours taking a closer look. Here is the result - basically a summary of publicly available sources on the internet spiced-up with my own experience playing with Tobias. Note that I feel like I have only scratched the surface.

Let’s start with Bionicle.

My initial searches on the Lego website were rather confusing. However, in retrospect this confusion was derived from my lack of knowledge of the Bionicle background. To start at square one, the storyline begins as follows….

In the time before time, the island of Mata Nui was a tropical paradise. The villagers, called Matoran, and their elders who lead the villages, the Turaga, lived in peace. That was before the Makuta came. Dark brother of the spirit Mata Nui, the Makuta quickly engulfed the island in evil. Matoran and Turaga inhabitants had almost lost hope in the legends handed down over the years.... legends that told of the coming of six mighty heroes, the Toa, who would free the island of terror. And then, on one unsuspecting day six large canisters washed up on the shores of Mata Nui. Inside the canisters lay the saviors of the island, the Toa.

Each of the six Toa had a special ability to control an element of nature. Tahu was the unspoken leader of the Toa who controlled the element of fire. The solitary Kopaka controlled ice. Clumsy footed Lewa was Toa of the air. Gali the Toa of water was the only female Toa. Onua, Toa of Earth, was as wise as he was strong. And the sluggish Toa of stone Pohatu used his large feet to kick boulders great distances.The Toa knew what was required of them: defeat the evil that terrorized the island. They also knew that they could not tackle that quest without the aid of six Great Masks of Power, called Kanohi.

And so begins the adventures of the Toa (the Māori word for "champion"), their first quest, to search for the Kanohi masks. This was all back in 2001, when Bionicle was first introduced. In their latest adventure (at the time of writing) the Toa (now called Toa Mahri) are undersea warriors. The Great Spirit Mata Nui is dying (remember this was the also the name of the island - not sure why the island and spirit have the same name), and only the so called Mask of Life can save the spirit and the universe. The Toa’s quest is therefore to find the mask which is beneath the sea.

Beneath the waves, the Toa discover the sunken city of Mahri Nui and its Matoran inhabitants. The villagers are caught up in a desperate battle for survival against the mutated Barraki and their armies of sea creatures. Of course the Barraki have the Mask of Life in their possession. It is the Barraki and Toa Mahri that Tobias has collected.

Building the Bionicle characters is straightforward for adults, but a challenge for children Tobias age. Tobias and his cousin Niels (both 5) managed to build one the characters almost entirely by themselves. They are also great for different poses. All major joints (ankle, knee, hip, arm, head etc.) are movable.

Lego has come far since I was a kid. Although the good old fashioned Lego is still, in my opinion, superior to these new "biomechanical" beings.

Now for a look at Yu-Gi-Oh.

As mentioned earlier Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game. It is based around a boy named Yugi who learns of an ancient Egyptian card fighting game called "Duel Monsters". Playing the game Yugi solves the secret of an ancient puzzle (the Millennium Puzzle) and releases the spirit of an Egyptian King, Yami Yugi. With help from the King's spirit, Yugi sets out to become King of the Duelists (or Yu-Gi-Oh! - King of Games).

The game is played with three types of cards: Monster Cards, Trap Cards and Magic Cards. Monster cards are used to attack or defend. Each monster has an attribute indicated by a symbol on the top right corner of its card. There are 6 attributes in all (earth, water, fire, wind, light, dark). The type of monster and its attribute determine its ability to attack or defend. Each monster has a predetermined number of Attack and Defend points. Magic Cards have a wide range of magical abilities. Some make monsters stronger or weaker while others may alter the conditions of the battle field. Trap cards are literally traps that can be activated after your opponents turn.

Tobias is especially fascinated by three cards: The Egyptian Gods: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and Winged Dragon of Ra. The three Egyptian Gods combine to form the omnipotent Creator of Light - Harakhti.

We haven’t actually played with the original Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Tobias has drawn 30 different cards each with different abilities. As creator of his own game, playing with him can at times be very difficult as he has a tendency to manipulate the cards and monsters to his liking and to detriment of his opponent. If he continues to find these card games interesting we might have to buy him a real set.