We're big fans of Hyper Dash, the game by Wild Planet Toys that makes creative use of RFID technology to create a physically active game that incorporates learning numbers and colors and can combine with a lot of running for outdoor play or in a very small space with no running at all for indoor play. They also have new "double" version of the game.

Wild Planet has two Hyper Dash spinoffs out this season, both recently released. In our testing, one emerged as a new hit for active indoor games that are as good with multiple players as they are for solo play, but the other basically flopped.

The first, shown above, is called Hyper Jump. It features the same basic gameplay - identify and "tag" the targets as instructed - but instead of RFID it uses air-filled plastic capsules that you step on to push a burst of air through a short length of tubing to the control unit. It's another clever idea from Wild Planet and demonstrates that they know how to think creatively about using technology to design new active games for kids. Higher-difficulty levels of gameplay incorporate basic addition and subtraction and/or additional, jargon-like commands to keep you mentally on your toes.

The one limitation to this game that Hyper Dash does not have is that you are playing in a clearly defined space. Some of the fun of Hyper Dash is that the targets can be moved around and placed anywhere you like, even hidden, so there are a lot of play options and it can be as active as you like. When Z's a bit older, for example, I'm looking forward to playing Hyper Dash outside on her new playground (when it's less likely that racing around would cause an accident). Hyper Jump has you operating in a very small space, and although I have on my "to-do" list to try using the game with longer pieces of surgical tubing, I'm not sure how far that puff of air can travel before the command unit fails to get triggered by a jump. More on that after we get around to doing some testing. Then again, if you want to have your active gaming confined to a smaller space, Hyper Jump may be the way to do it!

That said, the jumping action is a lot more fun to little savages like Z. Four year olds get jumping, and they get it big. Not so with Hyper Dash's handheld device; although that's a lot of fun, too, there is something special about jumping, isn't there?


Wild Planet's Animal Scramble, however, had us scratching our heads. The game is designed to satisfy hyper cravings for even younger kids than the original Hyper Dash, but our confusion only begins there. Why is Hyper Dash rated by Wild Planet for kids ages 7-12? Its targets include both colors and numbers, and the game can be set to call for either - meaning, once your kid knows the difference between the basic colors of the rainbow, they can play, and the game mechanics support clunky use by kids as young as three, easy, but definitely by the age of four.

Unfortunately, when the company undertook a questionable "younger" redesign for Animal Scramble, they worked very hard to make it seem more toylike - changing the targets from upside-down bowl shapes to cute jungle animals that plug into plastic stands - and made it far less functional as a toy as a result. Instead of targets fitting neatly into the handheld tagger, the toddler equivalent of an upside-down wine glass must be set directly over the top of the animal. When hit from the edge, the animal often comes popping off its base, or tips over, and either way what is fundamentally designed to be a timed game (another question of relevance for the youngest children) is completely thrown off. Three-year-olds are not capable of understanding that they have caused the game to malfunction and will not fix it. Even our four-year-old doesn't get this when under the gun of the timer.

Multiple game options also confuse the situation rather than simplifying it. Animals can be called for by name, by a simple (and single) point of trivia, or by their sound, but predictably, the quality of the game's speaker makes some of the sounds difficult to interpret. We recommend skipping Animal Scramble, and heading straight for Hyper Dash.