What happens when you combine some classic childhood pastimes with retro 8-bit video games? Climadoor, or for the purposes of this post – Nostlagio, have created these awesome retro video game cartridges that do just that. Relive your childhood memories all over again in glorious 8-bit definition!
Conkers Kid: Playground Revenge II
The game of Conkers is a tradition on the school playground. The first recorded version of the game was in 1821 and was probably played with snail shells or hazelnuts. The first recorded game with horse chestnut seeds, or conkers, was in 1848 on The Isle of Wight, UK. The aim of the game is to collect horse chestnut seeds, attach a piece of string to it, and then hit an opponent’s conker with yours until one breaks. Whoever’s conker is the last standing is the winner.
Whilst Conkers is a traditionally British game, it has filtered over to the United States from the 1940s onwards. Mostly English-speaking parts of the Eastern Seaboard, namely New York State, Massachusetts and even Quebec have a heritage of Conkers. The official North American Conker Championship began in 2012.
Jump Rope Master
The simple fun of jumping over a moving rope is communicated in any language or culture. Skipping rope is seen on playgrounds all over the world from here in the US, throughout Europe and in the far reaches of Asia. Nostalgio’s take on the game adds in fireballs, flame throwers, power ups and boosts. A universal game remastered in beautiful 8-bit fashion.
Mega Kerby: Sidewalk III
The British game of Kerby is so simple yet so fun. Two players, standing on opposite sides of a road, take turns to thrown a ball at the kerb. The aim is to get the ball to bounce off the kerb and back into your hands. You can play for points or simply until you get bored. A soccer ball or basketball is best for this game.
Dodging cars, pedestrians and cyclists is the name of the game in Mega Kerby: Sidewalk III. Hit one of these and your parents will come and grab you by the ear and bring you home!
Musical Chairs in Space 2020
Musical chairs is a classic party game that’s played all over the world. It involves setting up a number of chairs and playing music. There is always one less chair than the number of people playing and when the music stops, you must sit down on one. Whoever didn’t get a chair is eliminated and a chair taken away. There are some variations of the rules in different countries, like swapping balloons for chairs or the Italian version, which has broomsticks instead of chairs.
In Nostalgio’s game, you must solve an intergalactic conflict with a round of Musical Chairs in space. Act fast and you’ll save the day!
Pat-A-Cake Wars
The playground game of Pat-A-Cake actually all stems from an English folk song of the name ‘Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man’ whose earliest origin can be traced back to 1698! Another classic song for this game is ‘A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea’. Some people may tell you that this song originated from an episode of the Barney children’s television show. But it’s actually an old Irish nursery rhyme that has been circulated for hundreds of years.
Clapping games like these have been a feature of school playgrounds for a long, long time. Nostalgio couldn’t leave out such a classic childhood pastime!
Pooh Sticks Racer
The game Poohsticks seems to originate from the children’s books of A. A Milne. First mentioned in 1928 in one of his books, it’s unclear whether Poohsticks was a game widely played before Milne decided to write it into his book, or if he coined the game himself. Lore tells us that Milne created the game for him and his son himself, but we can’t be sure.
The game involves a bridge over running water and some sticks. You drop your stick on one side of the bridge (whichever way the water is coming from) and run to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick comes out the other side first. Whoever’s is first is the champion!
Tag Man
Based on the globally popular game of ‘Tag’, the playground classic combines with 8-bit hero Pac-Man to create a crossover event we can all enjoy. There are many variants of the games like ‘duck, duck, goose’, ‘Marco Polo’ and laser tag. This is a timeless playground game that will never, ever not be boring to children.
Tag Man is a test of speed, skill and dexterity as you desperately trying to avoid becoming ‘it’. See how you fare in this game for the ages.
Categories: Gaming Talk Stuff
