The Wright Boys have been inventing games for the past 25 years and continue to develop their games and create new ones.
BALLOON GAME
We played two different games with a balloon. The first had two nets and the only rule was to try to get the balloon into the other team’s net. It was our most exhausting game because it was endless wrestling. The other balloon game was about keeping a balloon in the air with one hit, following a pre-arranged sequence. If the balloon hit the ground, you received a negative point. The game was all about timing, diving and causing as much trouble for other players as possible. Lance recalls that he never won this game. Not once.
For several years at Andrew’s birthday parties, Dad played a character known as Captain Grumpy Pants. He was a tough and gruff fellow who hid clues in the forest that would lead to his secret hiding place. Andrew and all who joined in his birthday searched for clues until they found the hiding place. After a stand-off, everyone chased Captain Grumpy Pants until they could tackle him to the ground and turn him into a good and kind person.
CRAZY KICK GOLF
After a draft with an odd collection of balls, each player had a ball. Then a final destination was set for the first hole. It might be getting into the bathtub, landing under a certain bed, hitting a piece of furniture. If you won the hole with the least amount of kicks, you were given the honour of creating the next hole. Play took place both indoors and outdoors as balls had to be kicked in and out of doors. Everything was really fun except for the time that Nathan hit Peggy in the face and knocked off her glasses after everyone was warned to be careful of Mom when kicking.
HOCKEY CARD GAME
We designed a hockey game with regular playing cards. After dealing 15 cards to each player, players organize their cards into 3 periods, based on their strategy for high and low cards. In each period, players choose then reveal one card and the highest card gets a point. At the end of each period, the players with the most points faced off in a shoot-out with a separate set of 5 cards dealt to them at the beginning of the game. In the shoot-out rounds, one player chooses a card to “shoot” and the other player choose a card to act as “goalie” and yes we used little nets. The higher card scored a goal or made a save. This game was so fun during long trips that we would play it non-stop through entire states in the U.S.
KICK DODGEBALL
Instead of throwing balls, we played a version of dodgeball where we kicked in a pre-arranged sequence. If you got hit you were out, until one winner was left standing. The thumping, running, jumping and diving made the room sound like a bowling alley from the main floor. We played a partner variation in which teammates sheltered their partner once they were out, or just tackled people. We also played a version in which Andrew was rogue and kicked every other turn.
When James and Nathan were little, if mom left the house for the day, it was instantly a “Boy’s Day” and we played non-stop games that the boys liked. An instant classic and favourite involved Dad perched at the top of the stairs with the boys at the bottom of the stairs. We grabbed a bunch of balls and the boys tried to throw all the balls to the top of the stairs before Dad could throw all the balls to the bottom of the stairs. We all got hit by a lot of balls and loved it. One time Nathan accidentally rolled down the stairs, then got up and kept throwing balls.
TOY CAR TOURNAMENT
We had a good collection of old toy cars and many were from Lance’s childhood days. In our Car Tournaments, we had different competitions in which you could finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd to gain paints in hopes of becoming the over-all winner. The tournament began with a draft for picking your team of cars, trucks and strange toy vehicles. Events included Distance Battle, Hit & Takeover, Smash-up Derby, Wall Pounding (and keep your car upright), and Head to Head.
When Andrew was a baby, his brothers sometimes called him “baby” and Andrew thought they were saying “Bobby.” One day saying “Bobby” turned into a giant play fight with everyone pretending that Andrew had superhero strength. This evolved into an Ultimate game in which James, Nathan and Dad were blindfolded and wandered around a dark room with a mattress in the middle of the floor. Andrew’s goal was to tackle us to the floor or mattress (if we were lucky). Our goal was to stay upright and survive. It became even more terrifying as Andrew got bigger and stronger and we added eerie music.