Cabin Fever Fixes
posted: February 4, 2015 by Andres Remis
While Boston digs out from another snowstorm, the Cape is slipping and sliding on the flash frozen roads and shivering in the chill. And I think most of us have a serious case of cabin fever. Dogs are missing daily walks, cats are chasing their tails, kids off from school (or delayed, today) are BORED.
Luckily, we have a break between storms and there’s time to stock up on entertainment. Here’s a few of our current favorites.
Physical Toys:
Leap Motion Controller.
This little device hooks into your computer and lets you control apps with motion instead of a mouse. Leap has its own app store, with games and also educational apps (I admit to being a bit squeamish when demonstrating the spider dissection, but really less squeamish than I would be dissecting a real spider). My arm got tired playing a couple of games, and that’s a good thing for boredom.
TC Helicopter/MotoTC Car.
Both of these and the Sphero are great distractions for kids, adults, pets. I can’t fly the helicopter, which proves how tough it is — I’ve crashed it off of and into nearly every surface in the store.
Sphero.
OK I admit that I might be trying to sneak some educational stuff in here, but the truth is the Sphero is a blast. This little robotic ball is controlled by your iOS device via bluetooth. There are a number of apps that take advantage of it, mostly games — but there are also programming games that can teach kids basic programming. It’s not a skill to miss!
The Apps We Can’t Put Down:
Words With Friends —
What are snow days for if not for competitive board game playing with your nearest and dearest? Nothing cuts through cabin fever like making Jolt on a triple letter and triple word spot for 100+ points and laughing and laughing … oh, that’s just me. Either way, a fun distraction.
Monument Valley —Stretch your brain with this award winning puzzle game. It’s a game full of puzzles, optical illusions, impossible objects (think about traversing an escher landscape). It’s instantly addicting. I couldn’t put it down.
Tales From the Borderlands —
Telltale’s game is a companion to the Borderlands series of video games. It’s a bit more serious, but like every Telltale game I’ve played, it’s engrossing, lovely and well written (see also: The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones).