Monkey Pod Games Blog

That’s right. You heard me. The popular game we all remember from our childhood is called by a name that is altogether mythical and misleading. It did not, as its name suggests originate in China (or anywhere in Asia, for that matter) nor is it a variation on checkers. We here at Monkey Pod games want to shed light on the true history of this fun and exciting game of strategy. The game was actually invented in Germany in 1892. It was originally called “Stern-Halma” and was an adaptation of the older American game Halma invented by a Boston surgeon named Dr. George Howard Monks sometime between 1883 and 1884. The word “stern” in German means star, referring to the star-shape of the board, in contrast to the square board of the Halma.

So where did the name Chinese Checkers come from you ask? A popular game manufacturer first published the exact same Star-Halma game in the United States in 1928. Two brothers at the company made up the name “Chinese Checkers” shortly thereafter as a marketing strategy intended to appeal to America’s growing interest in all things oriental (this was around the same time as the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and the introduction of “mah jongg” in 1923). In the 1930s, a Chinese Checkers craze swept across the nation with several other manufacturers starting to make the game. It did not even reach China until more than a decade later, most likely brought there by the Japanese.

Now you are ready to impress everyone with your vast knowledge of the true history of Chinese Checkers. Simply gather your friends and family around our beautiful wooden version of this game and casually ask everyone if they know why it is called Chinese Checkers. We bet they’ll be so intrigued by your myth-busting facts, no one will even notice as you quickly jump over their pieces and make your way to home base. Dr. Monks would be so proud!

Source: History of Halma and Chinese Checkers

The air is getting crisper, the kiddies are back at school, and cold lemonade makes way for warm apple cider as the season’s drink of choice. Ahhh, my favorite time of year: football season. Whether it’s getting together with old college friends to cheer on your alma mater or declaring loyalty for your new favorite team (I’m talking to you, band-wagon Saints fans), Saturday mornings, Sunday afternoons, and okay, many Monday nights if you’re hardcore like me, from  now until the end of January are now officially off-limits: Reserved For Football. Who can resist the joy of the game, and all that comes with it? Grown men standing shirtless in freezing temperatures with their shirts off and their faces painted in team colors. The holy trinity of wings-beer-burgers that is standard fare at any tailgating party, sports bar, or home-viewing celebration. And of course the delicious sound of bones crunching as 300-pound men pile on top of each other in hopes of getting a touch on that precious pigskin ball.

While it’s hard for me to understand, not everyone shares my love of the game. Some find it far too violent, others don’t have the patience to watch the four-hour drama unfold with all its starts and stops and instant replays. Time after time, I hear a similar complaint. “Every weekend, the same thing. My husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/friends drag me to watch a game I neither enjoy nor care about. And then he/she/they completely ignore me the entire time.“ I’d like to propose a solution to your football woes. Why not bring our amazing 3D Football puzzle along the next time you find yourself on a couch squished between two grown men wearing Palamalu jerseys and waving terrible towels in the air. (I’m talking to you, overly-enthusiastic Steelers fans). With its sporty football shape, you’ll fit right in among the actual fans and we promise the time will fly by as you try to reassemble the 6 wooden pieces together. I’m pretty sure within minutes even the most diehard in the group will have peeled their eyes away from the screen long enough to try their hand at solving the puzzle. The 3D Football is also the perfect soothing object to put in the hands of the aforementioned husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/friend when it’s 4th and goal from the 5, you’re down by 6, and it looks as if a heart attack is imminent. Also a wonderful distraction to give to children with an uncanny ability to “NEEEEEEED” something just as your team is about to score. All in all, the perfect football accessory for the fan and non-fan alike.  Click here to view this puzzle and all of our amazing Monkey Pod Games.

It sure can be hard to decide which puzzle is the best to get. Each one is unique whether it is it’s history or design. And in addition, sometimes picking the right puzzle can be tough. We often like to match a puzzle with the personality of the person we are giving that gift too. The wrong puzzle, while still a nice gift, could miss the whole point.

That is why we are offering a Monkey Pod Games GIFT SET!  Instead of having to pick one puzzle why not get a gift set of THREE or even SIX puzzles. This can be a great idea for either yourself or as a gift.

We believe gift sets are the best way to go about things. If one puzzle is too hard, they can put it down, take a break with another before going back to the original. Ten minutes a day on each puzzle and you have one groovy hour of puzzle playing!

Our gift sets come in a beautiful box as well, so when they are not in use they can look wonderful on a bookshelf or desk. We could list the puzzles that come in the gift set here but we would like to add a little suspense and let you see them for yourselves from our site. You can check them all here. Hope you like them as much as we do!

The World Cup is halfway done and that means the games are less frequent. If you are anything like us at Monkey Pod Games, then you are obsessed with this competition and love soccer/football. Once you get into the African World Cup spirit, it is hard to get out of it, even when the 90 minutes is up. Therefore in the spirit of Africa and the World Cup, Monkey Pod Games has a game for you that is great to keep your waka waka going!

The game for you is Mancala! This game goes back thousands of years to early Africa where the first farmers played this game in Ethiopia. It soon spread to other parts of the continent and eventually the world. And what better way to honor a world game by playing another world game: Monkey Pod Games Mancala!

It can be played before a game, after or even at halftime! The beautiful Monkey Pod wood, the beads, and the African spirit will all keep you in your World Cup mood even if a game is not playing. This Monkey Pod Games Mancala is a great wooden board game. If you want to, instead of being competitors by name, both sides can choose a country and take the great competition from soccer/football to Mancala.

If you want to see more about his amazing African game, click here

Waka Waka,

Monkey Pod Games

Does anyone think the game of plucking off petals one by one on a flower to see if the man of your dreams loves you is unreliable? I know, if I  was a flower, and some girl plucked off all my petals, I sure wouldn’t let her get the man of her dreams. I mean, why should the flower suffer because the girl doesn’t know if the guy loves her or not.

Save the whales    flowers!

How can we go about that? I mean, imagine how many flowers we could save by not needing them to be used to find out who loves who? Well, we can rely on the Monkey Pod Games Love Test!

The Love Test is an awesome disentanglement puzzle which is way more accurate and valuable than murdering flowers! If you can release the trapped ball on a string, then the answer is: YES HE LOVES YOU! If you can’t, well try again! Love is about never giving up!

The Monkey Pod Games Love Test  makes a great gift whether for valentines day, for a love struck friend, or just a surprise gift to your loved one!

“For today’s ‘Book Corner’, we would love to recommend “Predictably Irrational” By Dan Ariely.

Dan Ariely, is a behavioral economics professor at MIT. While economics seem boring to some, this book is anything but that. Dan Ariely, writes a humorous fun book about what drives us to make the decisions we do.  This book is nothing less than pure genius and relates to our everyday living.

Here is a snippet review from Publisher’s Weekly:

” Drawing on psychology and economics, behavioral economics can show us why cautious people make poor decisions about sex when aroused, why patients get greater relief from a more expensive drug over its cheaper counterpart and why honest people may steal office supplies or communal food, but not money. According to Ariely, our understanding of economics, now based on the assumption of a rational subject, should, in fact, be based on our systematic, unsurprising irrationality.”

My personal favorite chapter is the first one. Here Dan Ariely explains to us the power of relativity. He shows us, how simple marketing and displaying signs in shops can change our whole perspective on how we choose to buy. One great aspect of his book is that he backs it all up with experiments he did with his classes at MIT.

This book is not a hard economics book. If it was it wouldn’t have been a New York Times Best Seller.  You don’t need any economics to enjoy it. All you need is life experience and a good humor when you start to realize your own predictably irrational behavior!

You can find the book here or visit Dan Arieli’s personal site here .

We hope you enjoy this book as much as we did!

Warmly,

Monkey Pod Games

www.monkeypodgames.com

Hi Everyone,

So summer is around the corner. This means the kids will be home and running all over the place. Pool, camp, water, ice cream, freedom, and vacation! All the great times are about to come. I mean who doesn’t love summer?

However, our brains can get a little too chilled out during summer. Sit by the beach to long and you may become a beach bum! So why not have a great little game to keep your mind sharp for the long summer ahead.

In spirit of that hot sun that may give us a nice tan and good times, why not play the GIANT STAR PUZZLE! This is the ultimate brain teaser.

Built after the famous Star Puzzle, this GIANT STAR PUZZLE is very tough but very fun. You will have to use all corners of your brain to solve this one. But once finished, the reward is big! If you can solve it before the end of summer, than you are one smart cookie! If you haven’t already clicked the links to the puzzle check it here!

www.monkeypodgames.com

Hi Everyone,

Here at Monkey Pod Games we love to bring attention important social issues. That is why we want to talk about the amazing charity “Love Without Boundaries”. This organization works hard to help and improve the lives of orphans in China. There are an untold amount of hungry and cold orphans who need our help. Love Without Boundaries has taken the lead in helping these orphans live easier lives. They have made a strong attempt to get people from all over the world to donate to their cause and they have been successful so far. However they still need our help!

Love Without Boundaries helps these children in four major ways:

1. MEDICAL: Love Without Boundaries has sent many teams of doctors to China to perform life saving operations and other necessary treatments to save and improve the lives of young orphans. They still have a serious waiting list which is why they need more help.

FOSTER CARE: Love Without Boundaries has given more than 300 children homes while making sure they are in proper foster homes where they are treated properly.

EDUCATION: Over 200 children are enrolled in educational programs run by Love Without Boundaries. This organization has many programs such as “Believe In Me” aimed at improving the education of these orphans. From pre-school all the way to college, Love Without Boundaries has been there to assist and improve the learning skills and abilities of so many orphans.

NUTRITION: Last but not least, Love Without Boundaries has been sending tons of necessary nutrition and food to different cities and provinces all over China. This is such a crucial aid as the key to smart and independent children are ones that are fed properly.

Love Without Boundaries have had so many success stories. Below is one that is truly touching from their website:

“Julia is one year old, and prior to surgery, suffered from a heart defect called a VSD. Julia suffered many setbacks due to pneumonia that was very difficult to treat. After 66 days in two different hospitals, Julia finally had surgery in December 2009 and is doing really well. We know Julia is feeling better because she likes to make silly faces now! Julia will continue to recover at our Heartbridge Pediatric Healing Unit. We hope 2010 brings another year full of blessings to the children in China and to all of you!! On behalf of all the children in our medical program-thank you!”

As you can see Love Without Boundaries is truly a magnificent charity. That is why we want to do our best to help them and we have decided to give a donation to their charity. But Love Without Boundaries needs alot of help and that can only come from the charitable. We urge you to give any donation you can.

Their website can be visited here at www.lovewithoutboundaries.com or if you need to do some shopping at Amazon, proceed there through this link and Love Without Boundaries will get 4% proceeds off whatever you buy!

The motto of Love Without Boundaries is that “Every child count”. The same goes for every dollar we can give to this amazing charity.

Love,

Monkey Pod Games

www.monkeypodgames.com

Hi Everyone,

This blog post is dedicated to our raffle we are holding! We at Monkey Pod Games feel that sometimes wooden brain teasers are misunderstood. Sometimes people think they are boring and cannot hold up to electronic toys and entertainment.

Well Monkey Pod Games is ready to prove this assumption false! That is why we are holding a raffle to give a free puzzle to one lucky winner. And the puzzle we have chosen to dispel the myths of brain teasers is the SOMA CUBE.

So, lets cut to the important part which is how to get involved! Our raffle is being held through our facebook fan page. All you have to do is go there, become a fan, and then attend the event. It is not enough to just attend the event, you must be a fan aswell. However this whole raffle is free! No monetary costs and no needing to give up any information or pricacy. We have been saying for along time that this social community is for you, the consumers. Hence this raffle is for you all

So we truly hope you will join in the fun and good luck to all!

Warmly,

Monkey Pod Games

We here at Monkey Pod Games want to thank the Masai Warriors for loving our Tumbling Tower Game! We let real Masai Warriors test out our Tumbling Tower Game (a fun family wooden puzzle game) and they loved it!

The Masai are a semi nomadic indigenous people who originate from Kenya and Tanzania. Their language is called the Maa and it is estimated that their population is close to one million nowadays.  They are one of the most well known of African tribes with their distinct beautiful culture. They still keep their traditions and way of life as they did thousands and thousands of years ago. Despite many groups trying to get them to embrace modernity, they have refused and stuck to doing things the way their ancestors lived.  The men and women dress in beautiful flowing clothes and the women wear large colorful unique jewelry. The Masai are an integral and beautiful piece to the puzzle we call human civilization.

The Tumbling Tower is a great game used to bring family members together. It can also be a great ice breaker game. The object is the build the tower as high as you can without bringing down the tower. As all of our puzzles, it is made from our beautiful monkey pod wood. The Tumbling Tower makes for a beautiful wooden puzzle.

Why wait and leave all the fun just to the Masai Warriors? Get your own Tumbling Tower here!

Don’t forget to join our Facebook Fan Page. There we have great offers, competitions, stories and fun! When you join, we will give you as a gift from us, 15% off your next purchase!

As always love from Monkey Pod Games!