Extreme Hot Potato

If normal Hot Potato is too tame for your child, she and her friends would enjoy the Extreme Hot Potato!

How It Work and What Kids Learn

Essentially a plastic ball housing several little gizmos, the Potato is played once a switch is turned on and a countdown starts. Then, one at a time, a tiny LED light blinks near one of the gizmos, and a player passes the ball to their neighbor. They must perform the task near the light before a countdown ends.

Some tasks don’t have an LED, such as the little propeller shown in the picture above. Instead, the propeller shoots out, and a player must retrieve it and place back in its slot before time runs out. When a voice shouts, “Shake!” a player must  shake the entire Potato, and the task is registered by a little accelerometer within. The countdown gets faster and faster until the group can’t handle it anymore.

Manufacture

A simple motherboard is programmed to turn on and off and begin the countdown (at first five long beeps). Countdown is interrupted when a task is performed (switches or buttons connected to the board). With each successful task, the countdown speeds up. Protecting the board from child hands is a plastic ball chassis.

The game requires focus, impulse control, and teamwork to not end the game. The next player must be ready to assume the Potato and do the task despite mounting pressure from the countdown. Because of the many little gadgets inside the toy, it’s appropriate for ages 8 and up.