5 Tips For Hosting The Best Video Game Party

Coming up with fun and original kid birthday party ideas can be difficult, so GameTruck Richmond has come up with a few tips to help you out. Video game parties can be an excellent opportunity to show off your creative side and experiment. Incorporate your kid’s favorite games into your party to make this personalized bash a hit. The smile on your guest’s faces will be worth the effort you put in to ensure everyone has a great time.

Pick A Theme

Throwing a general video game party can be challenging to prepare for because it’s such a broad genre. Choosing a cohesive party theme gives you the opportunity to take some inspiration from the games to improve your party. For kids birthday parties Nintendo characters like Mario and Donkey Kong are always a popular option.

Snacks

Creative treats for your bash will push your party over the top. Instead of laying out pretzels and chips experiment with different twists on classic party foods to serve. Placing out some snacks in the shape of a character is a simple and eye-catching way to spice up a party. Amy’s Party Ideas does a great job of incorporating themes when it comes to treats.

Decorations

Decorations are the finishing touch that makes or breaks your party. Going all out on decorations can create a fun environment where everyone feels fully immersed in the gaming experience. If you want to throw a Mario themed party, place some piranha plants around and they’ll be sure to be a hit. Take the small features of a game and figure out a way to incorporate them into your party.

Games

Choosing a good selection of games is what turns a hangout into a full-on party. Online multiplayer games are not fun or engaging options in a group environment and can be a rookie mistake. Instead, games like Minecraft or Mario Kart ensure everyone can have a great time gaming together.

Prizes

Go out and get some prizes ahead of the bash for the highest scoring players. Reward them with something fun and simple like an action figure of a crowd-favorite video game character. This extra treat will serve as an incentive to do well and motivate the group while competing to win!

We’ve Got Your Back

A party like this requires particular attention to details and a lot of preparation which can be time-consuming. GameTruck Richmond wants to help make your party planning a little bit easier so that you can have a blast too. Call us at (804) 938-1337 or visit us here to get started! We’ve got your back and will ensure your video game party is one to remember.

5 of the Coolest Moms in Video Games

Mother’s day is coming up, and in honor of it, we’re going to celebrate moms in gaming! None of us would be where we are today without our mothers. And if there is anything video game and action adventure have taught us, much like real life, we owe a lot to our mothers. So here are our top 5 picks of the awesome moms in video games starting with number 5 and then ending with 1.

#5 Pokemon Mom

The mothers in Pokemon are much like you; they want you to be the very best. They’re willing to let their ten-year-old child go off on their own adventure to capture stray animals. They travel to battle within stadiums far and wide, hurrying them to the door to make their dreams come true! Come to think of it, they could either be known as one of the coolest moms in the video game world or the most irresponsible. Either way, your pokemon mom is there to support you in your endeavors. They’re your financial advisor in Pokemon Silver and Gold and, if you visit your mother from Pokemon Red and Blue, she’ll remark about how much she missed your character and how proud she is of you.

#4. Clementine, The Walking Dead Game

In Season 2 of The Walking Dead Game, Clementine becomes one of the caretakers of baby AJ, whose biological mother dies. By Season 3, she’s already playing the surrogate mother role to AJ. And she doesn’t just serve as AJ’s mother. By Season 4, she admits to feeling like a mother for the entire group. Clementine goes to dangerous lengths to protect AJ and seek out medical attention for him. Her motherly instincts eventually drive her to become the lead caretaker for the group through their adventures. Mothers are our first teachers of what is right and what is wrong. They remind us of what being human means and consists of. It not only means taking care of each other and being mindful, but also never giving up in the face of the harsh realities that life brings upon us. No one personifies that more than Clementine.

#3 Ness’s Mother in Mother Series: Mother 2 EarthBound

Ness’s mother ensures that he eats, has a warm bed to sleep in, and equips him with what he needs. When he leaves his mother’s house, he is empowered with full strength. Moreover, she is an integral component in saving the world! When Ness gets homesick, his mother comforts him on the phone. Without her support, Ness risks losing in battle with little strength. A theory amongst avid gamers suggests that she may be Ana from the first Mother game, who carries the same weapon and has the same hair color. Overall, Ness’s mother embodies a strong woman who cares for her child and supports him in his endeavors.

#2. Sophitia, Soul Calibur Series

Sophitia is the mother of Patroklos and Pyrrha. She is an Athenian who fights on behalf of the Greek God, Hephaestus, to regain Soul Edge. Sophitia wants nothing more than to keep her children safe from the corrupting force of the Soul Edge sword. However, her daughter Pyrrha, drawn to its power, became influenced by the blade’s evil energy to the point where she could no longer survive without it. This dark sword, the cause of all her suffering, was now the only way her children could go on. Sophitia faces a strenuous moral decision, however, she chooses to stop any righteous warrior who comes to destroy the blade. You might think she’s selfish to put her children before the fate of the world, but when you’re a mother, your children ARE your world. Sophitia is a tragic hero, but as far as mothers go, she’s one of the most badass in video games.

#1. The Boss in Metal Gear Universe

The Boss, known as “The Mother of Special Forces,” is the mother of the Revolver Ocelot. Some mothers show their love by supporting them, some by disciplining them, some by challenging them, pushing them towards greatness. They share a common theme: When you’re child walks out the door to face the world, you want to make sure that they are stronger, smarter, and capable of tackling the challenges that face them. The Boss does that and more. Even after her death, she continues to have a massive presence in the game. For these reasons, The Boss tops her competitors as the coolest mom in video games!

Share a day with Mom

Moms sacrifice so much every day to ensure that their children become better off then they were. They make us recharge when we’re low on battery and they prepare us for when we leave the nest to face the world. We owe our lives to our mothers – literally.

So share a day doing what you love with your mom! Show her all the mothers in video games that remind you of her and give thanks for all the personal sacrifices she makes by spending a day with family! Book a party for your cool mom today by calling us at 704-629-7128 or get a free quote by visiting our website at www.gametruckparty.com/charlotte.

4 Programs to Help Your Child Learn Video Game Programming

The world is becoming more technological by the minute and if there is one thing leaders and trendsetters agree on, it is that programming is going to be the single best professional opportunity in the world. So here are five games that we’ve compiled for you to get your kid interested in coding! Whether your child pursues coding as a career, or not, anyone could learn a lot from the lessons within.

Lightbot and Lightbot Jr.

Lightbot is a coding based puzzle game available for Windows, iOS, and Android. To win the game, you need to make your robot light up all of the blue tiles on a 3D grid. The twist: you have to do this all in one run by programming instructions for your robot to complete the task. It’s meant to teach sequencing, overloading, procedures, recursive loops, and conditionals.

Kodable

Kodable’s 105 is an iOs game only and it works with maze-like levels to help teach programming concepts such as conditionals, loops, functions, and debugging. It avoids using text entirely, making it a high entry point for children ages 5-8. Its alien protagonist is fuzzy and cute to appeal to kids of all ages. According to Kodable’s co-founder Gretchen Huebner, giving kids an opportunity to be challenged at such an early age proves how smart they are. The free version contains the first 45 levels, and in-app purchases can unlock more levels and concepts. The $7 pro-version also adds vocabulary lessons and learning guides to further enhance your child’s programming knowledge.

Code Combat

Code Combat is only available for web browsers for kids ages 13 and up. Like many of the other games, this one utilizes the player to input codes to play. Unlike the others, it uses actual code such as JavaScript, with experimental support for CoffeeScript, Python, Clojure, and Lua. There are single-player levels to work within this fantasy-themed game; then you could unleash your new skills in a multiplayer tournament called Greed, which has $40,000 worth of prizes up for grabs! Code Combat hopes to stay free so that it could help companies recruit high-level players. Not many games could land you a job, however, this one certainly can.

Human Resource Machine

Human Resource Machine is a visual programming-based puzzle game released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Wii U, Linux, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. It’s all about data processing and uses the concept of a corporate office worker assigned to perform tasks that involve moving objects from an inbox to an outbox and transferring storage locations as a metaphor for assembly language concepts. Since the tiles rolling in are randomized, your program has to account for all possible combinations of numbers and letters. Dealing with randomizations and factoring in all possible combinations is something all programmers have to deal with. The bespoke terminology in the game may not translate into modern programming languages, but the concepts they teach are valuable and relevant to the industry.

Hack N’ Slash

Hack N’Slash is a top-down action-adventure video game, similar to the Legend of Zelda, though with in-game weapons and objects that allow the player to hack the game’s world to achieve victory. Yes, you heard me. The goal of the game is to hack it, not slash it like you would with Zelda. Hack N’ Slash has you reprogram almost all the objects in the game to the point where you could cause the game to crash by rewriting it. It’s a bit more advanced for the beginner level of coding, but it does offer intermediate levels to start out. It’s currently released for Linux, Microsoft Windows, and OS X.

Come code with us!

There are more games out there that could challenge your coding skills, but these five are the ones we’ve found that could best help you to get started. If you’re planning a birthday party or activities for kids, come by and book a GameTruck today and we’ll make sure your children have the time of their lives! We offer the latest in video gaming for birthday parties, group events, and more! Plan an event by calling us at (866) 253-3191 or get a free quote by visiting our website today.