Simply make sure one of these programs is running when your toddler is within reach of the keyboard and you will have peace of mind that your files, folders, and open documents are safe. And they’re sure to please parents whose children like to bang on the keyboard and mouse, with highly unpredictable results. These new key-smashing games lack some of the innocent charm of their predecessors, but more than make up for this with a greater range of shapes, colors, images, and sounds - especially AlphaBaby and KeyWack. It is also the only one of these products that has been made available for the iPhone and iPad, to the certain delight of many parents traveling with their toddlers. AlphaBaby stands out among these as the most customizable, allowing you to easily add your own sounds and images for a personalized experience. Baby Smash is unfortunately no longer in development.Īlmost two decades later, though, the genre is beginning to thrive, with four products all vying for your toddler’s attention: the open-source AlphaBaby, donationware BabySplat, KeyWack, and a different, unaffiliated BabySmash, which is somewhat ironically Windows-only. KeyWack has since changed author and is now available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, with the added option to limit the display to sequential numbers or letters - useful for teaching counting and reading/reciting the alphabet through play. Fart sounds, speech, pretty patterns, bright colors, drawings, shapes of various sizes and type, and bells and whistles of dozens of different frequencies are just some of the things that filled your screen and blasted out of your speakers. The games were a remarkable leap forward in interactive entertainment for toddlers, though adults of more infantile levels of maturity could also appreciate their charm. Each input was met with immersive audio-visual feedback, such as an oval filled with a checkerboard pattern or the sound of a telephone. The goal - if you could call it such - was to either press random keys on the keyboard or click the mouse. In fact, the only major difference between the two games was the means by which you could exit: Baby Smash required an awkward key combination, which was as difficult to remember as to accidentally press, while KeyWack asked you simply to have enough coordination to select “Quit” from the drop-down “File” menu.īoth provided gamers with a blank white screen to start with, although KeyWack kept the traditional Macintosh menu bar across the top. Neither mapped specific keys to specific images or sounds. Both utilized built-in sound effects and pattern graphics from Macintosh System 7. Justin Cohen’s Baby Smash! and Paul Duffy’s KeyWack went head-to-head in cornering the market for random key-smashing games on the Mac in 1993, with each offering slightly different variations on what was essentially the same game. But two ambitious Mac game developers attempted to cater to their needs in the early 1990s, and now, more than 15 years later, the key-smashing genre is rising to the fore. I’d go so far as to suggest that this has been the most under-represented group of gamers - apart from cats that like to sleep or walk on keyboards. Please try not too press the keyboard keys too fast or too hard.It’s remarkable how few games on the market target the "destructive infant" demographic. The file download contains versions for Macintosh (Universal Binary), Windows and Linux. This KeyWack is based on the design of the original KeyWack by Paul Duffy. To quit KeyWack type Command-Q on Macintosh or Control-K on Windows and Linux. Wipe the screen of images (Command-W on Macintosh or Control-W on Windows and Linux)Ībout Help (Command-A on Macintosh or Control-A on Windows and Linux) Turn the Sound off (Command-S on Macintosh or Control-S on Windows and Linux) Rotation of letters & numbers (Command-R on Macintosh or Control-R on Windows and Linux) Turn the background screen to black to increase the contrast (Command-B on Macintosh or Control-B on Windows and Linux) Limit display to counting through numbers then letters to teach kids (Command-K on Macintosh or Control-K on Windows and Linux) You can also click with the mouse to place a shape at a particular location. KeyWack prevents babies from accidentally opening most programs or documents, and makes banging even more fun by drawing shapes and playing random sounds as the keys are whacked. KeyWack is a game for people with babies and small children who like to sit at their parent’s computer and bang the keyboard.
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