Ben 10 POWER TRIP: How to Host a Gaming Party
Ad – We were compensated for reviewing the Ben 10 Power Trip Game from Outright Games, and Flair sent us some fun toys to play with at our party!
These are our boys – huge gamers. When they’re not playing games, they’re watching YouTube [hello, Dan TDM and a hundred other channels whose notifications ping on my phone constantly thanks to them “ringing that bell” on every channel they try keep up with] to learn about games, or reading about games, or trying to convince me to buy “merch” to go with the games. They’re a dedicated team. We finally decided to let them get into streaming and we’re really excited to be reviewing our second game [the first is here – Scrat’s Nutty Adventure], Ben 10 Power Trip.
Ben 10 Power Trip Trailer
If you haven’t seen it yet, this is the trailer that was released by Outright Games for Ben 10 Power Trip – the game is released tomorrow on October 9th and there’s a Twitter party going on with UKMumsTV to celebrate – you can join us over on the Keep Up With The Jones Family Twitter Channel from 1-3pm GMT. This is the second Ben 10 Twitter Party we’ve enjoyed – check this one out too for ideas!
GAME PLAY
The boys [and I] have watched Ben 10 for years and so we already knew what it was about. The story behind Ben 10 Power Trip is that Ben and his family [Gwen and Grandpa Max] are off on holiday through Europe, enjoying roasted liverwort, having a great time until a huge purple flash appears in the sky, made by an evil magician named Hex that Ben recognises.
Hex decides to ruin everything by claiming he’s about to unleash the power of his mysterious power crystals on the world. He uses one to cause havoc by blasting power at Ben’s Omnitrix and telling him he won’t be able to access his aliens now. Yikes! Hex does leave a stone tablet with clues on behind, though, which Gwen is investigating.
LEARNING THE ROPES IN BEN 10
The game begins with a “Getting Around” Mission – learning how to use the controls. Gameplay is directed through markers in the game showing the distance yet to travel, and step by step mission descriptions on the right hand side of the screen. The game tells you that it’s left to walk, right to look around, and A to jump. Y is for actions and Ben even has his own scooter for longer distances – ZR on the Nintendo Switch. Little exclamation points in the game show checkpoints and it’s really easy to navigate.
Ranger Ryan sets you off on your first mission, and it’s hero time from thereon in.
Every so often, Ben collects coins as you go along to use throughout the game, and just before you set off on your first proper mission after orientation, you’re introduced to Kevin by the Ranger, whom you [as Ben] already know. He offers put your differences aside and to be around to help if needed.
One brilliant thing about the game which made us laugh is that if you stay still too long, Ben mutters that he can’t wait there all day, or makes sarcastic, “this is relaxing” comments. Haha. He also tells you there’s a data save [thank you, Ben], and wonders what he’ll do next.
We loved this game more than any Outright Games one we’ve played yet. Hero is 6 and learning to read well, and really loved being able to understand what the dialogue was saying, and practice his reading at the same time. He and his brothers loved exploring the game and completing the missions which weren’t too tricky, but lots of fun.
In a nutshell, it’s Ben 10 and the team’s job to break Hex’s power crystal curses by summoning up his inner aliens, fighting off the bad guys, solving puzzles and having a crazy time in the 3D world via various missions such as Picnic Basket Plunders, The End of the World Tour and Troublesome Tunes. You know what I’m going to say. Yep. It’s hero time [which coincidentally is our youngest son’s name too]!
As you’d expect, Ben 10 Power Trip is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 or Xbox One. We played it on the Switch.
HOW TO HOST A GAMING PARTY
Our boys’ friends need no excuse to come over and play games with them, and eat all of our food. This works brilliantly for them when it’s a multiplayer game, but when it’s a single player game where people need to take turns, we’ve got a tried and tested party plan that keeps everyone involved.
Load it up
Before everyone arrives, make sure the game loads and is updated. There’s nothing worse than hearing the collective moaning of a bunch who are watching the Fortnite update countdown on their various platforms. Make sure the controllers are all charged and ready.
Snacks
Snacks are a very important component of every party if you ask the boys. Popcorn in little boxes sprinkled with sweets, and Ben 10 cupcakes were easy to get ready – I used Betty Crocker and the boys think I’m the best cake maker in the universe. Haha. Grab a piping bag, swirl some frosting, pop a blind bag character on the top with some colour co-ordinated sprinkles and you have the best cupcakes in the world.
Ben 10 Power Trip Party Games
Colouring in is a fun activity that’s easy to provide for – we print some sheets out and have a big bucket of crayons for everyone to share. This time we were designing our own Omnitrix. I got told off because apparently there are no rainbow Omnitrixes. We also played Ben 10 “Snap”, and Hide the Ben 10 figure.
Toys
There are generally toys for all budgets for every brand of toy – we were sent toys for the party spanning the price spectrum, from the Ben 10 Blind Bags [these come in handy later too as cupcake toppers and little trinkets to take home as a souvenir of the party], to the new figures and finally the all new Omnitrix Creator Kit. When they weren’t playing the game, they were exploring the new toys.
Lunch
Themed lunches make it a really special event – and they don’t have to be difficult. For the party, we made Ben 10 cheese toasties with a cookie cutter. It took a couple of minutes more to punch out the bread shapes, but they were brilliant and the boys were impressed.
We’ll be streaming bits of our gameplay during the Twitter Party tomorrow, but at the moment, we’re busy – it’s Hero time!
