Am I really reviewing a single carnival game in the Ninjago World section of Legoland? Yes I am.
I got to witness my friend Scott S. play a single round of Ninja Challenge. He has an apparent knack for carnival games, which I always think of as impossibly rigged, and thought it would be funny if he won one of the enormous stuffed toys for his toddler while his wife and older child rode Ninjago. The game was simple: all you had to do to win was bounce a ball off a backboard and into a box below. Of course, the weight of the ball, the angle of the backboard, the short list of disqualifying factors quietly raised by the attendant--I assumed these made the game unwinnable.
Scott handed the attendant $10 for three attempts, got his first ball, and immediately tossed it at the backboard, where it bounced, then fell into the box, and stayed. This savante motherfucker aced the Ninja Challenge with two balls to go. It was thrilling. His son was overjoyed when he was allowed to choose one of a mere handful of giant plush-covered ninja bouncy balls. He went with the yellow, and it was bigger than he was. He couldn't get his arms far enough around it to carry without help.
I would have been furious if that thing were coming into my house, but since it was going with my friends, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole episode. Scott's wife took the new acquisition in stride, and the kids were very happy. Ninja Challenge may be a sucker's game, but Scott and family walked away with a well earned win. read more