Trends and hypes
The New York toy fair (officially ‘American International Toy Fair’) has ended. Blogs and reviewers are summarising the trends. Some are pretty predictable: the merger of physical board games with electronic devices (iPad!) is taking off, physical activity is promoted through electronic toys and games, and the inevitable Angry Birds are on a pig-hunt in digital, physical, cuddly and other forms. We like the trend that Reyne Rice of the Toy Fair called ‘simply social’: family games that bring people together, are easily played, take little time, and promote social awareness in a number of ways.