Remember Oregon Trail? Not the real one of Lewis and Clark fame that had actual historical value. I’m talking about the computer game that I played in sixth grade. Conceived in 1971, produced in 1974, and seemingly rolled out to every elementary school by 1984, Oregon Trail allowed me, as wagon leader, to guide my party of settlers from Independence, MO to Oregon’s Willamette Valley via covered wagon in 1848.

“Computer games,” not to mention all descendants thereof, have come a long way with technological and bandwidth advances. Likely you’ve seen or played (since 1 in 3 smartphone users are active gamers ontheir device) the elaborate and intricate games available via the App stores, LeapPads, and video game consoles like the Wii. Fortunately, we have all of those available in our house for our kid’s Digital Consumption. Yet somehow, the good old fashioned computer games on our clunky home desktop get their pro rata share of my three children’s attention.

We’ve stumbled upon a Web site called Kizi, which in essence is a virtual free arcade of hundreds of games. All games are pre-teen friendly, except for a few shoot ‘em games but even those have no real show of violence. There is an overwhelming selection on the screen, all with crazy titles and even odder premises.

On one hand, many of these require problem solving, which is a great skill set to possess both in the virtual and real world. Having grown up on computer and video games, I have an appreciation for the thinking that goes into winning a game. Truth be told, I even enjoy playing some of the games with my kids, especially those that require two  players, sitting side by side at the controls, working together, trying to solve various puzzles and levels to move on from one phase to the next.

On the other hand, some of the games are dumb and mindless. Enter Duck Life.

Ready for this? You get a duck. You name it. Then, you “train” your duck in various disciplines- Running, Swimming, Climbing, and Flying- all to begin your journey to become a World Champion… of Duck-dom, I guess. And how do you train your duck? Well, you simply run, swim, climb, or fly for 0 to 60 seconds by hitting the up, down, left, or right key on the keyboard until you hit something on the screen. And then you train again….and again…and again, until you get to Level 100 (???). Following?

Finally, you can enter the “Race” against three other computer ducks and hope to beat them, or it’s back to training. Uh-huh, Duck Life is more like Time-Suck Life…

And yet somehow Duck Life is my three year old’s favorite game. And while she will routinely proclaim “I want play Duck Life”, she can’t really play because she doesn’t possess the dexterity to do so. But she certainly loves hopping up on the computer table to watch her older siblings train and race away. She cheers on cue, gets mad at the duck if it loses in the race, and many times, at the encouragement of her brother or sister, acts out the duck when it’s training on screen. This is both funny and disturbing to see her take laps around the house as if channeling Running power to the duck.

On a random Saturday this past month, it was cold, windy, and almost 11:00 AM. My wife and I had simply conceded to the Digital Machinery that morning, and I’m sure the three of them had logged four plus hours on devices. And yes, we have time limits and ephemeral hard stops and this thing called breakfast that many times gets in the way. I finally said “I’m going to go on an adventure,” my call to arms that we are getting out of the house to do something, somewhere. I usually commandeer all three, but not today. The older two were stubborn and in the Digital Zone, competing at Plants v. Zombies and staring at some “How To Solve Level XYZ” video on YouTube. But the three year old is not old enough to persuade me otherwise, so she had to come.

I really didn’t have a plan in mind, just fresh air and time together. No errands either made up or real. So my daughter and I first took to driving around listening to music and then to the local park. With her at the park, it’s all about the jungle gym and daredevil feats on big kid apparatus, as if to prove she is just as strong as her siblings. But, it really was chilly that day so we sought refuge under the covered picnic plaza. Quizzically, she looked at me as if to say “Umm, now what Dad?” And then it came to me- combine her desire to showcase her athletic prowess with her unwavering passion for computer games to form the perfect activity. “Let’s play Duck Life,” I tell her.

Now, since I am a World Champion Duck Life trainer, having wasted an hour at some point to master all levels, I know how the game works. I first have to name her. “Duck” she says. Alright, fair enough. And for the next 45 minutes, I trained Duck in all four disciplines of Duck Life. From grasping her hand as she dashed around tables to holding her under my arm as she paddled below the surface to boosting her up as she scaled the walls to hoisting her high as she soared over the fire pit, we trained to Level 100.

And when it was time for the Final Race, which involves extensive stretches of the four disciplines (very similar to the Ironman in Hawaii each October), she was prepared, dedicated, and relentless throughout the race and won. Yes, Duck beat out the competition that day and was crowned by me as Mega Duck. Her proud face and beaming smile in that moment will forever be emblazoned in my mind.

I thought, hey, maybe not a bad idea to connect games to real life and turn staring at a screen into action. Especially since they love Angry Birds- how fun would that be? Feeling good about me and this idea, I triumphantly returned home with my newly crowned Mega Duck Duck. Thinking she couldn’t wait to share what had just happened to whoever would listen, she ran in, found her sister still slaving away at Minecraft on the computer, and silently resumed her perch on the table to return to Digital Land.

In the continued battle of Dad (and Mom) versus Digital Devices, I don’t know if I won today; I’ll call it a draw. But at least I have a cherished memory with my youngest and the personal gratification that I always knew I would make an excellent Duck trainer if I simply put my mind to it.

Posted on 2/6/2014

Written by Matthew J Beshear

Matthew J Beshear is a Dad. And a husband, too. And along with his wife, they struggle each day to find the balance for their children between an ever evolving world of digital, devices, and technology and breathing fresh air, interacting with other humans, and learning how the real world works.

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