Elebits

Picture a Nintendo Wii world where the only source of electrical power was cute little critters named Elebits. Players control the character of Kai, an avid video game and television fan who hates the little electrical creatures. Turns out he's just a little jealous. Kai's parents are both Elebits researchers and have no time for poor Kai. One fateful night while his parents are out, a thunderstorm scares all the Elebits into hiding, leaving Kai's games and TV shows powerless. What's a boy to do? He collects dad's spare Capture Gun and starts ransacking the house for the hiding electrical creatures, of course!

The Wii remote is your Capture Gun and the Nunchuk attachment lets you move around the house in a first-person perspective. The gun uses a "capture beam" that lets you turn doorknobs, open drawers, lift objects, and zap the Elebits. Elebits are worth varying levels of power and nabbing them will let you turn on devices like computers, hairdryers, and more, and they make your beam stronger. Each level, based on different rooms in the house, lets you first lift and open lightweight objects (like a whicker hamper in the bathroom). As you collect more and more Elebits, your beam strengthens to the point where you can topple dressers, fling desks, and more. Shaking and moving objects reveals more Elebits, and collecting them eventually lets you power devices that typically hide a motherlode of the little creatures.

Parents take note: There's nothing offensive in the game at all but smaller or easily frustrated kids might have problems with the control mechanics. Using the Wii remote to open doors, lift objects, and navigate a house can be a bit difficult. Weigh this against the lack of violence combined with the fun of turning a house upside down (your kids will be able to fling all kinds of furniture around, and break things, during their virtual search) combined with a cute environmental lesson about power conservation and what you have is a very innovative, unique, and charming hide-and-seek simulation game.