Chompy-approved desserts.

We all know that Valentine’s Day is a day for chocolate lovers, and we all know from playing Pyramid Pile Up that it’s ok to splurge once in a while.  But if you’ve been one of those working hard this year to stay healthy, we have a some good sweets for your sweet for less than 300 calories each, brought to you by our Twitter friends @GoodHealth.

1. Chocolate Decadence - for the beginner chef - 315 calories
2. Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding - great with strawberries or raspberries - 319 calories
3. Raspberry-Topped Amaretto Tarts - so pretty it’s restaurant-worthy - 307 calories
4. Chocolate Fudge Pie - low-fat dairy makes this guilt-free - 272 calories
5. Chocolate-Dipped Almond Meringues - great for sharing - 48 calories
6. Chocolate-Raspberry Tiramisu - light without whipped cream - 348 calories
7. Chocolate-Toffee Puffs - chewy chocolate deliciousness - 52 calories
8. Chocolate Lava Cakes with Pistachio Cream - gooey and flourless - 232 calories

To learn more about daily healthy choices play our newest game Pyramid Pile Up where the Chompies will teach you all about food groups and discretionary calories!

Have your food groups and eat them too.

You heard it folks, we have a new game coming out.  And it’s not one I expected.  We’ve skipped over Give & Take, V for Vegetable, The Fruit Chute, and Fast Food Fumble to bring you a game that’s all about the USDA Food Pyramid!  As many of you know, the USDA changed their Food Guide Pyramid back in 2005, making the whole food group thing a little confusing for some people.  We hope that our newest Playnormous health game, Food Pyramid Pile Up, will clarify things. Here’s what we hope our players will learn:

• Which foods fit into which food groups.
• How much of each food group fits into a day.
• How discretionary calories work.

Build your ideal pyramid.

As food tiles travel down the screen, the player must fill the pyramid with foods that belong in each food group.  Watch out for things like blueberry muffins, which may contain some blueberries, but only count as part of the grain group, not fruit.  There are also foods that will fall into the discretionary calorie category.  You’ll learn more about that in the game.  There are many ways to fill this puzzle, but the best players will learn how to maximize points by building the healthiest pyramid possible.  Oh, and there will be hungry monsters that chomp awat at your pyramid as you build.  Sound tricky?  Perhaps…but it’s going to be fun!

Celebrating terrific teachers.

Are you a teacher in the United States using Playnormous in your classroom?  We want to say “thank you” by sending you a free Playnormous t-shirt!  Shirt decals come in five colors in adult and child sizes.  Wear ‘em proud on casual Friday or use it as a prize for the best Playnormous student.  Check the Teacher Guide page for further details within the next few days!

Other Monster’s Blog posts for teachers.

Want to know more about using Playnormous health games in the classroom?  See these additional Monster’s Blog posts, perfect for teachers.

• Free Media Education Toolkit for Teachers
• Playnormous Now on School-Approved Kids.gov
• Playnormous Officially Out of Beta with Teacher Guides
• Playnormous Rocks the School
• Are You in the Playnormous Top 10?

Whatcha got cookin’?

Even though 2009 has just started, we have a lot of things cooking in our Playnormous kitchen right now.  For starters, two new games.  We are also hard at work on Playnormous player profiles, the monster character creator and Playnormous t-shirts.  Awesome!  Until then, a little sneak peek of two games in the works.

Meet our Playnormous Garden Gopher.

We had a little argument about what our newest monster character really is. Gopher?  Rabbit?  Dog?  Gerbil?  Someone even said it’s part fruit fly.  Well, whatever it is, it’s super cute!  I love the little tail and buck teeth.  V for Vegetable (named by yours truly!) is a vegetable identification game.  Sound easy?  Well, try this one out for size.  Draw a jicama.  Did I stump you?  There are some unusual ones out there so even adults will probably learn a thing or two from this game.

Down the chute.

Originally entitled The Fruit SHOOT…now The Fruit CHUTE, this game is about portion size for fruit lovers (that’s me!).  I like the sweet stuff.  Explore different portion requirements for different types of fruit–the common, the weird and the fun.  Do you know how much pomegranate you need to feed a family of four so everyone gets a serving of fruit?  Me neither.  We will soon learn together by playing The Fruit Chute!

There’ll be much monster-toeing and hearts will be growling…

Wishing you and your family the Merriest of Christmases, the Happiest of Hanukkahs and the Wonderful-ists of Winters. Seasons greetings from our house of health games to yours!