Toys/Games Deals, Sales, and News

Amazon cuts 70% off or more on over 3,000 toys. (Prices are as marked.) Plus, Prime members receive free shipping. (Non-members can spend $35 or more to qualify for free shipping; otherwise, it starts around $5.) Many items have been reduced big time since Christmas. Featured brands include Fisher-Price, Crayola, Star Wars, and more. Note that some items are only available as part of Amazon's Add-on program; you'll need to spend a minimum of $25 regardless of shipping to order them.

Walmart offers the 1,600 Piece LEGO Set With Storage Box For $30 with $4.97 shipping. If possible, use free site-to-store to avoid the shipping charges. This set offers hours of imaginative play and helps with hand coordination. There's lot of pieces in this set for the money. This is one for under the tree!

There's nothing like having a train going around the bottom of a Christmas tree. I think there's just something magical about it. If you feel the same, or have someone on your list that loves trains, today's your lucky day! As one of its daily deals, Amazon cuts up to 45% off a selection of Lionel train sets, with deals starting from $82.99. Plus, all orders receive free shipping. Click the provided link to see everything in this sale. Deal ends today.

Amazon offers Prime members the Fundex Hot Potato Electronic Musical Game, model no. 0X2561, for $7.99 with free shipping. (Non-members can spend $35 or more to bag free shipping; otherwise, it adds $4.54.) That's the lowest total price we could find by $6. It's designed for two to six players, aged four and up. This game is accessible for totally blind players.

I have been playing complex strategy based board games for years. Many might know them better as Euro games since most of them are developed in Europe. These are not the type of games where you role a dice, land on a square and have something happen to you. They are much more complex and fun. The inherent problem with all of these games though is that they're not accessible. In some cases I've added braille to cards or modified the board, but the reason I'm able to play the games is because I have sighted help and I memorize everything.

Since I love board games, I was excited to learn about a new company called 64 Ounce games, because they are committed to making their games accessible to the blind. The husband and wife team are both teachers. Richard teaches science and has been designing games for years, and Emily Gibbs is a teacher of the visually impaired.

A Blind Bargains reader has listed an EBay auction for a used Braille Scrabble Board Game with a starting bid of $9.99, or Buy It Now for $30.00. With about $13 for shipping, this is still $7 under the cost for a new game. Auction ends September 23.

7-128 Software is offering a Holiday discount on their accessible GameBook.
It's a $20 download for 5 games including detective, puzzle, and word games.
Use coupon HOLIDAYS2009 to get the bundle, which runs on Windows 7, Vista, and XP as well as the Mac.. The gamebook has many additional titles which can be added, many of which are accessible.

Blastbay Studios is currently offering the Q9 Adventure game for $24.95,. The side-scrolling game offers 12 levels, original music, bonus rounds, four difficulty levels and more. Deal ends January 1.

Star Bright Kids Company via Amazon.com has the Braille Math Blocks by Uncle Goose for $22.00. Shipping adds about $5, or bump your order over $25 for free shipping. This set of 16 blocks includes embossed braille numbers and Nemeth math symbols and is made right here in Michigan.

Ending today, an EBay seller has listed a Deluxe Braille Scrabble Game with a current bid of $28.99. Plus, add about $10 for shipping. These are truly hard to find. This is the older edition with a felt back for rotating the board, a complete set of 100 braille tiles, scoring pins, and more. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Auction ends later today.

The folks over at 7-128 Software created a special St. Patrick's Day game book with five accessible games, just for our readers. How cool is that? Play "Inspector Cyndi in Newport - When Irish Spies are Smiling." You're a Detective in Newport in the 1890's. Who stole Mr. Holland's experimental submarine? Why are Father McNamara's parishioners so diligent? And just who are General Demonics? Inspector Cyndi can help as you question Phineus the Fiendish Fenian and other Newport citizens to find out and solve this crime.

Play Kim's Game, from Rudyard Kipling's book. Can you remember the objects? Can you beat the clock? Can you achieve the 10th level? Can you do it with the Easy button turned off?

Synonyms and Antonyms, is the word game equivalent of slalom skiing.

Play Crambles and Completion, two other simple but addictive word games. All games are self-voicing. Enter coupon code "DUBLIN" and save 20 percent.

When it comes to mainstream video games, many titles are quite playable if it wasn't for those pesky menus and setup screens. Enter We Can Play, a new wiki-based website that allows users to share tips for getting around these screens, game reviews, audio demos, and other information to allow for the playing of more mainstream games. Created by L-Works programmer Liam Erven, the site accepts reviews and tips for virtually any platform from Playstation to Nintendo and relies primarily on user contributions. It has quite a bit of potential to open up accessibility to many more game titles, and it'll be interesting to watch the site as it develops.

We periodically receive requests for links to various accessible games. If you haven't seen it, check out the PCS Games list of Fantastic Games and Where to Find Them. It's the definitive list of accessible games and is regularly updated.

Simon's one of the world's simplest games and also one of the most accessible by design. Because of this, we've added a Simon category to the games section of the Auction Gateway. There's a few listings that don't exactly fit, but there's also quite a few versions of the classic game as well.

For a reader, Bargain Bob has found braille bingo cards for $9.95 at Independent Living Aids. Add about $7 for shipping. These cards include both large print and braille numbers. Also on this page is a set of 75 brailled numbers used for bingo callers for $14.95.

The Cake and Candy EBay store has braille christmas chocolate molds for $2. Add about $3 for shipping. These hard plastic molds contain two braille phrases which would be formed when chocolate is pored into them.

7-128 wrote in to tell us about their latest word game, their 10th accessible title. The game speaks either Synonym or Antonym and a word, and then speaks a list of words. You pick the synonym or antonym from the menu.
It's surprisingly challenging, given that you never know whether you're going to be asked for a synonym or an antonym, and you're working against the clock. The game was developed by a college professor, and has several difficulty levels. You need the 7-128 Game Book ($25) to use any of their games, which includes a few accessible games to get you going.

BlindMiceMart.com has an interactive U.S. presidents educational toy and quiz for $28. Add about $7 for shipping. In addition to speaking facts about the American presidents and boasting a 10,000 question quiz library, the item has been adapted with braille markings to make it completely usable by the blind.