The Childhood Hobby that Brought Me Joy
"Do you remember when you had those random phases when you were a kid?" my sister asks, as I was doing the dishes right after dinner with my family earlier today.
That started a conversation about how, as a kid, I had many one-off hobbies and interests, all mostly influenced by the internet. You see, I had access to my uncle's computer when I was growing up - I could play Tetris, watch YouTube, and have a Facebook account when I was 9-10. My uncle would eventually start working from home, and that restricted my usage. And then, my sister was given a laptop for school.
When she was away at school (she was in the morning sessions, as she was older by 6 years) and I was at home during the day, I would use her laptop as much as possible. Sorry, Nic - I definitely downloaded way too many games then. Loved Fishing Frenzy a whole lot, though.
Paper Games
One thing that I got into was "Paper Games", or at least that was the term I had learnt when I watched this Youtube channel which is amazingly still up! Isaac, the kid that started this (AFAIK, he was the one that started the trend then, if you could call it a trend), described it as Isaac's Paper Game System and would call his games "releases" back then. He even had a card of the day video, in which he created his own little trading cards from a pack of index cards and crayons! I was never intrigued enough to make my own though, and was never a trading card kind of gal.
I was enthralled when I watched those videos as a kid, particularly the ones where he would do gameplays of the games he handmade. Check out this one he did that was 50 minutes long. There are a couple more that are in parts of 15 minutes each that are in this playlist if you're ever so curious. I also loved it when he spoke about his gear (crayons, paper, coloured pencils)! I even wanted to get the same Crayola crayons he used here in Malaysia, which unfortunately was quite scarce to find affordably then.
You see, I was already exposed to video games. I was also watching gameplay videos at that age. Minecraft, Pewdiepie, and God knows what else that was probably a little inappropriate for me then. However, I don't know exactly what, but something about the paper games was really magical to me. It provided me an outlet for creativity during a period when I didn't have stable relationships at home or school, aside from my sister. And even then, we argued frequently. We both were young and immature, like everyone was once.
It gave me a place to create these things, write stories for my characters, draw, colour, and have fun.
A walk down memory lane
In the upcoming series of images, I'll try my best to explain how NPGS or Nikki's Paper Games System works. Of course, as this was a decade or so ago I'm probably piecing bits of memories from then and might not be exactly my thought process then. It's going to be a long one - so please buckle up on your office chair and get a cup of tea or coffee!
Dojo Kicks Origins
Now now, my first game wasn't some sort of video game-type of thing. It was a motion-enabled game! Oh god, the spelling and grammar in these. It is also a game for active players! Now, my family never had anything like a Wii - but I knew of its existence, along with the Xbox equivalent of it. I always thought they were cool, and it might've inspired this one.
I mean... look at that Kick-tastic imagery! That's supposed to be a foot, if you haven't caught on yet. I even had a little NPGS Inc. on the top of the cover. Something I did in most of the other games.
In most of my games, I also included the New Game and Load Game selection screens. This one included a super punch, a block, and a difficulty setting! Not all of them had this.
Ah - now the Main Mode! It confronts you with a choice. Ah... classic kid red pill blue pill dilemma.
Cutscene time! Look at this Sifu-looking man with a Ying-and-Yang appropriately located on his outfit. He is only going to grant the player in if they complete all the challenges.
And now for some gameplay pages! This one was challenge-based. The logic behind it is the player (or players, it can be multiplayer if you want it to be) would have to accomplish whatever was asked on the page. So, if the picture shows that you have to do a jump punch, then you would have to do it. 3x? Then you do it 3x. How would one verify if the player actually did it? It was all integrity-based.
I definitely cheated a couple of times...
There would be different phases as well.
And the player (basically myself 95% of the time) would even get a nice thank you page from the Sifu!
Memories with a friend
This one, in particular, is pretty memorable. Not just because it is technically the first one I've ever done, but because I did actually play it with a friend of mine who used to come over almost weekly.
Megan, my friend whom I’ve been friends with for almost 12 years, joined me in this adventure that I think lasted 20-30 minutes. Half of it was probably us laughing together because of how ludicrous it all was, especially with us doing jump punches or dodge motions in the small room I shared with my sister (who, thankfully, was not there to witness this happening).
It's something I still look back at fondly.
Through the Jungle
Now comes the first controller-enabled paper game! This one had a simple cover, and a sharply drawn gold badge down the left corner of it to tell people that it is controller enabled...
When I was perusing the binder of all these games, I could only find one controller I made. I'm pretty sure there were multiple iterations of these, but they probably got thrown out and lost along the way. The only remaining one was in another game's notebook pocket (which I also made, haha) with very direct instructions on how to take the controller out - and to put it back too. Bossy.
Amazing controller isn't it? It follows the ABCDEF system. Patented since 2012 or somewhere around then.
Now, this one specifically also had another pocket thing - not with a controller, but the movable character and vehicle! We have a lean muscular man with a blue car here in the appropriately labelled pocket.
This one had more plot too:
❝Ken and Jen, seemingly close friends or perhaps with some benefits, are driving home after an enjoyable dinner. However, the mood quickly shifts from joy to unease as Jen notices a strange car tailing them.
“Why do you look so terrified, Jen? Didn’t you enjoy that scrumptious dinner?” Ken asks, attempting to lighten the mood.
“I did,” Jen replies, her voice shaky, “but there’s a weird car following us.”
Ken, sensing the gravity of her concern, remains calm and offers a solution: “I’ll try another route. If it’s still following, I’ll pull over and call the cops.” Jen agrees, nervously glancing at the rearview mirror.
The stalker remains persistent. After another failed attempt to shake the car off, Jen's anxiety spikes. “It’s still following us,” she whispers, her fear palpable. Ken finally decides: “Okay, I’m going to pull over.”
What began as an unsettling encounter escalates into a nightmare. A chilling revelation emerges: Ken himself is the orchestrator of the chaos. The scene shifts to a disturbing climax. Jen, now bound and helpless, pleads for help, her voice muffled by terror. Ken, wielding a knife, reveals the truth:
“After I went to jail, Jen left me... What I know now is, if I can’t have her, nobody can!”
The story ends with Ken standing menacingly over a bound and dangling Jen, leaving the reader to wonder about her fate.❞
Just kidding. That wasn't how it went. Not really.
There were moments when the player could drive the car. And when I say drive, move characters, or whenever the controller was used, I mean I would place the controller on the floor, press the desired button with one hand, and use my other hand to move the character right after.
There were scary moments too, of course.
And moments for the player to escape. And to do some math.
And action-packed gameplay.
And a questionable end...
Other games down the line
I did a total of 10 games (or those are the ones I could find now) before I probably moved on to other things. I remember being into drawing a lot, something I haven't really picked up ever since. Here's a couple of them just for funsies:
This one was even Highly Rated for 12+
And some uncolored ones might've been because I got lazy, or I lost the crayons. Can't quite remember, honestly.
This one even had an IGN blurb!
The 9th one had a pretty cool cover. And rated again!
It even has a 2-pager platform to play on!
And a maple-story-inspired slime monster you would need to defeat after claiming the golden key. Pretty sure it was inspired by my sister playing that game for a few years back then.
Like many media companies, you want to grab opportunities. There's a whole population out there that could play games: children. Enter Educational Paper Games. Bonus points for being motion-enabled.
I don't even remember how to complete half of these.
Level 9 was a called calca-calqa. That's pretty catchy, actually.
And, of course, the answer was at the very back of the game.
And a great motivational end :)
Gone doesn't mean dead
Watch the Haunting of Bly Manor, please.
Okay, reference aside - I really had a lot of fun during the 1–2 years I was doing these. I, of course, completely forgot about it until one day my sister found them hidden in a cupboard somewhere, and she was so amused by it that she took them out and looked at them all. Glad you had some entertainment there, Nic.
Although I will never return to doing these anymore, I will always look fondly at these moments. And I hope that I do hold the same sort of imagination and avoid falling into boxes that others might try to place me into. I was an odd, quiet kid then. I still hold some similarities, of course, but I’m really happy to look back at certain parts of my younger days and see that I did, at points, enjoy my childhood. Things weren’t always perfect, but there were these moments I held onto.
Isaac from the IPGS YouTube channel might’ve been a random kid posting videos of his random projects, but it was a big part of my life then. And the few other thousand kids around the world probably felt the same too. I would love to thank him personally, but I couldn’t find any contact information anywhere. He started a gaming channel but has not uploaded or responded to comments for years. I hope he is out there doing well.
Thank you for reading my long blog post! I hope it reminded you of some of yours you might've had when you were a kid :)
Feel free to share them or leave a comment about anything at all!
[3/100] for #100DaysToOffload