Pie-throwing monkeys, frenetic wood-chopping action and more zany activities await young gamers who delve into Majesco Entertainment’s latest vidgame titles under its recently launched kid-targeted casual umbrella brand Go Play, as the Edison, New Jersey-based game publisher looks to create new gameplay and retail opps.

The first two Nintendo Wii titles hit shelves earlier this month with a range of motion-controlled mini-games in which players take on the role of a circus performer in Go Play Circus Star or join a team of wacky lumberjacks in Go Play Lumberjacks.

One of the major selling points of the new brand is its Wii Balance Board compatibility, notes director of marketing Liz Buckley, a peripheral that’s packaged with the hot-selling Wii Fit (US$89.99), now in approximately eight million households. ‘You’d be surprised at how few options are out there that use the Balance Board,’ says Buckley.

Majesco is retailing Go Play titles for US$29.99 to entice impulse buyers who are more likely to hesitate if they see a US$40-US$50 price point. And Buckley says that the game line’s four-player party appeal has been garnering positive feedback from retailers.

At GameStop, for example, Go Play is currently part of its gondola program of family entertainment games with age-appropriate titles from various publishers, sitting in a four-sided, free-standing metal rack that receives prominent in-store placement.

Targeting the eight and up crowd, Go Play has been getting its share of promo activity through an online and TV campaign that’s being running throughout the month, with 30-second spots on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney XD.

As for the unusual game themes of circus performers and lumberjacks? Buckley says there definitely weren’t any other existing titles like these. But she points to Majesco’s casual culinary-based vidgame Cooking Mama, adding that ‘cooking was a quirky subject matter and we’ve sold four million units (in the Cooking Mama franchise). It seems like a disconnect, but the subject matter lends itself well to a game and we saw it as a market opportunity.’