The game of darts in and of itself is pretty simple. Stand, take aim, and throw sharp, pointy object at a relatively small cork board target and hit the minuscule dot in the center. Easy, right? It’s a fun game that you can play alone or with a group at the pub or with your family at home and everyone gets a turn and understands the rules.
However, introducing kids or uncoordinated people like myself to the game can create some obvious hazards to the surrounding walls, furniture, players or animals unlucky enough to venture into the flight path of the errant projectile. I don't like crying, lawsuits, or pain in general so I decided to examine the alternatives.
As it happens, some brilliant mind years ago birthed an idea of continuing this beloved game in a much safer manner with the invention of the safety dart. There have been several incarnations, including the plastic safety tip, little Velcro balls, magnets and other sorts of less stabby alternatives. These options kept the drywall intact and allowed the whole family to play safely, but resulted in darts that lacked accuracy, didn’t stick, or just plain fell apart too often to be much fun for long.
So, let’s take a look at Marky Sparky Doinkit Darts.
Design
The design of the board mimics a real English pub board, right down to the cracks on the “cork” part of the playing surface with the traditional scoring numbers, bullseye and colors one would expect so dart throwing purists will be pleased. It is a shiny black plastic frame and feels substantial, but it is not so heavy to pull a nail out of the wall. The traditional design goes with any décor and doesn’t look like a neon colored commercial monstrosity hanging in your home, so I don’t mind it being in place and available when the kids feel like a game.
Setup
The board itself allows for easy hanging inside or out with an attached hook on the back and comes with 6 darts, 3 each of 2 different colors. This is great because we like to play outdoors on the patio but weather, wind and heat will sometimes force us to move it inside and we simply grab the board and move it to the wall in the living room.
Performance & Play
This is where the rubber meets the road. The darts are made with neodymium magnets, the strongest magnets available on earth. Throwing the dart, there is a satisfying thud on the board, and it sticks true every time it is thrown. I was impressed, because my memories of magnet darts in my younger years involved darts that lobbed, made an arc, smacked the board sideways and flopped lazily to the ground.
While the Doinkit darts didn’t improve my aiming skills, they did actually adhere to the board in the area where I meant to throw them. The kids enjoyed them just like their dad’s normal old school dartboard, but this time they were able to play inside at night and they seemed to have a bit more fun because they didn’t have to *really* try to aim at the board for fear of the walls or sofa. They got silly with it and that is a win in my book.
The flights are surprisingly accurate considering their unusual design. They are made of some kind of space age mesh like material that is bendy and squishy and altogether strange, but they bounce right back into shape and don’t pop off the tip like plastic feather-mimic flights that are standard to typical safety sets.
The Doinkits are just about indestructible which is a bonus in my house, since often things are thrown into drawers or piled under board games in the closet and I don’t like to continually replace items just to keep using a toy.
Safety
Having teenagers, choking hazards had not occurred to me in recent years but the Marky Sparky set indicated that this toy is safe for kids ages 2 years old and up. Upon further investigation I found that the darts in other sets are assembled in such a way that the tip can become unscrewed allowing the magnet to fall out and become a choking hazard. I discovered the same assembly style with plastic pointed tip darts included with divot style boards; their tips are removable and tiny and therefore pretty much a no go for a house with toddlers. These darts are deemed safe for the preschool set so it’s a great toy if you have a family of mixed ages.
VERDICT: Thumbs Up.
If you are looking for darts that are safe, fun, durable and a solid value for the price point, Marky Sparky Doinkit Darts is a solid pick.
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