The creator of an electric-cooperative-themed children’s book series and card game has powered up his educational offerings with two retro-inspired video games designed to appeal to all ages.

Co-Mo Connect’s Patrick Wood’s new creations are Electric Cooperative Trail, modeled after the iconic Oregon Trail Apple II educational game from the 1980s, and Power After the Storm, a nod to the early days of the Super Mario Brothers franchise.

The author of the Cat and Duck children’s books on electrical safety and co-ops said the games tap into the current craze for “vintage” video games and electronics.

“The kids are excited because they’re playing a video game, but I’m also hoping their parents will be drawn in because the games have a level of nostalgia they’ll key in on,” said Wood, manager of communications at the Tipton, Missouri-based co-op.

Like the 1980s classic, Electric Cooperative Trail blends storytelling, simulation and probability, but instead of guiding settlers west, players work to bring electricity to rural communities, with the goal of connecting 100 people by January 1940.

“You talk to other farmers about the benefits of joining the electric cooperative and try to gain members by holding meetings, putting ads in the local newspaper, getting enough people to elect a board and then getting funding and keeping an eye on resources,” Wood said.

In Power After the Storm, instead of scaling barriers to rescue Princess Peach from primary antagonist Bowser, players must dodge obstacles to restore four outages. “I wanted bad guys, but I didn’t want there to be safety hazards,” Wood said. “So, the bad guys are vegetation in a right of way and you’re stomping on bushes and trees.”

The co-op’s member outreach unit plans to share the games with schools for classroom use and science units with the games preloaded on tablets—as well as extra resources on the history of co-ops and “what it actually takes to restore power,” Wood says.

Wood is not a programmer. Instead, by “vibe coding” in plain English with an artificial intelligence assistant, he was able to generate code for the two games. By testing and tweaking the AI demos, he eventually came up with a workable product over a few days.

The process required “a lot of back and forth of input and ideas to continue to develop it and make changes. It’s like working with a contractor, but obviously it’s a lot cheaper,” Wood said.

Co-op peers—and even Wood’s seventh grader—provided feedback to the prolific communicator, who also wrote and illustrated the Lineman Larry and Kilowatt Katie children’s books and created the Zap Slap! card game.

Other co-ops are encouraged to download the games for their own use. “It’s a fun way to get kids excited about education and a new and innovative way to spread the co-op message to younger generations and hopefully also their parents and guardians,” Wood said.