What next for my young kids?

I have a 4 and 6 year old, and like any good "seasoned" gamer with kids, I try to find stuff for them to play that they will have fun with. Up to this point, they've mostly stuck to only the simplest stuff, flash games on the various kid sites, occasional short sessions of Sonic the Hedgehog, and some longer sessions of Hamster Ball. (Marble Madness, basically.)

So it seems to me their coordination is getting much better, and I'm wondering what are some new games or new game types that might be good to introduce them to? If you have young kids, what did they play, and what was their gaming "progression?"

**EDIT**

Should have mentioned my available platforms, eh? PS3, Xbox, and PC. The PC they would play is just a laptop though, so nothing fancy. They do also of course play games on my android phone, but I want to avoid that.

LEGO anything.

My boy has come up through the ranks from a Joystick that you plug into a TV with games on it (Spongebob), to a DS with New Super Mario, to Xbox 360 LEGO everything (as Grenn so succinctly stated). He pretty much can play anything on Xbox or PS3 now, especially now that he reads fairly fluently.

He is currently playing Ticket to Ride, and earlier today he was playing Minecraft (Xbox) and Civilization Revolution. I am a proud papa.

My cousin's boys play Minecraft on the PC, but I think the controller based games are a bit easier for them to learn on, and you don't have to be quite as vigilant about making sure they aren't clicking on something they shouldn't.

Find a used Wii. The AAA titles on it are fantastic. My kids love Mario Cart, most of the Mario games (especially Galaxy), and (shudder) the Wii Sports games.

Minecraft.

sheared wrote:

Find a used Wii. The AAA titles on it are fantastic. My kids love Mario Cart, most of the Mario games (especially Galaxy), and (shudder) the Wii Sports games.

I've been looking for a reason to dip into that Graveyard...

Any game suggestions for *ahem* them? I'm looking at a 3.5 and 5 year old myself in this child equation. My eldest is getting 'bored' with games, but I think that is because she is just watching me play (Skylanders, Sonic, Even 'beat 'em ups). If she got hands on though...

Aaron D. wrote:

Minecraft.

QFT. Between this and Lego games, it is all my kids want to play.

plavonica wrote:

Minecraft, Peggle, PvZ, LEGO anything, and just about any mario game.

This, and Rayman: Origins. We (5 year old daughter and I) played Rayman for months.

lostlobster wrote:
plavonica wrote:

Minecraft, Peggle, PvZ, LEGO anything, and just about any mario game.

This, and Rayman: Origins. We (5 year old daughter and I) played Rayman for months.

Did YOU play most of the Rayman Origins or did your daughter? If it was her, kudos, because that game can be a tad unforgiving in a few places. Gorgeous game though.

I would also recommend any Sonic game, especially Sonic Generations, since it features two distinct playstyles between the levels and you can see which one she prefers for any future selections.

Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is great with a little one. Especially once you get to the place where you can build a lot of contraptions.

Oh, and the Viva Pinata games (not Party Animals). Watching kids nurture their animals and gardens up is fascinating.

For kids that age, I bet Double Fine's Happy Action Theater would be just the thing, if you have a Kinect. It's basically a toy more than a game, where it does stuff like add "lava" to the room, and then the kids can play with the lava, kicking, grabbing, and throwing it.

Remembering how much fun I had as a young kid, pretending that the carpet was lava and that we all had to stay on the furniture or whatever to avoid it, I think semi-real lava on the TV screen would have been my favorite thing, like, ever.

plavonica wrote:

Minecraft, Peggle, PvZ, LEGO anything, and just about any mario game.

All of these. My main recommendation, if you're ok with really comical violence, is Plants Vs Zombies (as mentioned above). There's so much content, it will be challenging but a 4 to 6 year old can be successful, and they will continue to unlock new items and areas.

The Toy Story 3 game. The sandbox mode especially.

CannibalCrowley wrote:

The Toy Story 3 game. The sandbox mode especially.

THIS! Way better game than it had any right to be.

For the Wii, you should look at De Blob. It's a shame it never got more hype and interest.

Great suggestions so far. I actually have a Wii, I just don't even think to list it! Haven't used it for anything but a sub-standard Netflix box upstairs, I suppose I can break out the couple games I have for it. (I know I have Mario Kart, I think I have Zack & Wiki too?) I can also likely get heaps of Wii games on the cheap.

I'll check out some of those others, like Minecraft, Toy Story 3, Lego Games, etc.

My son (almost 6 years old now) started playing the Ratchet and Clank games 2 years ago on my PS3. He loves them. In fact, he has finished every R&C game made to date now. We have also played Rayman Origins together. He just started the Jak and Daxter collection on the PS3 and is loving it. We dabbled in the Lego Star Wars games but I found his hacking people repeatedly with a lightsaber to be a little disturbing so we went back to R&C

Anyhow...that was a long-winded recommendation of Ratchet and Clank!

Zack and Wiki is going to be a little tough for your 4 year old, but you can certainly work with your kids through much of it.

It's also worth tracking down a copy of Zelda: Wind Waker if you have a Wii that is still backwards compatible. It's art style and gameplay holds up very well.

And Crazy Taxi. I think every kid should play Crazy Taxi.

m0nk3yboy wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

It's also worth tracking down a copy of Zelda: Wind Waker if you have a Wii that is still backwards compatible. It's art style and gameplay holds up very well.

And Crazy Taxi. I think every kid should play Crazy Taxi.

Agreed, but only if it has the licensed Offspring soundtrack. You may need to find a DC for that though.

Or the Gamecube version, if his Wii is backwards compatible. But your right. Trying to play the XBLA version was painful. I wonder if people that never played the original would have the same reaction, though.

Jayhawker wrote:

It's also worth tracking down a copy of Zelda: Wind Waker if you have a Wii that is still backwards compatible. It's art style and gameplay holds up very well.

And Crazy Taxi. I think every kid should play Crazy Taxi.

Agreed, but only if it has the licensed Offspring soundtrack. You may need to find a DC for that though.

In related news, picking up a 'brand new' Wii from a retailer tomorrow that still has a stash of 20 Wii Mario Kart bundles for AU$100. EB is still asking AU$199 for the same thing. He thinks I am doing him a favor picking it up!?!?!

Similar prices on eBay, once I factored in shipping (damn this wide brown land I call home).

DAMN YOU IRISHDOOM!

m0nk3yboy wrote:

In related news, picking up a 'brand new' Wii from a retailer tomorrow that still has a stash of 20 Wii Mario Kart bundles for AU$100. EB is still asking AU$199 for the same thing. He thinks I am doing him a favor picking it up!?!?!

Similar prices on eBay, once I factored in shipping (damn this wide brown land I call home).

DAMN YOU IRISHDOOM! :nicekiss:

Just note that Nintendo eventually removed backwards compatibility from the Wii. Not realizing this, I bought a replacement Wii, only to find that a ton of games we actually used the Wii for were no longer supported. There is plenty to love on the Wii, but not Gamecube titles anymore.

Mine play the lego games, at 3 and 6. Mostly Lego Batman 2.

I'm wishing they'd get Skylanders from someone. If I buy it, my wife will know whats up.

Jayhawker wrote:

Just note that Nintendo eventually removed backwards compatibility from the Wii. Not realizing this, I bought a replacement Wii, only to find that a ton of games we actually used the Wii for were no longer supported. There is plenty to love on the Wii, but not Gamecube titles anymore.

Thanks for the tip. I'm lucky enough to still have a functioning Cube upstairs with "Daddy's games". I'll check it out, but it's not a deal breaker if it doesn't play them.

Another vote for Minecraft. My 4 year old is in love with it. I've set up a server where he and his older cousin can play together, plus I pop in to help out during a scheduled 'daddy visit' every few days. It's amazing what they've done. It's a great creative outlet, and it's actually triggered a (sometimes tiring) curiosity about how things in the real world work. Just be prepared to set some rules about play time.

Crazy Taxi goes over well. I don't think kids have the nostalgia to care about the Offspring, which might be okay by me. My kid found a used PS2 copy for $2 at Gamestop and started jumping up and down right there.

Wii: My kids will also play anything that says Sonic the Hedgehog on it. Colors seems to be the favorite, but all of them are acceptable. Then they turn off the game, go to Netflix, and start watching Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons. I'm not sure how many of the games were also released on other systems, but these games do make my kids happy.

Lego anything also works. There's a Lego Marvel Superheroes on the way soon.

Boys, girls or a mix? My #1 recommendation is Costume Quest. I've played through it at least 5 times with my kid. Beyond Good and Evil HD on Xbox is great as well. Little Big Planet can be frustrating as a platformer, but if you are willing to spend some time with them in the build mode, that's great fun.

I actually have a launch Wii, so still has the ports and everything for GC games. I have one girl and one boy, and we have played Costume Quest a LOT. The only problem is my younger son keeps restarting the game, since you can only have one save file or whatever. Which is odd to me. In this gaming era, one save file??

Burnout Paradise. The game is forgiving enough that one can bounce off of most things, and kids get a kick out of intentionally crashing the vehicles. Also, the classical music is great.

mateofalcone wrote:

Another vote for Minecraft. My 4 year old is in love with it. I've set up a server where he and his older cousin can play together, plus I pop in to help out during a scheduled 'daddy visit' every few days. It's amazing what they've done. It's a great creative outlet, and it's actually triggered a (sometimes tiring) curiosity about how things in the real world work. Just be prepared to set some rules about play time.

Curious what platform your 4 year old is playing on? I've tried to introduce mine to the PC version, but he struggles with mouse and keyboard control. I thought Xbox version might be easier for him to navigate, since he does surprisingly well with the controller in other games, but I haven't taken the plunge yet.