The Game Recommendation For Your Kids thread

qaraq wrote:

I've played a heavily stripped version of Formula De with 4+yo kids. Basically for the kid I toss out all the rules except for "roll and move" and let them pick the die they want. Maybe if I think they're up to it I'll suggest they roll a smaller die when driving through a corner, but really it's about move and count.

Along the racing board game genre I've been playing Wolfgang Kramer's Cleveland/Detroit Grand Prix with my 5 year old (Think it is now called Wolfgang Kramer's Downforce)

It has lots of bidding mechanics where you auction off the cars in the race, we just evenly divide them. Then you're supposed to have lots of cards in your hand and pick the most strategic and play it. We just have our decks of cards face down, pull the top card, and move the cars around the track according to that. I'm sure we'll eventually add in all the other rules, but it definitely is a good example how you can take a good game, and simplify it down for children.

We simplified things quite a bit when we first played Robot Turtles. We rarely played a "game" it was more just me laying out a puzzle, and then me making him write a "program" by giving me 2, 3, and then eventually we made it up to 5 cards at a time of the next steps he wanted the turtle to perform. I'd then move his turtle around following the steps, and he thought it was the best thing ever.

My 5 year old also loves Ticket to Ride, but he's a nut for anything about trains, so not sure how much of his desire to always want to play that is because he thinks the game is fun, or because he just wants to do yet another thing that involves trains.

SpongeBob Squarepants typing tutor game from Big Fish Games. I haven't played it but have seen other people recommend it.

Kid board games that have been hits:

Animal Upon Animal
Loopin Chewie
Ghost Fightin Treasure Hunters (on sale on Amazon today, I think)
The new Nintendo Monopoly

Someone from the local group asked the very same question last week.

Say the same here... Happily a +1 on Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters for co-op, Sushi Go, Hey that's my Fish and Roll for it.

The first three all recommendations from the Board gamers thread, all hits.

Edit. Oh and Catan Junior. The boy always wins!

+1 for Animal upon Animal (dexterity game).

I've had fun with my 4 year old playing Kingdomino (tile placement), but its also a legit game for grown ups, kids can play it without knowing the full scoring mechanics and its still fun.

Anyone played Mole Rats in Space? If so -- have any thoughts on it compared to Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters?

Mole Rats Is designed by Matt Leacock, which immediately piques my interest, and now I'm not sure which one to get for my daughter.

I've said it before but Colt Express is great fun. It's a light programming game with a great western theme of a train heist. Excellent props too with a 3D cardboard train with multiple cars etc.

Played from around 7yo, would probably be ok for a bit younger as well.

At what age does Minecraft become a thing?

I've literally never played it, but I have a 4-year old. Based on her very limited ability to use the Switch's Joycons, I'm assuming it's too early, but I'm wondering if it might make a good game to "play together".

Jonman wrote:

At what age does Minecraft become a thing?

I've literally never played it, but I have a 4-year old. Based on her very limited ability to use the Switch's Joycons, I'm assuming it's too early, but I'm wondering if it might make a good game to "play together".

One of my nephews is almost 4 and plays (in his own limited fashion) Minecraft with all his older cousins. He has the advantage of his sister and cousins teaching him how to play.

It became a thing for us when my daughter turned 5—that's when we finally bought her her own copy after months of watching her cousins play. Again, older cousins teaching her how to play helped. Even Mrs. Gravey got into it, and now many evenings you'll find all three of us playing together in Survival. I used to play Minecraft years ago, but now it's my kid often teaching us about the game. My wife made a tree-top bar and invited us over. "Let's get this party popping!" my daughter shouted, and suddenly fireworks were going off everywhere. I didn't know there were fireworks in Minecraft.

For a 4-year-old, put it on Creative and Peaceful, and learn the basics of the game yourself first. Then have it.

Tip top Gravey - cheers.

Yeah age 5 seemed to be the magic Minecraft age for us too. He only plays in creative mode since he really just likes building stuff.

My kid LOVES making Mii after Mii on the Switch.

Any recommendations for games with character creation? Not necessarily to play the game, just to make people for the fun of making people.

Spore and The Sims series. I think the free edition of Spore's creature creator is still available.

Just started playing Teddy Floppy Ear: Kayaking with my daughter (4 yrs). It's a very simple point'n'click adventure game with a fairly charming presentation. Can't remember which Goodjer recommended it, but I picked it up in the Steam Sale for cheap.

It gets two tiny thumbs up from the progeny.

I've kind of had videogames on the back burner for my children and I for a number of reasons, mainly tied to recent ponderings over the amount of time I spent indoors as a kid and how I spend my time now when theres lots to be done. But last night my 4.5yo ended up with an Xbox controller in her hands when out for dinner and something in me screamed that I needed to get her competent with twin stick controls (we've managed to develop a bit of mouse competency already which has been great).
Anybody have game recommendations to get young kids comfortable on twin sticks? I only have PC.
I'm presuming starting with something that only uses the left stick to start and work up to twin sticks.
Would be seeking something forgiving and not stressful or scary to suit my daughter's currently sensibilities. Adventure/exploration focused and not too violent obviously with controller support.

So I have a question for older parents - is it ok if I’m on my computer playing an age appropriate game while my son is nearby playing Roblox with friends. I feel I’ve been good trying to make game time a family event, but lately my 9 year old has been wanting me close but not involved. So I pretty much play WOW and come right over when he makes something cool or pulls off an amazing stunt.

I don’t want to kid myself if I’m being an inattentive parent, but I am enjoying the chance to do my own thing for once.

Troubleshot - my daughter's a few months younger than yours, and can barely manage a single stick. Mario Kart 8 is only just playable for her with auto-steer and auto-accelerate turned on (and even then, she's steering into the wall half the time,and comes in last place by a country mile every time - fortunately, she doesn't realize this, and we both cheer about how we "won" at the end of a race). Twin sticks is out of the question at this point. I plan to start her on Peggle for some more left-stick practice.

Like you, I've been getting her some mouse time with simple point-n'click adventure games - Teddy Floppy Ear: Kayaking was a big hit, as is Samarost.

jdzappa - Would you have similar reservations if you were sitting in the exact same spot reading a book? And if not, why not?

Question for the crowd - My VR rig is about to arrive. Do it put it on the 4 year old's head?

Jonman, personally I'd avoid 4yo in VR, young brains, new tech etc*

*I have no scientific basis for this concern, just general caution. Surely some reputable source has comment on this?

Teddy Floppy Ear is great, I'll have a look at Samarost.
I just got the vibe that my 4yo was ready and eager to learn sticks, something very forgiving like moving a character around a space to explore with rewards for finding things could be a good start?

Jonman wrote:

Question for the crowd - My VR rig is about to arrive. Do it put it on the 4 year old's head?

PSVR is full of warnings not for use by kids under 12. So of course I let my, then 5 year old try it. He thought it was interesting for about 2 minutes, then was done, and has shown no interest in wanting to try it again.

No idea if it was configured for my eyes, and blurry for him and that's why he had no interest, or if it was too heavy on his head, or what, but he was "done" pretty quickly.

My biggest problem has been finding an appropriate time to play VR myself, after smashing my 3 yr old in the face with a move controller when I didn't hear him walking around me, I've limited my VR to just late at night, or when the kids are out of the house.

Skraut wrote:

My biggest problem has been finding an appropriate time to play VR myself, after smashing my 3 yr old in the face with a move controller when I didn't hear him walking around me, I've limited my VR to just late at night, or when the kids are out of the house.

I'm so going to hell, because that made me laugh far too much.

But that's a really good point that I hadn't considered.

On VR for kids - now I think about it, I bet their eyes are too close together for it to work, interpupillary distance being a thing and all. A quick google suggest that the average IPD for a 5 year old is significantly smaller than the 1st percentile of adults.

Jonman wrote:

jdzappa - Would you have similar reservations if you were sitting in the exact same spot reading a book? And if not, why not?

Question for the crowd - My VR rig is about to arrive. Do it put it on the 4 year old's head?

That’s a good point Jonman. I think my worries are two-fold:

1. Fear I’m missing time with my son and/or there are better things for him to be doing.
2. Realizing I can get distracted if I go into a dungeon or raid more than I would reading.

Regarding VR, my biggest fear would be your 4-year old struggling with space issues and possibly getting freaked out.

jdzappa wrote:
Jonman wrote:

jdzappa - Would you have similar reservations if you were sitting in the exact same spot reading a book? And if not, why not?

That’s a good point Jonman. I think my worries are two-fold:

1. Fear I’m missing time with my son and/or there are better things for him to be doing.
2. Realizing I can get distracted if I go into a dungeon or raid more than I would reading.

1: I'd say that's a pretty common parenting worry. And let's face it, there's nearly always "better things for him to be doing", but to be honest, it sounds like he's playing the way he wants to play (without you, but near you), you're staying involved while giving him the space he wants. Or, to come at it from a different direction, if you genuinely feel like you're missing time with your son, the obvious solution is to make time to do stuff with him - turn the computer off and take him to the park!

2: Keep headphones off? Maybe switch out WoW for something singleplayer that you can pause at any given moment (more akin to being able to put a bookmark in your page whenever).

troubleshot wrote:

Anybody have game recommendations to get young kids comfortable on twin sticks?

My daughter is exactly the same age as yours and just this past weekend we "played" our first video game together - Minecraft on peaceful mode with the day/night cycle turned off.

She's not competent enough with twin sticks to build anything, so I basically handle construction of our little house (at her direction). I then hand off the controller and she slowly explores the surrounding area looking for caves and sheep. It takes her a long time to actually get anywhere, but she sames to be having fun and, since the game is on peaceful mode, there's no real rush to anything. It's been fun.

Owners of Overcooked!, what are the level of options for making the game easier? I love the aesthetic and at the basic level the little of the game I played looks do-able for youngsters, obviously the key conceit is that it ramps up in difficulty massively from there, but is there a way to get the diversity of the types of levels but at simpler difficulty levels? I could see my daughter and I and possibly even my wife having a lot of fun with it if it could be kept to a simpler difficulty...
On PC fwiw.

I picked up the Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack for my daughter during one of the sales last year. She's 5 and has gotten quite a bit of enjoyment out of the Putt-Putt games. She's been going in order and blew through the first couple. She's having a tougher time with the one she's on now (Putt-Putt Travels Through Time maybe?), but has only asked for my help a few times. I'm hoping to co-op Day of the Tentacle and some of the other early LucasArts games with her once she gets through a few more on her own.

troubleshot wrote:

Owners of Overcooked!, what are the level of options for making the game easier? I love the aesthetic and at the basic level the little of the game I played looks do-able for youngsters, obviously the key conceit is that it ramps up in difficulty massively from there, but is there a way to get the diversity of the types of levels but at simpler difficulty levels? I could see my daughter and I and possibly even my wife having a lot of fun with it if it could be kept to a simpler difficulty...
On PC fwiw.

Each level can be cleared with 1-3 stars. That's basically your difficulty level right there. 1-starring is fairly easy, 3 requires you to on your game.

Hmmm, okay that might just do it. Thanks Jonman.

Pinkerton wrote:
troubleshot wrote:

Anybody have game recommendations to get young kids comfortable on twin sticks?

My daughter is exactly the same age as yours and just this past weekend we "played" our first video game together - Minecraft on peaceful mode with the day/night cycle turned off.

She's not competent enough with twin sticks to build anything, so I basically handle construction of our little house (at her direction). I then hand off the controller and she slowly explores the surrounding area looking for caves and sheep. It takes her a long time to actually get anywhere, but she sames to be having fun and, since the game is on peaceful mode, there's no real rush to anything. It's been fun.

I agree though think Minecraft in Creative is better because they can fly out of any accidental falls.

The stress free way to learn twin sticks is Minecraft. My oldest now plays shooters.

Jonman wrote:

Each level can be cleared with 1-3 stars. That's basically your difficulty level right there. 1-starring is fairly easy, 3 requires you to on your game.

Unfortunately, the game requires you to start performing better than 1 star on each level if you want to keep unlocking new levels. I don't think it's even possible to get to World 2 or 3 if you don't get 2 or 3 stars on most levels.

shoptroll wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Each level can be cleared with 1-3 stars. That's basically your difficulty level right there. 1-starring is fairly easy, 3 requires you to on your game.

Unfortunately, the game requires you to start performing better than 1 star on each level if you want to keep unlocking new levels. I don't think it's even possible to get to World 2 or 3 if you don't get 2 or 3 stars on most levels.

Oh yeah, that's a good point. It's been awhile since I fired it up. Pretty sure that by world 3, the wife and I couldn't even manage 1 star either.