Games suitable for children

Aaron

Aaron

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First of, I'm posting this here instead of the Other Games forum for the simple reason that I'd like a serious discussion on this from people with young children of their own, and to hear their experiences and recommendations.

I was talking with a family member today who was children of about 10, and listened as they talked about how violent a good portion of games are today. I told her about Minecraft, and while you do kill zombies and skeletons and stuff there, I would still look on it as suitable for children, especially if you play peaceful. Later I also thought of Portal, although to be honest the final part of Portal 1, and some of Portal 2 might not be good, I don't know (opinions?). Then, of course there is Sim City, and the Sims. But what else is out there? What other games can you install on a computer (or console) for a child and then just leave them to it without having to worry about them growing up thinking it's OK to rape a hooker and then beat her to death with a baseball bat?
 
Szeth

Szeth

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Someone should dig up the sims story so you can see how bad it really is... You can box people in with fences and starve them, or burn their house down with them in it.

Yes it takes someone already messed up to do these things... but it should be considered in any case.
 
Adebisi

Adebisi

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My four year old plays Mario Kart Wii.
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Shonuff

Shonuff

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As long as it isn't Mortal Kombat or a shooting game, I don't care what they play. I played videogames at their ages, and didn't turn out to be hyper violent. We talk about games, and how they are make believe.
 
Dashel

Dashel

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My 5 year old plays Cars 2 on the XBox 360. You do blow up other cars in that but I dont know how particular they are. He also has the kinect games, I think Kinect sucks personally, he got a kick out of it at first but he's back to Cars 2.

Angry Birds on Ipad. Mario Kart for Wii.
 
Sterling

Sterling

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The various WII games tend to be pretty good for this sort of thing. Also, maybe go get some baseball mitts and a ball? 10ish is a good time to get into sports!
 
Blazin

Blazin

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Games my kids have really enjoyed:

PC
Minecraft
Terraria
Dungeon Defenders
Orcs Must Die
Sims 3
Custome Quest
Mini Ninjas
Spore

PS3
Any of the Lego Series
Little Big Planet 1/2


I'd say over the last few years Minecraft and little big planet have got the most play time, they don't just play those two games but incorporate their "RL" play into it. It's like a sandbox for them to incorporate into their imaginary play. Some of the games are a little violent and I just manage that by watching them. They often have rules within a game. For example my daughter loves Sims 3 but she knows that she can't dress her character in a manner that I'd find unacceptable. Some people may think that is being too strict but they can fuck off, they're my kids
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M

Merkins4Brazil_sl

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My 10 yr old nephew is a turning into an Otaku kid. He has every Console and handheld made in the last 8 yrs, they know him by name at Gamestop. All his free time is staring into a monitor. So for X-Mas instead of getting him a GS gift card, I bought him anApache AH-64 3.5-Channels Mini Indoor Helicopter, hoping to get him off the couch a little. Apparently it hit the mark and it's his new addiction, now he plays video games while waiting for it to recharge.

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B

Blide_sl

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Honestly if you can get away with it, I'd try to stick to Nintendo DS or tablet games just so you don't have to fight for the TV or computer. You're a lot less likely to run into inappropriate stuff on handhelds than you would on consoles or PC.
 
Adebisi

Adebisi

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Oh yes, don't forget the tablets. The Nexus 7 has plenty of kiddie finger smudges all over the display.
 
General Antony

General Antony

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Lyrical_sl said:
As long as it isn't Mortal Kombat or a shooting game, I don't care what they play. I played videogames at their ages, and didn't turn out to be hyper violent. We talk about games, and how they are make believe.
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Was ripping out spines with Sub-Zero at age 9, don't believe this shit.
 
T

Taloo_sl

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Pfft. I played whatever games I had the money to buy or rent as a kid. I turned out fine and well adjusted. In fact I talked to my mom about some stuff I saw on r/spacedicks earlier this evening!

All joking aside I imagine paying attention to your children and actual parenting is difficult. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to not want to interact with or supervise your child but still want to shelter them from the imaginary horrors of being exposed to something they probably see every single fucking day on TV or the news.
 
Aaron

Aaron

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Lots of good ideas here, thanks. As for violent games, I played a lot of them when I was young and I turned out ok, and if this was my kid I'd probably have a different attitude (as it is I don't have any children, yet). I'd probably find a good game we could play together like Minecraft. There are some games though that I wouldn't let anyone under 18 touch, such as the GTA series, games like Call of Duty, and Farcry 3 (jesus that is one brutal game, and not just in the gore and violence but the psychology too).

What do parents say about MMOs - and I'm not looking for WoW vs EQ vs GW fanboi rage, but just generally speaking. How old should a child be, how often should they play and should you play with them or is it ok to let them play unsupervised?
 
Cybsled

Cybsled

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I know my 10 yr old niece likes Minecraft. She actually likes to play the zombie mode on it and figured out how to make traps/fortify against them ;P
 
Blazin

Blazin

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aaron_sl said:
Lots of good ideas here, thanks. As for violent games, I played a lot of them when I was young and I turned out ok, and if this was my kid I'd probably have a different attitude (as it is I don't have any children, yet). I'd probably find a good game we could play together like Minecraft. There are some games though that I wouldn't let anyone under 18 touch, such as the GTA series, games like Call of Duty, and Farcry 3 (jesus that is one brutal game, and not just in the gore and violence but the psychology too).

What do parents say about MMOs - and I'm not looking for WoW vs EQ vs GW fanboi rage, but just generally speaking. How old should a child be, how often should they play and should you play with them or is it ok to let them play unsupervised?
Click to expand...
My kids played WoW for awhile, which I think is fine at an early age just get rid of the chat box all together. It didn't seem to grab their attention long term. Think my daughter at age 9 managed to get to around lvl 30 on a hunter.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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LEGO anything. Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, Lego Lord of The Rings, Lego Indiana Jones, etc. I have 8 and 4 year old nephews and they LOVE these games. The 4 year old isn't very helpful but at least they can both play at the same time. Bonus is that they are actually really good games, I enjoy playing the games with them as well(mostly me + the 8 year old)
 
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