Post by Loggahead on May 8, 2012 12:08:20 GMT -6
All,
As a parent, my enjoyment of video games has changed to include enjoying games that I can play with my kids. It's priceless to see the joy in their face when they really "click" with a particular game. To see their joy, it became my perpetual quest to find the next big game I thought they would connect with. This quest took me in a much different direction than the usual, kid friendly titles like the LEGO series games (where we started). In the process, I learned that the biggest hits with my kids were the games that allowed them to be creative.
Here are the results of my questing (in no particular order):
1. Little Big Planet Series (PS3) - I can't give LBP1 and 2 enough praise. These games are brimming with creativity! You can create any character you can dream of and the level editor, while difficult to master, seemingly has no boundaries! My oldest son and daughter have spent hours just creating characters alone! In addition to that, it has been a blast to create them levels while they were sleeping, keep them a secret, and then see their faces light up when they got to play them for the first time. Our youngest son, to this day, still screams and claps his hands when we beat a level and the game pops confetti and cheers for us! Priceless.
2. Minecraft (PC) - I know everyone has heard of Minecraft by now and I found this one to be an incredible title to let my children explore. A sandbox game in it's purest sense. It has been incredible watching them form their own worlds that take them wherever their imagination goes, from oddly shaped dwellings in the sky to lava covered mountaintops intended to "keep the zombies away"! We bought Minecraft back in October of 2010 and it is a title that we still come back to time and time again.
3. Terraria (PC) - Largely considered a 2D Minecraft, Terraria is another sandbox building game. With a 2D perspective, you can mine and create your own worlds here as well but with added depth and adventure. Terraria is similar to Minecraft only in that you can dig, build, and craft. Oh yeah, and zombies come out at night... Outside of that, Terraria is rich with monsters, boss fights, npcs, items, armors, and weapons. My oldest son and I have played this countless hours in co-op together and have built some extravagant castles and mines and have even fought each other in pvp. The best part about Terraria is that, because it is a 2D game, it can run on darn near anything! This makes it extremely accessible for co-op.
So, over the years, as a parent, I have learned to turn my selfish love for games into a sense of fulfillment by finding a way to share them as experiences with my children. And although the standard co-op platformers are great (and we've played all of them too...), the games that allow my kids the freedom of creativity are the ones that have made the most impact on us!
-g
As a parent, my enjoyment of video games has changed to include enjoying games that I can play with my kids. It's priceless to see the joy in their face when they really "click" with a particular game. To see their joy, it became my perpetual quest to find the next big game I thought they would connect with. This quest took me in a much different direction than the usual, kid friendly titles like the LEGO series games (where we started). In the process, I learned that the biggest hits with my kids were the games that allowed them to be creative.
Here are the results of my questing (in no particular order):
1. Little Big Planet Series (PS3) - I can't give LBP1 and 2 enough praise. These games are brimming with creativity! You can create any character you can dream of and the level editor, while difficult to master, seemingly has no boundaries! My oldest son and daughter have spent hours just creating characters alone! In addition to that, it has been a blast to create them levels while they were sleeping, keep them a secret, and then see their faces light up when they got to play them for the first time. Our youngest son, to this day, still screams and claps his hands when we beat a level and the game pops confetti and cheers for us! Priceless.
2. Minecraft (PC) - I know everyone has heard of Minecraft by now and I found this one to be an incredible title to let my children explore. A sandbox game in it's purest sense. It has been incredible watching them form their own worlds that take them wherever their imagination goes, from oddly shaped dwellings in the sky to lava covered mountaintops intended to "keep the zombies away"! We bought Minecraft back in October of 2010 and it is a title that we still come back to time and time again.
3. Terraria (PC) - Largely considered a 2D Minecraft, Terraria is another sandbox building game. With a 2D perspective, you can mine and create your own worlds here as well but with added depth and adventure. Terraria is similar to Minecraft only in that you can dig, build, and craft. Oh yeah, and zombies come out at night... Outside of that, Terraria is rich with monsters, boss fights, npcs, items, armors, and weapons. My oldest son and I have played this countless hours in co-op together and have built some extravagant castles and mines and have even fought each other in pvp. The best part about Terraria is that, because it is a 2D game, it can run on darn near anything! This makes it extremely accessible for co-op.
So, over the years, as a parent, I have learned to turn my selfish love for games into a sense of fulfillment by finding a way to share them as experiences with my children. And although the standard co-op platformers are great (and we've played all of them too...), the games that allow my kids the freedom of creativity are the ones that have made the most impact on us!
-g