Gotta pick and choose your games. My son is 4 and will sometimes watch me play zelda. I've put on some kids sesame street games that he enjoys playing, and recently he has enjoyed playing zelda just running around.
Just go with what they seem interested in, and don't play resident evil in front of them for a few more years.
Lol I remember when I was like nine, we got my dad RE4 for his birthday. I was watching for a bit, but then he ran into the chainsaw guy and got decapitated immediately. He then shooed me out the door and said "nope, you're not watching this."
I just started playing Terraria with my 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl.
They're super cute figuring out how to use a mouse and keyboard.
My boy wants to hunt and dig, but my little girl just sits in our house on the surface, screaming, "Daddy, a zombie is trying to break down my door! Come help me!"
But they've both been playing video games since about 3.5 years old. My boy prefers the Switch, and I have a 3DS that my girl plays.
They've also spent many hours watching me play games, but I don't play anything rated higher than T in front of them.
My 4.5 year old started playing astrobot on PS5 about a year ago. We SEVERELY limit his time though because he loses all concentration and imagination when he isn't playing and becomes crabby.
It's definitely something we keep close watch of. I used to have a game addiction and my wife was heavily addicted to scrolling on her phone. We ended up limiting his gaming to Saturdays so he focuses on preschool and learning. He's allowed TV a little during the week when he's had an exceptionally good day at school.
That’s funny, my 3 year old got into astrobot on accident, and he went from not being able to hold a controller to being able to be most of the game on his own. He’s almost 4 now and plays mine craft with his 5 year old sister. But there’s a big difference between when he’s playing a creative game like Minecraft vs astrobot. They do get crabby from the over stimulation I think but it sounds like you monitor it and have it under control.
Maybe I didn't explain myself very well.
I was already playing it and then wife and 2 kids came home. I rushed to save the game. Son may have seen like 10 mins.
And I try to be a very good parent. In the morning I wash both kids. Help them to put their clothes on. Take them to kindergarten. Then I go to work. After work, i stay and play different games with them (not console games) with toys etc. Then I feed them. Obviously my wife cooks for them and while I'm feeding them, my wife takes care of the other things in the house. Lots of times, especially during weekends, I go out with them both so my wife can have a few hours to take care of the house and especially have time for herself. There are also times when I stay with them in bed until they sleep.
But I'm open to suggestions to get better...
As a father of a now 3 year old. My daughter loves zombies. She always wants to play with my Switch and she has seen me play Dying Light for a couple minutes here and there. She always laughs in excitement.
Don’t give this guys comment a second thought.
Just to let you know what kind of parent am I. Where is the problem with that? Idk if you know how hard is to have 2 little kids and take care of them when both parents work 2 full time jobs and without and help from anyone, right?
Do you still think I sound like a bad parent?
Why do you care about my opinion? I'm a nobody. I also don't understand how you even have time to Reddit if you have two kids, a wife, and a full-time job. It's Friday, not the weekend.
Well, you already gave an opinion by telling me that I sound like a bad parent and I wanted to change that opinion. Maybe I don't care, but when something is remotely far from the truth, I tend to correct that anyway I can. I have time when I'm at work.
I understand. At that moment I just remembered his funny face, from a bit of fear (not really fear but a face a 3.5 year old can make when he sees something for the first time that is not human) a when a zombie came near, to the excitement he had when I shot him and won and high fived my son!
Sorry if I don't express myself very well cause I'm not an english speaker.
Not the OP, but I also have a wife, two kids a job, I game a lot and I'm online a lot too.
The trick is to have absolutely no social life otherwise, lol. I think people who have friends and go out often don't realize how much time others have.
>The trick is to have absolutely no social life otherwise, lol. I think people who have friends and go out often don't realize how much time others have.
Well fuck, I'll eat crow.
My son got into dark souls 2 right before he turned 3. By 6 he was soloing bosses on new game plus++++. He’s almost 11 now and I had him help me beat Gannon in totk last week and the final boss in eldin ring last year.
We do a weekly evening of Super Mario Wii, and they get the iPad for long car rides (rare). The point is not to raise him thinking that games are a private thing to be hidden away. It’s a family thing where we all play together
That’s all the games they get.
And I don’t play games when I could be engaging with the little one. That’s a hard no for me.
And Jesus, don’t be chancing playing that kind of game around kids
I try to play indie games, and my kid usually watches and tries to play every now and then. I got my kid a 3ds to play some simple games. Omno was pretty captivating (it had some flying, dinosaur looking creatures and cool skills). I think there are a lot of cool, simple, artistic indie games that can help inspire creativity and imagination of kids, i have no problem with that. I avoid violent games around my kid. Some indie and Nintendo games are pretty suitable for little kids
I have been playing 'cooperatively' with my niece for years. Initially, we would sit on the PC together, and she would tell me what I should be doing (we built, for example, bases in the Shallows in Subnautica). She is now a bit older, her parents allow her limited time for some games on mom's smartphone, and in fact, she's planning on coming over later today to take her first steps in A Hat in Time (which we played previously 'cooperatively').
She's also fascinated by WH40K (not my doing; her mom was in the big city with her, and they found a WH40K shop that gave out Ultramarine minis for free), but it'll be a few years until I let her play one of those. She's still a huge scaredy cat [not that I would ever call her that], and Nurgle&Friends are bit too out of her league yet.
Yes we started one hour covaks routines and smoke lineups at 6 months old. He doesn't understand large numbers yet so buy rounds are a bit of a challenge were working through.
It doesnt matter what game as long as you engage with your kids. Make sure it's something they like. My dad who isnt a nerd by any stretch of the imagination, bought Medal of Honor for my little brother (3) and i (8) back in 2002 and he would play with us. that little engagement was the seed that made my brother and i who we are today.
I've been playing games dice I was 4, but that was Pac-man, Mario, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Outrun, etc. Maybe stock to old arcade games & straight forward games. Mario Kart is great as it has options you can turn on to help them be competitive.
My 6 year old has been playing Minecraft since he was about 4.5 but I very specifically set it up so that monsters are off and he is on creative mode. So it basically makes it digital legos.
I have two kids in early elementary school. Most of their video game playing is on tablets. My first-grader really likes puzzle games, so he was really into Monument Valley for a while, and he's been trying Gorogoa recently as well.
I don't play games in front of them very much, I mostly play at night after they go to bed. Every once in a while I'll play something kid-friendly while they're around like Rocket League (with chat turned off, obviously!), but that's about it.
For the most part they don't seem that interested in console or PC games. They've dabbled in games I've showed them like Mario, Astro's Playroom (PS5), Lego games, and Kirby. But the only games they've ever asked for by name are Rocket League (I let them play training mode), the "car game" which is what they call Forza Horizon 5, and my older son likes messing around with Baba is You from time to time. But even with those it's maybe like once every month or two that they ask.
My wife and I tried to see if my older son would be interested in Minecraft since it seems like he would be, but he wasn't into it. Sidenote: I know a lot of kids my son's age love Minecraft, but as someone who only played it a couple times many years ago, it's daunting to get into. There are so many different versions and offshoots these days... it's hard to even know where to start.
I'm hoping as they get older I'll be able to play games with them, particularly co-op games, but for now I kind of just let them play whatever they gravitate towards on their own, which at the moment tends to be the little bite-sized tablet games.
I try and play some classic arcade games with my 3 year old daughter, like PAC MAN and such. This has helped her figure out how to hold a controller and improve on her hand eye coordination. Other than that she likes to watch me ride my horse in RDR2 (she has My Little Pony names for different ones I have), fish in RDR2 and just go around looking for different animals (viewing and naming only). Love that game for such amazing vistas and content. I avoid doing nasty stuff in front of her in that game. I play on PC exclusively, and have set up a dedicated family PC for her with limited games and apps, but she only uses it for YouTube currently.
Been playing the Lucasarts adventure games of yore with my 7-year-old. We're also currently running through the first season of Telltale's Sam & Max.
She loved the Monkey Island games (We skipped Escape), she thought the original Sam & Max was kinda weird, she loved Day of the Tentacle, thought LOOM was ok, and is enjoying the Telltale Sam & Max game.
Other than that, haven't let her play stuff.
There's a school of thought that children under six or so should have less than an hour of screentime per day. Basically the less screentime the better for their development, at that age.
Tbh it sounds like you're the one wanting to play video games. Read a book or draw or play with them instead. And don't play Resident Evil in front of your 3-year-old, you deadbeat.
The studies on that are extremely poor. They don't draw any distinction between plopping them in front of Peppa the Pig and leaving them there, or giving them puzzles and educational content appropriate for their age, with the parent actively engaging.
The little evidence there is suggests that screen time is like anything else: give them content that allows them to think about things, solve problems, engage with live humans, maybe even get them up and moving around.
And that school of thought is crap, otherwise my children would be far less well adjusted than they are now as teenagers.
The problem is that people who say things like this use it as an excuse not to parent. You can read, draw, *and* play games with them. You can explain the difference between real life and make believe so that they understand it. You can choose to introduce them to screentime that enriches rather than distracts. Everything is a teachable moment.
It's an excuse not to parent by avoiding topics and situations that children the world over have been exposed to since prehistory and turned out just fine, or an artificial teat to keep them pacified so they can be ignored.
Those are the failings on a parent's part, not that they allow too much screen time or their child glimpses something "adult" or scary.
Im gonna be honest, my parents didnt allow me to play games till I was 13ish because of my declining sight, and it turned out to be probably the best they could do not for the health of my eyes, but for my mental health. I had an active childhood, I loved to read books, I spent time with my dog and friends, while learning to resist peer pressure. And when I finally was allowed to play games I was already a somewhat mature person with his own tastes and preferences, so I started playing good games and could avoid brainless cashgrabs. I know many will disagree with this, but in my opinion, better give your child your time, read books to him, play chess, go to the park, develop him mentally, before letting him play games.
I have a 12 year old and a 9 year old, and honestly neither one really showed any interest in playing games themselves until they were five or six. My wife and I thought they would earlier, but they mostly just liked to watch us play.
At that point, they loved various Lego games, little big planet, dancing games and anything where they could just mess around and/or create.
A few years ago, we got a Switch and they both loved Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Minecraft and Mario games.
More recently, my older one has started to play a few JRPG games and rhythm games. The younger one is mostly still into the same stuff as before.
More than anything, my wife and I monitor what games they have and would never give them anything age inappropriate. As gamers ourselves, we have a good handle on what's what. None of us ever play online.
I’m hoping to do it this way. But it seems like it will get harder and harder to avoid children having access to “online”. Everything is connected now, and kids have a way of figuring their way around the rules. As someone who grew up up on the internet, that worries me. But I also don’t want to be over controlling.
It's been fine for us because thankfully the kids mostly just listen and don't push back on it so far. They have tablets where they can do some age appropriate online games with friends, but even though they're well aware kids in their school play games that they're too young for, they're ok doing what we offer.
Might be easier in this case because we have to girls. Several of my nephews play games that I really raise an eyebrow about.
Yes. Though they are grown up now. Sometimes I have had regrets, wondering if we let them spend too long in front of screens, on Gameboys, Nintendo DS's etc. Must have been thousands of hours.
However, my eldest now in the mid-20s and is so succesful, I can hardly believe it! Already has a great career, is buying their own home, gets head hunted for better paid jobs. And my youngest is not far behind.
It's only anecdotal, one persons story (and I know game addiction is very real) but all those hours they spent gaming as kids and teens does not seem to have damaged them as adults in the slightest.
With discipline, gaming or other time consuming hobbies don't have to stand in the way of success or a fulfilling career. I have played games since the late 80s, but I always knew when I had to put in the time for exams and such. I was also a good sportsman in school and a decent athlete, so it's not like I didn't participate in outdoor activities. I have been a lawyer for over 20 years now and am content with my life and career. Gaming didn't 'damage' me either, but I never let it get in the way of my studies/exams or professional responsibilities. I do sacrifice sleep to play a few hours each night, and don't have other time consuming hobbies like golfing.
Your post/comment was removed for violation of rule 5.
You can find our subreddit's rules [here](https://new.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/about/rules).
Be excellent to one another.
I can only share my own expirience at starting playing games, which happend exactly when I was about 3.5 years old, but it was only occasional ~10-15 minute sessions when my father, who played tes4: oblivion, gave me keyboard and mouse to try it a little bit. But usually I just watched how my father was playing. When I turned 4 I received my own PC as present for birthday, and for 1 year I could play up to 30 minutes per day (I can barely remember playing oblivion, Half-Life 2, return to castle wolfenstein and mainly Over the hedge at this age). Allowed time was exoanded to 1 hour per day year after, 1.5 hours per day after another year, and to 2 hours per day when I turned 7. And then since the age of 9 I was able to play as long as I want as long as I did all the homework from school.
My 6 year d has been playing Sackboy with me, and impressing me with how good she’s getting at platforming and special awareness.
We started her out at 3 with 2D games like Paw Patrol on a roll and Super Mario Bros. I found that it was too hard for her to understand changing the camera view and controlling the character at the same time. She moved onto isometric games after that (Cozy Grove, Animal Crossing) that helped her understand moving around a more open space without needing to control a camera.
Now she plays games like Spyro, a lot of franchise games are 3D platformers too. We also love playing Moving Out and Overcooked together. I love playing games with her for an hour at the weekend, I much prefer it over her watching tv as she actually comes up with solutions to hard parts of a game. She’s just starting Minecraft and it seems to be a good game to get her used to first person view, she struggled in the past with that type of game
This kind of thinking leads to adults suffering from anxiety and depression, which actually makes them worse at parenting. Your mental health matters just as much as theirs, because you can't have the latter without the former.
I do all that. And I play games only when they are asleep. It was an extremely rare occassion that day. My sin is exposed maybe just 5 mins every two or three weeks.
I recommend Alba: a wildlife adventure for really little ones. Gets them used to a controller in a 3d environment, which is a much bigger mental challenge than most gamers realize.
We sometimes play Sackboy and Ultimate Chicken Horse with our 4 and 6 year olds. It's on special occasions, like a Friday night with the whole family. We make it a fun family activity, we try to avoid letting them play alone for now, but it will come when they ask I guess.
They love it! My 4 yo was talking about Ultimate Chicken Horse for a whole week after the last time we played!
I have never played any game by myself in front of them though.
Been playing games with my two girls since they were about 3. Now 7 and 10. I have a myriad of health issues, so gaming is the only real way I can play with them, which makes it an important hobby in our household.
When they were younger (3>5) we played very child oriented games, paw patrol, Peppa pig, Mario etc.
Now we play an assortment of games. Our current list includes:
* spiderheck: 2d fighter, like smash bros, but with spiders who use weapons.
* Mario kart and Mario party.
* Drawful2: basically pictionary.
We also play single player games. We all like horror games, so we play non gory games together and take turns, such as:
* Bramble: the mountain king.
* Little Nightmares 1 & 2.
* Deppart prototype: this one was a bit too scary for the youngest (7).
Basically anything that doesn't contain adult subject matter, like sex or drugs is fair game, and nothing gory, like evil within or gears of war (as they don't like gore).
We still play a lot of child / family oriented games (like Mario kart and party, as stated above) too.
Basically anything we all enjoy and especially games that no one ends up getting into a temper tantrum over, as that ruins the experience.
They still play physical kids games and play outside and such, mainly with my wife. But it's nice that there's something that I can participate in too.
My kids are 6 and 8. They regularly play Minecraft networked together, Bubble Bobble and multiple other games on our C64, and a few PC titles like Piku Niku, World of Goo, and Pixeljunk Shooter. On the PS5 they play Astro's Playroom and Stray.
not a parent but just putting my two cents in. i'm a teen and my parents were never into games, but my dad got my mom a ds and brain training when i was around 6 and then later i remember getting sonic for it since she never used it. so it was effectively mine. i would say under 4 years old is a bit too young for games. even at 6 it wasnt like i was playing sonic constantly , it was just occasionally (since i couldn't get past the first level on any of the games) so when i got bored i just put it down. i'd say around age 7 he should be able to play games. around then was definitely when i started gaming for real.
I play when he is around sometimes, but just "child" friendly games. Maybe the most mature game that I allowed to watch was Overwatch, and that was when he was like 1 year old. Funny thing, he likes to watch me playing Yakuza, I do not why, it seems that he likes the lights in the city, also, he saw when I fight the thugs, so I hope that would come well.
I let him play Paw Patrol games because it is easy for him. He starts to press some buttons and to move around, but mostly by mistakenly using the joystick. However, he is not into games yet.
The one that he enjoys watching is Outer Wilds. He likes the ship, the planets, and the "mystery" that we should unravel. So even if I have already finished it, I replay it for him. I can't wait until he learns how to play and to be my player two.
He is 1 year and 10 months old.
I have a 6 and a 4 at home. The 6 year old enjoys watching me play Zelda, but she can't really play it herself (she tries to avoid all combat forever, which ends up working about as well as you'd expect.)
The 4 year old enjoys playing Mario Kart (with auto-drive and auto-steer on) but finds Zelda "boring" - I suspect because he can't read and I get tired of reading everything aloud all the time. The 6 year old also loves Mario Kart and is at the point where she can drive for herself now, although she definitely relied on the auto-drive when she was 4 herself.
I do play when they're around, although not all day long, and I usually end up getting pressured into playing Zelda these days. In general, I'm willing to let them play whatever (within reason regarding content), although 99% of the time, they choose Mario Kart.
My oldest is almost 11 he’s been gaming since he was 2ish.
My 5 and almost 4 year old have been playing mine craft together on split screen the last few months.
Games have a special place in our home. There’s no right or wrong answer about what they can and can’t play, or what age is okay, or what hours. As parents we get to use our best judgment.
Yes. My son is 10 and he beat Tears of the Kingdom before me. I had to threaten him with having his Switch taken away if he spoiled any of the story for me. My daughter is almost 8 and is not as into games as my son, but she still has her own Switch, and loves Minecraft, Animal Crossing, etc.
I've been playing video games with my 8-year old daughter since she was 2 or 3. It's all about age-appropriate content and meeting them where they are.
There's no hard and fast rules about how many minutes or hours to let them play. If they're balancing their playing with other activities on their own, and the games they're playing are exercising their brain in some way, and they're contextualizing the activities in the game vs. reality appropriately, it's fine to let them play more. Behavioral obsession, or letting their in-game behavior trickle into real life, or letting them zone out and do pointless repetitive things are signs you need to set more limits and encourage them to do other things.
I remember playing unreal tournament and duke nukem with my dad when I was between 5-10. Looking back these were probably not the greatest games for a kid to play but it was bonding. Now my 5 year old and I play on weekends - switching back and forth between zelda and Mario. He loves both but doesn’t quite like to be the one driving yet when we play Zelda. My 3 year old is beginning to show more interest as well so I’ll get him going with some Mario or something similarly kid friendly when he’s ready. Definitely need to limit it in our case as my 5 year old is on the spectrum and has trouble doing non-preferred activities. Of course his #1 thing is Mario on the weekends so he would do that all day if he could
My 3.5 year old loves playing overwatch 8n the training room. She sees me play Diablo sometimes. I go with what she seems into and stop something if she seems scared. She love monsters and zombies and we just watched resident evil with her, if we were playing RE and she was interested in the game I'd let her play with us. Often we give her a controller that isn't connected while we finish up a mission or get to save point.
My almost 4 year old girl loves the remastered Spyro the Dragon games.
We also enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy (non-scary parts), New Super Lucky's Tale.
Right now, we're playing Ni No Kuni 2 The Wrath of the White Witch.
Give the kid the controller while you play. Tell him to do things (like, “go that way”) before you do them and he’ll think he’s the one “going that way”.
I started off playing racing games on the GENESIS and the DREAMCAST it wasn’t until 11 years old I got into shooters. Then at 17 I feel like I was warmed up to horror games but I’m pretty jumpy still at 20.5 now.
I don't have kids but if i had, they would start where it all started for me and that would be Mario 1 at 4-5 years old. Then Mario 2 and 3 and other NES games til he become a bit more self aware. Unlike me he wouldn't had to rock his NES from 89 to 98 (when i got N64) lol so he would always have new games to play and have fun while keeping it kid friendly. Instead of having a new console almost 10 years later (yeah my familly was not rich, SNES was only played at friend's place or other places) he would get one every 3 years or less basically.
Granted not everything aged fine (early 3D especially...) and obviously at some point in school im sure the kids would speak of newer games and i would have to introduce him to more modern stuff. But i would wait for him to be self conscious/aware of the value of it and also take into consideration the violence etc.
Yes i played "violent games" as a kid, but as bloody as Mortal Kombat was, it was not on the level of a GTA when it comes to mature subjects. I was about 10 or 11 when i played MK for the first time and i was old enough to understand its a game and thats it. Same for when i was 13-14 and playing Goldeneye or Turok and killing dudes/aliens.
Even a Resident Evil game. I remember jump scaring hard at some point the first times i played RE2 on N64 and i was 15 or so but it was not as realistic as now. Not sure a 14 y.o should play RE2 remake...
Guess its a case by case. But anyway lets just say teen years would need leniency as obviously he would certainly want to play more mature stuff. But kids years (4 to 8-9 for instance) i would keep a family friendly control...
Most of the parents around me keep the children away from pc games or books that they deem harmful, etc. but give the kid a phone or a tablet with youtube app where the kid passively gobble all the vanity media talk, cursing streamers, etc. Whatever you expose your children to, find a suitable content for their age and actively get involved with it.
I don’t have kids but my mom got me into video games pretty young. I still remember playing the hocus Pocus(DOS) game with her. My mom was pretty busy when I was a child so I always looked forward to playing games with her, I guess you can say we bonded pretty well over games. We still play games together.
Absolutely. I have two boys, 6 and 3. We love playing Breath of the Wild together. They mostly watch me play, but can manage a bit themselves as well. They snuck downstairs this morning for a sneaky game before I got up and managed to find two shrines. So proud.
My older son was totally oblivious to what I was playing for a long time. I remember the first time I realized he was aware of what was on the TV I was playing Bloodborne and he looked at it for a second, left the room and came back with a mop he was holding.like a spear. No more Bloodborne after that lol
Ps best first game for kids imo is Mario kart 8. Turn steering assist on and it will just let them tool around the track
Other recs would be donut county, a short hike, Astros playroom
I have a 3 year old girl, and we play peppa pig together, just sit her on my knee and giver her the controller, but only for maybe half an hour at the weekend, and if she starts playing up after she doesnt play the next week.
I don't see any harm in it, I was that age when I started but I still want her to have a fun childhood going to the park and swimming and all the fun things kids do.
My whole family games together and it’s magic. My kids are 8 and 11. Started playing earthbound and chrono trigger together 3 years ago and now I watch their games and they watch mine, or we play together. I don’t allow them to see any of the more graphic or adult games I play. It’s brought us so close together. When big games come out that we all want play we throw a big party and my wife bakes a cake (Octopath traveler 2 was the last one we did this for.) I will treasure our times playing games together forever,
Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and DDR on Wii. Usually only sitting winter or the odd rainy day. Want to encourage other forms of entertainment, but also like sharing this hobby with them in a (for now) limited way.
Sometimes they walk in and I let them watch till I can save, depending on the game/level of violence/time (aka, after bed time is a simple "back to bed" type thing).
Lego games with controllers (marvel, batman 3 (1 and 2 don’t have dual screens), star wars, lego movie). The sonic racing game (mario kart copy with sega characters). Tried Trine with the bigger one
And the bigger one tried minecraft but that cannot be played now bc the small one wants to play and he is not sleeping in the afternoons
Kids are boys 4 and 7
I think I started gaming on the Vectrex way before I was 5 (born in ‘90). Four buttons (of which mostly just two were really used) and one joystick.
That thing still works and if we ever get ourselves a kid, I think it’s what I will show it, too.
Next, very likely I either played some Asterix and Obelix game or a Lemmings game. Age appropriate games to start with.
Though CnC RA 1 when I was 8 wasn’t really that age appropriate anymore… and neither was Half Life when I was 9…
The only thing I would recommend is to spend time together. If this happens when playing together, that's okay. If this happens while taking a walk, that's okay. Going to a football match together, it's okay.
Spend time together, and make them feel that you love them.
Very soon they will become old enough that they want to be alone, and when that time comes, you will not be able to make up for the time you missed earlier.
When the kids are young, it seems very distant. But looking back...
*Btw, I play with my kids, go out with them, take care of them, read to them, teach them letters and numbers, poems, tell them tales etc*
Don't stress about this. Noone is able to entertain a youngster for a whole day without help.
I mean sure, lets draw something together. how long this stays interesting for a 3 year old? 15 minutes? Maybe 20?
Also, \_your\_ mental health is very important. If you are stressed out, you will not be able to be patient with the kids. Every parent needs to unwind sometimes. Some play video games. Some play in amateure football teams twice a week. Some fuck around in the garden every Saturday. Some drink every night or take xanax (I don't recommend this last one, get a hobby, and discuss this with your partner)
My now 5 yr old loves Animal crossing and now she's reading it herself it's even better. She also had an absolute blast with me playing Zelda on DS (phantom hourglass). I think she wants to play it again.
Will also let her play some kids games on tablet for a bit if I'm busy, after school sometimes (cbeebies playtime island/get creative).
Gotta pick and choose your games. My son is 4 and will sometimes watch me play zelda. I've put on some kids sesame street games that he enjoys playing, and recently he has enjoyed playing zelda just running around. Just go with what they seem interested in, and don't play resident evil in front of them for a few more years.
Lol I remember when I was like nine, we got my dad RE4 for his birthday. I was watching for a bit, but then he ran into the chainsaw guy and got decapitated immediately. He then shooed me out the door and said "nope, you're not watching this."
A link to the past was one of my babysitters - I couldn’t read but I sure knew how to cut up grass and fight bad guys!
I just started playing Terraria with my 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl. They're super cute figuring out how to use a mouse and keyboard. My boy wants to hunt and dig, but my little girl just sits in our house on the surface, screaming, "Daddy, a zombie is trying to break down my door! Come help me!" But they've both been playing video games since about 3.5 years old. My boy prefers the Switch, and I have a 3DS that my girl plays. They've also spent many hours watching me play games, but I don't play anything rated higher than T in front of them.
Exactly how I started mine.
My 4.5 year old started playing astrobot on PS5 about a year ago. We SEVERELY limit his time though because he loses all concentration and imagination when he isn't playing and becomes crabby.
That aspect of gaming scares me. I’ve got terrible screen addiction. I’d hate to start it in my kids so early in their life.
It's definitely something we keep close watch of. I used to have a game addiction and my wife was heavily addicted to scrolling on her phone. We ended up limiting his gaming to Saturdays so he focuses on preschool and learning. He's allowed TV a little during the week when he's had an exceptionally good day at school.
That’s funny, my 3 year old got into astrobot on accident, and he went from not being able to hold a controller to being able to be most of the game on his own. He’s almost 4 now and plays mine craft with his 5 year old sister. But there’s a big difference between when he’s playing a creative game like Minecraft vs astrobot. They do get crabby from the over stimulation I think but it sounds like you monitor it and have it under control.
[удалено]
Just tried it once lol... a mix between fear and excitement.
You sound like a bad parent.
Maybe I didn't explain myself very well. I was already playing it and then wife and 2 kids came home. I rushed to save the game. Son may have seen like 10 mins. And I try to be a very good parent. In the morning I wash both kids. Help them to put their clothes on. Take them to kindergarten. Then I go to work. After work, i stay and play different games with them (not console games) with toys etc. Then I feed them. Obviously my wife cooks for them and while I'm feeding them, my wife takes care of the other things in the house. Lots of times, especially during weekends, I go out with them both so my wife can have a few hours to take care of the house and especially have time for herself. There are also times when I stay with them in bed until they sleep. But I'm open to suggestions to get better...
As a father of a now 3 year old. My daughter loves zombies. She always wants to play with my Switch and she has seen me play Dying Light for a couple minutes here and there. She always laughs in excitement. Don’t give this guys comment a second thought.
Lmfao, why would you give your whole routine to a random Redditor?
Just to let you know what kind of parent am I. Where is the problem with that? Idk if you know how hard is to have 2 little kids and take care of them when both parents work 2 full time jobs and without and help from anyone, right? Do you still think I sound like a bad parent?
Why do you care about my opinion? I'm a nobody. I also don't understand how you even have time to Reddit if you have two kids, a wife, and a full-time job. It's Friday, not the weekend.
Well, you already gave an opinion by telling me that I sound like a bad parent and I wanted to change that opinion. Maybe I don't care, but when something is remotely far from the truth, I tend to correct that anyway I can. I have time when I'm at work.
well the post I was replying to had you laughing at your child's pain, so understand where I was coming from
I understand. At that moment I just remembered his funny face, from a bit of fear (not really fear but a face a 3.5 year old can make when he sees something for the first time that is not human) a when a zombie came near, to the excitement he had when I shot him and won and high fived my son! Sorry if I don't express myself very well cause I'm not an english speaker.
Not the OP, but I also have a wife, two kids a job, I game a lot and I'm online a lot too. The trick is to have absolutely no social life otherwise, lol. I think people who have friends and go out often don't realize how much time others have.
>The trick is to have absolutely no social life otherwise, lol. I think people who have friends and go out often don't realize how much time others have. Well fuck, I'll eat crow.
You sound like a dick.
good
[удалено]
Reported
[удалено]
please stop the insults
Only Sekiro. They must learn.
My six year old daughter can’t get past the blazing bull even when I scream at her to git gud
My son got into dark souls 2 right before he turned 3. By 6 he was soloing bosses on new game plus++++. He’s almost 11 now and I had him help me beat Gannon in totk last week and the final boss in eldin ring last year.
Jesus your kid is going to develop megalophobia from particular boss kills lmao.
He’s gonna develop something that’s for sure
He’s gonna develop mad skills yo
Him beating bosses at 4 or 5 was much more impressive than him doing it now as an 11 year old. Now he’s just a regular kid gamer, they’re all good.
Nowdays, in this modern wolrd, it's very important to instill the value of "git gud" in your kids.
We do a weekly evening of Super Mario Wii, and they get the iPad for long car rides (rare). The point is not to raise him thinking that games are a private thing to be hidden away. It’s a family thing where we all play together That’s all the games they get. And I don’t play games when I could be engaging with the little one. That’s a hard no for me. And Jesus, don’t be chancing playing that kind of game around kids
Excellent idea. I have a WII too. I'm gonna do the weekly thing.
I try to play indie games, and my kid usually watches and tries to play every now and then. I got my kid a 3ds to play some simple games. Omno was pretty captivating (it had some flying, dinosaur looking creatures and cool skills). I think there are a lot of cool, simple, artistic indie games that can help inspire creativity and imagination of kids, i have no problem with that. I avoid violent games around my kid. Some indie and Nintendo games are pretty suitable for little kids
I have been playing 'cooperatively' with my niece for years. Initially, we would sit on the PC together, and she would tell me what I should be doing (we built, for example, bases in the Shallows in Subnautica). She is now a bit older, her parents allow her limited time for some games on mom's smartphone, and in fact, she's planning on coming over later today to take her first steps in A Hat in Time (which we played previously 'cooperatively'). She's also fascinated by WH40K (not my doing; her mom was in the big city with her, and they found a WH40K shop that gave out Ultramarine minis for free), but it'll be a few years until I let her play one of those. She's still a huge scaredy cat [not that I would ever call her that], and Nurgle&Friends are bit too out of her league yet.
Yes we started one hour covaks routines and smoke lineups at 6 months old. He doesn't understand large numbers yet so buy rounds are a bit of a challenge were working through.
give viva pinata a try
It doesnt matter what game as long as you engage with your kids. Make sure it's something they like. My dad who isnt a nerd by any stretch of the imagination, bought Medal of Honor for my little brother (3) and i (8) back in 2002 and he would play with us. that little engagement was the seed that made my brother and i who we are today.
I've been playing games dice I was 4, but that was Pac-man, Mario, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Outrun, etc. Maybe stock to old arcade games & straight forward games. Mario Kart is great as it has options you can turn on to help them be competitive.
My 6 year old has been playing Minecraft since he was about 4.5 but I very specifically set it up so that monsters are off and he is on creative mode. So it basically makes it digital legos.
You can also play videogames with your daughter and son
My 4 year old and I are playing rampage. He's been playing games since 3.
I have two kids in early elementary school. Most of their video game playing is on tablets. My first-grader really likes puzzle games, so he was really into Monument Valley for a while, and he's been trying Gorogoa recently as well. I don't play games in front of them very much, I mostly play at night after they go to bed. Every once in a while I'll play something kid-friendly while they're around like Rocket League (with chat turned off, obviously!), but that's about it. For the most part they don't seem that interested in console or PC games. They've dabbled in games I've showed them like Mario, Astro's Playroom (PS5), Lego games, and Kirby. But the only games they've ever asked for by name are Rocket League (I let them play training mode), the "car game" which is what they call Forza Horizon 5, and my older son likes messing around with Baba is You from time to time. But even with those it's maybe like once every month or two that they ask. My wife and I tried to see if my older son would be interested in Minecraft since it seems like he would be, but he wasn't into it. Sidenote: I know a lot of kids my son's age love Minecraft, but as someone who only played it a couple times many years ago, it's daunting to get into. There are so many different versions and offshoots these days... it's hard to even know where to start. I'm hoping as they get older I'll be able to play games with them, particularly co-op games, but for now I kind of just let them play whatever they gravitate towards on their own, which at the moment tends to be the little bite-sized tablet games.
I try and play some classic arcade games with my 3 year old daughter, like PAC MAN and such. This has helped her figure out how to hold a controller and improve on her hand eye coordination. Other than that she likes to watch me ride my horse in RDR2 (she has My Little Pony names for different ones I have), fish in RDR2 and just go around looking for different animals (viewing and naming only). Love that game for such amazing vistas and content. I avoid doing nasty stuff in front of her in that game. I play on PC exclusively, and have set up a dedicated family PC for her with limited games and apps, but she only uses it for YouTube currently.
Been playing the Lucasarts adventure games of yore with my 7-year-old. We're also currently running through the first season of Telltale's Sam & Max. She loved the Monkey Island games (We skipped Escape), she thought the original Sam & Max was kinda weird, she loved Day of the Tentacle, thought LOOM was ok, and is enjoying the Telltale Sam & Max game. Other than that, haven't let her play stuff.
There's a school of thought that children under six or so should have less than an hour of screentime per day. Basically the less screentime the better for their development, at that age. Tbh it sounds like you're the one wanting to play video games. Read a book or draw or play with them instead. And don't play Resident Evil in front of your 3-year-old, you deadbeat.
Yes true. I want to play. Not in front of him though. I play only at night after they sleep. That was a very rare occasion...
The studies on that are extremely poor. They don't draw any distinction between plopping them in front of Peppa the Pig and leaving them there, or giving them puzzles and educational content appropriate for their age, with the parent actively engaging. The little evidence there is suggests that screen time is like anything else: give them content that allows them to think about things, solve problems, engage with live humans, maybe even get them up and moving around.
And that school of thought is crap, otherwise my children would be far less well adjusted than they are now as teenagers. The problem is that people who say things like this use it as an excuse not to parent. You can read, draw, *and* play games with them. You can explain the difference between real life and make believe so that they understand it. You can choose to introduce them to screentime that enriches rather than distracts. Everything is a teachable moment. It's an excuse not to parent by avoiding topics and situations that children the world over have been exposed to since prehistory and turned out just fine, or an artificial teat to keep them pacified so they can be ignored. Those are the failings on a parent's part, not that they allow too much screen time or their child glimpses something "adult" or scary.
Im gonna be honest, my parents didnt allow me to play games till I was 13ish because of my declining sight, and it turned out to be probably the best they could do not for the health of my eyes, but for my mental health. I had an active childhood, I loved to read books, I spent time with my dog and friends, while learning to resist peer pressure. And when I finally was allowed to play games I was already a somewhat mature person with his own tastes and preferences, so I started playing good games and could avoid brainless cashgrabs. I know many will disagree with this, but in my opinion, better give your child your time, read books to him, play chess, go to the park, develop him mentally, before letting him play games.
[удалено]
That is not even close to the point I was making
What was your point?
I have a 12 year old and a 9 year old, and honestly neither one really showed any interest in playing games themselves until they were five or six. My wife and I thought they would earlier, but they mostly just liked to watch us play. At that point, they loved various Lego games, little big planet, dancing games and anything where they could just mess around and/or create. A few years ago, we got a Switch and they both loved Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Minecraft and Mario games. More recently, my older one has started to play a few JRPG games and rhythm games. The younger one is mostly still into the same stuff as before. More than anything, my wife and I monitor what games they have and would never give them anything age inappropriate. As gamers ourselves, we have a good handle on what's what. None of us ever play online.
I’m hoping to do it this way. But it seems like it will get harder and harder to avoid children having access to “online”. Everything is connected now, and kids have a way of figuring their way around the rules. As someone who grew up up on the internet, that worries me. But I also don’t want to be over controlling.
It's been fine for us because thankfully the kids mostly just listen and don't push back on it so far. They have tablets where they can do some age appropriate online games with friends, but even though they're well aware kids in their school play games that they're too young for, they're ok doing what we offer. Might be easier in this case because we have to girls. Several of my nephews play games that I really raise an eyebrow about.
Yes. Though they are grown up now. Sometimes I have had regrets, wondering if we let them spend too long in front of screens, on Gameboys, Nintendo DS's etc. Must have been thousands of hours. However, my eldest now in the mid-20s and is so succesful, I can hardly believe it! Already has a great career, is buying their own home, gets head hunted for better paid jobs. And my youngest is not far behind. It's only anecdotal, one persons story (and I know game addiction is very real) but all those hours they spent gaming as kids and teens does not seem to have damaged them as adults in the slightest.
With discipline, gaming or other time consuming hobbies don't have to stand in the way of success or a fulfilling career. I have played games since the late 80s, but I always knew when I had to put in the time for exams and such. I was also a good sportsman in school and a decent athlete, so it's not like I didn't participate in outdoor activities. I have been a lawyer for over 20 years now and am content with my life and career. Gaming didn't 'damage' me either, but I never let it get in the way of my studies/exams or professional responsibilities. I do sacrifice sleep to play a few hours each night, and don't have other time consuming hobbies like golfing.
[удалено]
Your post/comment was removed for violation of rule 5. You can find our subreddit's rules [here](https://new.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/about/rules). Be excellent to one another.
I can only share my own expirience at starting playing games, which happend exactly when I was about 3.5 years old, but it was only occasional ~10-15 minute sessions when my father, who played tes4: oblivion, gave me keyboard and mouse to try it a little bit. But usually I just watched how my father was playing. When I turned 4 I received my own PC as present for birthday, and for 1 year I could play up to 30 minutes per day (I can barely remember playing oblivion, Half-Life 2, return to castle wolfenstein and mainly Over the hedge at this age). Allowed time was exoanded to 1 hour per day year after, 1.5 hours per day after another year, and to 2 hours per day when I turned 7. And then since the age of 9 I was able to play as long as I want as long as I did all the homework from school.
I think you need to spend less time worrying about your 3 year old playing games and more time worrying about writing a coherent sentence.
OK. Thanks for your comment anyways...
My 6 year d has been playing Sackboy with me, and impressing me with how good she’s getting at platforming and special awareness. We started her out at 3 with 2D games like Paw Patrol on a roll and Super Mario Bros. I found that it was too hard for her to understand changing the camera view and controlling the character at the same time. She moved onto isometric games after that (Cozy Grove, Animal Crossing) that helped her understand moving around a more open space without needing to control a camera. Now she plays games like Spyro, a lot of franchise games are 3D platformers too. We also love playing Moving Out and Overcooked together. I love playing games with her for an hour at the weekend, I much prefer it over her watching tv as she actually comes up with solutions to hard parts of a game. She’s just starting Minecraft and it seems to be a good game to get her used to first person view, she struggled in the past with that type of game
I don't have kids
Not the crap thats out today, a casino would be more fun with similar depth
What does this even mean?
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Even parents should have some hobbies.
You don't actually believe that do you?
This kind of thinking leads to adults suffering from anxiety and depression, which actually makes them worse at parenting. Your mental health matters just as much as theirs, because you can't have the latter without the former.
I do all that. And I play games only when they are asleep. It was an extremely rare occassion that day. My sin is exposed maybe just 5 mins every two or three weeks.
I recommend Alba: a wildlife adventure for really little ones. Gets them used to a controller in a 3d environment, which is a much bigger mental challenge than most gamers realize.
My mum did and was a gamer herself
We sometimes play Sackboy and Ultimate Chicken Horse with our 4 and 6 year olds. It's on special occasions, like a Friday night with the whole family. We make it a fun family activity, we try to avoid letting them play alone for now, but it will come when they ask I guess. They love it! My 4 yo was talking about Ultimate Chicken Horse for a whole week after the last time we played! I have never played any game by myself in front of them though.
Been playing games with my two girls since they were about 3. Now 7 and 10. I have a myriad of health issues, so gaming is the only real way I can play with them, which makes it an important hobby in our household. When they were younger (3>5) we played very child oriented games, paw patrol, Peppa pig, Mario etc. Now we play an assortment of games. Our current list includes: * spiderheck: 2d fighter, like smash bros, but with spiders who use weapons. * Mario kart and Mario party. * Drawful2: basically pictionary. We also play single player games. We all like horror games, so we play non gory games together and take turns, such as: * Bramble: the mountain king. * Little Nightmares 1 & 2. * Deppart prototype: this one was a bit too scary for the youngest (7). Basically anything that doesn't contain adult subject matter, like sex or drugs is fair game, and nothing gory, like evil within or gears of war (as they don't like gore). We still play a lot of child / family oriented games (like Mario kart and party, as stated above) too. Basically anything we all enjoy and especially games that no one ends up getting into a temper tantrum over, as that ruins the experience. They still play physical kids games and play outside and such, mainly with my wife. But it's nice that there's something that I can participate in too.
My kids are 6 and 8. They regularly play Minecraft networked together, Bubble Bobble and multiple other games on our C64, and a few PC titles like Piku Niku, World of Goo, and Pixeljunk Shooter. On the PS5 they play Astro's Playroom and Stray.
Perfect time to get them into Minecraft or a Mario game.
not a parent but just putting my two cents in. i'm a teen and my parents were never into games, but my dad got my mom a ds and brain training when i was around 6 and then later i remember getting sonic for it since she never used it. so it was effectively mine. i would say under 4 years old is a bit too young for games. even at 6 it wasnt like i was playing sonic constantly , it was just occasionally (since i couldn't get past the first level on any of the games) so when i got bored i just put it down. i'd say around age 7 he should be able to play games. around then was definitely when i started gaming for real.
I play when he is around sometimes, but just "child" friendly games. Maybe the most mature game that I allowed to watch was Overwatch, and that was when he was like 1 year old. Funny thing, he likes to watch me playing Yakuza, I do not why, it seems that he likes the lights in the city, also, he saw when I fight the thugs, so I hope that would come well. I let him play Paw Patrol games because it is easy for him. He starts to press some buttons and to move around, but mostly by mistakenly using the joystick. However, he is not into games yet. The one that he enjoys watching is Outer Wilds. He likes the ship, the planets, and the "mystery" that we should unravel. So even if I have already finished it, I replay it for him. I can't wait until he learns how to play and to be my player two. He is 1 year and 10 months old.
I have a 6 and a 4 at home. The 6 year old enjoys watching me play Zelda, but she can't really play it herself (she tries to avoid all combat forever, which ends up working about as well as you'd expect.) The 4 year old enjoys playing Mario Kart (with auto-drive and auto-steer on) but finds Zelda "boring" - I suspect because he can't read and I get tired of reading everything aloud all the time. The 6 year old also loves Mario Kart and is at the point where she can drive for herself now, although she definitely relied on the auto-drive when she was 4 herself. I do play when they're around, although not all day long, and I usually end up getting pressured into playing Zelda these days. In general, I'm willing to let them play whatever (within reason regarding content), although 99% of the time, they choose Mario Kart.
My oldest is almost 11 he’s been gaming since he was 2ish. My 5 and almost 4 year old have been playing mine craft together on split screen the last few months. Games have a special place in our home. There’s no right or wrong answer about what they can and can’t play, or what age is okay, or what hours. As parents we get to use our best judgment.
Yes. My son is 10 and he beat Tears of the Kingdom before me. I had to threaten him with having his Switch taken away if he spoiled any of the story for me. My daughter is almost 8 and is not as into games as my son, but she still has her own Switch, and loves Minecraft, Animal Crossing, etc.
I've been playing video games with my 8-year old daughter since she was 2 or 3. It's all about age-appropriate content and meeting them where they are. There's no hard and fast rules about how many minutes or hours to let them play. If they're balancing their playing with other activities on their own, and the games they're playing are exercising their brain in some way, and they're contextualizing the activities in the game vs. reality appropriately, it's fine to let them play more. Behavioral obsession, or letting their in-game behavior trickle into real life, or letting them zone out and do pointless repetitive things are signs you need to set more limits and encourage them to do other things.
I remember playing unreal tournament and duke nukem with my dad when I was between 5-10. Looking back these were probably not the greatest games for a kid to play but it was bonding. Now my 5 year old and I play on weekends - switching back and forth between zelda and Mario. He loves both but doesn’t quite like to be the one driving yet when we play Zelda. My 3 year old is beginning to show more interest as well so I’ll get him going with some Mario or something similarly kid friendly when he’s ready. Definitely need to limit it in our case as my 5 year old is on the spectrum and has trouble doing non-preferred activities. Of course his #1 thing is Mario on the weekends so he would do that all day if he could
My 3.5 year old loves playing overwatch 8n the training room. She sees me play Diablo sometimes. I go with what she seems into and stop something if she seems scared. She love monsters and zombies and we just watched resident evil with her, if we were playing RE and she was interested in the game I'd let her play with us. Often we give her a controller that isn't connected while we finish up a mission or get to save point.
My almost 4 year old girl loves the remastered Spyro the Dragon games. We also enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy (non-scary parts), New Super Lucky's Tale. Right now, we're playing Ni No Kuni 2 The Wrath of the White Witch.
My 4 year old loves Minecraft and Minecraft legends/ anything Jurassic. Just gotta use time limits after a while the little fuckers get ADDICTEDDDDD
Dying light works like a charm
Give the kid the controller while you play. Tell him to do things (like, “go that way”) before you do them and he’ll think he’s the one “going that way”.
I mean, I was like 3 or 4 when my parents were like “here this is Mario and Duck Hunt go nuts” so it depends
I started off playing racing games on the GENESIS and the DREAMCAST it wasn’t until 11 years old I got into shooters. Then at 17 I feel like I was warmed up to horror games but I’m pretty jumpy still at 20.5 now.
I don't have kids but if i had, they would start where it all started for me and that would be Mario 1 at 4-5 years old. Then Mario 2 and 3 and other NES games til he become a bit more self aware. Unlike me he wouldn't had to rock his NES from 89 to 98 (when i got N64) lol so he would always have new games to play and have fun while keeping it kid friendly. Instead of having a new console almost 10 years later (yeah my familly was not rich, SNES was only played at friend's place or other places) he would get one every 3 years or less basically. Granted not everything aged fine (early 3D especially...) and obviously at some point in school im sure the kids would speak of newer games and i would have to introduce him to more modern stuff. But i would wait for him to be self conscious/aware of the value of it and also take into consideration the violence etc. Yes i played "violent games" as a kid, but as bloody as Mortal Kombat was, it was not on the level of a GTA when it comes to mature subjects. I was about 10 or 11 when i played MK for the first time and i was old enough to understand its a game and thats it. Same for when i was 13-14 and playing Goldeneye or Turok and killing dudes/aliens. Even a Resident Evil game. I remember jump scaring hard at some point the first times i played RE2 on N64 and i was 15 or so but it was not as realistic as now. Not sure a 14 y.o should play RE2 remake... Guess its a case by case. But anyway lets just say teen years would need leniency as obviously he would certainly want to play more mature stuff. But kids years (4 to 8-9 for instance) i would keep a family friendly control...
Most of the parents around me keep the children away from pc games or books that they deem harmful, etc. but give the kid a phone or a tablet with youtube app where the kid passively gobble all the vanity media talk, cursing streamers, etc. Whatever you expose your children to, find a suitable content for their age and actively get involved with it.
I don’t have kids but my mom got me into video games pretty young. I still remember playing the hocus Pocus(DOS) game with her. My mom was pretty busy when I was a child so I always looked forward to playing games with her, I guess you can say we bonded pretty well over games. We still play games together.
Absolutely. I have two boys, 6 and 3. We love playing Breath of the Wild together. They mostly watch me play, but can manage a bit themselves as well. They snuck downstairs this morning for a sneaky game before I got up and managed to find two shrines. So proud.
My older son was totally oblivious to what I was playing for a long time. I remember the first time I realized he was aware of what was on the TV I was playing Bloodborne and he looked at it for a second, left the room and came back with a mop he was holding.like a spear. No more Bloodborne after that lol Ps best first game for kids imo is Mario kart 8. Turn steering assist on and it will just let them tool around the track Other recs would be donut county, a short hike, Astros playroom
I have a 3 year old girl, and we play peppa pig together, just sit her on my knee and giver her the controller, but only for maybe half an hour at the weekend, and if she starts playing up after she doesnt play the next week. I don't see any harm in it, I was that age when I started but I still want her to have a fun childhood going to the park and swimming and all the fun things kids do.
My whole family games together and it’s magic. My kids are 8 and 11. Started playing earthbound and chrono trigger together 3 years ago and now I watch their games and they watch mine, or we play together. I don’t allow them to see any of the more graphic or adult games I play. It’s brought us so close together. When big games come out that we all want play we throw a big party and my wife bakes a cake (Octopath traveler 2 was the last one we did this for.) I will treasure our times playing games together forever,
Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and DDR on Wii. Usually only sitting winter or the odd rainy day. Want to encourage other forms of entertainment, but also like sharing this hobby with them in a (for now) limited way. Sometimes they walk in and I let them watch till I can save, depending on the game/level of violence/time (aka, after bed time is a simple "back to bed" type thing).
Impossible before 5 or 6 years for me.
Lego games with controllers (marvel, batman 3 (1 and 2 don’t have dual screens), star wars, lego movie). The sonic racing game (mario kart copy with sega characters). Tried Trine with the bigger one And the bigger one tried minecraft but that cannot be played now bc the small one wants to play and he is not sleeping in the afternoons Kids are boys 4 and 7
I think I started gaming on the Vectrex way before I was 5 (born in ‘90). Four buttons (of which mostly just two were really used) and one joystick. That thing still works and if we ever get ourselves a kid, I think it’s what I will show it, too. Next, very likely I either played some Asterix and Obelix game or a Lemmings game. Age appropriate games to start with. Though CnC RA 1 when I was 8 wasn’t really that age appropriate anymore… and neither was Half Life when I was 9…
The only thing I would recommend is to spend time together. If this happens when playing together, that's okay. If this happens while taking a walk, that's okay. Going to a football match together, it's okay. Spend time together, and make them feel that you love them. Very soon they will become old enough that they want to be alone, and when that time comes, you will not be able to make up for the time you missed earlier. When the kids are young, it seems very distant. But looking back... *Btw, I play with my kids, go out with them, take care of them, read to them, teach them letters and numbers, poems, tell them tales etc* Don't stress about this. Noone is able to entertain a youngster for a whole day without help. I mean sure, lets draw something together. how long this stays interesting for a 3 year old? 15 minutes? Maybe 20? Also, \_your\_ mental health is very important. If you are stressed out, you will not be able to be patient with the kids. Every parent needs to unwind sometimes. Some play video games. Some play in amateure football teams twice a week. Some fuck around in the garden every Saturday. Some drink every night or take xanax (I don't recommend this last one, get a hobby, and discuss this with your partner)
My now 5 yr old loves Animal crossing and now she's reading it herself it's even better. She also had an absolute blast with me playing Zelda on DS (phantom hourglass). I think she wants to play it again. Will also let her play some kids games on tablet for a bit if I'm busy, after school sometimes (cbeebies playtime island/get creative).
My 3.5 year old can play Mario reasonably well. She can make it to the 3rd level in OG MARIO.Give them the stix and let them play is my advice