Good PC Game for 6 Yr old?

mick.fr

Looking for a good and interresting one for the son. He is 6.
He has played to Age of Empire/Mythology, loved them, but he finished them in full 2 or 3 times already. He played Empire Earth serie... too, but don't like them.

So I am after this kind of games as he is really enjoying building stuffs.

Cheers

animaX

I was going to suggest World of Goo (even though the wii version is better) but its not an rts game like Age of Empires. It would be good fun for a kid though!

kazza90210

How about one of the roller coaster tycoon games? he will get to build his own theme parks, there are other variations of these like zoo tycoon, lemonade tycoon etc etc!

Hogzy

Sim City 4 is brilliant!!!
Id really recommend it...

Might spur on his Civil Engineering abilities and when the next boom starts he might make you millions!

Nevyn

Spore.

mick.fr

Thanks guys for the suggestions. He already played to the tycoon series too...
He just love building things, he does crazy stuffs with Lego.

Like this tractor/plane with propeler lol, or this plane with retractable wings...I am just amazed at what kids can do today with some toys.

His expectations are high, so I am not sure what to get him really. He is getting bored quickly.

Leprachaun

I'd say Spore aswell.

Fanny Cradock

mick.fr wrote: »

Thanks guys for the suggestions. He already played to the tycoon series too...
He just love building things, he does crazy stuffs with Lego.

Like this tractor/plane with propeler lol, or this plane with retractable wings...I am just amazed at what kids can do today with some toys.

His expectations are high, so I am not sure what to get him really. He is getting bored quickly.

A budding engineer, maybe?

enda1

How about hurling, football, soccer, swimming?

Great games for kids! Keep them active and give them a love for the outdoors and social interaction.

Ardscoil Ris

mick.fr wrote: »

Looking for a good and interresting one for the son. He is 6.
He has played to Age of Empire/Mythology, loved them, but he finished them in full 2 or 3 times already. He played Empire Earth serie... too, but don't like them.

So I am after this kind of games as he is really enjoying building stuffs.

Cheers

Grand Ages: Rome. It's a city building game, but is pretty easy.

Sephiroth_dude

how bout command and conquer tiberian sun or red alert?

5uspect

6 might be a bit young but you should consider Lego Mindstorms
http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/Overview/default.aspx

It basically runs on a version of LabVIEW and offers some pretty complex possibilities.

mick.fr

enda1 wrote: »

How about hurling, football, soccer, swimming?

Great games for kids! Keep them active and give them a love for the outdoors and social interaction.

Ah I was waiting or this one, the usual lesson giver telling us we don't know how to raise our kids and that they play too much stupid video games.
Nice way to put it mate. Thanks. But my son is doing just extremelly well socially and speaks 4 languages fluently, Irish included.

Thanks for the other constructive suggestions guys, will have a look.

Compton

cod 4/5?

Funky

Warcraft 3. Looks like he has a taste for strategy games, this is one of the best

magick

Fear

BopNiblets

Maybe he likes Lego!
Lego Star Wars/Indy/Batman (out soon)

RTS: Caesar IV for the Roman theme has a lot of building and placement of stuff.

ProjectColossus

I was going to say World of Goo too.

Or, has anyone here played Armadillo Run? Combines buildy goodness with a loast space Armadillo adventure. Ok, that last part isn't a selling point...

The idea is to use physics and props to get the armadillo ball thing into the exit zone.
The following video shows some pretty mental stuff you can do, but the game is generally much less crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH4SS2oG_uc

Check out the demo at least, and if you like it, it's pretty cheap at 15 euro.

Grim.

mick.fr wrote: »

Thanks guys for the suggestions. He already played to the tycoon series too...
He just love building things, he does crazy stuffs with Lego.

Like this tractor/plane with propeler lol, or this plane with retractable wings...I am just amazed at what kids can do today with some toys.

His expectations are high, so I am not sure what to get him really. He is getting bored quickly.

i miss lego the most awesome of toys

PogMoThoin

5uspect wrote: »

6 might be a bit young but you should consider Lego Mindstorms
http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/Overview/default.aspx

It basically runs on a version of LabVIEW and offers some pretty complex possibilities.

+1, Lego Mindstorms comes with Lego Digital Designer which is basically Lego Autocad for kids. You can download it here, its free. Its great learning, even Dad will have fun with it too.

Fionnanc

World of Goo is a good fun, brain teaser, but maybe this is the old fogey talking, isn;t 6 years old too young to be playing computer games? Encourage sports to develop good fitness and co-ordination and then at age 10 or 12 allow to play simulation, puzzle or strategy games-no shooters/fashionable games and definately not MMOs.-was sitting in a coffee shop in disgust listening to circa 15 year olds discussing how many creatures they massacred.-The other patrons were not impressed.

Nevyn

Actually mouse skills encourage hand eye cordination and games can work on thier thinking, planning, learning consequences, maths and literacy.

Yes my kids are gamer kids but they are also brought to the play ground
and go out to play on thier bikes, I would rather have them enguaged playing games
or reading then passively watching the tv.

As long as they have limits and aren't left infront of the pc/console/ds all day
I don't see any harm in it.

c - 13

I dont know what sort of level a 6 year old but if he likes building things what about fantastic contraption ? Free online (or pay & download the full version).

Brilliant game, he should be well able for the early levels or even to use it in a sandbox mode.

PogMoThoin

Thaedydal wrote: »

Actually mouse skills encourage hand eye cordination and games can work on thier thinking, planning, learning consequences, maths and literacy.

Yes my kids are gamer kids but they are also brought to the play ground
and go out to play on thier bikes, I would rather have them enguaged playing games
or reading then passively watching the tv.

As long as they have limits and aren't left infront of the pc/console/ds all day
I don't see any harm in it.

+1, My young fella photoshopped a coldsore off his lip on his own communion photos with M$ Paint when he was 7 without any input from anyone else. Its good to let them mess around, they'll learn loads themselves in a short time.

You want to see him on a pc now he's age 10, downloads his own stuff, can unrar Steam maps into folders and browse through Windows (and linux, his pc's dual boot) like a pro. His teachers usually lost at school when he's near a pc.

L31mr0d

Fionnanc wrote: »

but maybe this is the old fogey talking

you would be correct

tell me how old do you think a child should be before you let them watch TV or read books? Viewing video games as not equal to other forms of media that children are exposed to is a generational thing. We are the last generation to have our youth largely wasted on passive media. I'd prefer my child to learn while actively playing games, then by passively staring at a screen.

As a recommendation, i'm surprised nobody has mentioned Portal yet. Get it and then get some of the community made maps for it also. Some of them are absolute noodlers and will really test your childs problem solving abilities.

On top of that, for an RTS, I'd recommend "Sins of a Solar Empire"

I'd also recommend this indie game which is simple and fantastic:

Darwinia and its sequel Multiwinia, you should be able to get them off Steam.

The Lego games (i.e. batman, star wars and indiana jones) are good, but they are really just side scroller platformers with little to do with building lego. Worth a run through if you want a good, humorous, coop game to play with your child. Although they are a lot better if you've actually watched the movies, as they are largely parodies of them.

Flamed Diving

Not being smart, but a frisbee/football/tennis racquet, etc and the outdoors. He will be sitting at a desk in front of a PC for most of his adult life so he may as well enjoy freedom while he has it!

Jazzy

get him playing quake 3 from an early age and turn him into a mini professional gamer!

more really - Starcraft is always a classic, as is red alert 2... and total annihilation.

Soby

c - 13 wrote: »

I dont know what sort of level a 6 year old but if he likes building things what about fantastic contraption ? Free online (or pay & download the full version).

Brilliant game, he should be well able for the early levels or even to use it in a sandbox mode.

+1
great game.

Sephiroth_dude

he might also like age of empire 3 and its expansions

L31mr0d

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Not being smart, but a frisbee/football/tennis racquet, etc and the outdoors. He will be sitting at a desk in front of a PC for most of his adult life so he may as well enjoy freedom while he has it!

why do people keep replying with things like this You are falsely assuming that the OP only lets his child play computer games, when I'd imagine these games are more of an alternative to letting them vegetate in front of a tv when they can't be outside. If someone came in and asked "what outdoor sports are good for a 6 yr old?" would you assume that every waking minute of the childs life is going to be spent making them do outdoor sports?

It is equally as ludicrous to assume that a child can't do both video games and outdoor sports. Engaging the body is all well and good, but the mind needs to be engaged in a challenging manner also. In the technologically advanced world we live in, I'd view not teaching a child how to use a computer or run programs and games on it akin to not teaching them a language or how to write. In fact I'd say computer literacy has overtaken the need to be able to manually write with your hands.

Also, for the OP, another in browser game I'd highly recommend if he likes strategy is Tower Defense games (just google it) They range from fun and interesting to insanely difficult so see if your child will like them.

Flamed Diving

L31mr0d wrote: »

why do people keep replying with things like this You are falsely assuming that the OP only lets his child play computer games, when I'd imagine these games are more of an alternative to letting them vegetate in front of a tv when they can't be outside. If someone came in and asked "what outdoor sports are good for a 6 yr old?" would you assume that every waking minute of the childs life is going to be spent making them do outdoor sports?

It is equally as ludicrous to assume that a child can't do both video games and outdoor sports. Engaging the body is all well and good, but the mind needs to be engaged in a challenging manner also. In the technologically advanced world we live in, I'd view not teaching a child how to use a computer or run programs and games on it akin to not teaching them a language or how to write. In fact I'd say computer literacy has overtaken the need to be able to manually write with your hands.

Also, for the OP, another in browser game I'd highly recommend if he likes strategy is Tower Defense games (just google it) They range from fun and interesting to insanely difficult so see if your child will like them.

Look at the games the kid has finished. It takes more than 20mins a day to do this, for an adult.

L31mr0d

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Look at the games the kid has finished. It takes more than 20mins a day to do this, for an adult.

so? what is your point? do you think 20 minutes should be the maximum amount of time in a day a 6 yr old should spend in front of a PC? Do you think the average 6 yr old only watches 20 mins of TV a day? Or only has 20 minutes free between school, meals, outdoor activities and sleeping?

My brother-in-law is 14 and spends his holiday time between snowboarding, dirt biking, skate boarding, mountain biking and playing games on his DS, Xbox 360 and PC. He has completed a lot of games that would take 20 hrs+ each to finish.

You have to remember a child, especially a 6 yr old, doesn't work a 40 hour week, and their school day is shorter than a work day, they have no real chores to finish so have a lot of free time, especially during the summer. But even in the winter, I doubt many parents would rather their 6 yr old child playing outside in the dark to safely being warm inside exercising their minds with games.

Anyway, I'm not saying the child should not do outdoor activities, I'm just saying its possible to easily get balance, even with games that require a lot of time to complete.

Fionnanc

I guarantee a child with good hand-eye co-ordination from computer games will perform less well at manual/dextourous tasks as a child who plays for example hurling or rugby. A large proportion of my technically advanced students seem to be only able to copy and paste from google on their topics.
As somebody who plays a lot of computer games and has a job that requires high manual dexterity I can honestly say that the games don't help, while activities that involve manipulating objects (eg sport, "playing with tools") do. Lastly a lot of mouse usage doesn't increase forearm strength significantily. Name any handtool and i guarantee it can be tiring to use even after a few seconds. I develop a signifcant shake when using a soldering iron from 1 minute, when i first started using an iron I could last about 20 seconds.
Do the child a favour and get him exploring the world, not learning how to master a "tank rush"

Jazzy

but but but.....

thebman

Fionnanc wrote: »

I guarantee a child with good hand-eye co-ordination from computer games will perform less well at manual/dextourous tasks as a child who plays for example hurling or rugby. A large proportion of my technically advanced students seem to be only able to copy and paste from google on their topics.
As somebody who plays a lot of computer games and has a job that requires high manual dexterity I can honestly say that the games don't help, while activities that involve manipulating objects (eg sport, "playing with tools") do. Lastly a lot of mouse usage doesn't increase forearm strength significantily. Name any handtool and i guarantee it can be tiring to use even after a few seconds. I develop a signifcant shake when using a soldering iron from 1 minute, when i first started using an iron I could last about 20 seconds.
Do the child a favour and get him exploring the world, not learning how to master a "tank rush"

There is no reason you can't do both. God the "think of the children" people are in force on this thread and need to wake the hell up. The kid can play sports and computer games in the same day. You can't play sports when its dark out in winter or when its raining with thunderstorms etc...

I played sports from a young age and played computer games most of the time instead of watching tv and got on fine. I don't see the problem with doing this. I was programming when I was 14 and breaking and fixing computers and I was winning championships and competing at a European level in rowing when I was 16 and achieving top grades. It isn't one or the other, if the child can do these things, it would be more wrong to hold them back from spreading themselves. They will learn from all these tasks.

If anything keeping them away from TV is the best thing you could do for them. They learn nothing from it and learn a lot more from team sports and video games than they'll learn from Pokemon on tv (I know its a game but at least in the game, you keep track of stats).

I'd recommend Pikmin as a game that a kid could play easily as it develops strategy and interacting with objects and numbers as Pikmin is all about having enough Pikmin to complete a given task be that carrying an object or attack for bugs for food. It is a Nintendo game too so it is pretty kid friendly and the controls are easy. It is a reworked, Wii Selection I think is the name of the series. It is a Gamecube game with added Wii motion controls and so it is cheaper than a lot of other games.

I always loved the Sim City collection of games because of the construction element. You should also look into Transport Tycoon Deluxe which is game in which you run a transport company and setup complex transport routes. You can link routes and everything. I loved this game more than anything in my teens but I don't know if a kid could handle the management level in the game. There are subsidies, competing transport companies, new technologies over time etc.... that all factor against you and your bank loan repayments so it could be too hectic but a good game for the future at least and working making a note of.

Oh and there is now an Open Source version of Transport Tycoon Deluxe available for free from the below site. This just extends the original game, you need a copy of the original to play it.
http://www.openttd.org/en/

Fionnanc

Agree he can do both,
but find it strange that a 6 year old plays so much he is able to complete games like age of Empires!
Neat video Mazzy.



He can do both when he is a bit older?

Guinnessman

Sounds like a smart kid.

If he likes RTS games, He should try Chess. Amazing strategical, tactical and analytical game ever invented.

Nevyn

Fionnanc wrote: »

Agree he can do both,
but find it strange that a 6 year old plays so much he is able to complete games like age of Empires!

You may find it strange those of us who are gamers and who have children
don't find it strange at all.

Fionnanc wrote: »

He can do both when he is a bit older?

I would sooner see my kids spend 2/3 hours a day at the pc or console then
just watching t.v. and yes they are physically active, they have to be other wise they bounce of the walls at home and they both read and play board games and card games.

Why would you set limits on how a child is learning and exploring ?

Sephiroth_dude

also star wars galactic battlegrounds is a cool rts if somewhat dated now.

UrbanSea

Leisure suit larry.

Dcully

My 6 year old plays literally everything i have installed on my pc.
The little fecker can play wow, world in conflict,any fps title with ease.
Recently he started some skirmish games of command and conquer red alert 3.
He prefers to just sit and suss out the game himself without daddy trying to explain things, come back an hour later and hes a whizz.

Hes also fond of his 360 where he plays lord of the rings conquest, halo3,castle crashers and cod 4 [all with voice comms disabled ofcourse]

We let him play an hour per day and 2 hours on weekend days.
Some days he wont have interest at all.

He plays for the local under 8 football team,trains fridays nights, goes to cubs on monday night,swimming saturday morning usually followed by a football match for the under 8s,hes getting interested in hurling too and may go to the local team for it too.
After his swimming and match on saturdays hes usually off to a class mates house or one of his mates calls to his house.

Hes a healthy and clever boy in the top group in his senior infants class.
There is no harm in him playing on his xbox 360 or indeed on my pc.

Fanny Cradock

Well, it is debatable whether there is no harm in letting a 6 year old play FPS and other games designed for older people.

Dcully

Your welcome to you opinion but i see a lot worse on the kids channels he watches.
Hes not a fool and he realises its a game and meant to be fun.

Fanny Cradock

Dcully wrote: »

i see a lot worse on the kids channels he watches.

You are probably correct there. I wasn't having a go at you, just voicing an alternative position.

Dcully

No problem, to be honest we limit his fps titles like COD 4 etc, its fps title like team fortress 2 i dont really mind too much.

callaway92

Grand Theft Auto IV

Fionnanc

I think the argument "its better than TV is silly", but it keeps getting it repeated. Sure the child is more mentally active when playing a game, but is physically inactive. Consider letting young children playing computer games-it keeps them quiet and is better for them than television, but the child loses the opportunity to develop motor skills and decision making skills team sports provide. They also miss out on social skills, exploring the world, making friends. And no, i don;t believe they make friends on their online games commonly, all they do is compete, throw tantrums, etc. And it is not just the spoiled American Children ruining some online games.
Hours spent completing age of empires could have been spent, reading, playing with objects, I believe a real lego set is more beneficial than a computer simulation. Young children should deal with concrete objects and subjects first before moving on to abstract renditions of the real thing when older.

Rant over

Also from the children under ten i have seen playing games, all they seem to do is random button mashing.

OP, you are lucky to have such an exceptional 6 year old, who seems years ahead, encourage him to develop further, maybe limit the games?

I recommend World of Goo, inventive, requiring abstract thinking, joyous but is probably too much for the average 6 year old.

PogMoThoin

Fionnanc wrote: »

I think the argument "its better than TV is silly", but it keeps getting it repeated. Sure the child is more mentally active when playing a game, but is physically inactive. Consider letting young children playing computer games-it keeps them quiet and is better for them than television, but the child loses the opportunity to develop motor skills and decision making skills team sports provide. They also miss out on social skills, exploring the world, making friends. And no, i don;t believe they make friends on their online games commonly, all they do is compete, throw tantrums, etc. And it is not just the spoiled American Children ruining some online games.
Hours spent completing age of empires could have been spent, reading, playing with objects, I believe a real lego set is more beneficial than a computer simulation. Young children should deal with concrete objects and subjects first before moving on to abstract renditions of the real thing when older.

Rant over

Also from the children under ten i have seen playing games, all they seem to do is random button mashing.

OP, you are lucky to have such an exceptional 6 year old, who seems years ahead, encourage him to develop further, maybe limit the games?

I recommend World of Goo, inventive, requiring abstract thinking, joyous but is probably too much for the average 6 year old.

:rolleyes: I'd hate to be Your child, what a boring life that would be with Ned Flanders as a Dad.........prayers at 7 and then bed

Nevyn

Club penguin has been is wonderful for children to make friends online and the parental
controls limit the time of session and total time per day a child can play and it does encourage team work.

mick.fr son already plays with lego as do mine.
You seem to be under the mistake assumption that the only play our children get
is console/computer games.

Children under 10 so only mash buttons ? I don't think you have been around gamer kids
at all have made a whole heap of presumptions.

I have found that the lego starwars games were wonderful for getting my two to learn
to co operate on tasks in real life, games like age of empires and Civilisation teach a lot
about history and different cultures, planning and strategy.

Games have their place as part of our children's play and education and can be wonderful
in helping growing their critical thinking, problem solving, confidence and knowledge base.

Fionnanc

that's the way my parent's raised me and i am glad they did.
I offer my opinions and you reply with personal insults. Questioning a 6 year old completing strategy games I think is vaild for this thread. And I have recommend a game i think may be suitable twice.
I think all primary school children should be in bed by 8. They need to be rested to get the most benefit out of school. Staying up after 7 or 8 to watch for example a television program with parents should be a special treat,
computer games should be a special treat for older children, in my opinion.
I believe game playing provides less benefit for children, than say dismantling an old radio, artwork or reading.

Nevyn

If that is how you want to raise you kids when you have them fine.

This site was set up by a bunch of gamers for a bunch of gamers and despite the huge
growth over the last 10 year it still has a core group of guess what gamers who grew up
playing games and post in the games forum and now have children who are growing
up to be gamers. It's a different way of life from what you grew up with and as long
as gamer parents take steps to make sure thier children are well rounded then I don't
see harm but a lot of benefits from being brought up as a gamer kid.