For the past week or so I have been trying to “show” Marley how to game. I mean, she does some gaming but usually on the iPad – Sneaky Sasquatch mostly. Recently though, she has shown interest in playing the way I play, on a console or the Nintendo Switch. To me, the Nintendo Switch has the most kids-friendly type games, or at least the ones I own. I don’t think I own many kids friendly vidjia games on either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Making this the obvious choice, the Switch. And here’s is the thing, I am having a hard time thinking about what would be the perfect game for a 4-year-old. I want her to learn and have fun and not be frustrated.
I was trying to think about the type of games I was into or got my first experiences with and at what age I was. Thing is, I cannot remember at what age, at all. I remember my cousins having an Atari but I never played Atari. The first Nintendo game I remember playing was Super Mario Bros and that game was released in 1987 on the US, I was 4-year-old. Although I must have probably played it a year or two later. I am not sure, to be honest. I know the first console my parents bought me was a SEGA Master System, also released around 1987 and the first game I remember playing was Alex Kidd in Miracle World, also released on 1987. Maybe I was 4yo when I started gaming. And I remember Alex Kidd been a little frustrating.
Anyways, I cannot find Mario Odyssey for the switch anywhere, so Yoshi’s Crafted World™ was probably the next obvious choice. So far she likes it, she likes the fact there’s a pink and a purple Yoshi, and so am I. She is not about collecting things and finding secrets but more about just playing around. She does get frustrated at times when she can quite figure out what to do, “I am not good at this game papa”. I jump in and help out of course but then I get into this debate of how much is too much that then she won’t get any good at it. Makes sense? I guess this will be a trial and error thing. I kind of want to get Mario Kart and see how she does maybe. I was also thinking maybe Animal Crossing might present a good experience but we will see. One time I downloaded Viva Piñata to the Xbox. Think of it as Animal Crossing but Piñatas, and she wasn’t really into it. But I will try AC, I mean that’s a game that I had purchased mostly out of hype and I couldn’t get into it.
Maybe Marley will.
