I am a father of two and with my eldest now at the age (7) when he is starting to take an (unhealthy) interest in video games I've started to play video games with him when I can. We currently play Minecraft Pocket Edition together on our Kindles & Lego games on the PC; We are currently playing Lego Star Wars. I am keen to keep this as a common interest we can do together.

I wondered whether other members play video games with their kids and if so have they any tips to pass on or experiences to share?

BTW, there was a good discussion on kids games a month or so back :) I've made the obligatory GA to accompany this type of discussion post, Plastiland, which was mentioned in the kids games post although I've yet to test whether my son likes this one.

In case anyone ever wonders about my "final" poll options. They are usually varieties of potato so count that as your potato option. I have an allotment which I am shortly going to take my eldest son down to plant some potatoes & broad beans :)

8 years ago

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Kids & Gaming

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No kids for me
I have kids but I don't game with them
I have kids and I game with them
Pink Fir Apple

I have no kids, but I play on my brothers X-Box together with his kids

8 years ago
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what's a kid?

8 years ago
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baby goat.

8 years ago
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i game with my son who is 5. But it all depends on his behavior and attitude. i also will limit how long he gets to play with me. He has his own ds with a few game on that like Pokemon and such and hes aloud to use that if he asks either me or his mom and we think he deserves the game time but again he gets a time limit. So far that's working for us my son still loves playing outdoors and with his legs and other toys when hes inside.

8 years ago
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If I had a kid, I'd enjoy beating them in games.

8 years ago
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Yeah that's what's I thought .. You soon face the fact they are much, much quicker than you are and have no interest in any game you stand a chance against them ;)

8 years ago*
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But if you're a harcore gamer, you can't be beaten by a beginner. It's just amateur luck.

8 years ago
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My hardcore gamer (or as close as I ever came) are 30+ years behind me ;)

8 years ago
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Oh well, I guess you shoul now pass what's left of your power to your kids.

8 years ago
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+1

8 years ago
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-1 you savage

8 years ago
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My long dream is to create Player 2 (or more) for myself. I have so much things that we could do together. But sadly...life happens :/ It's nice to hear that somebody plays games with kids. Cheers!

8 years ago
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My 6 year old son and I have been playing Valkyria Chronicles together recently, and just started a game of Back to the Future. Not that long ago he took over my Batman Arkham game. But he mostly plays stuff I have no interest in, like Minecraft or Five Nights at Freddy's

8 years ago
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i would if i had ,used to do it with my young nieces and nephew.
Used to be great sourcing games for them and watching them having fun.

8 years ago
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My kids are one of the main reasons why I got back into gaming after a long hiatus. I see so much potential for gaming to be both a strong bonding activity as well as an excellent tool for teaching my kids practical skills like logic, perseverance, and self-control. That my kids are also being raised in a bilingual household, playing simple adventure games like the Putt-Putt series in English gives them extra exposure and reason to want to use the language in an active way that is highly engaging to them.

I believe it is fairly inevitable that children these days will grow up with screens/computers/games in their lives, what with the ubiquity of mobile devices which will probably at some point become wearables. I feel it is very important to play video games together and show my young kids how to regulate and enhance their lives and live in balance with technology as opposed to giving them no guidance or experience on something which will almost inevitably play a big part in their future adult lives. Preventing poor electronic device usage habits isn't about banning them in my opinion, but rather about giving experience, guidance, and setting a good example with my own behaviors which kids pick up on whether consciously or not.

Taking an active interest and giving guidance without being overbearing in the things your children are into, be they video games, sports, comic books, ponies, anything really -- this is what builds strong bonds and creates excellent opportunities to pass on your own knowledge and experience. I often feel fortunate that at least one of the things I'm interested in (video games) is a pretty easy thing to share with my kids. The only thing is that one must not be complacent about it and remain engaged in sharing and guiding the experience as opposed to just taking the easy way out and letting the kids zombie out with no critical thought about what they are doing and why they are doing it.

8 years ago*
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If I had kids ( not going to happen :( ) of course i'd love to play some games with them & get them to play good puzzling games to help their brain's improvement also would like to make sure they did other things like learn maths or go for a bike ride etc, don't want them getting addict to playing the video games all the time ;)

8 years ago*
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I played Gears of War with my 6 year old brother. I'm not sure if I'm a great older brother or a terrible one.

8 years ago
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Mostly Mario Kart Wii and Angry Birds :)

8 years ago
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why ?? show them the real game like the nintendo 64 perfect dark, bad fur day,mario cart 64 or on pc

8 years ago
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Because he likes it , my N64 went out the window decades ago ( literally) and the PC is my toy , not theirs!

8 years ago
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Hell yes. They thrive on multiplayer games and love co-op the most.

My boys LOVE Doom and my youngest has even finished it (with god mode). They all love when myself or my wife play with them. The biggest problem is that I can't just buy one copy of a game anymore, I have to buy multiple copies every time. Family dynamics are changing I guess.

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8 years ago
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No kids, I do spend way too much money on games for my nephew though, and then rage when he get's bored after 15 mins and goes back to Mario Kart.

The kid's 5 and can't figure out Kirby's Canvas Curse, but can get to Mom in Binding of Isaac. o_O Don't tell his mom we play that together, SHHH

He confuddles me.

8 years ago
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A guildmate of mine form the glory days of Ragnarok online played with his siblings and both of his parents. Both his parents were at their prime (kind of 40ish) and they were part of the council that time (our guild was big with like 5+ extensions and was part of an alliance with 4 other allied guild and their extensions)

Ofcourse they weren't online 20+ hours a day like we used to do, but they're always at WOEs, boss raids, and meetings.

Oh, the good old days

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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I kid with my games.

8 years ago
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What kids?

8 years ago
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Yeah... my son has gamed since he was a toddler, starting with Freddy Fish, Pajama Sam etc... By the time he was 5 we played Serious Sam, Counter-strike, Unreal Tournament, Terminator 3 War of the Machine. He's 16 now and he's just starting to voluntarily go outside. Joking... (sort of...) Pros - shared family interest and way to connect. All of our PCs are in the same room, so we still hang out and talk to each other. He has no violent tendencies or behavior problems. We've always stressed gun safety, even with toy guns, how to hold, load... no pointing at people except in controlled settings like paint ball, laser tag etc... Negatives... We've had to go through extra efforts to make sure he does other activities. It's hard to find stuff as stimulating as virtual life. Whenever grades went down and we had to take away the PC, it was ugly. But I think he would have discovered video games regardless.

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8 years ago
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8 years ago
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No kids, but I play games with my little cousin :D Mostly about unicorns and barbies, so nothing cool yet, but I'm just waiting for the right time to show her Lego games.

8 years ago
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I'm hoping someday. My daughter is 6, but we don't see that often right now.

8 years ago
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My oldest son is 4 years old, so at the moment he is still young.
Probably the day he will interested in playing computer games I will be by his side.

8 years ago
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On the weekend I play Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 1&2 with my daughter.
She also likes to play Goat Simulator and Just Dance (on PS3).

8 years ago
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I wish I had kids :(

8 years ago
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