The original idea for this article was “Which games would you like to share with your child someday”. Since my child is now thirty-six I think my days of trying to turn her into a gamer are well and truly over. I’m sorry to say I didn’t succeed in making her a gamer when she was growing up, little chance of that happening now.
On the other hand, I do have seven grandchildren, four of which are gamers which I had some influence on. Ben who is five years old might turn into a gamer if his parents ever buy him a gaming console. The other two, Tom and Torin are still too young to pay much attention to gaming.
However, as they grow older I might be lucky to be able to mould them into taking an interest in gaming.
So what games would I introduce them to?
Mario Kart
I think Mario Kart would be a good starting ground for introducing the children to the wonders of gaming. We could play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch, and spend many hours whizzing around the tracks in the races. Hitting each other’s kart with shells and using power-ups. I’d probably lose every race as children are quick learners and would pick it up in no time at all. But I’m sure we would have a blast regardless of who wins or losses!
LEGO Games
After Mario Kart, we would move on to playing some fun and humorous LEGO video games. Being the kind granny I am I’d lend them my 3DS and they could get used to playing a few LEGO Harry Potter games. We could romp around casting spells and causing havoc in Hogwarts.
Then of course there is the Incredibles LEGO game, which is a nice game for children to enjoy. We could also try out the LEGO Star Wars when the boys are a little older too.
Move on to Pokémon
After that, it would probably be time to introduce them to some good old “Got to catch ’em all” gameplay in the form of Pokemon.
Introducing them to the old Pokémon games first, Ben and I would play Pokémon Platinum on the DS. I would show them how to battle and catch Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. We would put paid to Team Galactic’s high jinks and generally put the world to rights. Catch some Pokémon and hatch some eggs and teach them all about the different kinds of Pokémon. What fun it would be!
More Pokémon
After getting used to catching some Pokémon we could move on to photographing them by playing New Pokémon Snap. We would travel the Lental region together taking pictures of the Pokémon in their natural habit.
Ben is already interested in Pokémon Trading Cards, as he and his friends trade the cards in school. He has a few Pokémon toys too so playing a Pokémon game would be a natural progression from the toys. Listen up Mum and Dad, time to buy Ben a Switch!
There are many games I would introduce the boys to, such as Super Mario Party, the board game that is actually a video game. I’ve played it with the older grandchildren and we had such a good time. My daughter has purchased Mario Golf Super Rush for her four older children of gaming age and she tells me that they are having lots of enjoyment out of the game playing it as a family.
Growing Up
As the three boys grow up, I would be keen to show them some of the great strategy games. Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch is one such game. Playing two-player we would direct, toss and grow all the different types of cute Pikmin, and go off collecting fruit together.
We would play all of the Steamworld games, which are a mixture of different genres through the series of games that have been released. From Steamworld Quest: Hand of Gilgamesh which is a card-based, adventure game to Steamworld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt which is a puzzle, action game, we could dig them all!
Old Favourites
This wouldn’t be an article from me about what games I would play/share with my grandchildren if I didn’t mention The Legend of Zelda games or the Civilization series of games or Animal Crossing. My oldest grandchild Abi is already a fan of the Zelda games. After playing and completing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Abi has stepped out on her adventure in Hyrule by playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on my 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D as well.
Abi, as well as the two older boys Jamie and Matthew and my other granddaughter Chloe are all fans of the Animal Crossing games, like Animal Crossing New Horizons, each has their own town on the 3DS in Animal Crossing New Leaf. Though the boys are far more interested in First Person Shooter than Animal Crossing nowadays. That’s boys for you! But I have three more boys still to work on and make them into AC players too.
Teenage Years and Beyond
Once the younger boys have grown up to say teenage years, I would be keen to show them the Civilization games on PC and Civilization VI on the Switch or whatever console is the bee’s knees at that time. At the time of reviewing Civilization VI when it was released for the Nintendo Switch, Yvonne gave it our highest score of Two Thumbs Up.
That score still stands today, and now the game has many more expansions than it did when it was reviewed the game is still an outstanding strategy game. This is one game that all my grandchildren will come to know about if I have anything to do with it, you can bet your bottom dollar on that!
