Fun and Non-violent Kids' Videogames?

I'm not going to get into the controversy of whether violent videogames encourage aggression - or bleed it off, as others say. It probably depends on the kid's personality, how many hours they spend playing violent videogames, and how well rounded the rest of their lives are.

And I know how boring those "educational" videogames can be. Teachers have complained about all the tablet/slate computers passed out in some classrooms, because the kids get more enthralled with the technology than the textbook software.

So where are the fun videogames that both entertain and educate kids? I started this thread to find out, and I encourage participation from everyone: parents, teachers, kids, gamers, game designers, even those ready to go to crowd-funding with a new game idea.

www.nytimes.com...
HONKY-TONK TCHAIKOVSKY? "FANTASIA" MUSICAL GAME
"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — With titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, the video game studio Harmonix has experienced blockbuster success. But it was panic that David Battilana, the studio’s senior artist, recalls feeling back in 2010 when Disney came calling, seeking to adapt its 1940 animated classic “Fantasia” as a musical game.

"It wasn’t to be a loose adaptation, like versions from the 1980s and ’90s now long since forgotten. Disney wanted to capture the essence of the film by exploring, and celebrating, music by some of the great classical composers. On Tuesday, Harmonix will release its response to that challenge — Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, a rhythm game for Microsoft’s Kinect system that allows players to use their hands to conduct songs by following prompts on the screen. Unlike other rhythm games, which require precision to hit the notes or follow patterns, Fantasia aims for broad and sweeping gestures.

"While there is no central story in the new game, it includes 10 realms with original art and musical personalities. The soundtrack features 32 songs in a range of styles, from works in the film (“Night on Bald Mountain,” “The Nutcracker Suite”) to classic rock and pop (David Bowie, Queen, Elton John) to songs by current stars (Bruno Mars, Lorde, the White Stripes). The original versions are accompanied by remixes, like a ska version of Bruno Mars’s “Locked Out of Heaven” or a Caribbean vibe for Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.”

Any of the Lego video game series are great for kids and adults to play cooperatively. Not to mention they put a funny spin on your favourite movies. Oh an I believe minecraft can be educational for kids or at least encourage creativity and design.

Depends on the age group...

I think games that has made up creatures getting hit by a pink hammer is not violent.. try to avoid fighting games and FPS games, you should be fine.

ESRB labels help most of the times.

a reply to: MKMoniker

If your kid is into cars than you cannot go past the Forza franchise. They've just released a new title and it's awesome. Great for kids, adults or whoever. Another GREAT game for anybody is Minecraft, though very addictive !

If you have Xbox kinect/ Wii anything like that, most every interactive game they make for those systems is kid friendly and also promotes great exercise at the same time.

a reply to: luciddream

Lol...so if it's cute then the violence is ok? Not trying to start anything. That's just an interesting statement.

I think they should put all my old favourite cartoons back on- sure, they were violent, but they were CUTE! Ducks and bunnies and kitties and birdies and...BLAM!

Is Yosemite Sam still allowed to show his face around these parts?

Kerbal Space Program. Design and build spaceships from realistic parts, launch them into orbit, travel to different planets, perform science missions. Highly recommend. If you absolutely can't find anything more productive for your kids to do than play video games (like go outside) then KSP is pretty good.

Beat me to it, i second KSP. Kerbal Space program.

SimCity, Civilization, most of Sid Meier's stuff.

Pokemon! If your kids are young and liable to break expensive things, go find an old game boy advance and start them on that. Old systems are cheap as pie and have so many excellent games.

The ratings system on games works much like movies, do NOT buy games for your kids rated T (teen) or M (mature). E (everyone) is typically 10 and up but many are more than fine for younger kids. There should be a list of what the game contains on the rating, which is on the case:

originally posted by: Hushabye
a reply to: luciddream



Lol...so if it's cute then the violence is ok? Not trying to start anything. That's just an interesting statement.



I think they should put all my old favourite cartoons back on- sure, they were violent, but they were CUTE! Ducks and bunnies and kitties and birdies and...BLAM!



Is Yosemite Sam still allowed to show his face around these parts?

Lol i dont think Mario jumping on Shroom monster(Goombas?) never made anyone a violent person, i hope it doesn't lol.

Kids dont take cute things seriously, they know it doesn't exist, they relate when things are realitic. Similar to when kids sees someone really get hurt on TV and you tell them "its fake bloood, they are acting!, its not real", they are somehow how okay or stop crying.

Minecraft . I will even let my five year old play it .

a reply to: MKMoniker

Try the new Great Giana Sisters, it's a cross between Mario and Sonic, with the only violence been jumping on thing's, so none really.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: MKMoniker

Double post.

edit on 20-10-2014 by andy06shake because: (no reason given)

alien isolation
like the post mentioned, anything lego for starts, and they can be pretty fun for adults as well, depending on the age group maybe black & white, it can teach kids the importance of being good and farming, and you can pick different animals to keep as pets, cuddling them, feeding them...the game has a very dark side as well, but the kids don't need to know the interface might be a bit complex if the children are too young.
there is minecraft, and to some extent the sims, they can be used to teach a few things.

but seriously, not alien isolation. i am 30 and i have been jumping off the chair in fright :O

GREAT suggestions, thank you one and all! Seems to be a lot of building or making-things games. Good way to keep the kid's attention, and absorb them in constructive activities.

Minecraft
Lego
Forza
Kerbal Space Program
Pokemon

I'm not sure about The Great Giana Sisters. According to Wikipedia it's just a rip-off of Super Mario Bros., and Nintendo has allegedly sued the German maker.

coolschoolgame.com...
"COOL SCHOOL"
Teaches Conflict Resolution for school-age kids.

www.wartgames.com...
WART GAMES
Free games - from school subjects to Skill Games "collected for kids by kids".

www.wartgames.com...
"STRANGE" WART SKILL GAMES
Silly Jokes, Timed Guessing Games like "Impossible Quiz" and "When The Bomb Goes Off." (These might be fun ways to teach Logical Thinking and Problem Solving.)

Anyone played these, or know kids who have?

There are a few, but, I have been pondering this question for some time; why not have some form of video games that actually teach, ones that one can gain an education? I have some video games in mind, but I am a cultural anthropologist, unfortunately, and not a a game designer. I would love to share them on here, but then, I would have no way of claiming these ideas. If anyone has knowledge of what I should do with my ideas, feel free to share.
As for the OP's question, there are a few, sports games, skateboarding, SSX is one of my favorites, Portal is fun, almost addicting, Kingdom Hearts is an awesome adventure game,and the Sims is entertaining. Violence sells, so there will always be more violent games then anything.

a reply to: Emerald53

If your kid is into cars than you cannot go past the Forza franchise. They've just released a new title and it's awesome. Great for kids, adults or whoever. Another GREAT game for anybody is Minecraft, though very addictive !

Theres the rub. Parents being careful to monitor the addictive part. Shoot em up or not, the idea behind promotion and sales is to hook the player on the product so as to sell more product.

Beginning from an early age this is conducive to selling the 'addict' more products in the future.

Control of that addiction is an obligation on the parents part to keep that from happening.

Good luuuck…

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Thanks for your post - and warning.

Kids like being scared, those "Goosebumps" books are always best sellers. Maybe these scary games are better for kids:

www.scaryforkids.com...
FREE SCARY GAMES FOR KIDS
Scary mazes, pop-ups, pranks, puzzles and escape-the-room games.

I have a problem with the 'alternate life' games, like The Sims. They have been criticized for just being money-pots for the game makers, since kids can buy things inside the games - and parents get surprised with charges when their credit card bill arrives. And really, what do these 'construct a civilization,' 'alternate life' and 'virtual pet' games teach? They seem to be to a waste of time exploring a 'faux life.'

Portal 2 touches on critical thinking, is funny, thought provoking and presents a very large underground world that is full of interesting things to see. One of the top 5 best games of all time in my opinion.

Minecraft is great also, along with Little Big Planet for building stuff.

a reply to: sublik

Thanks for your post. As far as working out your own games, and protecting your "ideas," this explains the latest patent and copyright laws:

www.ipwatchdog.com...=48009/
PROTECTING YOUR "IDEAS"

There are also articles and websites where you can plot out your new idea, or gauge public interest in such an enterprise:

www.forbes.com...
YOU JUST GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR A NEW BUSINESS - SO NOW WHAT?

www.ehow.com...
HOW TO PATENT A GAME IDEA

And here are sites to "pre-test" your idea for public interest, before going to crowd-source funding:

prefundia.com...
PREFUNDIA

www.ideabank.com.au...
IDEA BANK

Buy a Wii U....best games and more exclusives than PS4 and Xboxnone. There are plenty of AMAZING games out for Wii U. Please do not say its for kids, when on Friday another exclusive comes out and has a metric over 9 and is rated M. Bayonetta 2! It is being criticized for being too sexual. I think it may get GOTY.