From the base Villainous set, we found Prince John to be the easiest to start with. His goal is very simple to grasp, and it plays into the common desire to hoard.
1 Like
My son always plays prince John, and ends up 3 power from victory. Daughter 1 is always maleficeht and wins about 25% of the time. Daughter 2 always pleats queen of hearts and wins about 75% of the time by taking the shot.
I always play whatever janky crap they give me (Hades, Scar, Jafar) and am about 4 turns (at least) from victory.
That said, since I absorb all the hate, the game actually finishes 
3 Likes
Tiny Town and Sagrada both seem to have some similarities in that you are filling up a board with stuff. I was thinking of getting one for family play. Any thoughts on which is more accessible/fun/??? for an 8 year old?
(I have not played Tiny Town, but have watched a couple videos on it. Sagrada I have just played through the tutorial and a couple practice games against the AI, as I just picked it up for the Decathlon.)
I play Sagrada with my family (kids are 6 and 8). We have a good time but the game suffers from lack of theme as far as the kids are concerned. I havenât played Tiny Towns, either, but in my house as least the idea of placing buildings to make a town would definitely grab their attention more.
1 Like
My youngest received Valley of the Vikings for Christmas, and it finally hit the table last night. This is a good dexterity game. Player have strategic choices that are simple but meaningful, such as where to place the barrels to bowl over, which players to move depending on who you knock over to get the best rewards. I will give Haba credit for fun components, like the cardboard viking ships and plastic coins that the kids enjoy.
It plays quickly so we completed several games. Biggest issue with kids is they can feel victimized when they are closest to the end of the dock and people start targeting them to trigger scoring. Overall solid game for young kids, but may not have the staying power of other quick games like Point Salad or No Thanks.
1 Like
I have decided that while I still have control over my kidsâ devices, idle/gacha games are simply not going to be something anyone in my family plays, no matter how cool the IP. Iâm no psychologist, but I just donât like the idea that my kids would be playing something specifically designed to push the need to continually want to buy more intangible currencies for digital goods, if that makes sense. To the extent that a video game has any value, I find these games valueless and possibly destructive.
To that end, I think I am finally making the jump to Apple Arcade. It seems to me that $5/mo is a small price to pay to essentially give them their own store front that avoids the slot-machine gaming.
7 Likes
I have a problem in that most of my daughterâs friends play Roblox, so I let her. While she has no premium currency, many of the games she plays simulate gacha style games. So I have already been trapped by that. That said, she has never asked for premium currency.
Apple Arcade has been a nice change for her though, and she does enjoy several games from there.
Good call. I am not a fan of Apple Arcade, but anything to avoid those addictive gacha games is a solid idea.
Thatâs a great way to look at Apple Arcade. Their own shop front!
Video game question:
My 8-year-old son picked up Dragon Quest XI the other day and much to my shock he played it for a while and enjoyed it. He got a little frustrated at an exploration section, though. As an RPG fan myself, and one who only thought XI was so/so and rather slow-paced, I figured Iâd find an RPG that I think is far better for him to try.
First, I thought Iâd go get FFX (for the third time) but then I thought I throw the question out there, first. Any opinions? Iâd prefer a more turn-based system, and it would have to be generally PG content.
One of my hesitations is that I could also go find a game I have yet to play. Bravely Default II, maybe. Of the Trail of a cold Steel games, but I donât know what their content is like.
Iâm looking for Switch, and the more likely it is to hold the attention of a relatively inattentive boy the better.
While I think Trails games are very VERY good jRPGs I strongly think the overall narrative and more so the gameplay mechanics arenât terribly well suited for an (even inquisitive) child. I think the length, subtle deeper buried implications, etc might go over his head and frustrate him if he is otherwise invested into story and lore. I think other more lighthearted less ambitious narratives are better suited for him, as for which especially I cannot say much, as I am way too deep into worldbuilding and complicated stuff to appreciate and objectively assess games outside that scope cough
1 Like
I had kind of assumed that about the Trails games, but thought Iâd ask anyways. Odds are I will play them at some point anyways, but if I can buy one and only one for my son to enjoy right right now it sounds like maybe they arenât what Iâm looking for.
Also, I suggest starting at the beginning of the narrative - Trails in the Sky. it may seem archaic to modern jRPGS and the gameplay mechanic of the Cold Steel-subseries but it sets up the world the later subseries plays in.
If you however arenât bothered at all with lore/worldbuilding and only in for gameplay disregard my comments. I (recently? 2 years ago counts as recently, right?) played through the first games in the series and while I greatly appreciated what they set out to do overall I wasnât a fan of those old-school fighting mechanics at all.
may I also suggest further reading where to start into Trails games over there
I downloaded dragons quest builders 2 from Xbox game pass, and my 8 year old son has taken to it like a duck to water. I think the hook was being given quests that involve building stuff with blocks Ă la Minecraft. Later they mix in the regular fetch and escort quest nonsense that comes with rpgs.
Has it got legs? Is it a worthwhile game? I donât know, but heâs having fun.
1 Like
My son actually wanted to try Dragon Quest XI because of Builders 2, so what Iâm looking for is more in the traditional JRPG genre. Heâs got too many builders.
1 Like
Thats a legit reason. My son said âwhy are they talking so much?â after playing DQB2, so I doubt jrpg is the direction I should take him
1 Like
NOOOOOoooooooOOOOoooâŠ
another aspiring jRPG player in the making lost to the causeâŠ
2 Likes
Miitopia? Anyone?
I donât guess Secret of Evermore happened to release on the Switch, huh? My daughter has now watched me play Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Link to the Past on the SNES Classic (as well as PokĂ©mon Sword and Red, and Saturday Morning RPG on the Switch), but Evermore isnât on there and I must admit it would be hard given how short her gaming chunks tend to be to go back to a game that did not have instasave. She wants to do Earthbound again and I may just do that until I come up with another idea. Mana is on the SNES Classic but it is pretty meh, not sure I want to push it that much. And FF6 is not really appropriate for her age, I would say.
2 Likes
The problem with Secret of Evermore is that Nintendo of Japan (and Square(soft))seems to be trying to will it out of existence, the one Game that was developed outside of Japan back thenâŠ
I really would prefer it to be out on my Switch but since it has a slim chance if any to get re-released despite the push for the Mana Collection, Legend of Mana and the two Remasters in recent years and I already cough SOMEHOW cough have it on my SNES Mini I can live with Nintendoâs ridiculous back catalogue / Virtual Console policy.
It was one of my first âTRUEâ RPG purchases back then and I still have the SNES Cartridges safely stored away. If Nintendo thinks it is beneath them to re-release their classics on current systems, well, it is surely not beneath me to resort to such practices to help myself thenâŠ
2 Likes