We only have Mario Kart, Just Dance and Pokken tournament. Mario Kart and Just Dance are big hits, but my 5yo does not really like Pokken (even though she was the one who asked for it after we tried the demo).
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My son (a 7 year-old) liked Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart and, of course, Minecraft. Heās recently fell in love with Splatoon 2.
A staple is playing Rocket League with his brothers.
He bounced off of Zeldaā¦a little too complex/not as well defined goals for him.
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Ticket to Ride: First Journey. My son (5) loves the app and wins fairly regularly against the easy AI. We finally broke the shrink in the tabletop game and played this morning. Itās about what you would expect; take TtR, simplify it to remove points or text, and youāve got First Journey. Excellent for kids learning various game strategies. The biggest difficulty we had was holding the cards, so if you have young one you might consider some sort of card holder.
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I really would like TTR:FJ, but canāt find a copy for under $50, other than the Europe version.
Hmm. I didnāt realize it was so expensive. I bought mine right at launch (18 or so months ago) and havenāt opened it until today. I feel like I see copies at Target all the time for $30 or so, but maybe Iām wrong. I know the US map is appealing for hose of us on this side of the pond, but why not go with the Europe map? The game is icon-based anyways, so youāll still be getting the same great kids game, just with some European locations instead. I myself want the Europe map just for variety.
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actually, I just looked on Targetās site and they have it cheaper. Itās just Amazon that is not selling it direct, so someone is marking it up there. I will get it on Target. The only reason I want the US version is that it gives some relative idea of space of the US. Considering we live on the East Coast and a lot my family is in California, it just gives us some spatial conversation while playing.
For a rainy afternoon:
Give your kids some free coloring pages from http://www.quivervision.com
Let them color for a while and when they are done, start up the app and bring it to āliveā with AR.
Our kids had some fun with it the past days.
Any recommendations for puzzly physics-based iOS games, even if the physics arenāt spot on? I wanted to let my 5-year-old try out Cut the Rope but I am very turned off by the mention of all the IAP. Iād rather avoid all those shenanigans. If IAP is completely optional, thatās fine, but Iāve heard that CTR and Angry Birds are now showing ads and āofferingā paid hints if you fail once or twice.
That Portal Bridge Construtor game? Likely pretty complex, but at least it does not seem the type of title prone to sneaky IAP.
Whereās My Water? could work; I ignored the sequel since it looked to be an IAP-ridden cashgrab, but I remember the original being great (the only IAPs being additional levelsets) and should suit kids fine.
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Tsuro. Both the tabletop and digital editions have gone over very well with my 5-year-old.
I bought the doctor panda pack, racing, trains, Hoopa city 2 and something else.
Kids adored it all, they love it so much. Thanks for the heads up!
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There is a line of tabletop games from Think Fun that are great little logic puzzles. The concept is the same in each; you are given a basic setup where you need to put specific pieces in the puzzle, then you are told to add a certain set of pieces to make it āwork.ā There is a marble drop version called Gravity Drop, a laser/mirror version called Laser Maze, and a roller coaster version called Roller Coaster challenge. I believe there are a couple more variations. I bought my 5-year-old the Roller Coaster version and heās been working through the easier puzzles all morning but it has been awesome to watch him puzzle out how to get the tracks connected in the right way for the roller coaster to get down.
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So my 5 1/2yo saved up $15, $.25 at a time, which was the amount I told her she needed to chip in for a new iPad after hers (my old 1st gen) died last fall.
We were having trouble with her putting the iPad down for things like dinner, so it was good to have her without it a while.
I bought one of those Toca games, Toca Pet Life, partly because I wanted something without in-app purchases and have always wondered what they are. It seems like just a big interactive world. She loves it so far.
I also got her the PBS Kids games app. That is all free games.
Any recommendations?
Both the Toca series and the Dr. Panda series are nice for a little bit, but that interactive world doesnāt provide a ton of depth. My 5-year-old doesnāt play them as much as he used to, but my 3yo loves them.
My son has been enjoying Hoopa City 2 quite a bit. He also plays Ticket to Ride First Journey and Tsuro quite often.
The Thinkrolls series is pretty good as an actual problem solving game.
I do feel like my 5yo is sometimes in no manās land where heās transitioning away from the young kids games but doesnāt get all of the older kids games.
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Yeah, this seems to be a real transition age. With TV suddenly things that she has been watching for a long time are scary. We had been letting her watch TV-Y7 and she has seen every My Little Pony a dozen timesā¦but suddenly the spooky episodes are giving her nightmares. So now we have to back off them a bit.
I didnāt follow the whole saga, but apparently a user on BGG made a My Little Pony-themed Scythe for his kids. Tom Vasel over at Dice Tower said he would eat a shoe if the game was ever made for real. Well, you can now order My Little Scythe in the Sontemaier Games website. It dropped the MLP theme, but looks adorable. As a bonus, there is a card called āEat a Shoe.ā
Scythe for my kids? Sign me up!
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I do not have it yet, but Mario Tennis Aces just released on Switch today. Iām trying to find impressions about how goo the game might be for kids, but the concept is a winner, for sure. If my kids can swing their controllers around and play a Mario tennis game, I foresee a lot of fun in my house.
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We just tried out the demo for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Solid game, great fun in 2-player mode, but why I canāt play on a full controller rather than a tiny joy-con? Bizarre choice.
Is Minecraft ok for a 5 year old? Or are there any clones better targeted for a younger person? I think there is a Toca one?