Xbox Dad:

Family Gaming with the K-6 Crowd

Published June 5, 2007

With Father's Day coming up, I've been thinking a lot about my own Dad and how I got into videogames as a kid. My parents, perhaps swayed by George Plimpton's television commercials, went out and bought an Intellivision for the family. It was to be a Christmas gift for all of us, not just for me and my brother. It was hooked up to the only TV in the house, right in the living room where we spent our evenings. Night after night, the four of us played games like Poker, Dungeons and Dragons, Golf, Lock 'n' Chase and more. Since it was hooked up to the TV, this early console seemed so much more of a family activity than the computer games I played in later years.

Now that I have my own family, and my own game console, I try to make videogaming into an activity that the family can do together. Of course, since I have a six-year-old, family gaming isn't all about popping in a copy of Halo® 2. I have to look around and find games that are fun and family friendly at the same time. Thankfully, there's a whole bunch of great games that we can all play together.

The kiddies may not be ready for Master Chief.

What Makes a Good Family Game?
Well, that depends on your family of course, but the main requirement I'm going to use is, "Is it fun to play together?" Many of my personal favorite Xbox 360™ games don't fit into this category. Some of the important game features that contribute to the "family fun factor" include multiplayer support (co-op or not), level of difficulty, appropriate content for the whole family, and how easy the game is to just pick up and play.

It Isn't Family Gaming if You're Gaming Solo
Multiplayer support is a key game feature for playing with your kids. Taking turns or passing the controller around is OK for some games, but it certainly works better if two or more people can play at once. I find that the ability to play cooperatively is also an important feature, especially for fairly young kids. Co-op play has two big advantages over the standard head-to-head style of play. First, it allows you to help your children out with the harder bits, without them having to feel like they got stuck and needed to be bailed out. Second, co-op play lets you play together without having to completely hold back your l33t gaming skills.

Where's the "tied my own shoes" achievement?

As fun as it is to come first in Project Gotham Racing® 3 every single time, it isn't any fun for the kid you are trouncing. Of course, you may not need to hold back for long. I sometimes realize too late that my six-year-old is completely beating me while I'm taking it easy on him.

Avoiding Controller Handoff
When a game is too difficult for my son, he ends up having to hand the controller to me to get past certain spots. If that happens once in a while, it's no big deal, but if he has to do it every few minutes, he ends up feeling like he isn't very good at the game. One of the key features to look for in a game for youngsters is how big of a deal is it if you mess up. Does missing a jump put you back at the start of a level, or are there nicely spaced checkpoints, or do you just reappear right there a moment later (which is great for younger kids)?

Headshots May Not Be Appropriate
The underlying issue that always affects what games I pick up is the actual content, story and graphics of the game. You need to have a pretty clear idea in your mind about what level of violence is acceptable for your kids. I personally don't mind cartoon and superhero style fisticuffs, smashing vehicles or science-fiction laser beams, but I worry about too realistic or graphic violence.

Spidey could use Connor's help.

I also care a lot about the story and message of a game though, and I'm willing to bend a bit on the violence rule if the story promotes good father-son discussions. For instance, while playing Spider-Man® 2, Connor asked if he should try to help every single person, or if it was OK to continue on the main mission. He may never end up with superpowers in real life (though there's still hope), but that was a good question. We had a chat about doing the best you can to be as helpful as you can, but even a really good person can't do everything. This kind of discussion made me worry less about the amount of fighting and shooting in the game.

There can be other inappropriate content in games as well, such as language or sexual themes, and this may not be apparent at a quick look. This is where the ESRB ratings are really useful, especially the "sub ratings." Don't just look at the main rating, use the additional descriptive text to help you understand what type of content the game contains. Of course, I always think that any game is best played with you in the room, so you'll have a real clear idea of what is in the game, and you can talk to your child about it as they play.

We Want to Play Now!
Another key factor for family gaming is quick-start accessibility. You don't want to get bogged down in the set up of a game. Lots of games on Xbox 360 do this well, but the best examples are probably in the Xbox LIVE® Arcade. These games are meant to launch fast and get you into the action, and they're good family fun.

Enough Talk, What About the Games?
Now you know how I pick games to play with my kids, let's get into some specific game titles. I'm going to stick to games with a multiplayer option, but I'll discuss great kid-friendly single-player games in another article soon!

Cloning Clyde—This is a crazy game, with funny cartoon characters and a style of play that makes my kids laugh all the time. With one to four players, it's a lot of fun for a mixed group.

Xbox LIVE Arcade games can be a lot of fun for the family.

Bankshot Billiards 2™—Whenever we are around a pool table, my kids really want to play. The problem is that a full-sized pool table, fragile table felt, and a pair of energetic kids is a really bad mix. With this Arcade game, no need to worry about wrecked tables!

Mad Tracks—This racing game is great for up to four players and has a lot of kid-friendly features. Toy cars with rocket launchers and oil slicks … what else do you need?

Fuzion Frenzy 2—Fuzion Frenzy® for Xbox® was the original Xbox party game and the sequel brings all that wacky fun to Xbox 360. This game hits all my goals, easy to play, easy to jump in and get started, includes multiplayer, and doesn't have any objectionable content. If you have the first game, it still works in the new console.

Frenzied multiplayer action in Fuzion Frenzy and its sequel.

Shrek the Third™—Packed with fun multiplayer mini-games, the single-player story mode is just about the perfect difficulty for many kids in the K-6 range. There is a lot of punching, stomping, and kicking though (more than in the movie itself), so consider your comfort level with that kind of activity.

Project Gotham Racing® 3—Racing games are generally great for family play. Both adults and kids like to drive hot cars fast, and a great multiplayer mode makes this title a hit. I generally save the wireless racing wheel for when I'm racing solo, since there's only one in the family!

LEGO® Star Wars® II: The Original Trilogy—This game has everything that I'm looking for in a family game and it features my son's two favorite topics at the same time. Hands down, this game (and the backward-compatible LEGO® Star Wars®) is my number one pick for a game to play with your kids. Drop-in, drop-out co-op means there's no need to restart when one of you needs to step away for a second. The game can be challenging, but falling off a cliff or being hit by the bad guy's lightsaber just makes you drop some money and reappear a few steps away, so the frustration factor is very low. My son often starts a completely new game just so he can collect all the mini-figures again.

What's Next for Xbox Dad?
Thinking about what I like and don't like in family games has filled my head with a long list of games that are worth covering. In a future column, I'll dig into some of the best age appropriate single-player games, and I'll look at more movie-based games that are the current hit at our house. If you have a topic you'd like me to cover, or if you have any questions or comments about the column, just shoot me an e-mail or find me online.

Article by Duncan Festive Turkey Mackenzie