Computer Games with Younger Kids

As a parent, spending time with your kids should start with physical activity. Kids have a ton of energy bottled up in their diminutive bodies and they need to let it out. In an age when letting kids just run free around the neighborhood isn't considered sound parenting anymore, we need ways to keep our kids active. My three-year-old son needs this activity more than most or he will be bouncing off the walls and pretty much driving his parents crazy.

After the exercise has run its course, it's time to attempt more sedentary activities. We try to avoid television and limit screen time, but we don't alway succeed. However, I am personally more inclined to play computer games because at least then you have some interactivity and use brain power rather than mindlessly staring at a television. So on the rare occasion when I get some time to play, my three-year-old finds it fascinating and wants to play too, which mostly involves him sitting on my lap, directing me with an occasional key press with permission or bumping my arm and causing random actions. So it's a mixed bag, but it's doing something with my son and occasionally indulging my habit.

The trick was figuring out what game to play. When he first took an interest, I was playing Destiny 2. He was fine with the "shooting game", but soon I started to feel like it was too realistic and violent for him. He got bored quickly with Minecraft and puzzle-based games. Minecraft was too complex and I don't think the puzzle games had enough action for him. I tried to raise my son and daughter without tieing them down to gender-specific roles, but my son has seemed to love guns, swords, wresting, playing with a ball or basically anything physical.

After struggling for a while for a favorite, I stumbled upon my old favorite in Steam: Terraria. Its cartoony 2D sidescrolling action is exciting enough for him but also has enough depth to keep me interested. I haven't played this game for years, but they've been continuing to update the game with more content so there is a ton of stuff for me to explore. And they have a vibrant modding community which may be my kryptonite.

Terraria has a strong exploration and building elements. You have to travel right and left, as well as dig deep into the ground to find resources. My son and I were both delighted when we discovered a long mine cart track deep underground as sped along it bowling through monsters as we progressed. We discovered chests filled with creative magical items that had radical gameplay effects beyond a +1 to a stat. There is still a ton more to explore. The game has some darkness effects which got a little scary for him, but keeping and liberally using torches you can pretty much avoid the darkness issues. He is even starting to figure out the controls. The game works with a combination of keyboard and mouse and is pretty easy to learn. I'm curious how it works on a console or a tablet. I think the game will keep both our interests for a while.

The game can be bought via Steam, but also runs on Playstation, XBox, iOS or Andriod. So outside of a Switch or legacy console, if you can play a game on it, you can play Terraria on it.

Let me know in the comments if there are other games that can be shared with younger children. I'm always on the lookout for new ways to share my hobbies with my children.

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