My thoughts on kid-friendly games...

So I was doing some thinking on something. Its often you hear people make one of two complaints with kids video gaming in today's market. Either 1) There is not enough kids games out there. Nintendo and Lego are basically holding down the quality E rating market. 2) They're all gaming on mobile instead. I'd rather not think of either case too strongly. Mobile will fix itself when different standards come along, if the kid has any interest in true gaming overall. Fact is mobile just isn't going to run the proper controls for bigger more immersive or input filled experiences. As for the lack of games? I don't think its as big of a deal as people make it out to be. In part that's because I don't believe kids are idiots who have to stay away from T/M rated games for their own sake; I know for a fact many can handle that content well under the right supervision and upbringing (partially because I was one and had similar friends). Its also not a huge problem because there are still plenty of safe games for them to choose from in the wide market, whether it be the previously mentioned mobile games, reliable Nintendo entries, toys to life stuff, anything Media Molecule makes, or the many indie games (minecraft alone can keep a smart kid busy for a loooooooooong time). I know people want to expect AAA to cover everything in that area and I understand that concern, but I think kids are going to do just fine if they have the right know-how to get to the good stuff. However I don't want to simply talk about availability, but rather what I think is important design for a kids game. Obviously I'm not going to hit the mark for every kid out there, and I'm also not covering for the "funducation" crowd, I'm talking about kids who want a game that is just a good game. Something that appeals to their ideas of fun, their unique qualities, and doesn't sacrifice its quality with the assumption that kids are somehow less than the majority of the market. As a matter of fact, I want these games to be enjoyable for everybody in the long run.

My little story...

First I feel it may be important to know where I'm going to be coming from at this angle. Its important to know what I loved most as a kid and what got me into gaming in the fist place. As far back as I can remember them existing, games used to be nothing more than a distraction to little me. It was a basic novelty of controlling something on TV. It was nothing better though. I used to play Rampage and Mario bros on the NES and get about nowhere in them. Then on the SNES, where Mario paint was a neat novelty, and DKC was kind of awesome but tough, and there was some scooby doo adventure game I never really beat because of puzzles or something. The most fun I had was PC point and click stuff because at least then I didn't "lose" all the time and could enjoy animation much like the movies and shows that I enjoyed way more at the time. Then my dad got me Spyro to play sometimes on his PS1 and that was when everything changed. Something he got me out of the shallow excuse that "I like dragons" ended up being literally one of the best things that ever happened to me.

The face of happiness

I know I've told this story somewhere before, but it bares repeating for this article. I just loved this game to pieces, and not because it was an amazing game with a dragon. I loved it because it was a fully 3D world, very relaxed and light hearted, and was quite literally magical (had sort of an enchanted fairytale art style). If you'll excuse the pun, you could say Spyro really was the first game that let me stretch my wings. My little kid mind was enlightened with entire worlds of fun and well designed gameplay. Musical organ notes uplifted the spirit, goofy enemies gave me a laugh, and playing with the world was just so much fun. I've actually spent minutes of my life jumping up and rolling down that little hill you first see in the starting hub world. Just small freedoms like that were just astounding to my young mind. From then on things were clear, and I began enjoying my games through 3D platformers. Racing down slides in Mario 64, laughing at one liners and replaying that tank mini-game from gex, being awe-struck by countless imaginative Banjoe & Kazooie levels, and of course playing more Spyro until I touched every pixel of grass there had to be in the whole game. It was just perfect for me. Even if those games were too hard (and they were, only remember beating Spyro and nearly Gex 3), they were fun enough and fleshed out to the point where I could enjoy much of what I could accomplish for hours and bliss. As TV animation faded with the years, gaming had invited me in through the door with 3D platformers. Since then I also leached onto games like Worms where I could make my own stories with customization and a little bit of imaginative rule bending. Point is, exploration, options, and catering to a kid's imagination really made these games shine to me.

So how does this work for today's games?

Obviously I'd like to just say bring me more 3D platformers, but that's not quite the challenge I put my mind up to when thinking of a modern kid-friendly game. I want to think more of what's in line with today's tech, trends, and capability. I started thinking about this whole discussion thanks to one game: Grow Home. Its not a new game, I've played it before. I just thought to go back to it. However I think I'm a bit more in-tune to a good mood to play it in. Instead of rushing around between MGSV & Armello sessions just to say I beat it, I just wanted something to relax in and flipped through my library. I grabbed Rocket League and Grow Home, and out of the two... well Grow home won out pretty well. Its something I would have loved much more as that same kid that was introduced to Spyro. Still to this day I love the concept of a physics based game, and 3D platforming based exploration, however I'm just not all over this game. Still there's a lot about it that reminds me directly of Spyro. Even the ambient sounds you sometimes here sound exactly like that tranquil sound from Spyro 2's first hub world Autumn Falls. The skybox is enchanting, there's a gentle but nice underlying humor from M.O.M, the world is all chilled out, and there's a nice little progression system in place to drive you but not distract you from enjoying what's just there. Its a nice little idea of what I think makes for a great kid's game in today's market.

It even looks like you could change the robot with a kid in this pic

You've got all the right recipe to engage a person's mind and imagination with this game, all without going the totally aimless direction of a sandbox game like minecraft. Instead of calling for more minecraft clones, I think there is a way and a market for more carefully constructed laid-back linear experience that lets you move in your own pace and way. Something that you can accomplish and win across a good weekend, but something that can last an imaginative kid a month. That's almost the kind of value 3D platformers sold to me with their spacious worlds, playful move sets, and cartoon art styles. I think that's the kind of thing a game like Gone Home is good for in today's market. The game is made so that you almost can't fail it or mess up in any major way, but its not exactly hand-holding you either, its just really relaxed. You can trip up and "die", but you just get reset and are let loose in a massive world full of floating islands and toys. You can spend all day herding sheep around, collecting carrots, testing your jumps and freefalls, or monkeying around with everything that's climbable... and that's all without talking about any of the mechanical objectives. However a big part of those mechanical objectives come from playing like this. You climb around everywhere, and you'll begin finding all the crystals. You do enough jumping around, and you may accidentally stumble onto a cave with that rare bird to finish your databank. You're rewarded for engaging in this game with the pure heart of a child; an open mind, and a drive of intrigue and wonder, and then you'll find your treasures.

Wonder, imagination, and tranquility

Another lesser case I'd like to make, is the dumber physics games. The kind like Goat simulator. They're often dismissed from what I've seen as "youtube bait", which I think might be one of the dumbest things I've heard from otherwise smart critics. Of course it is helped by youtubers, but in the same way that any game is. The only difference is that these games are highly centered on unpredictable goofball laughs, and are obviously going to be played by famous youtubers, but its hardly just for them and their fans. Saying that is honestly a horribly cynical and overblown version of what the games really are. Just say the name: Goat simulator, and that's enough to know its purpose: Goofball fun. Its silly. Its for people that want to just goof off. Its the closest thing to a video game being an actual toy. Its simple, mindless, and hilarious. Its a non-stop goofball sandbox full of laughs. That's not something for screaming youtubers and obsessive fans, its for people that want to have that dumb toy-like bliss in short sessions, or for however long their mind comes up with wild ideas to do. I watched a tech news channel feature Goat Sim as their background piece for many videos (at least 10 or more), with him occasionally acknowledging how ridiculous and fun the game is in retrospect. Its not "bait", its just fun, and I would certainly think that games like that would be twice as fun to a young mind. I know I would have been playing those for quite a while if I were younger. Of course I think its still better to build something with an aim and goal in mind, otherwise kids are just going to go back to Minecraft if they just wanted a massive world to play and build endlessly in, but I think the dumb sandbox physics games are onto something that would be ideal for kids as well.

Of course that's not to say anything bad of kids market as it is today. I just thought it was worth discussing what probably works best amongst them. Looking at typical kid features, what I found interesting, and trying to look at a place in today's market where that could happen. I wanted to look and point to the games that seem like the best candidates, without falling to typical Lego & minecraft finger pointing (actually I think Lego has taken a big step backwards from their older games personally). I wanted to bring up a topic that isn't that much discussed. In both examples (Grow Home & Goat Sim) they're also games that don't sacrifice their values for kids, but rather just exist in such a way that kids would likely enjoy them more. Grow Home could be played and enjoyed by a kid's father just as much as the kid himself, its just more likely that the adult has less patience for when physics go out of control, or wouldn't spend more than an hour at best likely laughing at goat sim. These are games where kids can go further, but nobody in any age range is patronized or implied to back off. These are just great games that pair great with a common kid's traits. Just my 2 cents on the topic at least.

Imagination & fun, a great combination for everyone really