Holiday Gift Guide: Great Games For Kids
By Mike Smith
Most blockbuster holiday video games are too violent or too complex for the under-8s, but there's a healthy selection of titles out there bound to make both kids and parents smile. We've picked out nine of our favorites, all with age-appropriate content and gameplay -- but if you want a little more detail on age ratings, the ESRB has a great tool to help purchasers research specific titles.
Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
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The Wii outings based on the Dora and Diego shows are among the best console games for the 3-5 age group, assuming your wee ones are fans of the characters (and we're betting they are). There's little or no reading required and there's no danger of failure, just a series of rewarding and fun remote-waving challenges linked with an appealing story.
Buy NowDisney's Bolt
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Cartoony violence pushes this one into the 10+ age rating category, so check it out yourself before you put it in front of the kids. But it's available on every major platform (including the budget-friendly PlayStation 2), and it's a surefire hit for Disney fans.
Buy NowWe Ski
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Got a Wii Balance Board? The kids will love hopping on it to play this simple, friendly ski game. It's great in multiplayer, and uses the Mii characters your kids have probably already designed.
Buy NowWii Play
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Consider this more a Wii Remote with a basic game thrown in. Although the title itself -- a collection of moderately interesting mini-games -- isn't going to entertain grown-ups for long, it's a great way to put a smile on the face of the kids for a few hours. And none but the smallest families will say no to another remote.
Buy NowViva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
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Cute though it is, Viva Pinata requires too much reading to be of much value to the under-eights. But if you plug another controller into your Xbox 360, a toddler as young as 3 or 4 can assist an adult as they play, helping create an idyllic garden for brightly colored, candy-stuffed pinata.
Buy NowAnimal Crossing
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Lots of reading here, too, but older kids of both genders could well be captivated by Animal Crossing's town-building gameplay. If they have Wii-owning friends or relatives, they can visit each other's towns and chat with the bundled microphone.
Buy Nowde Blob
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A real critical darling, de Blob's stylish, colorful and cute shtick will appeal to gamers of all ages. It's a clever tale of a "War on Color" fought by a military dictatorship, but the subtexts will drift over the heads of younger viewers, who'll be transfixed by the graphics and left in giggling piles by its multiplayer.
Buy NowBoom Blox
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How many times have you watched your kids build block towers, only to knock them down with glee? This Steven Spielberg-designed Wii game taps into that visceral desire, and believe us, if you think you're immune, you're wrong. Its simple controls means kids as young as 2 or 3 could enjoy it, with help.
Buy NowYou're in the Movies
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Little kids love the novelty of being on TV, and this Xbox 360 title ships with a video camera that'll put them straight into their very own B-movie. Older ones can hop into the director's chair and assemble their own epics, and younger ones will be enthralled at the absurdity of it all.
Buy NowPosted: 1 Dec 2008
