This topic was the primary driver in what got me into game design, and I thought it would be an interesting discussion to have here and hear other designer's thoughts.
By and large, most kids' games are mass-market garbage. Hungry Hungry Hippos, Bettle *shudder* and the like are horrible "games" to get children into the hobby. I've been interested in games that give young children a REAL introduction into tabletop and board gaming - introducing cards, dice, mechanics, board movement etc etc, but I've found them very few and far between.
Now, when I talk children, I'm talking young children. My daughter is 4-soon-to-be-5, as is my primary test audience. There are certainly games out there that cater to the 8+ age group - something like Zooloretto Dice immediately comes to mind, but finding something for the younger kids is tough. I think the trick is trying to create something that is at least semi-engaging for both adults and children alike.
I think an important part of introducing children that young to games is to have them working TOGETHER, rather than competing with each other. Winning and losing isn't really a concept I want to put importance on at that early age (or ever, for that matter), and it prevents the children focusing on coming first and beating the other kids. I'd much rather they all work together to defeat the game.
A couple of my own concepts are:
HOMEQUEST - an imagination game for a small group of young children. The game is simply 3 decks of cards - the first is a quest, the second is a location, and the third is a danger. The parent flips over a quest and reads it out, flipping over both the 'location' and 'danger' cards when the quest text calls for it.
For example, "Quest: The Wizard's Book
'An elderly wizard in a pointed hat has got himself into quite the kerfuffle and managed to lose his most prized possession; his book of magic spells. He would very much like to have it back, and has politely asked if you brave heroes could retrieve it for him. He remembers leaving it in his tower, which lies beyond the *turn over Place card* Snowy Mountains, but he is scared to go back there himself because a *turn over Danger card* Stomping Giant moved in and chased him away.'
The kids then go off and make their own fun using those parameters, encouraging imagination, co-operation and role playing. It's a game my grandfather used to play with us when we were young, and you'd be amazed how long kids will go off and play in the world you set for them. A great rainy-day game and one for parents who might not be the most imaginative or creative individual.
DEFENDROIDS - A Yahtzee-style dice game. A monster is attacking the city, and the players must pilot their giant robots to defend it. Players each have 5 dice with different symbols/colours on each face. Players take turns drawing a card from a deck (representing the robot's attacks), which has a combination of 3 coloured symbols on it. The child then rolls and rerolls their dice Yahtzee-style, trying to match the symbols on their card to power the attack. Each player who can do so manages to hit the monster, but each time the dice comes up Red, it powers up the monster - if the monster can get 5 red dice, it hits the players back. The kids then draw new cards each round, with a new combination of symbols that need to be matched.
I'd like a part of the game where you can also give dice to other players - so if you manage to match your 3 symbols before the end of your rerolls, you can give the extra symbols you rolled to a teammate. If I've matched a Blue, Green and Yellow and I still have a Yellow and Purple left, I can see if any of the other kids need a Yellow or Purple to match their set. I'd have to test and see - it could be complicating it too much (it's difficult to reign in your ideas and remember that you're designing with a 5 year old in mind, not adults).
That's a couple of my thoughts on the topic. Do you guys have any? Are there good games out there for that age group that you could suggest I take a look at?
Yeah King of Tokyo was definitely one I had my eye on - I suppose Defendroids is my 'slimmed down 5 yr old friendly' version of it. Definitely a great kids game, no doubt about it, but maybe a bit too advanced for the age group I'm looking at.
You hear that, Vasel? Great idea for a Top 10! You've got 4 kids, get on it!