4 ms·

For kids, I tend to skip IF and instead just make up role playing games with them. My kid will ask me to come up with like a my little pony themed adventure and

For kids, I tend to skip IF and instead just make up role playing games with them. My kid will ask me to come up with like a my little pony themed adventure and she'll control two characters and I'll also control a character and play the DM. By being a character myself it adds some richness and allows me to give less obvious hints and push the story to a degree while still giving her room and autonomy. It works really well with kids ~5-7 so far, although it takes a bit out of me lol. For IF, my kid has enjoyed doing some Zork with me, but the puzzles are pretty difficult.

alisonatwork 3y ago
My dad did this for my sister and I growing up and it was excellent. We also played some text adventures, but I wouldn't recommend them for today's kids. Back then it was just cool to sit in front of a computer in the first place so bashing our heads against the wall for months trying to get a babel fish didn't seem as frustrating as it actually was. VNs and Twine style IF would be less frustrating, although a lot of those are probably not age appropriate for younger kids.
- 7thaccount 3y ago
  With regards to twine, it's so easy to make and share a simple game that most parents could do it and tailor it for their kid.
throwaway86530 3y ago
That resonates with my experience, role playing with my 4 year old daughter was a blast. Playing a character while being DM is a very good idea to pass hints and have more fun, I did not thought about this. > although it takes a bit out of me lol So much this. Preparation took time, and the game itself consumed a lot of my time and mental energy. Sadly, this came to a point were my daughter was highly motivated to play, but I was often not in the mood for that or had enough time to play, so our sessions became less and less frequent, to disappear entirely. I think it's been more than one year we did not play (she is 7 now). Nevertheless it was a great experience. All fathers should consider give it a try. For the record, I never really played this kind of game before, just witnessed some. We probably played more than 30 games. Toward the end it followed the same template where she was a witch (a gentle witch of course) that went from towns to towns to solve issues (generally related to magic). Most often she had to learn a new incantation along the way to help her in this adventure. Sometimes she also had to use previously learned incantations written on her notebook. That was a bit a trick on my part to get her read a bit. Drawing a basic plan of the city helped a bit, so toward the end we did that a lot. In one year or so, his brother will be old enough to play, so I might try again. Something that would help is pre-made campaigns (just in case someone knows some nice resources for that). As I am thinking about this, I guess generative IA can be leveraged for this purpose.

alisonatwork 3y ago

My dad did this for my sister and I growing up and it was excellent. We also played some text adventures, but I wouldn't recommend them for today's kids. Back then it was just cool to sit in front of a computer in the first place so bashing our heads against the wall for months trying to get a babel fish didn't seem as frustrating as it actually was. VNs and Twine style IF would be less frustrating, although a lot of those are probably not age appropriate for younger kids.

7thaccount 3y ago
With regards to twine, it's so easy to make and share a simple game that most parents could do it and tailor it for their kid.

throwaway86530 3y ago

That resonates with my experience, role playing with my 4 year old daughter was a blast. Playing a character while being DM is a very good idea to pass hints and have more fun, I did not thought about this. > although it takes a bit out of me lol So much this. Preparation took time, and the game itself consumed a lot of my time and mental energy. Sadly, this came to a point were my daughter was highly motivated to play, but I was often not in the mood for that or had enough time to play, so our sessions became less and less frequent, to disappear entirely. I think it's been more than one year we did not play (she is 7 now). Nevertheless it was a great experience. All fathers should consider give it a try. For the record, I never really played this kind of game before, just witnessed some. We probably played more than 30 games. Toward the end it followed the same template where she was a witch (a gentle witch of course) that went from towns to towns to solve issues (generally related to magic). Most often she had to learn a new incantation along the way to help her in this adventure. Sometimes she also had to use previously learned incantations written on her notebook. That was a bit a trick on my part to get her read a bit. Drawing a basic plan of the city helped a bit, so toward the end we did that a lot. In one year or so, his brother will be old enough to play, so I might try again. Something that would help is pre-made campaigns (just in case someone knows some nice resources for that). As I am thinking about this, I guess generative IA can be leveraged for this purpose.