I want some opinions on the xmas presents I've chosen for my older two (both boys, 9 and 12). I posted a thread a few months ago asking about the DS+Pokemon, but that fell through when money problems happened, so I've been restricted a bit. But I still wanted to get them "something cool" you know?
So, for the nine year old, I searched high and low for a GBA Pokemon game and all I found was green leaf something or other, in a bargain bin for $14. Is it a decent introduction to the Pokemon games? Like I said before, he knows all the character names and abilities, watches the show as often as I'll let him, has strategy books for the ccg, and has notebooks full of his own strategies. Oh, and this Robosapien which frankly looks Totally Freaking Awesome that I'll probably play with more than he does.
The older one is heavily into strategy games, both RTS and turn-based, his favorites being Civ III, Starcraft and Risk boardgame. He also spends hours creating his own, with pieces and everything. Deciding for him was hard, especially since his computer died recently so no new games for that (I had been thinking of the Warcraft Battlechest). So, I picked up Heroscape and a few extra guys and terrain pieces for it. I really don't know anything about the game though, having always looked askance at the miniature players during my DnD years. What's it like? Does it have a fairly complex ruleset? How customizable is it? The box makes it look great and I'm even interested in playing it, but then, that's what boxart is for.
I've "researched" these via searches and boards, but I constantly run into monkeys and/or fanboys and/or monkeyfanboys. And I don't trust "consumer reviews" on shopping sites. So any insight would be welcome.
Posts
Heroscape comes with rules for Basic and Advanced game play, Basic = very very simple math and no advanced rules for the units (they just have a basic ATTACK/DEF rating and hit points), the Advanced rules allow more strategy and combo's between the different units and is what it sounds like your older son would play with against you, but maybe just does the Basic rules with his little brother (talk about a great game!)
Also, because the terrain is modular and such, it will be great for all those games he designs himself, its like Lego's for strategy games. So yea, I think you did well on that pick
Because if he doesn't have money problems now, he will if they discover 40k. :P
- Gary Busey
A Glass, Darkly
All of them have the same mechanic: each new piece you play must be touching (at least) one of your other pieces, but only at the corners. My high school students love it (I teach math/chem in high school), but the concepts (geometric translation) are simple enough for late elementary and middle school students as well.
Blokus Trigon is more advanced strategically (and the pieces are more complex to imagine, visually), but I own all three versions and all work well.
Other good games...
Hey, that's my fish!
-Set up a bunch of hexagonal icebergs with 1-3 fish on each, then move penguins around gobbling up the fish. Playable by age 4 and up with 2-4 players; the more players, the more chaotic/less strategic the game becomes.
Settlers of Catan
-modern classic, building up settlements on an island; appropriate probably for middle school and up (3-4 players, with expansion sets available to allow 5-6 players)
the classics: Othello, connect four, go, checkers, chess
For puzzles, check out anything from Binary Arts; they make the popular "Rush Hour" series of puzzles, including Rush Hour Junior which my 5yo nephew really enjoyed receiving for his birthday. They also make "Zingo", a multiplayer visual bingo game for young children (ages 3-6 or so). They also make a starter Sudoku puzzle book with magnetic pieces.
Don't I know it...Orks ain't cheap. Plus it may not be appropriate for a kid that age, considering all the gore and darkness in the backstory, not to mention the fact that pretty much every Slaaneshi model has at least one exposed boob.
LIZ: Different.
VOICE-OVER: It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life.
I thought this was going to be a thread about a Hudsucker Proxy game... or something about hula hoops
LIZ: Different.
VOICE-OVER: It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life.