Games where you build instead of destroy

[|Ookami]

You might take a look at Dark Cloud..
It's got dungeon crawling reminiscent of some Atlus games (where the layout changes every time you enter), but a big component of the game involves rebuilding your destroyed town. You find furniture, buildings, trees, fences, and even people inside the dungeon areas, and have to put everything back. And you can't just put it anywhere and expect the town to be happy??you have to talk to the people and listen to where they want their property to be and such.
It's a good blend of different elements and a very enjoyable game.

 

[Nuclear_Suspect]

'The Incredible Machine' is good if you have a little puzzly hungerring builder in you, basicly its "You have to build a rube goldberg type contraption to solve the puzzle"

'ModNation' is also good and worth a look.

'Garrys Mod' is also highly recommended, theres a bazillion mods/plugins for it (So you probably have to learn some basic server management stuff, thats you and not your daughter of course) a good suggestion for a mod is 'Stranded' rather laid back and you have to survive and evolve by building, getting resources and so on. and theres of course multiplayer so you can lend a hand

 

[natster43]

Harvest Moon.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Stranded 2 lets you build... if you're willing to tear the resources from the earth beneath your feet.

 

[WorldCritic]

Don't have any favorites.

 

[Guitar Gamer]

TEAM FORTRESS 2 if you play as engineer.

Strange that is the first thing I thought of................

 

[Judgement101]

Garry's Mod, just beware of online, I was chased down by a guy driving a car that was a giant dick

 

[ScottocS]

Sim Tower? By MAXIS. Endless hours of tower building, rebuilding and designing.
I must agree with a few users about Anno 1404, I too find this game very very peaceful and relaxing. (on a easier setting of course).

 

[joshuaayt]

Uhm... 99 Blocks?
Actually, whoever said it is right- Minecraft. Even the free version (That is, the original version) is pretty good, and it fits the bill perfectly. Multiplayer is fun, but the community varies from nice to antichrist, so you might want to go singleplayer if your daughter is to be involved.

 

[Cogwheel]

"Tell me, Dr. Freeman, if you can. You have destroyed so much. What is it, exactly, that you have created? Can you name even one thing? I thought not."

You know, I was going to suggest DF, but everyone beat me to it. Games where you create stuff do tend to be more complicated for kids, though. Some simpler ones might be... hm, I don't know. World of Goo? Maybe Katamari Damacy, though that's stretching the definition a bit.

 

[JWAN]

Supreme Commander
(not Supreme Commander 2, if I wanted a story beyond "holy shit go get your war on" I would play barbie fairy princess, likewise if I wanted the sequel to hear some sob story about betrayal and redemption I would watch a fucking soap opera with oreo's (go fuck yourself square enix))

 

[TerranReaper]

Garry's Mod. What other game do you know where you can make virtually anything using this tool called Expression2?

 

[Winfrid]

There isn't really a whole lot for a 2 year old to get stuck into i wouldn't think, most decent games are 6-7+ at the least

 

[_Cake_]

Warioware: DIY

You actually make little games and they are short enough that you will finish making them. It's a nice mini toolset to make games. It has a story sorta your a game developer and you make up your own brand name. When you finish making a game you pick the shape/color/picture of the cartridge it comes out on and write a short description of the game. The games are all displayed on a game rack in the store. There are "jobs" for the where you just draw one last graphic for a game. You can share your games with other people.

Great but long tutorial(probably my favorite tutorial ever). You don't have to do it to start making games and there's advance tips after you beet the basic ones.

Also it comes with a bunch of pre-made games you just play out of the box. You can make short B&W comics and midi music(that you can import to games) too.

 

[BryceN]

I myself liked sierra's line of Zeus, Ceasar, and Cleopatra series.

 

[manaman]

What, nobody mentioned Lego Universe [http://universe.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx]? Might even be released by the time your daughter's ready to play them.

That is one MMO I might actually give a try.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Sims, Viva Pinata, and Spore are the only ones that really come to my mind at the moment.

However, why not get some games that are simply competitive? Racing games (Need for Speed) and sports games (SSX3) might also work then. Least for those there is minimal violence.

 

[im-white]

for a young child or preteen i would recommend 1st and foremost ROLLER COASTER TYCOON 3. it is the best building game a child can experience. after that the sims and the tropico 3 series would work marvels. personally rct 3 is your best bet to avoid a major addiction later in life. they get to build their own amusement park and make their own rides etc. it's the most brain intensive out of the 3. also another possibly i forgot to mention would be world of goo. it is all about building and really makes you think. (easily one of the best indie games of 2010)