My Sister Wants to Start Computer Gaming

[Griffstar]

She's 5 years old and well, my family is pretty big on gaming and would like to teach my sis the ways of First Person Shooters and MMORPGS.

Question.
What are some beginner games that my sister can start off with? I want her to branch off to other big games that I, myself would play. She lately has been very facinated with the games I play so I decided to teach her.


*To those who say she shouldn't be playing these games*

And to those who say she shouldn't play video games. Why do you care? I played Halo, GTA, Duke Nukem and CS:S when I was 5, why shouldn't she have the added enjoyment today?

 

[zama174]

Well, unfortunately for your sister she is in a world where she can't start with the greatest FPS to learn on.. Unless you are like me and still have a Nintendo 64.. (James Bond: Golden Eye.. Hey its what I learned on >> )She is rather young so naturally I'd suggest more kid friendlier games, Pokemon, Mariocart, Super Mario, ect.. However seeing as you want her to get into the games you play, just let her play what you play. Teach her how to play Counter Strike against a bunch of easy bots. Or have her tag along with you in Halo's campaign if you got an Xbox. I don't think you should just throw her out into a field of M rated games and expose her to Xbox live quite yet.. But playing these games with her big bro/sis would be a lot of fun for her. After all, she most likely just wants to get into it to spend more time with you right now.

 

[Zabriskie Point]

Portal. I just recently bought it for my little brother and he's been obsessed with it. He's eight.

I don't think it would be too hard for her, either, as long as you sit with her while she plays and help her if she gets stuck. (While explaining exactly what you're doing and why it works that way.)

 

[Radoh]

MMORPGs you say? The image of a 5 year old girl playing WoW strikes me to be rather silly. Doubly so if she is any good.

I'm not sure what PC games would be suitable for a 5 year old, maybe Portal? However I am operating under the assumtion she is on par with others her age in the maturity department. So for this I ask, is she a mature little tyke? If so, you could maybe try games like Left 4 Dead, Deus Ex, and maybe a touch of Morrowind.

Beyond that, I don't think you are going to get many replies suggesting she shouldn't be playing games.

 

[Anarchemitis]

I don't have to protest to you bring an older brother introducing her to video games, but I don't have to like it either.

 

[Griffstar]

She is very mature for her age, she knows the difference and all that jazz.

-snip-

Thanks for the suggestions, putting her against bots seems like a great idea and I just found my Halo 1 from a great 10 years ago that I could play with her.

 

[zama174]

snip

No problem. Playing the games my brothers played is what go me into gaming so it should work well for her.

 

[Cronq]

FreeRealms; it's a good kid oriented MMO and is free to play (up to a low level).

 

[UltraJacob]

Actually, Portal might work well. FreeRealms though? >_<

 

[L4WLI3T]

Portal, or CS:S I know, i've been ninja'd

 

[UltraJacob]

Portal, or CS:S I know, i've been ninja'd

CS:S? Are you insane? The players there are insanely skilled, or most of them are.

What about TF2 in terms of shooters go? Even when you die it's often hard to rage. Teach her the ways of rocket / sticky spamming, then eventually teach her that it's wrong when she gets better, and move her to more classes.

 

[L4WLI3T]

Portal, or CS:S I know, i've been ninja'd

CS:S? Are you insane? The players there are insanely skilled, or most of them are.

What about TF2 in terms of shooters go? Even when you die it's often hard to rage. Teach her the ways of rocket / sticky spamming, then eventually teach her that it's wrong when she gets better, and move her to more classes.

Actually yea, tf2 would be better.

 

[Griffstar]

Portal, or CS:S I know, i've been ninja'd

CS:S? Are you insane? The players there are insanely skilled, or most of them are.

What about TF2 in terms of shooters go? Even when you die it's often hard to rage. Teach her the ways of rocket / sticky spamming, then eventually teach her that it's wrong when she gets better, and move her to more classes.

TF2 sounds like a splendid idea, though I would have to learn to play to, I've never played before.
And I would start her off slow, with games like TF2 and bots on CS:S then move her onto more, "hardcore" gaming.

 

[Cogwheel]

I suggest some platformers, maybe the odd fighting game (simpler ones). Can't go wrong with Torchlight either, though you may want to help out with the whole skill tree side of things. Audiosurf seems to be a hit with everyone in that age group, in my experience, so that could work too.

Worms can make for fun multiplayer and isn't hard to understand. Some TBS can work too, for hotseat co-op where you can help out. Age of Wonders, Civ, Heroes and so on. I was playing Heroes 3 and Civ at that age, so I know it can be done. Starcraft could be good as well.

Trying not to suggest a few games that would be a tad too plot-heavy or complicated. Bear in mind that you'll need to help with some of these.

Also, if losing often isn't a problem, I suggest Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup [http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/downloads]. Sure, it's a roguelike. It's also fairly simple, graphical and good fun.

Also, Amnesia.

 

[EmpressZombiKitty]

Well, there are some obscure, but extremely kid friendly ones like Chex Quest, Nerf Arena Blast (which is made with the Unreal Engine), and Super Noah's Ark 3D (which is the one copy and pasted from Wolfenstein 3D).

Like a lot of others, Portal is a great suggestion. She could take her time, try over and over, and not be shot down by people online. If you do TF2 or CC:S, I also suggest the bots.

If she isn't scared of zombies, there is a game called Zombie Panic! Source. It's a free download. It's not really bloody, it's a teamwork based game, and when you die as a survivor you become a zombie. So there isn't that frustration of losing, I guess you could say. It's a relaxing game, I think.

Hope that helps!

IGN's Review for Nerf Arena Blast. They gave it an 8.8

http://pc.ign.com/articles/162/162982p1.html

 

[teh_Canape]

Serious Sam works to teach her the basics

run around with the finger superglued to the fire button

 

[Jaded Scribe]

Portal

World of Warcraft (sounds crazy, but just turn off general and trade, and mature filter on. The game is easy enough to learn that she should enjoy running around lowbie zones. I know my kids do).

Sim ____. The Sim games are fun, easy, and family friendly.

Civs. Turn based, so her taking her time won't be an issue.

For FPSs, Halo and the like shouldn't damage her psyche as long as she doesn't play with others with the volume up.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Try Minecraft, put it on Peaceful and see if you can get friendly map seeds. She'll get used to controls and probably enjoy the FPS format.

 

[minimacker]

Reminds me of Stargirl on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a87x0psVIus

Go ahead and pick something advanced. Hopefully, she won't lose interest.
Just be patient.

 

[yoshiru]

Portal. I just recently bought it for my little brother and he's been obsessed with it. He's eight.

I don't think it would be too hard for her, either, as long as you sit with her while she plays and help her if she gets stuck. (While explaining exactly what you're doing and why it works that way.)

I second that.

To expand: I'm going to assume you're 12-15. SO,

1) Portal has dark humor so you don't have to be all "meh, I don't want her to learn on girly games".

2) It has a female protagonist, so that could be a selling point.

3) The robot turrets are cute.

4) You can play the game for hours without getting anywhere and worrying about "doing well". If grunts are constantly shooting at you, it's difficult to learn.

5) If you want her to learn as quickly as possible without hating FPS: Let her learn at her. own. pace. Don't push her to move forward in the game, if she takes 2 hours on test chamber 1, leave her be, she has to learn stuff most people already know when they start an FPS.

6) I hope you succeed, I got my little sister interested in watching me play FF7, but still haven't gotten her to play it. So, meh.