FOR KIDS!?

[americanman_4_life]

Hello guys... I play other strategizing games on here centered around war and kingdom building... including Sid's Civilization! I love his Civ games!

However... i'm 33, so their is no restrictions on me of what games I choose to buy and play! However... my son is 6 years old now, and he.... absolutely LOOOVVVEEES TRAINS! He plays all kinds of RR toys in real life! Not that I'm wanting him to get into computer games, but he's been doing much better behavior wise in school, and I've been thinking about getting him a game to reward him 30 minutes of play time a day that he comes home with Exceptionally good behavior!

SO... I'm asking how is this game for a Six year old in 1st grade, who has a history of special needs and behavior intervention plans... Likely ADHD, or possibly ODD...

Is this game acceptable for his age group? I could probably buy it for the cheap price, play it myself, and decide on my own... but I'm carious of public opinion!

Thx

[trar]

This game is probably too complex for a 6-year-old, and the sequel is even more so. I would suggest Sid Meier's Railroads, as it's the simplest in the railroad tycoon bundle and has the best graphics, but is not a bad game.

You could also buy the bundle and let him explore the more complex games, and it would save you the trouble of buying them separately if/when he wants to try those.

[Crazed Possum]

I would say no just because it isn't easy to just "play" you do have to make a go of it with your railroad empire. Now saying that, I would recommned it for you and him to play together cause it is addictive for you and would be fun for him. The many types of trains and sounds and laying down the tracks and trying to figure out where to begin and focus your empire would be a dual decision for the both of you. Choosing what to haul and to where to make the most money. Im sure by watcing you play he will want to play also but remember if your railroad doesn't make money you will fail but that is also a life lesson in itself . How we all react and recover from failure says alot about who we are as a person. 30 minutes isn't a whole lot of time to play in this game too. Maybe Sid Meirs Railroads! is a better fit....but i do not own that one nor have i ever plaed it.

FYI i am 48 yrs old and i do love the Sid games also...

possum

[americanman_4_life]

thanks guys... good responses... keep it coming! I actually have 3 kids. My two girls are also in school. I only have em 50% of the time, their mom and I are divorced.

Currently on School days, after school, they first do HW than read a book for hour... my younger two, including my son (middle), often fall asleep during Queit time as they get exhausted from school... but his behavior recently has changed so much with his Meds now. I considered 30 min a day gaming to let him experience a small bit of it at a time... maybe give a whole hour on Sat if he goes entire week on good behavior, if I have em on my weakends!

As far as the complexity of the game, I would most certainly sit and play with him, show him how things done on it... but let him make decisions about it. From how you guys explained it, I'm thinking once he gets hang of it, and learns to watch the numbers, and how his decisions effect his game play later... it would provide good lessons of life! Like Choices = Concsequences (daily verbage I use with all three when it comes to teaching lessons of life)!

ANyway.... thanks again for the compliments! Hope others keep it coming...I will dwell on it for another day or two!

[CaptainMcKurk]

I played RR tycoon since i was six, even though I didn't understand most of it I stil play it to this day. I would recommend it as it taught a lot about history and geography. It gave me personally a lot of real world knowledge at a relatively young age.

[americanman_4_life]

Thank you! I'm leaning towards buying SM RRs and when he plays I will probably help him with some things, showing him how to start off, what to watch for, and explain he might lose sometimes, but its part of the game! so we'll see!

Thanks again!

[vanetz]

I think it will be fine. The economic aspect might be harder to grasp (overheads, stock splitting etc.) and some missions might give trouble (like the train routing ones) but overall it's pretty easy. Especially once you figure out the industry chains. Plus it has a campaign editor and you can make anything you want, like in a sandbox.

[Tarrtarus]

May or may not help, but I played this when I was a child, many, many years ago (15+). Great game. Loved it then, going to repurchase it soon to play as an adult.

[americanman_4_life]

UPDATE...Instead of Tycoon however, I only bought SM's RRs.
Been a month now sense I posted the blog. I bought that game a week later. At first, I only played it to get the feel of and make sure it was safe. Which I actually started to enjoy, and got addicted to. Because of the idea of the RR competition, and the stock market, and commerce, I thought it was too advanced for him to understand. However, I did start letting him sit with me when I played, and he enjoyed very much watching me play. I often asked his opinion certain times where to put tracks, or what trains to set up, or tunnel, or bridge, etc. He enjoyed the limited participation, and certainly asked questions, and I tried to explain what was going on between the competitive nature of the game.

THAN about 2 weeks ago, I discovered while setting up a game, TABLE TOP RR! This illiminates any competition, no commerce, no stock market! There is no cost to build anything! The dollar sign is blocked out, no exchange of money for laying tracks, starting trains, etc! Build to your HEARTs' CONTENT without ever worrying about the dollar sign! I thought the regular games would end too fast, and never enjoy the projects built, until I discovered TABLE TOP RR! The game never ends so I started showing him more often, finally got to a point where I decided to trust him, when he earns the time, and he plays on Table Top setting. He eventually gets board of his setup, and wants me to remake a new. That Table Top set up is available on ANY map. It highly recommended for anyone who doesn't like the competitive, or worry of money, or the fact the game ends too soon, put it on Table Top setting and none of that is a burden!

Now, being 6 years old, he does make some wakky designed tracks that really make no sense at all, he'll get used to it, and improve as he grows, and learns more. He loves High bridges, even for no rhym or reason! He'll manuelly increase the altitude of bridge, and send it real high, only to bring it back down, just to go over a river, or creek!

Anyway, thanks guys for all the comments. If any of you have SM RRs, try the Table Top setting!

[Herr_Mungus]

Funny no one mentioned, RT2 has a sandbox mode, you can turn off almost everything including stockmarket and money! Just make choo choos go. If you son likes trains, just get the sandbox mode working and let him have fun!

[americanman_4_life]

Originally posted by Herr_Mungus:

Funny no one mentioned, RT2 has a sandbox mode, you can turn off almost everything including stockmarket and money! Just make choo choos go. If you son likes trains, just get the sandbox mode working and let him have fun!

Yes... I've sense done that... it's called "Table Top Train Set" for SM's RRs... He's doing pretty good with it too, though he makes some realllly funky track setups...