Best Xbox games for these two awesome kids
November 23, 2015 10:25 AM Subscribe
I’m looking for your bestest, funnest Xbox 360 game recommendations for a nearly-11-year-old girl and a nearly-7-year-old boy.
The girl is into being active, music and reading. Spends most of her Xbox time at the moment on Minecraft, where she’s created what looks to my untutored eye like a pretty extensive world. Reading tastes have evolved from Harry Potter, through spooky and supernatural stories, to sci-fi adventures like Maze Runner. (She’s desperate to read the Hunger Games but her parents reckon she’s still a bit young for it.) Definitely want to steer away from anything overtly “girly”.
The boy is into football (i.e. soccer), Star Wars, Lego, puzzles like Sudoku. Give him an iPad and he’s all about Boom Beach and Clash of Clans. Unless he gets hold of my iPad, where Ticket to Ride has him transfixed – he likes the element of building trains, even if he doesn’t quite get all the gameplay. He’s got a lot of patience for a little kid.
The plan is to get them one game each. They already have Minecraft, FIFA, Lego Jurassic World, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars. I’d like to get them games that they might not have thought of or come across by themselves. Both kids have a wicked sense of humour. It would be a bonus to find quirky games that might make them giggle a bit, games they would be able to play together as well as separately, or games that involve them in creating or building something.
We’re in the UK, if that’s a factor. I've had a look at this previous question which is giving me some ideas, but it's a couple of years old now. (And yes I know there's a million cool things other than computer games I could get for these two, but there are Reasons.) Thanks!
The girl is into being active, music and reading. Spends most of her Xbox time at the moment on Minecraft, where she’s created what looks to my untutored eye like a pretty extensive world. Reading tastes have evolved from Harry Potter, through spooky and supernatural stories, to sci-fi adventures like Maze Runner. (She’s desperate to read the Hunger Games but her parents reckon she’s still a bit young for it.) Definitely want to steer away from anything overtly “girly”.
The boy is into football (i.e. soccer), Star Wars, Lego, puzzles like Sudoku. Give him an iPad and he’s all about Boom Beach and Clash of Clans. Unless he gets hold of my iPad, where Ticket to Ride has him transfixed – he likes the element of building trains, even if he doesn’t quite get all the gameplay. He’s got a lot of patience for a little kid.
The plan is to get them one game each. They already have Minecraft, FIFA, Lego Jurassic World, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars. I’d like to get them games that they might not have thought of or come across by themselves. Both kids have a wicked sense of humour. It would be a bonus to find quirky games that might make them giggle a bit, games they would be able to play together as well as separately, or games that involve them in creating or building something.
We’re in the UK, if that’s a factor. I've had a look at this previous question which is giving me some ideas, but it's a couple of years old now. (And yes I know there's a million cool things other than computer games I could get for these two, but there are Reasons.) Thanks!
My niece and nephew are apparently getting a lot of enjoyment out of Zoo Tycoon.
posted by MsMolly at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by MsMolly at 10:43 AM on November 23, 2015
Thrillville: Off The Rails! My ex bought it for me one Christmas and promptly lost me for three weeks while I built all the theme parks. (I also love Lego Harry Potter which you mention in your post, which is why I feel there's some shared taste and experience there.)
posted by theseldomseenkid at 10:54 AM on November 23, 2015
posted by theseldomseenkid at 10:54 AM on November 23, 2015
I love Beautiful Katamari and I've also been enjoying Peggle 2. Both are puzzle-y and Katamari is funny and the music is great.
posted by Saminal at 12:20 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Saminal at 12:20 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
Seconding Beautiful Katamari, my husband and I have spent so long playing that game and it never gets old!
posted by Peetree at 12:36 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by Peetree at 12:36 PM on November 23, 2015
The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge are both fantastic gold-standard classics of the LucasArts adventure gaming era, and the Special Editions do a good job of updating the art for a more modern palette while retaining the option to play in the original pixel-y glory. Fantastically silly and wildly amusing, I played the originals back around that same age (10-13 or so) and still crack up at some of the gags. And with modern games sometimes coming packed on 2 or more discs again, MI's classic "Insert disc 22 to continue" joke will be relevant once more! (on researching, apparently the joke was removed when the CD version of the game was reissued because too many people were complaining that they were actually missing discs, instead of getting the joke. Ah well..)
posted by FatherDagon at 1:33 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by FatherDagon at 1:33 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
How comfortable are you with violence. I'm pretty lax about it (with parental oversight and conversation, of course), and my daughter (who is younger than both of your kids) absolutely loves Skyrim. The open world and the exploring scratches a lot of the same itches as Minecraft does. Plus, all those different flowers to collect!
posted by 256 at 2:59 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by 256 at 2:59 PM on November 23, 2015
Plants vs Zombies in all versions! There is two player mode for the classic PvZ game, and a fantastic online team-based game called Garden Warfare. Also Portal, Peggle, and Castle Crashers. Bonus: Ticket to Ride is also on XB360!
posted by AloneOssifer at 3:08 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by AloneOssifer at 3:08 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
These are not so much building games, but our family loves Castle Crashers, Battleblock Theater, and Raskulls. They can all be played multiplayer head-to-head or as teams.
Spelunky is another good one. I just remembered Fancy Pants Adventures as well. That one has lots of unlockable collectables.
posted by Talia Devane at 8:04 AM on November 24, 2015
Spelunky is another good one. I just remembered Fancy Pants Adventures as well. That one has lots of unlockable collectables.
posted by Talia Devane at 8:04 AM on November 24, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks all, lots of great ideas to investigate. (I love how enthusiastic everyone comes across in their answers too, like they just can't wait to get back to that one game...)
posted by FavourableChicken at 3:15 AM on November 27, 2015
posted by FavourableChicken at 3:15 AM on November 27, 2015
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posted by asperity at 10:32 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]