Nintendo DS games for a 7 year old boy.

June 25, 2008 6:35 PM

I'm in need of Nintendo DS recommendations for a 7 year old boy.

I'm quite removed from all things video games. He's soon to be seven. He is getting a DS for his birthday. I have seen him playing his brother's copy of New Super Mario Bros (at least, I think it's that one) and he seems to get frustrated by it. He likes to draw and color and I know he has Webkinz. Sports games are probably not a good idea. Any suggestions?? Help make me a cool aunt!

posted by dpx.mfx to shopping (27 comments total)

Animal Crossing. One of the best DS games ever.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:40 PM on June 25, 2008

I guess this link would explain more of what the game actually is.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:41 PM on June 25, 2008

GAH! I meant to post this link, since this one is specific to the DS version.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:43 PM on June 25, 2008

I second Animal Crossing, really fun game.
posted by Deflagro at 6:51 PM on June 25, 2008

Mario Kart DS is pretty straightforward, Nintendogs would be fine for a 7 year old, and I haven't played it, but Drawn To Life is apparently a game where you draw the lead character and then take him on a quest.
posted by phredgreen at 6:52 PM on June 25, 2008

I have a 7-year old boy and his latest obsession is Pokemon Pearl and Naruto Ninja Destiny.

He likes Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros too.
posted by LoriFLA at 6:56 PM on June 25, 2008

My little guys have been loving Kirby lately.
posted by jenkinsEar at 6:56 PM on June 25, 2008

Since he can play Mario and likes to draw and colour, give Drawn to Life a try.

You can draw your own characters / weapons / objects in the game, which would be used in the platformer section later. I actually had more fun in the drawing part since I found the platformer part to be too easy, but I guess it should be suitable for children.
posted by joewandy at 6:59 PM on June 25, 2008

Another game with drawing component in it is Pac Pix.

It's one of the early 'concept' game for the DS touch screen, released in 2005, where you can draw Pacman and use him as a playable character. See if you can find it in the bargain bin.
posted by joewandy at 7:06 PM on June 25, 2008

Mario Party. This is a better choice if he knows other kids around his age with DSes. But my niece plays it against the computer players and still has fun.

Seconding Nintendogs as well.
posted by Gary at 7:12 PM on June 25, 2008

you can buy this thing called an r4, that is basically a flash cartridge that connects to a computer and a DS cart slot- and you can pirate games, and put like a billion on there! you will be the coolest fucking aunt ever with the magic cartridge that lets him play a billion games. You will be the center of his affection, as every time he visits you, you can put more games on the cart for him.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=r4+ds&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=1101078701&ref=pd_sl_4dx3f5u800_e

only downside is, he will learn to disrespect copyright law. Or is it an upside....
posted by wuzandfuzz at 7:28 PM on June 25, 2008

He can probably handle Mario Kart DS.

Nintendogs is really a lot of fun. My cousin loves it.

Instead of (or in addition to) a game you might want to get him a sturdy case. The 7-year-old I babysit has something like this. He might also like a fun skin for it.
posted by radioamy at 7:29 PM on June 25, 2008

My nephew is this age and I am the cool aunt w/ the magic cartridge (and the NDS) and thus have exposed him to a lot of games.

Drawn to Life is a great game for the drawing but has a fair bit of reading. A downside we're finding with a lot of the DS games so be aware you may hear a lot of "What does that say?" if that's an issue. (He's in French-Immersion and they've yet to do English)

The game he really loves is Lego Star Wars. All action, no violence (which his parents like -the men just explode into lego pieces).

In the past he's also got enamoured of Mario Party DS which is like a giant board game that has multi player option but also has mini games which by pass the boring bits.
posted by beautifulcheese at 7:41 PM on June 25, 2008

Not that I'm advocating copyright infringement *ehem*, but you can put quite a number of homebrew emulator on the DS if you get the R4. There are quite a lot of NES games that are suitable for kids / family friendly, especially because of the simple control.
posted by joewandy at 7:43 PM on June 25, 2008

Seconding Lego Star Wars. If you have a second DS unit, you can even play co-op multiplayer with him.
posted by joewandy at 7:44 PM on June 25, 2008

Thirding Animal Crossing. My son and his friends played it all the time when they were younger.
posted by amyms at 8:12 PM on June 25, 2008

you can buy this thing called an r4, that is basically a flash cartridge that connects to a computer and a DS cart slot- and you can pirate games, and put like a billion on there!

Or you can teach your child that some people make their living making the video games he or she loves to play, and doing this to those people is pretty shitty. (Hi, I used to make my living working on video games.)
posted by Mikey-San at 8:59 PM on June 25, 2008

Kirby: Canvas Curse is another game that uses drawing on the screen as a gameplay mechanic.
posted by EatenByAGrue at 9:01 PM on June 25, 2008

You'll have to order it from Amazon, but he might really enjoy playing with Electroplankton. It's not really a game, but more like an interactive title based around music and other sound.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vmyLuIYGT9o

And

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28UDxIQiaIY

Are good examples of the gameplay. There are no "levels", nothing gets blown up, no bosses, etc. It's just exploring with sounds.
posted by Mikey-San at 9:06 PM on June 25, 2008

Meteos is a really fun puzzle game, and Wario Ware is nice for those of us with short attention spans.
posted by MadamM at 9:56 PM on June 25, 2008

You know all those crappy tie-in platform games that gaming magazines mostly ignore, grown-ups disdain, etc.? That kind of stuff is probably what he'd like. Also virtual-pet (Nintendogs, Catz, etc., and maybe sims like Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, etc.
posted by box at 5:04 AM on June 26, 2008

Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones are absolutely brilliant. The key to those games is that there's no way to 'lose' -- if you die, you just respawn. My 7 year old sometimes gets frustrated with Mario Kart and other games where it's possible to lose, just because his coordination or comprehension of the mechanics isn't quite up to speed.

If your kid is very coordinated, you might try Kirby games, Sonic games, and the various Mario Brothers games.
posted by felix at 6:12 AM on June 26, 2008

Echoing Lego Star Wars. Absolute fun, for both kids and adults. Very simple controls, very forgiving gameplay.
posted by poppo at 6:28 AM on June 26, 2008

Cooking Mama is fun, simple, fairly forgiving, and family friendly. Gameplay divided into very small chunks, so when he says "just one more level!" that won't end up taking more than a minute or two.
posted by ErWenn at 7:04 AM on June 26, 2008

I hadn't heard of Kirby: Canvas Curse, but Kirby: Squeak Squad was adored by my 8 and 4 year old. Once the 11 year old beat it he lost interest, but the 8 and 4 still play it a lot.
posted by nobeagle at 7:43 AM on June 26, 2008

I need to drop a caveat on the Lego Star Wars.

There are two different games. One will earn you "awesome aunt" points, the other will get you a frustrated look.

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy was an awful, terrible, no good port that was buggy and broken.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga was absolutely fantastic and covered all 6 movies.

Be sure to get The Complete Saga if you're going to get him a Lego Star Wars DS game.
posted by phredgreen at 9:18 AM on June 26, 2008

I went with Drawn to Life. I'm thinking the Lego Star Wars for his brother in September. His birthday is next week, so I don't have reaction yet, but I think he'll like it. Thanks metafilter!!
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:58 AM on July 3, 2008