As I’ve been reluctant to let video games enter our family realms (on consoles, tablets or phones on a regular basis), I have often asked myself why I feel the irresistible urge to document our experience of playing video games with our children, as a family game, as a coop sibling game, or in any other setting where children, pre-teens or tweens play games.
Since the end of the year 2020 (which I often refer to as the Year of the Great Lockdown), I have been struggling to find informative video game reviews that navigate parents among the thousands of video games that have been mushrooming on the market in the last two decades.
Parent Reviews – Out of all the many popular games I was at a loss where to start. What would suit a family with 2 kids (aged 6 and 10)? There are thousands of great game reviews out there on the world wide web (indeed like a huge savannah), including fantastic pages like Metacritic, Steam etc., but I got the impression that the vast majority of reviews have been written by young independent game players who may not have kids yet, as their reviews often lack observations on playing that particular game with a child. I needed a guide where to start, how to do ‘gaming’ as a family activity. One of the best sources I have found on the internet to consult before picking films and books has been CommonSenseMedia in the last two years, so I would naturally turn to this parenting website about video games too. Sure, we’ve been relying on Amazon reviews and the algorithm of ‘customers also checked these related products’ type of recommendations, Good Reads etc.). But there are lots of games where no parental reviews are available. And it’s hard to see where to start when it comes to two kids born 4 years apart. On VideoGameMum.com I’ll try to share our family adventures with some of the best, worst, good and not so good games – and more than that, I’ll share how we are forming our gaming rules / routines, what works and what causes us headache (or even tantrums). It’s a learning experience combined parent review site.
Self-Exploration – I have often found that ‘learning by doing’ as well as ‘learning by reflecting on what I have read’ work great for gaining insights into a new field. How am I turning from a ‘no video games’ mum to a ‘yes video games’ mum and why. What mistakes do we make along this journey? How are we trying to keep the gaming rush at bay? What games have we found the best to play as a family? The posts, reviews, reflections will hopefully help me – and perhaps other parents – understand how we can eventually make video games work best for families and our wider communities.
Curiosity (some Science) – Besides self-exploration, I’m also intrigued by the fantastic science studying video gaming – psychology, sociology, AI, film, drama etc. several scientific fields are making probe drillings into video games with growing success and fascinating findings. In some posts I will reflect on exploring truths and uncertainties about games, also sharing scientific facts and curiosities about gaming per se, sort of like a subjective study journal, mixing observations with questions – oh, I have lots and lots of questions, so please do share your experiences or questions too in comments and reviews.
Video Games are the Future – Can / Should games be kept away from our kids? Books, TV and ‘the internet’ were used to be considered dangerous. Now we know that it can be dangerous, sure The Gutenberg galaxy of video games is here. It is an undeniable truth that we games have evolved to a different level and more and more of them are embraced by scientists, educational organisations, and think-tanks. I strongly believe in the tremendous potentials of video games. You may call it naive. While I’m optimistic about technological advances, I’m fully aware of the many dangers they also present (from the nationwide policing of citizens to serious game addictions which are ruining a person’s – family – life). That said, video games in the 2020s are on the verge of becoming an unprecedented driving force for making our world better. All we need is great games, a more sophisticated gaming culture for all of us (including families with younger / older kids), and lots and lots of channeling back of all the gaming inputs to our real world, swirling all the huge virtual gaming energy and time back to our very real and imminent problems – including mass simulation of problems that give answers to actual conflicts.
(Lockdown) Stress Release – At the time of writing, Covid 19 is a tangible reality. We are just after a 2 month lockdown, with lots of homeschooling. As the winter season does not always offer lots of enticing cold walks (we take long walks nevertheless), we have been trying to find indoor sports games (we have done quite a few Just Dance exercises, balancing on a Wii board, playing with the Ring Fit adventures, etc.) and video games where our glutes are not stuck to the coach. In addition, we have been exploring some simulation games (on the chill out, relaxing side), puzzles and puzzle stories (some with a more serious message), and other adventure stories (sort of a mixture of interactive books with riddles and feisty actions). Some of the posts will be about finding gems for family stress release, team building, coop games that has helped us in the hours of sibling rivalry or just a stress relief on an average ‘work-homeschooling-household’.
(Re-)Connecting with Friends and Family – Our ten year old born and raised in the UK has been reading books with her grandmother residing in Hungary since March 2020 when multiple borders were closed due to the global pandemic (as a bilingual kid she has been practising her Hungarian as well as building a fantastic). But she was also sorely missing her friends. She started to play Among Us with her friends, keeping remotely in touch. In 2020, at the Game Awards, Among Us was announced the winner of the Multiplayer Game of the Year (beating out other widely popular game titles like Fall Guys, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or the 18+ game, Call of Duty: Warzone). This online multiplayer game – rated PEGI 7 – has been hitting the top lists among many school children, teens and young adults during the Year of the Great Lockdown. They would chat while in the waiting room, or just have a good laugh. They were often frustrated when they were kicked out of gaming rooms, having to log in again, etc. Gaming time was often consumed by the technical problems. So we will soon experiment with less frustrating games to go on a virtual getaway with friends (Animal Crossing and some other simulation games will be tested)