The most recent hidden gem we found is an quirky and fun video game called KUUKIYOMI: Consider It! This game is letting you test how considerate you are in a single player, or you and your partner are in a cooperative multiplayer game session when facing a series of mini challenges that all test how thoughtful and adaptive you are. KUUKIYOMI: Consider It! will present you and your coop game partner 10 challenges of about 10 seconds. There are absolutely no instructions, so all clue is in the minimalistic visuals which mostly resemble stick man drawings, and will sometimes make you wonder what you are supposed to do. Some challenges include: fitting in a V shape as a goose, clapping at the same time as others, avoiding dog pooh in the street, synchronising your movements in a simple PE (or dance?) choreography or getting on the underground / metro together.
If you want to check the game before making a purchase, here is a version of the gameplay (note: it is a two-dude young adult version where the commentary, unlike the game itself, includes some swear words, but all in all a humorous gameplay demonstration).
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As a mum I think this video game is an excellent example to show the huge positive potential of video games when it comes to helping children understanding themselves and society, building characters through video games in a stress free sandbox. It is also great as it offers a fun and safe way to help kids consider some of the basic social interactions, attentiveness, patience and cooperation in an easily accessible way, which may contribute to strengthening budding pre-teen’s / teen’s emotional intelligence. As a coop game it is perfect for a casual sibling game or a parent – child cooperative gaming session where you and your partner can easily level up and feel a sense of reward for being considerate.
Age (Recommended): 9+
PEGI rating: 3+
Game: Co-op
Educational (EQ): 9/10
Text on Screen: minimal
Miscellaneous: it is a short game, with about 100 scenarios, so best to buy on sale (the free mobile phone game version has ads on it). Not to the liking of everyone, so do watch the video if the game is something you’d enjoy as a family game. There is an inconsiderate mode of the game, and there is a fair amount of Japanese humour. The 100 or so challenges are randomised so you may get the some recycled challenges in a new round of game. It would be nice to see a tutorial for the game and 10x more challenges / newer modes to make this fascinating concept a much better game.
At the end of each round of ten challenges, you will receive a triangular shaped evaluation of how you’ve performed as a pair (the larger your inner triangle is the better), which will evaluate cooperation, synchronisation and support in a coop multiplayer setting. Your scores are influenced by how quickly and flexibly you adapt to a given situation. Occasionally it is confusing what you are supposed to do in a challenging task, but with some trial and error you can quickly figure it out and improve your stats.
KUUKIYOMI Consider It Coop Video Game
Online games have been shown to help teens with autism to improve their social skills (more about it on Autism, Gaming and Building Social Skills by Chloe Fay). We hope to see more and more games like Consider It! that directly focus on improving cooperative social behaviour and emotional intelligence in a non-violent and fun setting.
Please let us know what you think about this game, how it went for your family, what your experience is as parent / child.