Crossplay Mailbag: How Do I Get My Kid to Play "Real" Games?
Princess dress up games are, understandably, not exactly thrilling for a parent after the first few minutes.
Welcome back to another Crossplay mailbag!
We’re opening up the mailbag to everyone going forward, so if you’ve got a question you’d like answered, please do not hesitate to send it to mailbag@crossplay.news.
It’s been a quiet time for kids playing games in the Klepek household, though the entire family is curious about the trailer for Hello Kitty Island Adventure. It’s essentially Animal Crossing + Hello Kitty, and it’s coming to Apple Arcade soon. I’ve been granted early access, and will have a report on what it’s like on Crossplay next week.
Mostly, we’ve been spending a lot of time at the pool, hanging outside with friends and neighbors, and enjoying the all-too-brief summer we get here in the Midwest. I’m trying to bribe my older kid into jumping off the higher diving board at the local pool, but it’s probably not a good sign when I’m actually nervous to jump off it, too, and I’m not even afraid of heights. But I did manage to bribe two neighbor kids into doing it with the promise of a few dollars, and they completely forgot to cash in! Win win.
Onto the mailbag. Remember, send your questions!
My 6 yo has a tablet and she loves "tablet games". Pets, dress up, I can give specific examples. Tried to get her playing Mario but she doesn't have to coordination for a controller and also doesn't seem all that interested. She does like watching me play Zelda totk and she likes reading speech bubbles. What games lend a tablet child to transitioning to a standard controller?
Closing the coordination gap can be so hard. Roblox, awful digital analog sticks and all, is what made 3D spaces click for my oldest, but as I’ve reported, I’m not sure that’s the best route! Understanding 3D spaces will come naturally, because if she continues to engage with games as she gets older, some game will demand it from her. I hope it’s not Roblox! It’d be nicer if it was a pleasant, well-designed 3D Mario game!
But for now, I’d just exercise patience and let her own interests guide you. I know this can be a slog, but have you tried opening up the app store on the tablet, bringing up 3D games, and seeing what strikes her interest? There’s a lot of trash buried down there, but maybe a certain franchise or framing will strike your kid’s fancy, and that will open the door to playing the games that you like, too.
How do you handle your incredibly huge digital catalog when sharing gaming with your kids? Will you give them access to your accounts? Family plans?
What’s uniquely funny about my situation is that as a journalist, I often gain access to games ahead of release, so when we watch a trailer, my kids will ask if I already have it. A reasonable question! They were delighted to learn I have the new Hello Kitty game mentioned above, though we’ll soon learn whether the attraction to a shiny object is what’s more interesting than the game itself. I’m years away from having to worry about what happens when my kid can boot up an Xbox and start browsing through Game Pass, so it’s a question I can’t fully answer yet.
But I can tell an interesting story that’s related.
Out of the blue, my kid asked me last night if we could watch Steven Universe, the Cartoon Network show about…gems, I guess? It’s not clear yet based on the two episodes we’ve watched. Regardless, it’s not a show that we’ve ever talked about watching, because my understanding is some themes will go over her head or be better appreciated when she’s older. Still, I’ve heard Steven Universe is excellent, and when I asked her why she was interested, I expected her to mention a kid had been talking about it at her daycare, but in reality, she’d already been watching clips on YouTube Kids, and it made her interested in watching full episodes. And so last night, we watched two of them back-to-back—to my pleasant surprise, each episode is only 11 minutes!—and even the three-year-old was enthralled. By the end, we were all talking about what cool weapon we’d summon from the gems in our bodies.
That’s all to say that I expect how my kid interacts with the prospect of infinite games the same way: one day, she’ll see an out of context clip of something and ask to try it.
Do you let your kids watch streamers? If so, how do you research those streamers to make sure they're not Nazis or just generally inappropriate?
We’re not there yet, but I’d be interested to hear from Crossplay readers how they’re handling this. To some degree, it’s out of your hands, like so much of life is out of your hands. But I understand the concerns parents have, and I’m dreading the day when my child understands how much more content is on Actual YouTube vs. YouTube Kids.
One time, she asked what “liking” and “subscribing” were. She wanted to subscribe to a channel, which would’ve meant letting her escape the relatively safe confines of YouTube Kids. I told her I’d look into it, which is my rhetorical escape hatch for a problem that I’m hoping my kid will simply forget about. Thankfully, she hasn’t asked again, but that day is coming, and I should prepare. I’ve probably jinxed myself, too.
What would I do? Vet the streamer in advance by doing searches for their content, and determine if they’ve been involved in any controversies that’d disturb me, then talk to my kid. I’d watch some of the content with them, to try and gauge what kind of streamer they are. While it’s totally possible for a seemingly innocuous streamer to suddenly go fully mask off and reveal themselves to be a white supremacist, my guess is the style and tone of a streamer will reveal themselves after watching for a little bit.
If your kid is interested, show interest back. Dismissing the interest out of hand is going to lead to tension and frustration. Better to jump into the pool hand-in-hand!
Also:
When my oldest saw my face in a YouTube thumbnail, they asked if was famous. I didn’t exactly say no, and they can figure out my D-list status as they grow up.
Shout outs to the fan who did say hi at the local Renaissance Faire. They were kind and patient, despite my three-year-old nagging me. Always love saying hi!!!
Remember, this mailbag is for everyone now! Drop me fresh questions here.
“Princess Dress-Up” type games are just as legitimate as any other type of video game, though the quality varies wildly. I’m an avid player of all kinds of games but my teens loved and still love open-ended digital “toys” more than they enjoy narrative/adventure/combat-type games. Toca Boca makes GREAT quality games.
"That’s all to say that I expect how my kid interacts with the prospect of infinite games the same way: one day, she’ll see an out of context clip of something and ask to try it."
That's basically what happens with my kids (ages 9 & 6). They see something and then ask me about it. Occasionally I might show them a trailer of something I think they might be interested in but generally what they are interested trying comes from a source other than me.
I remember when my oldest was little and I was like "I'm going to bring her along the past 30+ years in games and consoles so she learns how I learned and I get to play all of my old favorites again." She doesn't care about that stuff, her sister doesn't care, and they are likely never going to care. Which is fine! As much as I would love to create two little mini-mes who align with my interests so I can share and interact with all of my favorite stuff I have found that I enjoy watching them develop their own tastes and explore on their own so much more.