Starker on 26/8/2019 at 09:27
That reminds me... when Morrowind came out, I used to just walk around the place without doing any of the quest stuff. Don't really remember how child-friendly it is, but maybe they'll like Skyrim?
Shadowcat on 26/8/2019 at 09:42
There's an interesting idea -- mod out all of the violence from an Elder Scrolls game :)
demagogue on 26/8/2019 at 13:22
In fact I often play Skyrim with the non-aggressive fauna mod (can't remember it's name right now) just so I can ride around and explore on my horse.
demagogue on 26/8/2019 at 14:22
There's a developer, Tonguc Bodur, that pretty much specializes in walking sims in forests with narration. It says on his (
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/tongucbodur/) Steam page that he's made 10 of them since 2015, and the trend of commenters are saying he's gotten better with each one. They're also super cheap, and on sale right now. So maybe try one or some of his recent ones.
Another good one is (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade/) Eastshade. In that one you're a painter and you're exploring to find the perfect scene for your paintings, so it has some relaxed but actual gameplay to it, on top of talking with everybody. Edit: Oh, this was already mentioned twice. Well there you go.
heywood on 15/10/2019 at 14:25
Thank you all so much for the suggestions.
And I'm sorry. I feel really bad about starting an advice thread and then suddenly disappearing. I had a particularly tough month or two, and it's kept me distracted from hobbies, keeping in touch with friends, and internet forums. I honestly had forgotten I made this thread. But now I'm going to start trying some of these out.
A few follow-up comments on the questions and suggestions, in no particular order...
The kids' ages are 3.5 and 5.5 years. They usually play games for an hour or two on the weekend with my wife or I unless we're away. We mostly stick to the Wii (original), because the games are easy to learn, but they also enjoy playing SSX 3 and RalliSport Challenge on the Xbox 1. More recently, they took an interest in what I play.
A bit of a story here... I remember I was playing with settings for modded Deus Ex executables to scale properly at ultra-wide resolutions so I could play some old DX1 mods on my new-ish monitor. The kids saw the opening cutscene to The Nameless Mod and wanted to play. So I started a new game, showed my son WASD, and my daughter took the mouse. They sat on my lap and worked together to explore the opening hub for about an hour while I enjoyed their teamwork rather than the usual squabbling. We did that again once or twice, working on acquiring credits for the first quest. There was no combat, no guns, no hostiles unless you went somewhere you weren't supposed to, just exploration. Then my daughter declared Forum City to be boring and asked if we could visit a real city. That's when I made a mistake. I sent the kids out, fired up Human Revolution, loaded a save right before the beginning of Hengsha, and dropped all my weapons. Then I invited the kids in for the ride to Hengsha. They absolutely LOVED exploring Hengsha. They went everywhere. It helps that my daughter is learning some Chinese words in school and is curious about China. But there's only so much you can do as a pacifist without progressing the main quest, and I didn't want them hunted by scores of bad guys. In addition, there's guns to be found everywhere in that game, and even though I taught them to leave the guns because we don't need any, my son was clearly tempted by them. So one day, I went into my spare bedroom/office and my son was playing the game. I guess I hadn't locked my screen. He had seen me launch the game from Steam and remembered how to do it. He had shot a couple Harvesters, and somehow he had also discovered takedowns, which I had been careful not to show them. So needless to say, that game was uninstalled and I set my screen lock timeout to a smaller value. But the kids continue asking to play it.
They have been introduced to Minecraft. Some of their older friends play it, and the girls who work in day care at my wife's gym also play it with them. However, they're not really into it. They usually prefer creating with tangible things. So in hindsight, I'm not sure the Sims is great idea either.
I've played Firewatch, and I let them have a go at it. They liked it at first, but a lot of the terrain looks the same, so they get lost easily and frequently need help navigating with the compass. Also, they don't get anything out of the dialogue. My son can't read the dialogue options. My daughter can read the words, but the context and meaning goes over her head. And a lot of it is adult banter.
Gone Home is too solitary. They want NPC interactions. I can see the tween appeal and maybe it's something she would enjoy in a few years when she can read better. Same with Dear Esther.
Bernband seemed like a good idea, but they couldn't get over the graphics (spoiled already :(). I'm going to try The Endless Express next. Then maybe Eastshade. Modded Skyrim sounds like an excellent suggestion too, although I'm personally burned out on Elder Scrolls games so I won't be as keen on helping them with that.
henke on 16/10/2019 at 05:37
Quote Posted by heywood
Bernband seemed like a good idea, but they couldn't get over the graphics (spoiled already :().
Kids these days! :p
qolelis on 1/11/2019 at 20:41
I just got Eastshade in the latest Steam sale, and have been playing for 2 hours now. I'm enjoying it myself. All dialogue is spoken (with good voice acting so far), although not yet having learned how to read might make things harder when choosing dialogue options, remembering on-going quests, and learning what the items you collect can be used for (some collecting/crafting is also needed before you can start painting).
The exploration is there (great views and nature reminding of the old Romantic painters) and the interacting with NPCs, mostly fetch quests so far and painting commissions (including finding the spot and the right view).
The NPCs have been improved compared to their previous game, so not as creepy anymore. Their eyes look much more alive now -- although some get a little starey. Everyone being a humanoid animal -- also while still keeping other animals as pets -- is a little weird, although nothing new.
A rare few glitches here and there, but nothing game stopping yet -- although, if you're picky, you might not like it. The most glaring one was a flock of birds getting stuck in mid-air. Other than that, it was mostly some of the models (especially the pets) being a little lowres/lowpoly (if you get up close). Not AAA quality, but still quite good looking.
No one comes off as particularly aggressive (even the most grumpy types are good-hearted -- if a bit self-absorbed at times). The strongest drug I've seen so far is tea. Some implied violence at the start (a shipwreck), but only with material damages as a result, no stress nor any personal injury.
No quest-markers, except items and readables being marked, so you will have to figure things out on your own by exploring and talking to NPCs. Quite non-linear as you can do things in your own order and at your own pace.
Edit:
The world-weary adult may find the game a bit too naïve -- although this could also be seen as refreshing or relaxing.
Edit 2:
The game so far feels very family-friendly -- although that of course depends on how far you want to take that. There are still conflicts (sort of) and you can be short with people if you choose to, but remove that and you might have a case of being too protective.