Game for 8 years old boy

My kid loves minecraft game i let him play it in peaceful mode, what really bugs me in that game has lousy graphics its like from old vic-20 game.
My kid loves to build and organize and he loves animals too.
Im looking for a game where he can build without any time outs, maybe a city building game or farm game.

Any tips?

Originally posted by dollukka
maybe a city building game

Well, theres always Simcity. (Any of the variants, I only personally ever played the original)

Minecraft has got poor gfx yea but its not about the graphics its about the vastly open sandbox nature of the game. and it can get very complex and as such is a good learning tool for kids but they dont know it, such as using redstone which very slightly learns kids on creating circuits.

once you feel he old enough to go onto servers then he will develop friendship and teamwork.

Minecraft as a game is massive and has loads of mods which will also lurn him a few computer skills as he learns to add them to the game.

i carnt falt the game and broght it my son, and was so pleased to get him off the PS3 for a change.

But as he only 8 id keep him away from the Yogscast just yet as they do use a lot of fowl language.

reply to post by alfa1


Thanks i will take a look what kind of versions there are

reply to post by Madcotto


Yep, he has creative mode in it, not yet into servers tho. I can see its very massive world but i feel it lacks of shapes its all blocks.

I was going to say Tetris until i read further down

Tetris is good for the organisational person. Someone who likes building things...but it may be too complex at that age (no offence).

It also has great mechanics and design

You could try Star Forge?



Unfortunately, Star Forge seems difficult, even to me . It looks like na advanced Minecraft

I do agree with other poster though. Som City, Sim Ant etc.

reply to post by dollukka


Roller coaster tycoon is good, you get to build a them park, roller coasters, rides etc, it also has an economics element to it allowing you to set prices per ride etc.. Personally I used to keep my prices low, more vistors that way, yet charge extortionate prices for an umbrella

Then wait for rain...

Yea it is blocks but some stunning things can be made with them blocks, added a image example below for people unfamiliar with the game.



same as lego really till they ruined it and created packs

trying think of another game right now i just carnt get it off the tip of me tong when i do ill post it

A game shouldn't be judged on its graphics, if he enjoys it then what's the problem?

I'm not sure how good an 8 year old is at reading but games like sim city involve quite a lot of reading.

Little Big Planet 2

there are 2 parts to it
1 is an adventure style level game
2 is where you construct your own levels and design a lot. My son loves that part. He wants Minecraft so I'll have to get that next.
My son is 7 he uses the network but I monitor who he interacts with.

When I read the title I was going to say Minecraft lol. My 5 year old daughter and I play survival mode together, it's a blast (pun intended).

When she was younger we would play Mario Kart Double Dash a lot in 2-up mode where one would drive and the other would control power slides and weapons, alternating drivers every lap. This was a fun team building game for us and she became really good at this game and beats me in 1v1 sometimes... and I won a tournament for this game back in 05.

Interested on what others may recommend as well.

Originally posted by SpearMint
A game shouldn't be judged on its graphics, if he enjoys it then what's the problem?

While graphics make up an important part of a game (adding to immersion), it does not take precedence over game mechanics and design. It is why Minecraft was so popular. It had great design and mechanics...

You are correct.

Got game i was thinking off off the tip of me tong and its Yogventures, but just checked and its not finished yet so dont really help atm

reply to post by dollukka


videogames.lego.com... I'm sure lego would have age appropriate games

also you can try some of the demos in the link provided, they got Lego version of LOTR

reply to post by dollukka

the graphics are great in this


Which platform are you on?
I let my son use network because he gets more stuff to use, borrows others content etc.
We're on PS3 if you want my son to play with him and show him how to do the building I can U2U the login name.

If your son has an Xbox viva-pinyata is a good game and adults love it to you build a garden and you have to lure in animals with different plants that you have to plant it's an enjoyable game for all

Yes im aware of the possibilities in minecraft and when building in large can result very astonishing worlds but i would like to give him similar game which actually has a better graphics when seen in close. My kid loves to build in minecraft and there is nothing wrong with it, the issue is more in our house that atm its only game he likes to play, he also likes little big planet too and lego games. And another issue what we are dealing with is when he builds alone he can make very neat buildings and places but when his friends come over they want to play his worlds and very often the world he created gets demolished unintentionally, they all have fun but later he feels like his creation has been destroyed and he feels a bit sadness about it.

He has a bit asperger traits, building things up is his passion and he loves his legos. when he was two years old he knew almost every car brands, he knew more logos than i do, at 4 he learnt to read and write without anyone teaching him, at 6 he learnt english. Now at 8 he is very fluent in english and its not his language. He has A in math but motoric skills are not so great. He is a bit too much attached to minecraft atm and i want him out there for awhile. I let him play 1,5 hours a day no more. Game needs to be a building game without blocks, he seems to be too fascinated about blocks nowadays.. grins

reply to post by dollukka


im sure this wont help one bit but as fans of minecraft both me and my son have had dreams in block form and about blocks

reply to post by Madcotto


Lol it doesn´t you are right, my concern about minecraft is that these blocks actually feeds his asperger traits.

I don't know if you thought about this, but if he likes things like "Farms", maybe consider having him start a REAL garden, if you have a backyard. Doing things outside instead of simulating them can be an incredibly rewarding experience, and may serve him in the future. As a kid (I'm 32 now), I did have a computer (386DX FTW) and yeah graphics sucked, but I had fun where I could. I found real fun in Legos, R/C cars (the real hobby ones, not toys), mechanical toys like Construx, and outdoors. Sometimes even doing woodworking projects, whittling, etc. Sure, you gotta teach them how to not cut themselves and whatnot but as long as safety is taught early and at every single stage you'll end up with a kid that can do it right, safely.

Originally posted by obnoxiouschick
Little Big Planet 2

there are 2 parts to it
1 is an adventure style level game
2 is where you construct your own levels and design a lot. My son loves that part. He wants Minecraft so I'll have to get that next.
My son is 7 he uses the network but I monitor who he interacts with.

I second this. The Little Big Planet (either the first or the second) games are amazing for building whatever you want. I've seen some MIT-level stuff come from kids building things on that game.