Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups

8. The Smallest Players

59 8 The Smallest Players If there is anything children love, it’s games. Just as with adults, games occupy their minds, provide a challenge, and give them a structured environment to have fun. But if you want to give your child some game choices beyond something with a video screen, and that expands his or her mind beyond Chutes and Ladders, role-playing games and some alternative board games may be worth a look. When it comes to role-playing games and kids, there are some finer points to consider. First, you need to know your audience. The type of game to run and adventure the kids might enjoy should depend on their tastes and preferences. Be careful of playing to gender stereotypes. While it might be a safe starting point, be prepared to change gears if you find girls who like rough-and-tumble combat encounters or boys looking to have their characters socialize, discover, and build relationships. If the kids are relative strangers, a simple Q&A beforehand can give the game master enough information to get things moving. When exploring the world of an RPG setting, be careful to not overwhelm the players. Yes, their options are limitless, but providing a set series of options to beginners, especially children, is always a good course of action. Of course, you are the final judge when it comes to how much the kids can 60 Games’ Most Wanted™ handle. As play goes on and the kids have gotten comfortable with the world they find themselves in, loosening up the options becomes natural. Being able to go from saying “You can do A, B, or C” to “What do you want to do?” opens up the true power and scope of the world the players find their characters in. Rules are always necessary in an RPG, but when introducing them to kids, it’s best to stick with the basics. It can be very easy to get bogged down in unnecessary details that might matter to a veteran player, but the objective with new players, of any age, is to have a good time. The players should leave that night’s gaming session with memories of the neat story and epic deeds done, rather than a tale of how many dice rolls it took to see if the brave knight was able to tie his shoe properly before running into combat. Be descriptive! You have a lot to compete against. Children are incredibly visual, and descriptions of places, monsters , and other exciting elements that are found in roleplaying games must compete with the stunning visual effects they see on television and in movies and video games. Of course, a GM should always provide fun and exciting descriptions, but with newcomers to the game, there needs to be much more, especially with children. Multiple voices, colors, sounds, smells, and small factual details help to engage their naturally vivid imaginations. Also encourage the same descriptive manner from the kids themselves. Have them go into detail about their character . If they seem unsure of themselves, prompt them with questions about clothing, special items, details about skin, and hair color. Once their mental gears get moving and they pick up on the visuals in their heads, it will be easy to pull back when necessary. 1. SETTLE AN ISLAND Odds are you have heard of this game at one time or another, and odds are you’ve never heard a single negative review. The Smallest Players 61 Settlers of Catan is a game where the players take the role of colonists on the island of Catan. From there, all work toward building the most successful colony on the island. How they go about reaching that victory is up to them. It might be through traditional city building, or maybe through military usage, or even through more clever and unexpected means. While the youngest children may have trouble with some of the rules, the benefits of this game for those who do play are many. Catan (and its numerous expansion sets) teaches resource management, strategy, trade and negotiation tactics , as well as priority setting. The game succeeds in being appealing for adults, who can easily enjoy the same aspects as their children do. To keep players on their toes, and from forming the same strategies from game to game to game, the island game board is made up of various, random tiles, which means...