Gamer Minimum Age

[eryndel]

Well, guess I've been around long enough to actually start a thread.

So, I've personally gamed since I was a wee lad, effectively taking over the game my Dad ran at home in order to run it myself. This was when I was about 7. So, twenty some odd years later, I'm a father of a 2 and a half year old and I wanted some advice from other gamer parents out there.

In order to follow the Gamer Agenda and breed a new race of gamers... what would you say is the minimum starting age to get these kids into gaming. What game system? Any personal experiences?

{Mods: If this isn't the right place for this thread, could you please move it to the right forum, Thanks }

 

[Desdichado]

I think d20 is a bit complicated to spring on very young kids, but the concepts can be implemented by anyone who can read, and if the mechanics are all handled by you, it can be done even younger. Not that I've done it, mind you, but a friend of mine (who has been AWOL from these boards for a few months) did some Star Wars impromptu stuff with his 6 year old boy. My son would probably go in for that. But I'd probably want to minimize mechanics and maybe even do most of that in the background, simply telling him what happens, encouraging him to make decisions, and having him roll dice.

The Window is actually a good system. It somewhat snootily tries to set itself up as an "elite" system for mature gamers only, but I actually think it's better for brand new gamers. It's also available online for free, although I can't remember where...

 

[Bleys]

IMO, there is no one "right" age. Just like there is no "text-book, normal" child as far as the developmental cycle goes.

I started when I was 8, and now 23-odd years later, I'm still at it and the father of two children (2.5 years and 1 year).

The 2.5 year old showed an intense interest in dice from a very young age. She's also shown an incredible capacity for imagination and imaginary play. My guess is that as soon as she can grasp some of the other concepts involved with a roleplaying game, she'll be ready to play. It could be as early as 5 years old, as long as she has the maturity to handle things

Of course it could be that she'll either have no interest in it or will not want to play until she's much older.

IMO, I think you just need to judge based on the personality and maturity of the child in question... though encouragement is always a good thing!!

 

[BenBrown]

If the kid has an interest and will roll the dice rather than trying to eat them, the kid is old enough.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I'm getting a game ready for my 11 year old stepdaughter. I think if they are showing an interest in the subject matter, they are old enough to play.

It might take awhile to hammer home the specifics (I mean, she still can't seem to retain rules like "take your shoes off at the door", so I don't think there is much hope for her seizing Attacks of Opportunity in all their myriad forms

 

[eryndel]

He's always been into dice and never made a big habit of eating them. Guess we're lucky there.

Recently he's been getting into imagination games, so this is why I was wondering when a good time to introduce gaming was. Since I figured that most of us 80s gamers were at the point of having children I was curious if they were any generational gamers and games happening out there.

 

[Ferret]

Well, guess I've been around long enough to actually start a thread.

So, I've personally gamed since I was a wee lad, effectively taking over the game my Dad ran at home in order to run it myself. This was when I was about 7. So, twenty some odd years later, I'm a father of a 2 and a half year old and I wanted some advice from other gamer parents out there.

In order to follow the Gamer Agenda and breed a new race of gamers... what would you say is the minimum starting age to get these kids into gaming. What game system? Any personal experiences?

{Mods: If this isn't the right place for this thread, could you please move it to the right forum, Thanks }

You haven't started?

 

[Wombat]

Minimum age for gaming is when the GM and the players feel ready.

Younger kids tend to like simpler systems (duh!), but it eventually hinges on the tone of the campaign and the style of gaming being done.

I have run games for kids as young as 10 and as old at 63

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Depends on the game and the children.

My kids started playing when my son was 6 and my daughter was 10.

We started with the Adventure Game (or "3rd edition Light in-a-box"). After their characters went through everything in that set, we did two of those pamphlet-sized "mini modules" that were popular back then.

Then we started the real thing. D&D 3e, using the PHB. By then, my son had just turned 7 and my daughter was 11. We have since done Sunless Citadel, a 3e conversion of the old "Saltmarsh" series, and then Forge of Fury (or whatever the 2nd 'Adventure Path' module is called). The party has split since then, with three of them off on a side quest, while the others (with a few new party members) are off to a little village called Hommlett.

Last year, in second grade, my son was supposed to read 20 minutes every night for homework. He usually picked a D&D book. I would sometimes quiz him on what he had read, to make sure he wasn't just skimming the text.

He's 8 1/2 now, and I am often startled by how much he remembers. Children are amazing learning machines, and will absorb much of the rules if they are used often.

We have spent the last two evenings (along with a friend of his) making up "3.5" characters, and then running a small combat with them.

My daughter wants to run a dungeon, so I think it's time I got her a DMG of her very own. I'm worried though--she loves to spend time flipping through Deities & Demigods, so I fear we may have to travel the planes and fight gods.