[bachelorduke]

I'm setting up a first pc for my nieces, and want to put some adv titles on it.

Curse of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Ceville look safe. But I need advice on the following:

A Vampyre Story
The Longest Journey
Dreamfall
Still Life
Still Life 2
The Path

Not just whether it's ratings ok, but also, if the puzzles are ones children could solve.

[DustyShinigami]

Personally, i wouldn't recommend The Longest Journey, Dreamfall or Still Life 1 (not sure about 2) for an 8-12 year old. These games contain adult themes and some strong language. Still Life contains both adult themes and strong language as well as violence and blood/gore. I also think the stories may go over their heads.

As far as puzzles are concerned, there are some illogical/obscure puzzles in The Longest Journey and some mechanical puzzles in Still Life that they'll more-than-likely find quite difficult.

[Fien]

Your nieces are far too young for any of the above games. Please don't even consider gory, scary Still Life 1 + 2 and the very disturbing The Path. Why not find them games that are suitable for their age groups.

[skeeter_93]

A Vampyre Story would be safe I think, but as with most games, it really depends on your nieces maturity. I suggest Nancy Drew games. I know it's a typical young girl suggestion, but they have an easier level for younger players, and really are quite good. I love them and I'm in my thirties!

[Fantasysci5]

I have to agree with most of those, they aren't appropriate for such a young age group. I haven't played Monkey Island, and the others you mentioned, but they sound okay for younger people. But the ones you asked advice on are pretty mature. Lots of cursing in "The Longest Journey", and violence in "Dreamfall, Still Life", etc. The Path is really obscure with dark undertones, so I wouldn't suggest those. The only one that may be okay is "Vampyre Story", but I myself haven't played it. Sorry.

[SnorkleCat]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Monkey Island series... what about stuff like Bone, or Day of The Tentacle? I don't recall any objectionable material in either of those. It's hard to think back on what may or may not be suitable. Legend of Kyrandia 1 and 2 were fine too... except that there are some extremely laborious and dreadfully schleppy puzzles that even I hated.... Puzzle games like Safecracker and Myst would also be appropriate content wise, but possibly a bit heavy on puzzles for some kids.... I'll have to give this some more thought. Been a while since I was a kid.

[Fantasysci5]

There are some darkish-undertones in Myst, but when I played it as a kid, it went right over my head. So if your nieces play it and like it, when they're older and go back to it, they'll have a new experience. But the puzzles are wicked hard, in my opinion the hardest of the genre.

I 2nd the Nancy Drew games, and maybe the Dark Fall games. It does have ghosts, but you never see any of the violence, and it is actually quite tame.

[bachelorduke]

Thanks all, looks like I need to scratch much of that list. It's hard finding games for kids that aren't stupid.

Btw I started Still Life just to see for myself (and I see what you mean lol, it's like a crime drama episode, not kids stuff) and now I'm hooked. I actually passed on a session of l4d/infected to keep playing SL. Cool stuff, it's like a movie you control.

[RockNFknRoll]

I got into adventures when I was in that age range and I never played "for kids" games. It was the days of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, King's Quest, Gabriel Knight and the rest of the lucasarts and the Sierra classics, myst, etc. I recommend starting them out right with the legends. Still Life 1 and 2 are very mature. I would've loved them (at least part 1) at that age, but my parents probably wouldn't have liked it (nor known. adult video games just didn't really exist).

[loobylou26]

i would second the nancy drew series and my little girl who is 8 loves the broken sword series

[Find Therma]

Admittedly I'm not a girl , but when I was 12ish I loved playing Discworld 2. Has cartoony graphics and humour that I think would appeal to both younger and older players. Great voice-acting too.

Goosebumps in Horrorland is another one I had back in the day. Scary but aimed specifically at that sort of age group. May be difficult to get hold of now though.

Also there are free downloadable indie titles that may be worth a try. Nanobots and Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy both spring to mind. Nanobots has some really good puzzles which are not too hard but make the player think a little (is funny too) whilst Nelly Cootalot is a pirate themed game starring a female protagonist (so may appeal) with good humour and lovely graphics.

[Fantasysci5]

Kings Quest are good games for the younger and older crowd. Those are pretty tame, with the only bad thing maybe being able to be killed, although never graphically.

[DustyShinigami]

Although i've never played it, i think So Blonde would be a good choice.

[bachelorduke]

Finding some of this stuff isn't easy. I had Grim Fandango thank god, thing costs like $100 now. The Monkey Island stuff also costs more than new retail games, I had Curse, but the other two are beyond my reach -- I could buy a new PS3 for those prices. If it were for me I guess I could just pirate them but geeze I don't want to put stolen software on my nieces pc. Is there a better place for adv games than Amazon? I don't want to order from a bunch of different unknown vendors.

Anyway I just assumed licensed stuff like Nancy Drew would suuuuck. But worth looking into?

[oerhört]

Grim Fandango should be real cheap unless you insist on the big box version. The re-release (DVD cover) saw to that.

I'd suggest Day of the Tentacle, run through ScummVM, and perhaps Psychonauts, although that has some dark undercurrents. The Curse of Monkey Island seems like an excellent choice. I also had some fun with The Dream Chronicles 3 the other day, it's a relatively simple "casual-style" adventure about magic filled with art noveau-style rooms.

If you want them to get into Myst, I'd suggest to start with Myst III: Exile. It's not the best Myst game, but it's relatively easy in my experience, it's technologically modern and it looks fantastic. Again, a bit scary at times but nothing earth-shatteringly inappropriate for 10-year-olds.

I've played A Vampyre Story for a while and I think that too can be green-lighted. It seemed innocent enough to me at least.

A game I know children tend to love is Toonstruck, but I believe that may be a bit hard to get to run these days.

Also, as has been mentioned, the Nancy Drew games seem like a good choice.

[Gonzosports]

Originally Posted by oerhört

Grim Fandango should be real cheap unless you insist on the big box version. The re-release (DVD cover) saw to that.

I'd suggest Day of the Tentacle, run through ScummVM, and perhaps Psychonauts, although that has some dark undercurrents...

If you want them to get into Myst, I'd suggest to start with Myst III: Exile. It's not the best Myst game, but it's relatively easy in my experience, it's technologically modern and it looks fantastic. Again, a bit scary at times but nothing earth-shatteringly inappropriate for 10-year-olds.

I think Psychonauts and DOTT and/or Maniac Mansion are great ideas.

Loom is good, too - nice fantasy story and it's pretty accessible.

I don't like the idea of playing Myst III without playing the first one, since, in some ways Brad Dourif's character (forget name) is inspired by events in the first Myst and I'm a big stickler for narrative continuity. And I'm about as mature as an 8-year-old, too.

[Thello]

I played The Longest Journey when it came out in 1999. I would've been 12 then. Any normal 12 year old that goes to public school has heard far more curse words than TLJ contains.

8 would be a serious stretch, but 12 is perfectly fine for any of those games if you feel your niece is mature enough. I'd skip The Path though, if only because it's really not a very good game in the first place.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Thello

8 would be a serious stretch, but 12 is perfectly fine for any of those games if you feel your niece is mature enough.

Define mature. I bet you can't. I bet you think mature has to do with her behavior, not with her emotions. How about responsibility? Yours, of course. Would you take a 12-year-old to one of the Saw movies or let her watch it on DVD? If your answer is no, then why allow her to play Still Life, especially Still Life 2, which is pure survival horror. Twelve is too young to be exposed to the most evil, sick, cruel, shocking side of human nature. Why would anyone risk hurting or damaging children's minds when there are so many more suitable games out there.

EDITED in response to Fantasysci5's post

[Jadefalcon]

So Blonde would be a decent choice, maybe Jack Keane, the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys games. The Agatha Christie games don't really have blood and gore but the puzzles can be a bit convuluted at times.Ankh might be a decent choice though.

[Fantasysci5]

Fien, you have a valid point, but please try not to alienate other people.