Recommended games for a 12 year old, just discovering PC gaming

[Edge1]

Buddy of mine's son saw somebody playing Majesty 2 and thought it was cool. They picked it up. He's got a stock Q6600/8800GT 1680x1050 operation going, so he should be able to play most games reasonably well. I'm sure Majesty 2 is fun but I know they can do better. What games would you recommend for a new PC gamer kid of about 12 years of age?

 

[Haunting]

World of Warcraft....

 

[Barfo]

World of Warcraft....

Sure, if you want to ruin the kid's life.

 

[Haunting]

Oh... you wanted him to have a social life as well? Hmmmm get off the computer and discover a football.

Yeah, wow will consume his time...

 

[Haunting]

Oh... you wanted him to have a social life as well? Hmmmm get off the computer and discover a football.

Yeah, wow will consume his time...

 

[AdamK47]

Spore

 

[videogames101]

Half Life series.

 

[Firsttime]

Make sure he has some of the classics, Starcraft and Half Life 1/2 and War Craft 3 come to mind. Other then that maybe some of the Lego Star Wars games are awesomely fun and easily age 12 appropriate, they can be played with others on the same computer too so that's a plus in my book. Pirates! is a great game, not too racy, super cheap and insanely fun. That's all off the top of my head.

 

[exar333]

Heroes of Might and Magic XX are awesome too. They are somewhat "old school" but insanely fun and easy to learn.

 

[tviceman]

1. Portal. Short but absolutely amazing.

2. Torchlight is extremely easy to learn and fun to play.

3. Half Life 1 & 2 are excellent story driven games without excessive gore but does have mild use of language (only on occasion, and it's nothing more than sh*t or damn)

4. The Penumbra series. Best horror games ever. Very little combat, the focus is on getting past monsters /puzzles without getting caught and killed. Awesome fun game.

5. Prey is good, has lots of obscenities but there is a game option to turn off the cursing.

6. Civilization IV. I've probably played Civ IV more than any other game... ever. Best strategy game of all time. Heroes of Might and Magic III is a close second.

7. Plants vs. Zombies and/or Defense Grid - the two best tower defense strategy games on PC.

Plenty of variety in those recommendations, and Between Half-Life 2, Plants vs. Zombies, and Civ IV he'll get a ridiculous amount of play time for dirt cheap.

 

[Alienwho]

Start him off easy.

As recommended above, Torchlight, Portal, Plants vs Zombies, and I'll add World of Goo.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Duke Nukem 3d

 

[EvilComputer92]

I heard that Unreal Tournament is good for the soul.

Also Crysis is supposed to help make your vision sharper and teaches you lots of science so that would be good also.

Both are great family friendly titles.

 

[Arglebargle]

Pyschonauts deserves consideration. If he likes Empire builders, one of the Civs might be good, and Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire, while a bit dated, have great gameplay and some serious cultural underpinnings.

Expose 'em to a wide range, and see which ones stick.

 

[BladeVenom]

How difficult is Majesty 2? I've never played it. How about Empire Total War, Civ 4, or Galactic Civilizations 2 for empire building. For RTS Dawn of War 2 or Company of Heroes. If you want something a little simpler World in Conflict or Demigod.

Almost forgot Sins of a Solar Empire.

 

[vshah]

the entire monkey island series

 

[Edge1]

These are some good recs (along with some humorous ones as I expected). He's a good kid, an athlete, smart, musician, etc. No need to worry about him doing nothing but games. Not sure how hard Majesty 2 is but I think strategy games may be his kinda thing. Can't rule out Orange Box (he can handle it) and I agree Portal is brilliant, perfect for him. WIC and maybe something like Rome: Total War also. Psychonauts, Monkey Island - good calls also. I don't know anything about Torchlight - I'll check it out.

I'll ask his dad how its going and maybe throw out a few ideas. Thanks again for the recs.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

I don't know anything about Torchlight - I'll check it out.

I'll ask his dad how its going and maybe throw out a few ideas. Thanks again for the recs.

Torchlight is a Diablo knockoff that's wildly entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously. A lot of people knock it because there's no multiplayer, but I still think its a lot of fun. It's a $20 DL from Steam right now. Between that, Orange Box and Warcraft 3, you'd have most of the major genres covered and can let him find his own way from there.

 

[Maximilian]

Dead space

 

[ussfletcher]

Torchlight is a Diablo knockoff that's wildly entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously. A lot of people knock it because there's no multiplayer, but I still think its a lot of fun. It's a $20 DL from Steam right now. [other than] that, Warcraft 3, [has] most of the major genres covered and can let him find his own way from there.

fixed

Don't doubt the custom maps for Warcraft III, some of them are truly astounding.

 

[Tsavo]

Hello Kitty Online Adventures.

 

[Kromis]

No one said The Sims? Seriously??!?!?

 

[Schadenfroh]

WoW, man I wash I had that game as a kid. A few of my friends from my freshman / sophomore college days used to play it until 2:00 AM, it was so much fun. I am burned out on it, but it would be nice to let him experience the "first high" of playing through it with a few friends.

 

[PJABBER]

My son is around that age and he absolutely loves SPORE.

 

[crisium]

Spore.

World of Goo if he is a bright one.

Half-Life. Might as well start with an oldie but goodie to see if he likes FPS. I first played it when I was around that age, maybe 14.

StarCraft. I first played it when I was 11 or 12. Again, another oldie to see if he likes the RTS genre.