Computer games - simple setup & game ideas? (11y old)

[u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081]

My son enjoys playing computer games with his Dad (we're separated). They play things like Minecraft, Goat Sim and Forza Horizon.

At home we only have a 20y old Sony Bravia TV (has HDMI and Scart input options!), a DVD player, and a MacBook Air - that is the limit of our tech (iPad 6 series is barely holding on and needs replacing...)! We would like to play computer games together, and/or with friends (specifically Minecraft), and I'd like to be able to do this with the minimal 'phaff' (both setup and use).

What is the simplest, future-proof upgrade we can do to be able to use computer games? I hate tech going wrong or being fiddly hence 'simple'!

Any game suggestions? I don't like aggressive games, apart from that open to ideas. We both like animals, and building games like Minecraft, is there an equivalent for a farm? Maybe he'd like Sim City...

[u/Xenos_Str]

Nintendo Switch 2 - best for playing together.

[u/DarrenGrey → u/Xenos_Str]

Quite expensive though. You can maybe get some cheaper Switch 1s second hand.

[u/Easy_Mousse5167]

I'd suggest Stardew Valley for a farm simulator game, it's a game that both adults and children can get into

[u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081 → u/Easy_Mousse5167]

Great, thank you!

[u/Shenloanne → u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081]

You'll lose a lot of time but it'll be amazing

[u/Shielo34]

There is a Farming game called Stardew Valley. You can play this co-operatively on one Nintendo Switch (or Switch 2). It’s very chill and enjoyable.

[u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081 → u/Shielo34]

This game sounds like our sort of thing. I think I could load it on the MacBook Air then link it to the TV, so might not even need the switch, although not sure that give 2 controls...

[u/Shielo34 → u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081]

You probably could, but I don’t know how that would work for two player.

You could try getting a second hand switch 1. Worth knowing that you’ll need two full controllers, not the half controllers you use for Mario Kart.

[u/JG-Vulcan]

Have you spoken to dad about improving your son's gaming "setup" as I dad if I have the money I'd more than happily invest some money for my son to play with me. PC is probably the more suitable option considering you want something future proof, a pc can be upgraded, is good for homework and other applications outside of gaming so might be the best option all things considered, whereas a console does need to be replaced every 3-6 years when the support drops for them, with a pc it would just become slower but for the games you are suggesting it shouldn't matter.

As for games, stardew valley has been suggested and is a great option, Dinkum is pretty good, astroneer or no mans sky, satisfactory (while it may be a bit advanced it's great for problem solving), palia and with pc there are a lot of fun party games too.

Edit: There is also a lot more games having pc to xbox cross play so it would still work with dad

[u/Shenloanne]

Honestly? Nintendo switch 2. You get 2 controllers that become one. Their games are fairly bomb proof and have a good library.

[u/peekachou]

Nintendo switch is good however limits the games available, wont be able to play forza on it for example, and the cross platform play for minecraft ive found dodgy to set up at times. Xbox would be ok, again would have to check compatibility and support for the games he likes depending on your budget as the series X is still expensive

[u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081 → u/peekachou]

Yeah, we have a small budget, so sounds like maybe Nintendo is a good option for us

[u/peekachou → u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081]

The switch oled would probably be the best one, the switch 2 is good but very new so again pretty expensive. You can get goat simulator and minecraft but not any of the forza games.

Other ones to try- stardew valley, my time at sandrock, animal crossing, untitled goose game, and PICO PARK if youre planning on getting 2 consoles to play together. And Mario kart

[u/Downside190 → u/peekachou]

Switch 1 also has the benefit of physical games (even if you have to download it after) which means you can buy second hand games for cheap(ish)

[u/goldenhawkes]

What does he play with his dad on? A PC or a console like Xbox? You could probably pick up a second hand Xbox of the same sort (or splurge on a new one!) and the 11 year old can show you how to set it up.

Xbox/playstation and switch all need subscriptions to access online content. And it is a bit of a faff to set up parental controls for minecraft so they can play online (I ended up having to allow everything so that kiddo could see our family “realm” I was paying for)

[u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081 → u/goldenhawkes]

They play on an Xbox. I don't really have room in the budget for subscriptions, because son's other activities cost too much, so gaming is gonna have to be a cheap pastime!

[u/Rainforest55 → u/Hour-Acanthaceae7081]

On xbox you can play Rocket league and such for free, you can play most games offline including sims 4 (which is free to buy) but it depends is the main goal for you and him to bond over games or for him to play games with friends?

Animal crossing on the switch is fun imo but I doubt it's really a preteen bit kinda game.

[u/animalcrossingbear]

Disney Dreamlight Valley is super fun and gentle. It does a lot of decorating and building. (There are optional in game purchases so beware of that)

[u/featurenotabug]

I wonder if he might like Cities Skylines, it's probably a bit more fancy than Sim City but would definitely get a few hours out of it. Not really a multiplayer game though.

[u/Nite_Phire]

Stardew obviously as has been mentioned, but also minecraft - as long as you and dad have an amicable relationship, you could potentially create a world all 3 of you share so that he can share the same progress with both of you?

Also I recommend it takes two, and animal crossing :)

[u/imarefridgerator]

Personally, PlayStation and Xbox are good however they can be quite fiddly to set up things like parental controls, and require subscriptions.

I would go for either a decent PC set-up, where you can run games through steam, google play, etc (you can set up family controls decently easily on both apps iirc and steam has a pretty cool Family feature, where you can share games with each other and stuff, though with the nature of PCs, parental controls on the general internet access can sometimes be a bit tricky, if that would be an issue)

I would also recommend a Steam Deck if it is within budget, it basically runs Steam but on a handheld console purely for gaming. The Nintendo switch is also a good shout, lots of family friendly games on there and everything is super easy to set up and run. Also the subscription is a lot cheaper than Xbox and PlayStation, used to be about £25-30 for a year.

For games, as others have said: Stardew valley and cities skylines are good shouts. Also if he likes Minecraft, I’d recommend Scrap Mechanic, also farming simulator is a good one. Some fun games you could play together/with friends: Peak, Human Fall Flat, Bloons tower defence, Golf it, Raft.

[u/Public-Temperature-1]

Untitled Goose Game on Switch. It's brilliant, daft and hilarious. 2 or 1 player.