Can anyone recommend a game...

[Yeekim]

... I could play with my son, about to turn 5 in few weeks?

I'd like him to be able to manage somewhat on his own: he can (given unlimited money) run a pretty nice zoo in Zoo Tycoon 2 or JPOG and he likes to wander around in Skyrim (God Mode on, AI combat and AI detection off). Still he does not understand English or do much math, so it sets certain limits.

On the other hand, he obviously often wants me to play with him, so something not too horribly inane and occasionally challenging (under certain settings) would be appreciated.

I'm having trouble thinking of something without graphic violence, thus inevitably leading to this*:

,so suggestions would be much appreciated.

* yeah, that was Maggie whacking Homer with a mallet.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Plants vs Zombies perhaps?

 

[Sonereal]

Minecraft on Peaceful Mode doesn't have hostile AI mobs and is basically just walking around the world and building things.

 

[Kyriakos]

He is 5? CivV might do

Kidding. I don't know, maybe some sort of platformer? Those were big in the old days but probably died out since the early 2000's. But their premise is very easy to understand, and they had good graphics most of the time.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Minecraft sounds good to me.
Proteus might be another nice experience.
How about something from the Sim City series? Or Rollercoaster Tycoon?

 

[grandad1982]

yeah one of the roller coaster tycoons is a nice idea as there is career and sandbox modes.

Maybe one of the portal games co-op?

Or if you want to stretch him HoI3... joking.

 

[sophie]

Yeah, Rollercoaster Tycoon 1, Caesar III, Zeus and The Sims were all games I played at that age. They should be challenging enough to keep him interested, but not so challenging that it's inscrutable or frustrating, and the mechanics are fairly easy to grasp even without a good command of the English language.

 

[KMRblue1027]

I recommend Sim City 3000 (4 is probably too complex at 5 years old), Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 or 2, maybe a Civ game? (4 or 5 are the most new user friendly)

 

[GrayingGamer]

Gratuitous Space Battles is kinda the definition of graphic violence... but it's graphic sci-fi-space violence, so not sure if that might get a pass.

It's a very simple game from the stand point that you just design, deploy, and then watch. I was just fiddling with it the other day and I thought it might be fun for a kid.

 

[Synobun]

Worms Reloaded has cartoon and nonsensical violence but it's pretty kid-friendly.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I think one of the Lego games could work.

 

[sherbz]

I think one of the Lego games could work.

I second this. The lego games offer a great deal of variety, can be played in multiplayer, and are quite fun for a kid.

 

[civvver]

Lego star wars game are awesome. Easy to pick up, no real violence. Bastion also has a casual mode.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Gta V

 

[shadowplay]

Does he like sports games? That seems like a safe pick that you might also enjoy.

My other suggestion would be some kind of racing game. Mario Kart would be perfect, but I suspect you're just talking about computer games.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Rayman maybe. That Lego game seems like a good suggestion also.

 

[Yeekim]

Thanks for everybody - although all further ideas are still welcome!

I picked up a racing game (not much into sports games myself, but meh).
I'll look into some others: Lego games, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Worms all seem like good ideas.

 

[Antilogic]

The Rollercoaster Tycoon games are too much fun. One of those, Minecraft, and Kerbal Space Program are all great games to play with.

 

[da dick]

no violence? sorry i don't know any sexy games suitable for 5 year olds. even leisure suit larry is kind of a teenage game.

 

[RobS]

It would be interesting to know what he's playing nowadays, at age 11, if anything.