Now that the 2022 holiday season is here, parents will be flocking to Amazon and other online retailers to save on gifts for their youngsters. Gaming addiction in kids is in the news once more, following the publication by the NHS in the United Kingdom of a list of 9 of the most addictive games for kids and teens.
The NHS recently treated over 500 kids and teens for video game addiction to games such as Fortnite and they named the most addictive video games for kids as, Fifa, Overwatch, Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, H1Z1, League of Legends, Black Desert, and Warframe.
The most addictive video games go under the name of, or they’re described as being, “massively-multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs, games where tens or hundreds of gamers compete in a death-match sometimes – unsafe for kids.
Kids have been known to steal from their parents to upgrade their game (buy more advanced options, enjoy a richer gaming experience), to the tune of thousands of dollars in some recent online reports!
Gift Mojo approached Pat Fonda for her recommendations for the safest, non-addictive video games for kids and teens. Pat Fonda recently published the book, Gaming Addiction in Children ~ Boost Your Kid’s Self-Control, Avoid Mistakes Parents Make & Turn Video GamePlay Into A Positive Experience For The Whole Family.
“The goal for parents should be to become part of their kid’s virtual lives. It’s common for parents to simply buy games for their children, get the kids ensconced in a play area or even their bedrooms to play as much as they want. That‘s a recipe for disaster.”
Pat Fonda recommends that parents buy games they can play together with especially the younger kids, to build a good connection with their children where video gaming is concerned.
“Ideally you should play with your kids, to get a feel for their self-control and self-regulation – or the lack of it,” says Pat Fonda. “Just like you would appear at your kids practice sessions and on the big days when they play on their school’s soccer team or basketball team, being with your kid when he or she plays video games means a lot to them. A good game to lead into this bonding is Toy Story 3 by Disney Interactive Studios. I’m a fan of Pixar, which was originally owned by Steve Jobs, with his now famous insistence on end-to-end product quality control” said Pat.
"Video games can be very addictive for some kids. Some researchers have compared the 'high' that a video game produces in a gamer to that produced by amphetamines and so it's unrealistic to expect kids to moderate gaming unaided. That's why playing with them is important. As the parent this gives you opportunities to monitor your kid, also, you get teachable moments to instill qualities of self-regulation, restraint, self-reliance, and so on before you can be confident to let them fly solo," Pat advises.
Toy Story 3 is available for the Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii, and PC. Download versions are also available for Mac and PC.
According to Pat Fonda, this is a game that catches most people by surprise, adults and kids alike.
“It hits your nostalgia nerve and takes you back in time, to a happy place,” says Pat Fonda.
“The game does include the usual fare of action-adventure platform-er gameplay, but the developers went above and beyond to give the game re-playability by introducing into it what they called the Toy Box mode.”
Toy Box mode in Toy Story 3 lets the players customize their toy town in whatever way they want. This means they can customize down to the town’s residents and their actions in the virtual game world.
This world-building aspect is complex-enough to support custom-scripted events, and the wealth of unlockable areas and toys is enough to keep the gamer coming back for weeks.
“Many adults will have watched Toy Story, the movie, as kids, but don’t get the notion that playing the story in Toy Box Mode is childish by any means,” says Pat Fonda.
In the reviews on Amazon you find 47-year-olds highly recommending it; also 21-year-olds – both for enjoying it themselves, and for their children. Plus, the game is easy to play, even for three-year-olds! According to one reviewer, “[This is a] great game for my 5-year-old. Every time you die, it only takes you back a little. You never have to restart the whole level. He would be frustrated otherwise.”
This type of game has anti-addiction built into it, says Pat Fonda.
“It’s a good choice when you’re starting to boost self-control and self-regulation through bonding with your child in their virtual world. Kids appreciate this so much. The game is built around a stellar Pixar movie. Those guys have always been awesome and they have kid’s interest at heart from the get-go.”
Besides Toy Story 3 Pat Fonda recommends these other iconic Pixar movie tie-in games:
Cars 3: Driven To Win
This excellent movie tie-in video game is another captivating game built from a Pixar movie. The game deviates from the usual action-adventure retelling formula in favor of something more in line with the movie’s subject matter, which is arcade racing.
With Cars 3, the wonderful Pixar aesthetic we’ve all come to admire about their movies, together with the game’s accessible gameplay would have been enough by themselves to hook parents who want to spend some quality time with their kids.
But Cars 3 goes even further. The game permits players to choose from almost every car ever seen in the franchise – meaning more choice and options for world-building and gameplay!
Driven to Win is a must-play for fans of the series and the Pixar movement as a whole.
Finding Nemo: The Video Game
Although also an interactive re-telling of the original movie, Finding Nemo, the video game, accomplishes this a lot better than the others in our opinion.
The video game was developed by Traveler’s Tales, a subsidiary of TT Games that has been working with Disney since the 90s.
It’s an action-adventure piece where the gamer assumes control of Nemo, Marlin, and Dory. Gamers progress through stages based directly on scenes from Finding Nemo, the movie.
When this game had just come out it received mixed reviews from critics, but the game sold wonderfully. It does what it set out to do perfectly; and for fans, that’s enough.
Monster’s Inc. Scream Arena
Most movie tie-ins are simply retellings of the original animated movie but Monster’s Inc. comes across as a pleasant surprise, because here the game developers dared to step outside the box.
This GameCube exclusive has the look and feel of a sports game.
The game developers were quick to realize that watching Monsters get hit by stuff makes children laugh, so they organize a dodge-ball tournaments in the game that have the effect to gather laughter energy quickly.
The gameplay is simple enough for even a child to grasp. And as the game supports up to four players it’s the perfect family-friendly game.
Ratatouille: The Video Game
With Ratatouille a big part of the attraction is simply the chance it gives you to immerse yourself in the world and aesthetic of the original movie.
The PSP version is one of the best-reviewed thanks to its graphics and the possibility to pause and pick it back up whenever you have a bit of time.
This is huge when you want to prevent video game addiction in children. Many games do not have this aspect built in, which leads to pleas of “one more level” when parents ask their kids to switch off the game consoles come bedtime!
Ratatouille is the ideal video game for younger players who’re still learning the ropes of gaming. And it’s one of the more fun collectibles you can get as a Ratatouille fan for sure.
Gift Mojo is recommending these fairly old games for a good reason this Christmas season 2022. For one, kids don’t tire of them especially if they’ve watched the movies. But secondly we want parents to become part of their kids’ virtual world from the get-go and there are no better games than these to create this kind of bonding – both the parents and their kids will be familiar with the movies at least!
Pat Fonda’s book, Gaming Addiction In Children can be ordered from Amazon.com here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5DW3H6G
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