Homeschoolers - know of a wholesome, adventurous video game?

Question

Our 14 year old son was given a comupter game that has shooting people in it. We have a "no shooting people" rule in our home. We told him we would buy him something fun and adventurous to replace it.

We would prefer something that is educational too, but that is not an absolute necessity. He will play it on our computer, so cd recommendations please.

No blood, no swearing, no violence ( hunting for food is ok).

We have both the Yukon Trail and Oregon Trail, looking for something a little more exciting.

Thanks!

Mom of 6

Answer 1

That kind of a tough one, because by fourteen, Yukon Trail and Oregon Trail just aren't much fun any more.  There are some really good games for PC but I like gaming consoles much better.  My kids play mostly Mario and Zelda games, but they're for Wii or GameCube.

Answer 2

We have the "Narnia" Game. He will do battle with the "evil" animals and creatures though.

Answer 3

You are looking at a tough find.    We have a video game called "Pharaoh" set in a country like ancient Egypt.   It deals with governing a country, building cities and maintaining a populace.    The challenge is to balance all the factors and not go bankrupt, have your people revolt, or  be conquered by invaders.  Sort of like real life.

     It's almost impossible to find a "nice" video game.  Good Luck.

Answer 4

The Learning Company has some fun and educational adventure games, as does the company that makes the JumpStart gamesk.

elo

For non-educational (at least not in the traditional sense. you're always learning problem solving and thinking skills by playing games), there are a lot of Rug Rats and Spongebob games out there that are fun, as well as the Avatar game (all Nickelodean games, really). Harry Potter is good as well. It could be considered violent, but there is no blood or gore, and no guns or anything, so it isn't realistic, imitateable violenc3. Easy for kids to see it's just make believe. The Series of Unfortunate Events, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Cat in the Hat, Eragon, and any other childrens book or movie related game on the market is great. There are also more challenging strategy games such as The Sims, Sim City, Rollercoaster Tycoon (or other tycoon games), etc. Warcraft and Starcraft are fun, challenging games, and there is a little violence, but it isn't in first person, so the child wont be doing any shooting or sword fighting, and there is no blood. It's all in a fantasy world as well (dwarves, dragons, elves, etc) so it isn't realistic violence.