I've played this game with my two daughters, ages 4 and 5, and they really seemed to have liked it. They managed to play through the entire beginning scenario without stopping. I was a bit surprised.
The system is very simple, and I have to say that it works rather well. The girls were able to play with just a little bit of help and (more importantly) without getting frustrated. Instead of XP's in a typical RPG, they were rewarded with M&M's, which are infinitely more valuable to a preschool player.
The oldest is in kindergarten and reads only at Level 1. The younger child is still in preschool and doesn't read at all. Their math skills are pretty much limited to simple addition. Nevertheless, because of how the system works, they can understand the dice rolls -- how they work and how they are resolved -- and they can understand the "stats" of their characters. I have to remind them of their characters' "class" abilities, since they can't effectively read the words on their character sheets, but these abilities are few and some are obvious, such as the healer's ability to heal.
In addition to how the rules work, the system has a few more advantages for kids. The game is set up so that the characters themselves are children, which makes them much easier for young children to identify with and role play. The artwork looks like it came off of a Saturday morning cartoon show, which also helps young kids relate to the game and identify with their characters. The fantasy theme meshes well with what they are already familiar with from Disney films.
The system is completely d6. The idea is that you can be ready to play by raiding the family Yahtzee set. The materials are easy to print out and use. There are even free PDF's of the characters that can be printed for children to color or draw on.
Since my girls have asked (almost begged) to continue playing, I have bought the expansions to this game as well. I recommend this system to anyone interested in getting their children, particularly very young children, into the imagination-inspiring world of role-playing games. It's a great start.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |