CPC games for a three year old

[Skunkfish]

Having just turned three, my son has started to take an interest in what he refers to as 'Daddy's old computer'.

He's had some fun playing an assortment of games, but many are a bit tricky for him, even with trainers for infinite lives/health etc.

What games would you recommend for a kid of this age? Educational titles might be good, I recall the Fun School series but not sure if these are reliant on reading ability, which he doesn't have any of yet...

I remember seeing a Playdays game in Amstrad Action (issue 91 I think...) but I suspect that this was never actually released?

[adolfo.pa]

My daughter is 4.5 years old, and she loves Baba's Palace. It's a very nice game for kids IMO: cartoonish, nice graphics+sound and no violence. She managed to get to the 10th level on her own, but it gets too hard for her pretty soon, so we usually play together, me giving little hints while she tries to solve the puzzles.

Although not a CPC game, she also likes Arabian Nights (Amiga). The first level doesn't have a lot of enemies, and she really enjoys exploring it on her own.

[Skunkfish]

Baba's Palace was actually the first one he tried. I don't think he quite got the concept, but he had a great time trying! 

[Shaun M. Neary]

Operation Wolf!
Get those reflexes going from an early age and really up his dexterity! 

[ComSoft6128]

Hi Skunkfish,


Have a look at Amstrad Computer User February 92, page 37. An educational game for 2 to 5 year old's called Picture Book is given a good review. Availability these days however.................

[Cholo]

Im guessing that Donald's Alphabet Chase is a safe bet for kids, however its best to get the disc version as the tape version is very very long.


Is it too early for Pacman? Oh Mummy and Haunted Hedges may be a little bit too tough, but perhaps Pac-Mania? Nice big sprites & a fairly slow port making it a little to easy for most people. The 3D may be confusing tho.


Garfield, Trap Door & the Popeye games has some nice large (perhaps recognisable?) sprites to move around. Not that i think the kid can solve the puzzles in the games, but at least there is some chars that you can move around, some buttons to press, items to pick up and drop etc. At least i recall the games as being without the usual violence.


Little Computer People - might be a fairly harmless "game" to watch too.

[blackdalek]

I remember my young cousins wanted to play Chuckie Egg all the time. I'm not sure what the appeal was... but they were older (about 7 or 8 at the time)

[mr_lou]

Not CPC, but gotta share this anyway.

We bought the V.Smile console on a flee market very cheap when our daughter was about 2 years old. When she was 3 it began being interesting. It's an old console nowadays, but I gotta say I don't understand any of the criticism this console has had.

We've enjoyed the V.Smile quite a lot. The games are of course very kids friendly, and the kids learn a lot while playing. For parents of the 8-bit era, the games also appear somewhat retro-styled and simple, like in the good old days. So it's really a great console for kids and their parents - especially if the parents are from the 8-bit age. :-)

Every time we approached her birthday or Christmas and asked what she wished for, she always replied "V.Smile games!".

When we had bought all the games that's available in our language, we thus began buying the english games.

She impressed family members (one of which is a school teacher) by being able to identify all letters of the alphabet at age 3 and being able to count to 20 - in English at age 4. I can't credit that 100% to the V.Smile of course, but it must have had an influence.

The only problem the console has is the classic connection problems with cartridges, like the NES has. We often gotta fiddle quite a bit before getting a game running. But for the price you can find the consoles and their games for nowadays, it's definitely worth checking out.

Here's a video with some game examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spqy8o4luNQ

Game number 2 on that video; "Alphabet Park", is one of the favourites, but there are many good ones.

Being an older console, it looks best on a CRT display, but I trust that's not a problem. 
Otherwise we've played a lot on a LCD TV too, and there was not problem (for us) accepting the graphics. (I don't suppose any of us from the 8-bit era would complain).

Although not a CPC game, she also likes Arabian Nights (Amiga). The first level doesn't have a lot of enemies, and she really enjoys exploring it on her own.

My daughter too! 

[Johnny Olsen]

I would suggest shoe people, different tasks and only two buttons to be used - space and enter

[Bryce]

I just sent you the BASIC maze game I wrote for my son. Definitely playable by a three year old and no reading required.
Works with arrow keys or joystick. Kept my son amused.

Bryce.

[ComSoft6128]

Fireman Sam by Alternative software also looks a good choice.

[EgoTrip]

Can't go wrong with Fruity Frank. Nice and colourful sprites, simple enough to play on easy mode.

[mr_lou]

Can't go wrong with Fruity Frank. Nice and colourful sprites, simple enough to play on easy mode.

Agreed! But play in Slow mode (of course). 

[Skunkfish]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, will give some of these a go this weekend!