Topic: Trying to come up with a good game to buy for an 11 year old.

There's this little boy i know that just got a switch for christmas but no games so i thought I'd buy him one. He's sorta at that faze where he acts like he's too much of a big boy to play Mario. (Sad i know) i suggested Mario kart and he just acted like he wasn't into it. I know he's into Minecraft so i was thinking maybe minecraft dungeons. I don't know. Also his parents don't want him playing anything online so it would have to be something offline only. Something that doesn't require use of the internet to start up and play.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

@Eagly_lmtd_xmasskin
Yeah that would probably be a good choice. He was at my house the other weekend playing Arkham knight and i know i probably shouldn't have but he really wanted to play Assassins creed 3 so i thought what the heck and let him. It's not all that bad for a kid his age.

I like the idea that Mario is too much of a kids game but Minecraft somehow isn't. 😝 I was going to suggest Kirby and the Forgotten Lands but I suppose that might be rejected for the same reason as Mario.

Zelda seems to be a good choice but if you need something a bit cheaper which a young boy might like there is...

Hades? 🤔 Or Prince of Persia which is out next week? Although those may technically be rated 13+. The various Dragon Quest games and spinoffs are fun and some are E for everyone.

I think the best way to go about is to ask him of what game he wants/or is into. Simply put: it should at least give you or , the kid, somewhere to start.

Bruh when I was 11 I still like Mario what’s with this “oh Mario is to kiddie for me” kinda thinking?!
That aside Zelda is a pretty good idea since Zelda is pretty much nintendo’s Series that’s aimed more towards older audiences. And if their into RPG’s maybe DQ11S.
Or if they enjoy sandbox games then perhaps Minecraft or the subnautica duology (unless they have thalassophobia then maybe not). Theirs also MegaMan if they like games like that or maybe advance wars. Theirs alotta games on the switch so their’s definitely a couple games out there that they would probably like.

@Greatluigi Heck, even when I was 9, I liked Mario games. Even though I was more into Sonic. I like to THINK of Mario games as a "for everyone" kind of thing. Since Mario has gone to appeal to different game genres over the course of the franchise's existence.

Would at least say Sonic Mania Plus. Pikmin 4 would also be a solid pick.

I still play Mario and I'm in my mid 40s. I still remember in 2007 i went to buy Mario galaxy and some dumb jock 20 something was teasing me about it. I was 28 at the time. He probably thought you ain't cool unless you're playing call of duty.

@Truegamer79 Yeah, I was going to say Mario Odyssey. I played through that with my nieces three times. They were 9, 12, 15. It's my favorite mario game, and I started with NES.

@Truegamer79 What?! How can he not like Mario?!

I'm only teasing, lol. I'll second Sonic Mania, assuming that he's into platformers... when I was around his age, I started getting into Sonic, and it was the time when Sega started making games for the other consoles. Zelda should be a great choice too, particularly Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom, since those games are open-world. I'll also mention Metroid Prime Remastered, that's another game with exploration aspects so he might like that. It is rated T though, so not sure if his parents will let him play that, or not just yet, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

And yeah, I'm in my early 30s and I still love Mario games as well. I've been into Mario since I was little... it's totally cool to be enjoying Mario's adventures no matter how old we are.

Lego Batman or Lego Star Wars games are a lot of fun in single player and coop. The Metal Slug games are a lot of fun for them too, and like others mentioned any classic Sonic games are enjoyable for boys and girls.

Great! Sounds like he's ready for Dread Mode in Metroid. Or Nocturne and Strange Journey. Maybe some Bloodborne? I like me some Ikaruga in the mornings when I roll half-conscious out of bed...

Any suggestions would be helpful.

OK, I'm being a bit harsh. I'm home sick and just made the mistake of watching a piece by that muppet Arlo, who breezily tells us that NES Metroid is skippable and unimportant. So I'm in a bad mood. It's just interesting to me, because the original Super Mario Brothers and Zelda are "passé and primitive" (read: too difficult) for the cool kids, but let's cut him some slack, he's 11.

Would Tropical Freeze work? That one has a nice difficulty curve. Dragon Quest Builders for the Minecraft resemblance? I'm sure Mario-Rabbids is out, though that has a pretty good difficulty curve as well. Overcooked? There's always Cuphead...

At 11 I'd say they're potentially entering that phase where strategy games are of interest. Consider things like:

Civilisation VI
Cities: Skylines
Football Manager
Fire Emblem
Advance Wars
Persona 5 Tactica

Exactly this... sadly (!)
My son is 10, and he lives/breathes Fortnite / Rocket League / Minecraft /FIFA... and on Xbox mostly plays Roblox

My boomer brain is still struggling to grasp what Roblox even is. My nephew has explained it a few times, but it's like hearing bitcoin explained to me in that I never really understand what I've heard.

@CANOEberry Which video is that?

Granted, I agree. I don't know about inimportant, but I grew up with the NES, and I still find Metroid to be aggravating and nigh-unplayable. Especially these days.

Zero Mission replaces it effectively, and anyone who wants a good basic Metroid game can always play Super Metroid, which still holds up.

Metroid II wasn't great, either. Glad Samus Returns exists.

@Ralizah I dunno if you've ever played Garry's Mod before, but it's a very similar concept. Roblox provides users with a game engine that they can use to create games, and other users can then play those games.

@StarPoint So it's like Dreams?

@Ralizah Exactly.

@StarPoint So a "game" that functions as a game creation engine.

Thanks, that explains it.

These kids who play Roblox and Minecraft but for some reason look down on Mario need some Mario Maker in their lives. 😝

It sounds like these kids just think any Mario is too 'kidsy', but I do also think there is a valid distinction between thinking old games are 'outdated' without necessarily thinking they are 'hard'. My brain doesn't enjoy black and white movies, but I don't fundamentally think it's because Im too stupid to process less modern film, it's just what I'm used to. Personally I think Fortnite is infinitely harder than nes Mario and I can never understand how young kids can play it. 😅