The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – Game of the Year Edition
2003 / PC game / 1 player
*****
But when I recently replaced my laptop with one that could handle early-21st century graphics, it seemed like something my daughter might enjoy messing around on during half-term break, and it only needs to be as complex as we want it to be. Discovering that the character speech is all stored in folders as replaceable files also introduced her to the joy of hacking.
2007 / PC game / 1-2 players
*
A horrendous minigames compendium designed to disappoint little girls, but at least you don't have to pay for it any more. It's got nothing on the Game Boy Advance Barbie games and their dependable generic 90s platforming.
1992 / Sega Mega Drive emulator game / 1-2 players
****
I remember when I first played the Amiga version of this pocket money/vandalism simulator – what couldn't have been any more than three years after its release – that it seemed a prematurely dated relic with its blocky graphics, limited movement and abominable looping soundtrack. My 2020s daughter didn't have these same hang-ups when enjoying the mildly anarchic classic, though we did play the Sega version that improves in some areas – mainly in the character's Bart Simpson-style wisecracks adding insult to injuries.
2012 / Tile placement board game mini expansion / 2-6 players
***
It wasn't one of my more sought-after mini expansions from the range, but it's another fiddly distraction to add in for frequent rewards and a good bit of maths practice to help with our education and cognitive decline, respectively, and another chance to rescue wasted followers that doesn't involve getting gobbled by a dragon.
2018 / Deckbuilding card game supplement / 2-4 players / USA
**
Not really worth buying without the extra goodies of the first set, but worth trying out for free with a handwritten list and a D12. There are fewer overpowered power-ups than in the first round, but only the Black Market and Hidden Base are really inspired concepts. But having to keep these in mind also means I invariably forget about something else, like the Scenario, so my star realm can do without more overcomplications.
One Page Adventures: Nexus of the Four Seasons, Arctic & Fort
2022 / Roleplaying game adventures / 2+ players
***
A multiseasonal sandbox centred on a neat little gimmick that the six-year-old had no trouble getting her head around with the aid of descriptive hints. We saved a stranded giraffe kid, rescued the wizard, got moderately scorched by dragons and ate a load of burritos. Most of this wasn't in the prompts.
One Page Adventures: Desert, Desert II, Pyramid & Mausoleum
2022 / Roleplaying game adventures / 2+ players
****
A desolate change of scenery from generic forests and plains, I was able to adapt most the physical, mental and mystical challenges from these D&D prompts to our kids' game, but swapped out the angry kobolds for an animated pharaoh mask and combined the two tombs into a parody of The Crystal Maze. I was especially pleased with myself when I noticed the Mumm-sey potential.
2018 / Card game expansion deck / 3-6 players
***
Dixit and Stella are our favourite family games for evenings when both parents are around, so more variety is always welcome, but this ended up being our default Muse set when we discovered that.
We chose this as our next card supplement (after Memories and Journey) after checking out several flip-throughs on YouTube. There didn't seem to be as many creepy ones on the screen as in the flesh.