I banned my kid from Roblox.... what next?

As we all know, Roblox is garbage tier gameplay structured around psychological cues to get children to fill an endless pit with fake money bought with real money.

So I banned my kid from it. He used it a little bit socially with a few friends of his. What online or local multiplayer games should I help him to replace it with? (He’s 10, so please don’t recommend Diablo 4 or anything else that has quite that much gore)

He and his friends have an Xbox Series X|S at home.

Edit: keep your judgemental shit out of here. His whole social group (5 kids he knows from school) got banned on the same day. Me and the other parents are trying to be nice and replace it with better quality games so it isn’t just a punishment.

Edit2: Thanks guys. I got him Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge

GarbageShoot,

Minecraft seems like the obvious choice for kids who liked Roblox. Terraria is another. If they can only play on a server that one of them hosts, then no need to worry about outside users.

Good on you and the other parents for getting that shit out of there, kids don’t need addiction machines trying to pressure them into spending money.

danileonis,
@danileonis@lemmy.ml avatar

Oh, I’m sure we’re all great parents here. I applaud you for admitting a mistake and having the humility to ask for advice, both excellent parenting skills in my opinion.

I believe the answer is always culture. Once better videogames are discovered it’s likely that they will hardly go back to the bad ones (so that the problem of prohibitionism - which is only a temporary solution - can be solved).

Saff,

I dunno if you want him playing a true mmo at that age, but old school RuneScape is currently as popular as ever. Specifically old school though, RS3 has the same sort of problems with micro transactions etc.

gunpachi,
@gunpachi@lemmings.world avatar

Some games you could consider -

  1. Krunker
  2. Minecraft java edition
  3. Stardew valley
  4. Terraria
  5. Starbound
  6. Dorfromantik
  7. Cities skyline
  8. Goat simulator
onlooker,
@onlooker@lemmy.ml avatar

Couple of issues with this list:

  • OP said their son in his friends use Xbox Series X/S, so that effectively removes Krunker and Minecraft Java Edition. That said, I believe Minecraft Bedrock Edition is available for XSX.
  • Stardew Valley is great, but the son’s social group has 5 people. Stardew Valley only supports up to 4.
  • Cities Skylines does not have multiplayer.

Can’t speak for Dorfromantik, because I haven’t played it, but the rest seem like great choices.

learningduck,

Easy solution for Stardew Valley. Unfriend one.

Joke aside, Factorio multiplayer would be nice to teach some logical thinking, but it’s only on PC

ArmainAP,

Was he interested in developing games in Roblox or just playing them? If he was interested in development, consider showing to him Godot. Do a simple tutorial together, maybe a multiplayer that he can send and show off to his friends.

Pietson,

Something like scratch is probably a much easier introduction.

Sterile_Technique,
@Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world avatar

Grounded is the game I wish I had when I was 10. Basically “Honey I shrunk the kids” as a multiplayer survival-builder.

pacoboyd,

This one. Completely forgot about it in my other post. Only 4 player though but TONS of fun. My gaggle of girls had tons of fun with this one.

Nomad,

Space engineers. Great game for cooperation amd if they work well enough they can get a working spaceship going together and explore the universe.

FigMcLargeHuge,

Who the hell would downvote this suggestion??? Space Engineers is a great game.

NateSwift,

Is it on xbox?

FigMcLargeHuge,

Not a clue. I have it on steam.

SatouKazuma,
@SatouKazuma@lemmy.world avatar

One pick that I’m surprised hasn’t been mentioned yet is Overcooked 2. No profanity or anything. The only disadvantage is that the game is rather short.

only0218,

There is now a third release containing part 1 and 2 and I think a few of the dlcs

SatouKazuma,
@SatouKazuma@lemmy.world avatar

Good call out!

piyuv,

Overcooked may not have profanity but it certainly cultivates it

SatouKazuma,
@SatouKazuma@lemmy.world avatar

HAHAHA

AlexWIWA,

Self hosted Minecraft server for socializing. Mod the shit out of it

Factorio if you want your kid to have a severe addiction.

Red Alert 2 because I want the world to play it.

Ace Combat because it’s hype and plays well with a controller.

Bloons tower defense

GreenEnigma,

Factorio teaches programming?

Lazz45,

You can learn to create logic circuits in order to aid automation

YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH,

I’m a professional programmer and factorio scratches the same itch as designing systems.

It teaches you about constraints, modular design, pub sub architectures, input output flow, etc.

AlexWIWA,

Not really. It will feel like programming if you already know how to program, but I don’t think it will teach you programming anymore than any other problem solving activity.

alekwithak,

I’m putting up a minecraft server for my kid and her friends, but I don’t really play myself other than than. Few creative builds so I’m curious if you could please expand for me what exactly you mean when you say to mod the shit out of it. Is it enough to create rules or am I going to have to actively moderate their play?

AlexWIWA, (edited )

Mod as in install mods that modify the game. My favorite is the map and waypoint mod that adds basically Google maps to Minecraft.

Or the Create mod.

I’d also install the automatic world backup mod so if someone ever griefs the server you can just roll it back

Arkenbon,

Terraria, for something crafty-buildy with combat and very cartoony/2d blood and gore. 1-8 players.

Don’t Starve Together, survival crafting in a hand-drawn Tim Burton-esque style. 2-6 players.

Awesomenauts, 3v3 fast paced competitive game in the style of Saturday morning cartoons. 3-6 players.

Deep Rock Galactic, coop shooter where you play space dwarves and shoot bugs while doing missions together. Gore may be a bit strong for your liking, but it’s very stylized and only against bugs and robots. 1-4 players.

Risk of Rain 2, shooter where you try and escape a planet together with lots of different ways to play. 1-4 players.

Age of Empires 2, old school fast-paced medieval strategy game modernized with new graphics and such. 1-8 players.

Valheim, viking survival crafty buildy game in which you explore and conquer a dangerous world together. 1-10 players.

Cassette Beasts, technically not multi-player yet but they’re adding it as a free update January. It’s a Pokémon-esque game where you’ll all be trainers in the same overworld together capturing beasts and taking down challenges together. 1-8 players when it comes out.

All of these games are rated T for teen, but it sounds more like you’re opposed to M rated violence and language than T levels. They’re all also insular in that this friend group doesn’t need to involve other people to play together and can either play with or against each other or the computer.

WetBeardHairs,

Some really solid recommendations here. Thanks a ton. I’ve heard of Deep Rock Galactic but it didn’t pop into mind. And Risk of Rain 2 looks great.

SatouKazuma,
@SatouKazuma@lemmy.world avatar

DRG does have a touch of profanity if you’re concerned about that, btw.

WetBeardHairs,

I just want to avoid the porn games on steam, and any super-gory shit like dead space. I thought Diablo would be fun for him but it is a bit too much right now. It was different when super pixelated back in the D2 days.

SatouKazuma,
@SatouKazuma@lemmy.world avatar

I mean, if that’s your only concern then DRG should be fine.

ICastFist,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

Overcooked can make for some fun chaos, though it tops at 4 players. Team Fortress 2 could work, but it does have graphic violence and I dunno if it’s available for the newer xboxes. On PC, it has loads of mods and custom maps that offer similar experiences to what you can find in Roblox

Arkenbon,

Deep Rock Galactic has mtx packs but they’re cosmetic, and there’s a large selection of cosmetics that you can unlock within the game itself.

Risk of Rain 2 has one proper expansion, with another on its way, and no mtx.

Grulice,

I think there is a mod to allow more than 4 players in a session for Risk of Rain 2

Arkenbon,

The OP said that the friend group has Xboxes, and I assume that you can’t mod the games. I may be wrong though, I haven’t used an Xbox since the 360 and mostly game with the pc myself.

Grulice,

You’re right, I missed that part. I highly doubt it would be moddable though

ElusiveClarity,

My brother and I started playing Grounded together as a way to just chill and catch up throughout the week. We were shocked with how much content was actually in the game. It’s like Valheim mixed with Honey I Shrunk The Kids, 4 player online coop, base building, survival. It has a storyline so there’s always a sense of direction and it syncs the world with everyone regardless of who plays so it’s easy to just come and go. I could definitely see a group of 10 year olds getting sucked into this.

WetBeardHairs,

Oh that looks really good. Thanks for the recommendation.

Daryl76679,

Besides the obvious Minecraft recommendation, maybe Terraria, Satisfactory, and if you’re willing to allow it, something like Smite would be another good option for him to play with his friends.

mp3, (edited )
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

My oldest kid (6yo) is currently having fun with Goat Simulator ¯_(ツ)_/¯ and yes, I bought the expansions.

He doesn’t play online yet, but I have Minecraft on the PS4 so that may be an option later on.

Other options I can think of that would be appropriate and multiplayer

  • Rocket League
  • Fall Guys
  • Party Animals
  • Portal 2
  • Astroneer
  • Human Fall Flat
Kushia,
@Kushia@lemmy.ml avatar

Microtransactions aside, if you’re trying to protect your kids from creeps online you’re gonna have to ban every platform that supports interactions with strangers. This includes several other games you’ve mentioned in the comments including Minecraft.

Personally, instead of banning it I just play it with my kids on a regular basis. There’s plenty of actually decent games on Roblox and it enables game ideas that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. My favourite is the Ikea survival game.

Pietson,

The problem with Roblox is that they themselves are the creeps exploiting kids

FigMcLargeHuge,

Definitely have to get him Valheim, and they have an Xbox version now. Also, not multiplayer, but Kerbal Space Program is pretty fun. I have only played the PC version though, so can’t speak to the console version.

WetBeardHairs,

Oh I forgot valheim was multiplayer. Thanks. He even played it for a little while so I’ll have to get that one going again

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