Ah yes the Xbox 360, a console with a reputation for it’s violent and mature games, but the truth is that there are plenty of kid friendly games available for the system. These kinds of games have not only been produced and made available by 3rd party developers, like Traveller’s Tales, but also by 2nd party developers like Rare, who are being backed by Microsoft. It’s pretty obvious that Microsoft wants it to be clear that the Xbox 360 is meant for all audiences. So anyway, out of all of them, here are three rather popular family friendly games you can find on the Xbox 360.
Lego Indiana Jones: is an adventure/puzzle game in the vein of Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman. While all three Lego games are above average, Lego Indiana Jones manages to be much more, due to it’s satisfying combat and reasonably logical puzzles. One thing that makes the Lego games so accessible as a whole is it’s drop in/drop out co-op multiplayer gameplay. One person can always play alone, in which case AI will take over control of the second character. But at any time a second person can come along, press start on the second controller, and “drop in”, taking control of the second character. Lego Indiana Jones is a cute and charming game, yet it’s also a very intellectual one, in it’s own way.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts: Is the first true sequel to the original Banjo-Kazooie on the N64 in 10 years. While the franchise has always been pretty bizarre(after all, it’s about a bear named Banjo and a rooster named Kazooie who travel together), Nuts & Bolts takes things further with a crazy vehicle creation mechanic. The objective is to travel the length of six worlds in an effort to obtain the deed to Spiral Mountain, but the story itself is hardly as important as the gameplay. Along Banjo’s journey he acquires a currency called Bolts by completing challenges, and he can then use the Bolts to build all sorts of vehicles, both land and air. Experimentation is rewarded with some really cool and bizarre looking vehicles with which you can traverse the world.
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise: If you are into the Xbox 360 at all I’d be very surprised if you haven’t at least heard of Viva Pinata. But I’ll elaborate anyway. Viva Pinata is a Virtual Life franchise Rare has been developing iterations of for years now. The basic premise is this: you, the player, moves to Pinata Island and becomes a gardener. A gardener of what, you ask? Pinatas. That’s right; didn’t you know that pinatas need to be cultivated and grown? As you are given a small plot of land, you need to tend to it in a manner that will attract will pinatas. Sometimes you need to grow a certain flower, or plant. But the requirements for the likelihood of certain pinatas appearing grows larger and more complex over time. It can be really hard to attract high-level creatures. While it’s true that kid’s may want to dedicate more time to this than some other games, it’s a kind of game that adults can participate in just as well as kids can, and I think that that’s really why it’s so popular.
