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Maybe this is an odd question, and I'm sorry if it's in the wrong section, but it seemed the most appropriate.

My grandson just turned 5 and I'm looking to expose him to Pico 8.
With that said, one of the strengths of Pico 8 is also a weakness, in that there are SO MANY GAMES.
Does anyone have any recommendations for relatively simple games he could play?
He's pretty clever, but only reads "a little" so games with lots of text or rules to read are out.
He plays Minecraft and Roblox, so his skills at maneuvering with touch controls on a tablet are quite good,
and likely using a keyboard and/or NES style controller isn't much of a stretch.
He's been playing those for almost 2 years now.
He can probably handle simple arcade style games, but I'd prefer not to do "clones" unless the art style/theme diverges significantly from the original, so for instance a maze game would be fine, but I'd prefer not a straight up pac man clone.
Simple platformers are probably a good choice, but something that's a deep metroidvania might be too much right now.
Puzzle games with easy to understand rules are probably good, like Tetris, but the same clone rules apply.
Also, if anyone has experience with their own young kids and Pico 8 games, please advise.
I'm looking to assemble a list of "around" 10 games.

Any thoughts and anecdotes are greatly appreciated. :D
I'm seeing him again this weekend so I'd like some recommendations before then.
In the mean time I'll be going through the games myself and will post what I pick and potentially how
he does with them in a follow up.

P#130667 2023-06-08 13:34

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I wrote Ice Cream Clouds for kids. There's a little text story at the beginning but it's not integral to the game play. https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=90911

P#130685 2023-06-08 19:51
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Generally easy:
ISLANDER: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=81456
Blast/Off: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=33295
Space Mission: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=120791
Rare Monster Truck: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=104804
Mellow: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=71962

Starts off easy:
U-Turn: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=39886
Bustin': https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=44296

Multi-player:
Bloki: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=50509
DanceJab: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=35912
Cooperate: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=45064
Mansion Bros: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=112451

Highly recommend trying out the games with them for the best experience, so you can help out with difficult spots, read text, or share in the joy/frustration.

Also, this isn't necessary but if you bought the Pico8 License and know a little coding, you could modify any game you like to make them easier or just to play around with.

P#130688 2023-06-08 20:23
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If you're planning to play with him, here's a mario-like I made not too long ago that has simultaneous co-op and very different visuals:
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=121838#p
It has story screens, but they can be safely ignored. The levels do get really difficult after the first map screen though.

Other than that, this pinball game could work since its mechanics are kept fairly simple:
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=116356#p
It also has the nice aspect where multi-ball is really easy to get.

P#130695 2023-06-09 03:13

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