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A great list. I'd add Agricola and Pandemic, as more recent games that are a lot of fun. (Agricola is themed around a family struggling to feed themselves and build a farm; Pandemic is a group of CDC workers battling disease around the world.) Pandemic (and its little sister Forbidden Island) is particularly nice because it's a cooperative game - everyone working together to beat the game - so it doesn't invite as many losing-related disputes. Dominion is also great - it plays a little bit like MtG, as I understand it, but everyone starts with the same deck and range of cards that can be added to it (a different set every time). Lots of replay value, even with the base set, and there are now seven expansions, with one more small one planned.

Not only does it give your kids something to talk about....it gives something for the parent to relate to the kid about. When you talk about your kid's passions, they listen and it's very cool for them to have you interested, so it opens up a new source for communications. That's great when they hit those tween years and start tuning you out. They suddenly start listening again when you're talking about what they're passionate about. If you can collect and build decks / strategies together, before you know it your child might just think you're alright again (s)

My kids love games. Two (of many) examples:

When DS8 turned 6 my sister bought him a game set that included chess. We taught him and his sister, then 7, how to play and they were obsessed with it for awhile... game after game after game. DS(then 6) was fixated on it... DH doesn't know how to play and none of his friends could, so his only opponents were myself and DD(then 7). She is EXTRAORDINARILY competitive and didn't want to play often because he usually beat her, so that left me... I got so tired of the game but felt so bad the times I said "not now, buddy."

The family adults play canasta and both kids were/are obsessed with that as well. They begged us to teach them. We started with DD9 (then 7), who later taught DS8 when he was 7.

It's pretty cute... they had no problem with the game (scoring, melds, canastas, point counting, etc etc), but they had trouble holding all the cards in their hands so they used cardboard to build screens so they could lay their hands down on the table behind their put-down cards. SO funny. Their little brains were ahead of their fine motor skills.

They'd have friends come over who couldn't play, and my kids would, in the midst of their game obsession, get frustrated and impatient because they didn't want to do anything else. It made play dates difficult when they were in a "game focus" phase.

They're both competitive, and it's interesting because it manifests itself in different ways. DD9 gets really angry and emotional. DS8 stays calm, but sabotages the game to end it quickly if he feels like he can't win, so that a new game can be started. Hilarious...

One of the benefits of gaming, learning to win and lose gracefully. Sometimes it takes a couple of months, however, they eventually learn the sun rises tomorrow. They also observe how BAD it looks when someone else throws a fit over losing, it holds up a mirror. This is much better to learn at an early age and gaming does that for most.

Yup... that's why we have a strict "no computers in bedrooms" rule. We have three computers and they're all in the living room / dining room area. DS8 has quite the YouTube addiction and needs to be watched closely (not gaming I know... that would be for a different, "internet supervision" thread, lol).

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...problem-solving-and-self-efficacy-part-3

I keep reading more positive things about gaming and I am glad that my 14-year-old son can enjoy playing and talking to other kids and young adults who share an interest in mmorpg games. They don't just talk about video games. They talk about the latest news and politics and all kinds of things. A lot of very smart kids are playing these games.

I am happy that my son is playing computer and video games. A brace makes it impossible for him to enjoy participating in physical activities and there is nothing in our small town for kids who can't do sports. He had to take a break from the musical theater he had been in since he was four years old because he couldn't be out of the brace long enough to do the rehearsals. He home schools and is not around any other kids. Even without the pain from the brace, the isolation would be torture without games.

I think playing video and computer games that required reading at age three is one of the reasons he was reading at a 5th grade level when he was 5 and it is probably the reason his friends were always several years older. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh were some of his favorite games when he was younger.

My son does hear some bad language on some of his games but I have heard the local high school kids using worse language. I have a kid who enjoys verbal sparring and is not bothered by online bullying.

I am not sure how he does this but I often see him with some kind of game on his PS3 screen and an interesting article of some kind on his computer screen. He goes back and forth between playing and reading.

Not all kids who are into online gaming become reclusive addicts, and for my youngest, it has been a good thing.

I certainly second that, the quickest way for me to get my kids to read when they were young was to bring home a new Pokemon Game Guide. They'd both read it cover to cover multiple times.

Oh certainly, I wasn't trying to say that all become game addicts, I was simply saying it's not uncommon at all and to beware of it. My kids still play games online, we've just learned to be much more aware of the signs of addiction and nip it earlier.

I think that one sounds fun! Reminds me of a game we play at our house called, "Help Mommy cut and sort coupons so we can feed ourselves (minus the farm)", LOL. OK offtopic....but my ds learned how to read values, figure percentages off, cut, and read store ads to find matchups whilst helping me coupon.

But I digress....Real life gaming requires a decorum not necessary for the computer...and a child can always benefit from this lesson (as can many adults. :))