RyTracer
Level: Delver

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I've got a niece who is 8, and rather bright. I'd probably start her on Gunthro, but I don't want to scare her off too early. Does anyone here have any experience getting kids to play DROD? and what seems to be the proper age? I may have to wait a few years.

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ErikH2000
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Maybe Mike Rimer or Seth will comment. Seth might have the age record for youngest DROD player.

-Erik

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Red-XIII
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This is crazy, something similar happened to me yesterday with my 10 years old cousin. He watched me playing and building rooms many times but finally he said "what's the name of the game with the guy with a sword? I wanna learn it" I was really happy to hear that!
So I explained him the basic rule and played with him the first half of level 1 KDD. He was pretty happy to smite roaches and to swing the sword and he understood quickly how the roach moves and the way to kill her. I explained him how to play the game online, another reason why KDD lite is great.
I'm not sure if Gunthro is the best hold to start for children since they are not really interested in story but just in smiting and finding a way to survive (IMO).

I believe 8 years old is a good age to start (I started playing it when I was 6 thought it took me years to complete the KDD demo), expecially if you say that your niece is pretty bright.

I am no psychologist but I'm sure that solving basic hard rooms (such as the first three levels of KDD) is a good way to open and train a child's mind.

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NoahT
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I don't think eight is necessarily too early, since I was not much older than eight and a half when I discovered DROD (granted, I did have a lot more trouble back then, and I relied on Matthew Daly's downloadable demos for Webfoot DROD to get through a lot of the rooms).

-Noah

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[Last edited by NoahT at 05-21-2014 11:40 PM]

Jatopian
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I also started on Webfoot DROD when I was sevenish, but I recall having a fair amount of trouble with the third level. Since people are mentioning difficulty at 8 still, maybe 9 to be safe.

DROD is a puzzle game, so you need certain parts of your brain to enjoy it. I wonder what a developmental psychologist would say.

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mtuan
Level: Goblin
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It depends on which age.

My 6-year-old nephew can play KDD L1, but he finds KDD L2 very difficult.

My 10-year-old niece can play KDD L2, but she finds KDD L3 very tough.

Almost all of my friends stuck at KDD L3. Some of them who can pass KDD L3 go straight on to stuck again at KDD L8, then L11, then L18.

And they all find the AE music very exciting to hear.

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[Last edited by mtuan at 05-13-2014 01:50 PM]

The Architest
Level: Master Delver

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I myself began playing when I was around 11 or 12, with AE. I remember I had some problems, but I loved playing around with the editor!

azb
Level: Smiter
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I started when I was six on Webfoot.

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navithmastero
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My father introduced DROD to me when I was around 7 and I remember getting up to about level 16 or 17 before I got really stuck. Although I think I did get stuck at 3 and then 9 before then. And if hadn't have found the warp room in level 12 I'm sure I wouldn't have made it through 14 or 15.



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[Last edited by navithmastero at 05-21-2014 07:21 AM]

Fang
Level: Master Delver

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I forgot when I found the game. I think... I think I came here from the Spiderweb Software forums. So that means... When I played Geneforge 1. Two Geneforges were out when I did, so that means... I was maybe 12 or 13 years old. Maybe a bit old compared to many others who started, but I sure had my own fair share of trouble. I think I made it to level 8 or so, then I learned there was JtRH, which had just come out and I played the demo and kept going back and forth between AE and JtRH; I couldn't buy any of them back then because I didn't have my own funds to look after, so I just played the very basic experience.

I wasn't very good at the game, but I liked the overall feel nonetheless.

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Suwako
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I played DROD first time when i had around 8-9 years, it was alright, had fun playing through the demo of DROD Webfoot, and some time after the complete version. Then i knew i found the best puzzle game ever. I was amazed on the demos of the level 20 or 23, they were very cool.

The game was on a CD from old computer magazines that came full of demos, I enjoyed a lot of time with those demos

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[Last edited by Suwako at 05-21-2014 09:33 PM]