Bastion
LQ: 9.15
Recommended Age: 10+
Skills Used: Planning, Working Memory, Mathematics, Reading
Evoland is a meta role-playing adventure game that uses player progression through the game to explore the history of video games.The game pays homage to classic franchises such as The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. Players begin in a heavily pixelated, monochromatic 2-D world that slowly evolves into a colorful, graphic, 3-D world as they progress, gaining items and abilities. Combat evolves, too, from a turn-based system that requires organization and planning to real-time combat that requires concentration and quick thinking. Players don’t have to be video game history buffs to enjoy this romp down memory lane, they just have to love a well-crafted video game. And with its unique spin on the action/adventure genre that still includes traditional game elements like dungeons, puzzles, secrets, achievements, and collectibles, Evoland is just that. We recommend Evoland to kids 10 and older.
Adapting and adjusting to changing conditions and expectations.
All video games require flexibility. As games progress, they get more difficult, more complex. Players face obstacles and challenges that require resilience and persistence to overcome. They fall, they get stuck, they “die,” they try something new. Evoland is unique in that it not only gets more difficult and more complex, it completely evolves. As players progress through the game and new items and abilities are obtained, the game itself changes. The minute a player is accustomed to one dynamic, something new gets thrown into the mix. From 2-D to 3-D, from monochromatic to full-color, from turn-based combat to real-time, Evoland becomes a new game right before their eyes. Your child practices flexibility when they they encounter these changes, adapt to them, and move on to the next challenge.
Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.
Focus is all about ignoring distractions and directing one’s attention toward the task at hand. One of the things that makes video games so “addictive" is that they engage players so completely. Evoland is a particularly good game with which to practice focus because it is constantly changing. These changes have the potential to be distracting or discouraging, testing persistence and sustained attention. Additionally, as the game grows more complex, the player gains an inventory that must be managed. Being able to shift attention between in-game items and their uses helps kids develop the focus and strategies to manage real life tasks and subtasks.
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