games for a kid(boy age 8)

[loadironmania]

I've promised my lil cousin (8 years old) that when he comes to meet me at the end of month and he performs in his class tests , I'll gift him a game. Hence i need your help.

I require a game which doesn't scar him for one and can run on an OLD laptop (2 cores of some intel cpu integrated graphics i assume) , is preferably offline and is not 'that' addicting, is cheap or free. extra points for being educational.

 

p.s. thanks for your help

[Moonzy]

Minecraft seems to be quite decent at expanding creativity

 

Though it can be addictive

[mariushm]

Celeste - easy fast platforming, with awesome music, he would enjoy

 

NOT SURE it will run on old laptop, check minimum requirements

 

 

Ori and the blind forest :

NOT SURE it will run on old laptop, check minimum requirements

 

 

Cave Story+

 

 

Thomas was alone if you want puzzles

 

 

 

[loadironmania]

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

Minecraft seems to be quite decent at expanding creativity

 

Though it can be addictive

yeah thats a concern

[Soag]

As for the ones already mentioned:

Minecraft - seems like a good idea and there's tons of mods but isn't cheap and might be addictive

Celeste - was given out on Epic so if the kid has an online access he might already have it

Ori - IMO very good proposition although he might lose interest as he'll most likely die a lot. On the other hand you can save very often and dying a lot might teach him patience

Cave Story - don't know that one

Thomas was Alone - same as above

 

My propositions:

Portal - is cheap, mechanically a puzzle/problem solving game, has decent story and has a co-op

This War of Mine - a lesson of harsh reality, involves micromanagement/planning, very simple mechanically, teaches how devastating war really is without any graphical elements (no gore, blood splashing, etc.)

Valiant Hearts: The Great War - aesthetically pleasing, history served well (just let him know there are 'pickups' to look for), a story he WILL remember (so you will give him a nice childhood memory)

World of Goo - cheap, mechanically simple, problem solving with GREAT physics

Subnautica - calming gameplay (except for leviathans), survival-type (but easily managable), very interesting world, kid would be super interested (I'm playing it right now and both my kids - 9 and 4 - are super into it and I let them watch without a care in the world

Trailmakers - a LEGO-like idea of building vehicles in order to complete challenges with them, brings out creativity

Deep Rock Galactic - be a dwarf, dig for resources solo or in a co-op manner (teams up to 4 players), online, heard the community is great and wholesome

Bard: A tale of Two Sons - haven't played it, heard a lot and from the latter I think it might be a good position but please review on your own before making a purchase

Descenders - hop on a bike and go downhill, as simple as that in randomly generated environments

Kerbal Space Program - a game about building space ships and sending them into space - should be self explanatory

 

As a bonus I'd mention Rocket League as it would be the only true multiplayer one from my suggestions but only a mention given it's free and to me it sounds weird to gift something that is free already...