How to explain Dom3 to a 5 year old?

[Knai]

I have a substitute game option. There is a free turn based game by the name of Battle for Wesnoth that is fairly simple, but also reasonably complex. Its a case study in emergent complexity, and holds interest as a result - though the magic and dragons certainly help.

[oldrocker99]

Originally Posted by Knai

I have a substitute game option. There is a free turn based game by the name of Battle for Wesnoth that is fairly simple, but also reasonably complex. Its a case study in emergent complexity, and holds interest as a result - though the magic and dragons certainly help.

He's right, and like Dom3, it's available for Mac, Windows & Linux. Well worth the download, and there are tons of user-created scenarios and maps out there (not unlike a certain other game we all love)

[Jarkko]

Land of Legends is what my kids played at that age (even earlier)
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=74

[brxbrx]

"Daddy is a god trying to kill all the other gods. Daddy has a serious case of megalomania."
Also, I played Heroes III when I was pretty young. That's a good TBS to initiate your kids with, assuming you want them to end up like us. I mean, you don't actually need a social life, right?

[kianduatha]

Originally Posted by Chazar

(* "Get some knights with lances!" "The dragons are surrounded by poisonous fumes, so we cannot get close." "Then shot them with arrows!" "The dragons have thick scales, so the arrows won't harm them." ... - I cannot remember what he replied, but he came up with several suggestions after each of my responses... )

I love that your kid has pretty good tactical sense. Now arrows won't hurt a Tarrasque, but if you have Crossbowmen they'll deal some pretty good damage. Even normal bowmen with Flaming Arrows can probably take down some Tarrasques. And knights aren't a bad idea either--if you got up Weapons of Sharpness or something they'd work just fine. It's just that late game summons require decent army buffs to take down with normal troops.

[Endoperez]

Wouldn't Conquest Of Elysium 2 be a good choice?

Besides being free and having been made by Illwinter, the games can be over relatively fast, but can take very long if he keeps exploring. And there's lots to explore. Including dragons that have taken over gold mines. And sometimes there's a huge, gigantic moose guarding an ancient forest. There might be elephants in the jungle. Vampires in abandoned castles, a graveyard filled with ghosts. Perhaps an eldritch horror in a swamp. Some dwarves living in a mine in the mountains. A king holding his court in a castle.

The mechanics are relatively simple for some nations. Some magicians are more complex. There are necromancers and demonologists, which could end up being embarrassing (my dad's teaching me to summon demons!), but without knowing how to micromanage the resources he's likely to get frustrated with them (I don't want to summon demons! no one likes you if you do that, and then they don't pay their taxes!).

The recruitment screen doesn't have those helpful images that'd let him identify the troops, but the numbers tell him something about the units' quality - 5 for 50, 4 for 50, 10 for 70 and so on.

I don't remember if the AI continuing to play after the player has died has been fixed. That could be troublesome.

[danm]

Heroes of Might and Magic might be an option. Also not exactly what you are looking for, but the last iteration (5?) has pretty spiffy 3d graphics for a TBS. I could imagine a young kid having a lot of fun watching the tactical battles, and telling you what sort of troops and spells to use and whatnot.

My niece (who is now 20) had a great time "playing" warcraft2 when she was five... she would entertain herself for hours wandering around the map squishing seals.

[lch]

I think that Warcraft 2 would be an excellent choice, too. Unfortunately I can't come up with any other games that would be a good alternative for you.