OK... so let me all know what you think about this. I have two boys just under 10 years old (one turns 10 this year). They've already seen movies like Star Wars 1-7, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit (they've also read The Hobbit and other books like Animal Farm), Rocky, etc. So they've already been introduced to situational violence, moral dilemmas, etc. in media. As a lifetime gamer in his 40s and one whose parents did not realise or understand the addictive nature of video games so they never tried to monitor or restrict my game play (this only really affected my homework and ambition as I was mostly out playing sports with friends or socialising as I grew up), I've been careful about making sure that my kids don't fall into some of the same traps that I did. However, one of em developed sort of an unhealthy (in my opinion) addiction to Minecraft. He's smarter than that, however, so if he's going to game, I want to guide him in the direction of games that require some level of forethought and learning systems with a touch of historical perspective and real-life situations. So, I decided this week to let him and his brother start to play Skyrim (and Rome:Total War). I have walked them through *how to play* in the sense that they're used to just rushing in and mindlessly attacking silly mobs in Minecraft. I have already introduced him to Faster Than Light, which I think is a good beginner's tool to learn multiple systems and how to utilise them in a completely chaotic and random environment.

I suppose my biggest concern is making sure that I don't influence my children negatively. For example, there a couple of kids in their classes and classes below them whose parents let them play GTA. Those kids have complete potty mouths, are rude, and are pretty much trouble makers. You can actually see that the games that they are playing are doing them no good.

With Skyrim, there is no bad language (I think the worst word I've heard was *bastard* and only sparingly) and the violence isn't something they haven't already seen before in movies. The innuendo, when their is any, is probably a bit out of their grasp as well. But, most importantly, if you take the natural flow of the game, it's major plot theme *guides* one into the role of a good hero.

I've only given them one rule playing the game: they must play the game in a way that they would expect to act things out in real life, especially when it comes to NPC interaction. That means helping people in the game world when you can, never fight/attack innocent people or villagers, and avoid doing things that you know are wrong in general.

That said, as an experiment, I showed them how items that you can take without repercussion will always show in white text and items that you'd be stealing will always show up in red and let them run with it. They stole a couple of things and their characters were spotted prompting the homeowner/shop keeper to attempt to fight them then resulting in the guards coming after them. I let them get frustrated over the situation until they just wanted the whole thing resolved. Then explained to them the obvious consequence of the action. I thought it was a good learning tool.

Anyway, what are your opinions? The game comes with a Mature rating, but I'm not exactly sure that it deserves the same rating as GTA V, nor do I personally think it is a bad game for kids to play.

I think you are handling it well. It sounds to me like your two boys are perfectly capable of distinguishing between fantasy and reality and that they would not be adversely harmed by playing Skyrim.

My Significant Other is a modder and worked on a total conversion for Morrowind many years ago, called Morrowind4Kids. At the time her two daughters were ten years old (they were twins). They played vanilla Morrowind for hours during that time, as well as serving as beta testers for Morrowin4Kids. They were scandalized by bare briasts but had no trouble killing pracitcally everybody and everything in sight and stealing everything that wasn't nailed down. I would hear them yell bloodthirsty taunts at the computer screen as they mercilessly slaughtered shopkeepers and innocent bystanders. But they have both grown up to be very well-adjusted, considerate, law-abiding young women who wouldn't dream of harming anyone if they could possibly help it.

Personally I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Ha. Yeah, personally I think TES is, in general, rather mild for children. However, I did explain to them that one of the consequences for slaughtering innocent people in villages is that you'll probably end up killing some of the traders and it can completely ruin your game. Basically, I know how I was as a boy... I can relate with the fun they'd have razing all of the villages. As allowing them to play Skyrim was my decision (in order to offer them something else that may interest them more than Mincraft), I want to ensure that I cover any concerns my wife has with it since she only sees the Mature rating.

Once they get better at the mechanics, I'd like to set them free and see where they take their game.

But, to quell their natural boy urge for destruction, I'm trying to get them into Rome:Total War. At least they can get their rocks of smashing armies while learning complex systems (for their age) within a historical context. The great thing about the Total War series... it's not personal. LOL.

My boy was ten when he started on Skyrim.....then he moved on to Minecraft.....now he's nearly 12 and into FO3 and 4.


He's a happy well adjusted lad with no tendency to bully or enact game related violence! The question of whether a kid can mentally handle a violet game is affected by a broad range of external factors, mostly the way they have been brought up and taught to differentiate tv from reality. Arguably some people have more of a disposition to violence than others and violent images may accentuate that. I argue that a well adjusted mind that is coached properly in how to behave while young, will cope with and enjoy games like Skyrim without detriment. However, each case can only be judged on its merits.


Edit....as to the game rating.....well I have to say, that compared to most tv action films these days Skyrim is positively tame, I Would rate it 'PG' (parental guidance) not 15.....and certainly not 18.

How far have you gotten into the storyline? Some of the daedric and DB quests are pretty dark, maybe look at some of these on a Wiki before making a decision? Murder, torture chambers, cannibilism etc.