Congratulations. My daughter is now almost 4. When she was young, I ended playing quite a bit of Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol. It could be played in short bursts and picking up where you left off was no big deal as you didn’t really have to remember anything,
Thanks again all, this thread is super helpful. There is no budget for a switch as we need all the money for the baby right now sadly but it is high up on my want list.
Congratulations on being a Dad.
Arcade games are always a good bet, or older console-style games, which if you’re using Steam, you can find quite a few. SEGA has their catalog of Genesis games on there. Streets of Rage 2 is perfect for those short availability times. There are also great arcade shooters like Mushihimesama and DoDonPachi Resurrection. Downwell is an excellent modern take on arcade gaming. Volgarr, Zigurrat (first person shooting), all the Metal Slug games are on Steam, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Pinball Arcade… you get the idea. Quick bursts of action that you can also invest real time into if you want.
Don’t forget about things like FTL too, which is usually less than an hour IIRC.
Thanks for the tip, today got my first inkling… You do not have to worry about the pee with girls so much, but the poo? Jebus! Close call.
heh well let a new father have SOME illusions!
With my girl projectile peeing (is that what we’re talking about?) wasn’t an issue. Maybe I got lucky.
I played The Last of Us & highly recommend it so you’ll get sand in your eye regularly, thinking about your own little girl(s). I don’t know about everyone else but I had some great gaming time when my daughters were babies. Late night feeding then I’d get a couple hours in if I couldn’t get back to sleep, etc.
Congratulations!
I have a new interest in this thread. My daughter will be a week old tomorrow.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about this thread is how different people approach gaming with a baby. Some people like light, fast experiences, and others are using the downtime to really dig into something meaty.
So far, our baby has been a little high-maintenance, so the thing that has been most helpful has been a digital Marvel subscription, so I can read comics while I rock her. Once she starts staying down to sleep easier (which will be soon), I have Stardew Valley installed on the Switch, and I think I’ll be able to make good use of that.
The week before she was born, I rushed through God of War, assuming (correctly) that I wouldn’t have time for it once she was here. That was a good call, but it also worked out because I would probably have been a little weepy playing it after becoming a parent as opposed to before.
Congrats on your daughter SadleyBradly!
Congrats! I really want a switch when I become a stay at home dad in june. Just in case.
Anything turn-based is great because it will not punish you for going afk.
To be honest it’s easy when they are tiny, as soon as they move it’s a different kettle of fish. Also as they get older they become more engaging and you will find you don’t play as much until they go to bed then you are knackered and play less.
My son is 4, and loves joining the SNES Classic with me.
My 15 month old daughter loves stealing controllers. In fact she actively seeks them out, and will open whatever cabinet they are stored in so she can walk around with it.
my 5yo boy loves to watch me play but refuses to play anything himself but the brio railroad thing on the tablet. his favourite is subnautica, ‘swimming wiv da’. tanks or big stompy robots is fun too. the little guy already likes metal and throws the horns \m/
My kids are obsessed with Plants vs Zombies, which is my fault because I’m obsessed with Plants vs Zombies. Whenever we go somewhere and have to wait, like for a table at a restaurant, they both ask for my phone so they can play. I can’t decide if I’m a good parent or an awful one.
Well, the are learning about the importance of sunlight and gardening, the dangers of being run over by a lawnmower and how wearing a helmet protects them and makes them look cool.
I would call that good parenting.
To answer the original question, my experience was that genre didn’t matter that much. I’m partial to strategy and tactical games as well as rpgs, but my daughter’s infant stage actually pushed me to explore other genres, and I found that abstract puzzle games were a great fit (ie Hexcells).
From my experience, the important factors are the ability :
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to save or suspend play at any time;
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to get a meaningful experience in a short time, that is not having to mess around for ten minutes before getting to the meat of the game;
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to get your bearings quickly after a long hiatus.
The control scheme is also important. Games you can play with just the mouse are perfect. A controller can also be a good fit if you can find a way to hold it and the baby at the same time. This pillow was great for this, as I could hold my daughter in the crook of either arm but have my forearms rest on something more comfortable than the armrests of my office chair :
So, its been a year and what a year it has been! I got to play some of the suggested games and was lucky enough to get into some bigger games too! What I found worked for me are games that can a bit challenging but not too much and that are not overly long. I think Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn where my favourites games to play during the last year. Also Battletech and Xcom because sometimes I needed Turn Based.
Now the Kid is over a Year old and just starts walking, so no more idle playtime during the day. I have about an hour or two per day en bloc for myself right now and want to dig into some more games. Action or RPG games with a max length of 20-30 Hours would be great. While I run AC Odyssey from time to time, I do want to finish games and that’s not gonna happen with overly big ones.