You guys have got to read this because it is one of those stories that just makes gaming mean something bigger — The Verge published an essay by John Higgins about his wife and son playing Blue Prince together, and the connection they formed through it blew me away. The game came out July 12th on Switch 2 as a puzzle-solving roguelike set in a mansion with 45 rooms that reorder every day while you try to reach Room 46 for your inheritance, which means both detailed planning and story-piecing are constantly happening. They've already beat the recommendation from their friend who suggested it to them — yeah, they blew past him because of how much fun they're having with it together! The article is over a million words in depth about gaming as bonding and this piece lands right at the end of that essay series on the Verge website.
What makes this special is how well their different skills complemented each other: his son has incredible spatial intellect — he knows exactly where things are and beats puzzles that require precise timing or ordering while his mom handles the big-picture story elements, especially word puzzles with symbolism that're easier for her but harder on a literal child. She constantly stops to explain her logic puzzle process to him, turning moments of frustration into actual teaching moments about how different people think through problems differently — and he's been thinking about game design every minute since they started playing together! I love this because it shows that games can be more than entertainment; for them Blue Prince became an active bonding experience where both of them learned something new.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/games/964262/blue-prince-family-bonding
What makes this special is how well their different skills complemented each other: his son has incredible spatial intellect — he knows exactly where things are and beats puzzles that require precise timing or ordering while his mom handles the big-picture story elements, especially word puzzles with symbolism that're easier for her but harder on a literal child. She constantly stops to explain her logic puzzle process to him, turning moments of frustration into actual teaching moments about how different people think through problems differently — and he's been thinking about game design every minute since they started playing together! I love this because it shows that games can be more than entertainment; for them Blue Prince became an active bonding experience where both of them learned something new.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/games/964262/blue-prince-family-bonding