Summary
The open-world genre of video games has grown a lot over the past decade. Many games now allow players to explore huge worlds and complete the main narrative (if there is one) in a non-linear fashion, allowing players to have many aspects of an actual life inside the game itself.
One of the things that players can do in some open-world games is have kids. This aspect has been a big part of making these games appealing to some players, while others aren’t particularly interested in the parenting aspects but love the sense of realism and wide opportunities provided by these games.
The newest set ofPokemongames is finally fully open-world in nature, and the franchisehas improved the way in which players can look after their Pokemonover time. Despite throwing them into battles constantly,Pokemondoes feel as if the player is parenting their beloved pets throughout the games.
With so many great ways to look after the Pokemon now, the training and evolving of them does feel similar to watching a child grow older. Players can look after their Pokemon while collecting more and having a huge family along for the ride in a vast open world.
TheDead Risinggames have fascinating and weird open worlds where anything can be used as a weapon. Additionally,Dead Rising 2gave Chuck a daughter and forced him to look after her, making her survival a major aspect of the game that players have to keep in check throughout.
Chuck’s daughter, Katey, was infected with the zombie virus before the events of the game, and she needs continuous new Zombrex that Chuck must find and deliver to her in time to save her throughout the game. While this isn’t the relaxed parenting style of the game some players may be looking for, it is a great representation of the lengths that parents sometimes have to go to for their kids, and this aspect helped makeDead Rising 2one ofthe best games in the franchise.
Skyrimis a famous open-world RPG and one of the very best of all time. WithinSkyrim, relationships are fairly limited in what can be done with them. For instance, the Dragonborn can get married but cannot have children of their own. Using the orphanage in Riften though, or by speaking to one ofa number of orphans on the streets, the Dragonborn is free to adopt children.
There are a variety of ways that the Dragonborn can interact with their child after adopting them, from giving them gifts to telling them to do their chores. The parenting system is somewhat limited, but fun to add to the other gameplay available inSkyrim.
One of the best RPGs in history for family relationships and growth,Fable 2is built on the premise that a descendant of the current hero will be a savior for Albion, which actually set up the sequel. For this reason, the developers made it possible to get married and have children, but that isn’t all.
There are a variety of important things a player must do, such as spending time with their family to assure themselves of a strong bond with them. It is possible for partners to leave, for children to die, and even for them to run away from home. If this happens, the player character can choose to go and rescue their children. All of this equates to a proper parenting system, where players must pay their children attention frequently or risk losing them.Pets are also a huge part of the game, and looking after them is hugely important as well.
One of the more unusual open-world survival games,Shelter 2allows players totake control of a mother lynx. Players have to keep their kittens safe and well-fed. Players even have the opportunity to name each of their kittens as they are born at the beginning of the game, before going into survival mode.
It is possible to lose kittens. The game was designed around the lynx because it is in the middle of the food chain. This means that, while there are many types of prey out there, they come hand-in-hand with bigger predators looking to attack. Never has a game focused more on the harsh realities of trying to keep one’s children safe in a cold and desolate world.
One of the most relaxing life-sim games on the market,Stardew Valleyhas players take control of a farm left to them near Pelican Town. From there, players can have relationships with all the people in town, farm, fight, and mine as well as just live a relaxing life out on the farm, though there is a lot to learn about this game.
Once players decide to get married, which is a relatively big part of the available gameplay, they can have children after a pregnancy period. The game limits players to two children, which will come out as one boy and one girl, and there are many options for taking care of them. The one problem with this is that the children will remain young, never growing past a toddler, for the remainder of the game.
WhileThe Sims 4can’t truly be considered open-world, the third entry in the famous franchise definitely can be. This game, and the entireSimsfranchise, are fantastic for experiencing parenting in a gaming format. Players can have children, watch them grow old, and then take control of them as their Sim closes out their own lives,never to be brought back.
The Sims 3is a fantastic game and players have been raising families that go on for generations for a long time. There are nearly endless possibilities in the most modern incarnation, with a huge number of expansions, butThe Sims 3remains the best example of a free world to explore alongside the player’s children.
