The Duck of Minerva

First-World Nerd Problems: A Nintendo 3DS Bleg

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by Dan Nexon

21 July 2013, 1641 EDT

Last week I purchased a Nintendo handheld (on steep discount) for the express purpose of playing Okamiden. Okami is one of my most favoritist games evah; even though Okamiden is basically more of the same, I’m cool with that.

Yesterday we had to buy off the wee one–we did, in fact, have a pretty terrible day from her perspective–so we offered to purchase her a game to play. That led to Animal Crossing: A New Leaf and a complete loss of custody over the Nintendo. So complete, in fact, that she basically bought it from me. So here’s the question: beyond the aforementioned piece of crack in a gray plastic case, what games–with an emphasis on older and therefore cheaper–would be good to acquire for a nine-year old girl who favors resource management, puzzle, and platformer genres?

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

7 Comments

  1. Stephanie Carvin
    Stephanie Carvin on 21 July 2013 at 18.57 EDT

    My *favourite* Nintendo game ever (available for Gameboy is Yoshi’s Island. The most creative of the Mario games, IMHO (until Galaxy). I also really love Mario 64. A lot of puzzle in there as well.

  2. martinhewson
    martinhewson on 21 July 2013 at 23.20 EDT

    Lego Friends is huge with my 8 year old girl, so why not try getting yours a set so then she may release your Nintendo?

  3. ConceptTinkerer
    ConceptTinkerer on 22 July 2013 at 01.24 EDT

    I could go on at length about the value of games as an educational tool. Instead, I’m going to recommend Civilization II, or really any Civilization game (including Alpha Centauri and Call to Power).

  4. Timothy Phan
    Timothy Phan on 22 July 2013 at 09.50 EDT

    Pokemon will train your child for the next 5 years of your life. Hell, I’m going to download an emulator just to relive my childhood again.

    …what does your daughter pay you in?

    • Dan Nexon
      Dan Nexon on 22 July 2013 at 09.55 EDT

      She has a virtual account that includes her allowance, monetary gifts, and prize money; she also has an incentive-reward system where she can save up “stars.” She tends to hoard both, so it is a bit of a relief to get her to actually use them.

  5. Anton S.
    Anton S. on 22 July 2013 at 10.27 EDT

    I think Disqus may have eaten my comment – if not, please delete the double post.

    Definitely recommend Minecraft – Relatively cheap and often on sale. Best combination of open-world sandbox and resource management/gathering.

    Puzzle-platformer hybrids Braid and Fez are also really phenomenal (if a bit challenging in later levels). There are a lot of generally great Indie PC platformers that are inexpensive and very often on sale. Gianna Sisters: Twisted Dreams and Pid are two other good platformers to check out (the first is on sale for $5 on Steam right now).

    The flood of indie titles coming out on PC is definitely worth paying attention to – lots of diverse mechanics and themes for relatively low cost compared to triple-A games. Check out the Humble Indie Bundle for “pay-as-much-as-you-want” sales on collections of popular indie games.

  6. Greg Sanders
    Greg Sanders on 22 July 2013 at 17.13 EDT

    If she likes puzzle games, I’d recommend the Professor Layton series of games. Quite popular puzzle oriented with a narrative frame that means you have characters you care about.

    If you think she might want something a little more narrative oriented, I’d recommend the Phoenix Wright series of games. They do have plot lines involving murder mysteries and dramatic confrontations and such, but more silly Sherlock Holmes than David Simon. The puzzles can be a little frustrating at times, you might want to have a walk-through handy, but I love them and think I would of loved them as a kid.