So hear me out for a second. I’ve never been opposed to video games. I grew up playing Nintendo with my brother after school. Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt were my jam. But as I got older the love of video games went out the window and it had been a decade or more since I picked up a controller. Then my husband came along. The world’s biggest gamer. He is obsessed with all things video games so gaming came back in to my life. Then came along our daughter, Jaz, and just like her dad she is an avid lover of video games.
My husband Walter has all the new Playstation’s and gaming consoles and yadda yadda. It has never been my thing so I never really cared about any of it. BUT I’ve realized Walter and our daughter are bonding like crazy over games and I’m left on the sidelines. However, I’m learning if you can’t beat them you need to join them. So instead of constantly complaining that everyone is ignoring me for their video games I’ve decided to make myself start playing games with them. Don’t worry video game police we have screen time limits set for all of us. Also to make us all feel a little better about playing games the APA published an article discussing the benefits of playing video games. Turns out playing video games can help children with problem solving and:
“actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception” (full article link below)
The problem for me is-I hated the games they played. So it was time for me to find something other than Minecraft (Jasmine’s favorite) or Destiny (Walter’s favorite) to play. So my search began to find some games I could play and like. I’m all about family time so I was on a mission to find something we could all love.
Now if you know me at all you know the nanny in me can’t help but look for educational games to play with Jaz. I mean if we are going to play games and I can find some educational benefits in there too and help her learn without realizing she’s learning then I’m all for it. I initially started with a website called ABC mouse. And honestly they were great for Jaz to learn a multitude of things BUT I wasn’t a fan of having to pay a monthly subscription. It costs $12.99/month but they allow you to try it free for 30 days (that’s what we did). Jaz liked the games and I liked the educational aspects but the price tag was something I wasn’t willing to pay monthly.
So that sent me on the hunt for a place with games for Jaz, Walter & I that was FREE. I’ve tried out about a million free apps (hello annoying advertisement pop ups) but I finally landed on an online site called PLAYS.ORG https://plays.org/
So here’s why I like the site and my review of our favorite games.
The first thing that sold me was, NO ADS!! You read that right, there are zero pop ups which is amazing! Jaz gets frustrated with pop ups (don’t we all) so this automatically makes this site a winner for me.
Second, they have over 150 games and a TON of educational games as well. Don’t worry they have plenty of just for fun games too. There’s something for everyone.
Third, they have adult and kid level games. This is perfect for our whole household. So if you are looking for some new gaming sites and tired of downloading apps that are duds check it out. Below I’ll list our favorites to give you an idea of what they have.
Our Favorite Games:
Pam: my favorite game by far is Pipe Mania. It is soothing to me and helps my OCD need for order to arrange the pipes and make the water flow. It makes me feel accomplished and let’s me check out for a few minutes-which is great when I’m super stressed. It takes very little thought though so it isn’t taxing on my brain and it is actually relaxing.
Walter: My husband likes the classics. He is an avid gamer but goes for the old school games like Super Tetris, Invace Spaders (Space Invaders inspired) and Duck Shooter (I can kick his butt at this one thanks to all those afternoons on Nintendo). It’s a little slice of childhood nostalgia that wins for him every time.
Jaz: It is soooo hard to pick a favorite game for her because she loves them all. She is most definitely her father’s child. When asked she says “Find The Pug” is her favorite. Think Where’s Waldo but with a cute Dog instead.
But she is constantly playing “Cute Shapes” and doing the “Bible Coloring Pages”. I’m loving that she’s learning colors, numbers, shapes, counting, etc while she’s playing so it’s a win win.
Overall, I can’t rave about this website enough because it has such a good variety of classic fun games and educational games for the whole family. And NO ADS! If you have any gamers in your life give it a try. It’s Chandler Crew Approved.
Cited APA Article Link:
The Chandler Crew 