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I wanted to share something that's been on my mind for the last few months.
Like, well, most people, I've been in lockdown for what feels like an eternity - and like so many, videogames have been an invaluable escape during this time.
I'm in my 40s. Have a wife and kids and both myself and my wife have been working from home and simultaneously home schooling our kids. It's been... stressful to say the least.
I'm sure we're not alone in having used videogames to distract the kids in order to get work done, mortgage paid and food on the table. Not going to lie, we've leaned on videogames more than we're entirely comfortable with to maintain the status quo in the household, as it were.
I have four kids - between 5 and 17 years old. There are a number of games that are enjoyed by all of them.
Most well documented as being great 'family' games are the usual - Nintendos first party stuff like Animal Crossing or Mario Kart.
Games which offer a really strong social element like Fortnite or Minecraft have been good for multilayer or for the kids to keep in contact with their school friends.
All fantastic games for sure, but one thing remains true for all of them, in my household at least - they ALL cause arguments at some point amongst my kids.
Someone stole resources in Minecraft. Loot/weapons arent shared fairly in Fortnight. Sibling A blue shelled sibling B in Mario Kart. Even Animal Crossing causes arguments about who is the lead player on the island, or who gets the costume/furniture/item etc etc.
Don't get me started on Mario Party.
Believe you me, in the stress of lockdown, each of these games - often held up as great examples of family games - have their problems in this respect.
All that changed with Dauntless. Genuinely and honestly.
I have not found a single game that all my kids can enjoy together without a single issue. Not one.
They all play together via cross play on various devices and not only do they love it, but it's fostered a real sense of togetherness I've not seen in any other game.
They hunt together, but, crucially - discuss the game regularly. What to play next, what to aim for next, what parts they need to craft which weapon, and actively help each other out to achieve their goals.
Perhaps the sweetest thing is that, even their 5 year old sister is part of this (sorry PEGI). She plays on Switch, and the new meta for her brothers is to try to keep her alive through an escalation without dying, by building for shields/medic to keep her on her feet so she can fight the bosses.
One of the nicest things I've seen them do is let her have some of their birthday money so she can get platinum for cosmetics - arguably her favourite part of the game, to keep her interest up.
So I'd like to say a big thank you to PHX for this contribution to my family's dynamic.
Thanks for making a great video game.
Making it free.
Making it cross play and keeping the updates going.
Thanks for making it accessible.
Thanks for making it genuinely enjoyable to a range of players from 5 - 40. Boys, girls, women and men.
To say it has made all our lives more bareable and enjoyable through a very difficult time is an understatement.
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