Category: for 10-year-olds

  • Fireboy and Watergirl

    What is it Fireboy and Watergirl is a series of five free collaborative/cooperative online 2d platformer games. One player uses the WAD keys to move Watergirl and the other uses the arrow keys to move Fireboy. Watergirl can’t touch fire and Fireboy can’t touch water. They have to help each other unlock doors in order…

  • Knights Club: The Bands of Bravery

    What is it Knights Club is a series of “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style comic books, in which the reader decides the order in which they read. On each page, they may be given a choice about where to go next. E.g. “To follow the merchant, go to page 93. To explore the forest, go to…

  • Blocksworld

    What is it Blocksworld (not to be confused with similarly-titled games such as “block world”) is one of many Minecraft-inspired games, but Blocksworld stands apart in the quality of the game, the number of features, and the implicit instruction of programming fundamentals. What Lego is to Minecraft, Duplo is to Blocksworld. Who is it for…

  • The Battle of Polytopia

    What is it The Battle of Polytopia (or simply, “Polytopia”) is a free (ad-free as well) turn-based mobile strategy game. Who is it for Winning the game requires some strategic thinking and there is some very mild cartoon violence (about as much violence as in a game of chess) so I would put the lower…

  • Duolingo

    I often have a desire to better myself, but being extremely lazy I seldom make the time. So it’s good for me every time I stumble across a “life hack” that offers a positive change for minimal investment of time or effort. The first such thing I tried was the “7-minute workout“, which is essentially…

  • The Great Paper Caper

    [amazon_link asins=’0399250972′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’65d2b99b-047e-11e9-a2e4-17c7e29a586b’] Caution: Reading this book with your kids will probably make them want to start folding paper airplanes (and you will want to as well), so may not be ideal for bedtime reading. What is it The Great Paper Caper is a unique book, written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers,…

  • The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes

    [amazon_link asins=’031645060X’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3bed3d53-e9c6-11e8-b087-77bd6bc30883′] What is it ‘The Wild Robot’ and its sequel ‘The Wild Robot Escapes’ is a very charming 2-part (so far) series about a sentient robot surviving in the wilderness, written and illustrated by Peter Brown. Who is it for The official website gives the recommended ages of 8 to…

  • Machinarium – Amanita Design

    What is it Machinarium is a point-and-click adventure game featuring a cute robot solving puzzles in a beautifully-drawn quasi-steampunk city. Who is it for It’s for anyone, young and old, but some of the puzzles are pretty tricky and even precocious children under 7 or so would need some grown-up help. But it’s a great…

  • Holes

    [amazon_link asins=’B00HMCLVQQ’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’48e1314b-b2c1-11e8-a6d7-2b1b88ac6acd’] What is it Holes is a “young adult mystery comedy novel” that was also made into a movie, about a boy working digging holes in what is essentially a juvenile prison camp. There is a parallel story that takes place exactly 100 years earlier, involving some of the characters’…

  • Whoowasit?

    [amazon_link asins=’B00JFWLPRG’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’160a5163-9751-11e8-9a3a-d5b20d3630ad’] What is it Whoowasit? is a board game as well as an app where players work together to win. Unlike most games that are essentially zero-sum (a player can win only when another player loses), Whoowasit? is collaborative and players either win or lose together. The game is a…