Geeky Moms’ Top 5 Family Games to Come in 2011

1.  Diablo III – PC

The first question which comes to mind is, will Diablo III really come out in 2011?  The game has been in development for several years, and Blizzard has been releasing small teasers.  The anticipation is really building!  The second question which comes to mind, is this a family game?

Yes – for the geekiest gaming families!  Diablo II was so much fun for my family.  My son was around 8 when we introduced him to this game.  You can group together and complete levels as a team.  The game is different from an mmorpg as you have a more top-level view of your character.  The art, music and game concepts are amazing. 

2.  YooStar 2:  Movie Karaoke – Kinect Xbox 360

If you love movies and generally find yourself quoting movies, you will love this game.  You are featured as a character in a blockbuster of the past.  You are then edited into the scene.  The game is a lot like karaoke where it scores you based on your improvisation and how quick you were to respond to a line.  The game play looks hilarious, and will make a great family night!

Check out the video here:  http://123kinect.com/kinect-gameplay-yoostar-2-movie-karaoke/

3.  Mario Sports Mix – Wii

Yea for the Wii!  The Kinect is really outshining the Wii as far as new game development goes.  Nintendo still has the Mario card in its back pocket.  Mario Sports Mix allows up to four players to play locally or up to two people per console to play online.  The game consists of your favorite Mario characters, in addition to a few new ones.  In this edition of Mario game play, the gang is going to be suiting up for basketball, dodgeball, volleyball and hockey. 

4.  Super Hero Squad – PC

This MMORPG allows you to play as one of the fabulous Marvel Super Hero Squad characters.  It was developed with the 8 year old in mind.  Rather than free text chatting, it gives the player built in scripts that you can chat to others.  This is great for kids, as you don’t have to type and you don’t have crazy people on the game saying whatever they want.  The game is so much fun.  I demo’d the game at PAX with my 4 year old son in mind.  I can see us all getting online in the future and playing for an hour together.  In addition to the MMORPG side, there is also a set of mini-games built in, that is related to the actual card game you can purchase.  Basically, you can either go out and fight with your character or roam about the world, or you can play the card game. 

5.  Kinectalloons

Scheduled to release in May 2011, Kinectalloons is an adventure family game.  The game is similar to Kinectimals, but you interact with balloons and do tricks to get through the levels.  Your kids of all ages will enjoy jumping, reaching and stretching into ridiculous situations in order to complete a level. 

Happy gaming everyone!  Schedule a family game night and enjoy the benefits of connecting with your kids.

Kate is definitely a Geeky woman.  She has been in MMO development for 10 years and has developed applications for There.com.  Geeky Moms looks forward to seeing the types of improvements she can bring to LOTR.