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Dan Ryckert’s current age + 10

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When is a child old enough to Mario Party? I don't know, Patrick, when is a child old enough for the lesson that life is cruel and unfair? That we exist only through the capriciousness of a cold and uncaring universe? That we're all at the mercy of systems too complex to fully understand, but that we nonetheless know will crush us under their inscrutable wheels? How old? Are any of us old enough?

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This is a terrific pep talk.

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There is an unfairness about Mario Kart that my kids seem closer to accepting, perhaps because races are relatively short and so you can always quickly try again.

But the unfairness of Mario Party has really frustrated them. They're excited to try the new one, but I'm fearful of how it will make them feel.

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Thanks for the thoughts on Mario Party with the family, I have been wondering if I buy this new Jamboree game will it tear my family apart? So I look forward to hearing about your experience!

I am curious how Mario Party Jamboree compares to the mini games in Kirby's Return to Dreamland? My kids love those mini games and they all seem pretty fair and have different difficulty settings. My kids are 8, 6 and 3 and they have never come to blows playing a Kirby mini-game. Theoretically they should also love Mario Party but I have heard some horror stories about the rubberbanding AI.

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I'll have to report back and let you know. We ran out of time this weekend to give it a go.

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The inconsistency of Mario Party has relegated it to the dustbin with my 11 year old nephew. He's old enough to understand skill and proficiency, but it frustrates him when the game doesn't strictly adhere to its own rules. He much prefers other party games now.

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We tried one of the shorter modes and my kids (4 and 6) didn't have much fun. They really didn't like to lose and now they hate "the stinking monkey" 😄. Donkey Kong was the AI player. The mini Games were also often times to complicated for them. I'm sure they would get better at them, but today they much rather played "the hole game" , better knows as Donut County which makes them laugh out louder then probably any game bevor 😄

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I have a strong suspicion this is where we're going to end up, too, at least with my youngest.

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When my son was younger he had a hard time with loosing gracefully. We found that playing cooperative games was helpful as there you all win together or all lose together. It helped us more directly model how to lose and share the blow. In zero sum games it’s hard to do that as if they lose you win and that drive a wedge. We mostly did cooperative board games, but I would think the same principle would apply to coop video games.

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