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STONKS AND TORNPS

Playing the actual stock market is a magnanimous task and, quite frankly, isn’t really for kids. But hey, since the Fire Nation is currently attacking the world at large, it’s a great time to understand microeconomics and how investing works… but on a much, much smaller scale. After all, how else are you going to pay off Tom Nook’s multiple home loans in Animal Crossing if not by gaming the system?

Let’s begin!

What is the Stalk Market in Animal Crossing: New Horizon?

Once your island reaches a place where your Resident Services is no longer operating out of a tent and is, in fact, in a proper building, in addition to Nook’s Cranny moving into a building of its own, the stalk market will open up. Every Sunday morning, from 5am and 12pm, Daisy Mae (sounds like Fanny Mae, for those of us who remember that nonsense) will visit your island and sell turnips for anywhere between 90 and 110 bells. 

You’ll be able to spot Daisy Mae by the turnips on her head. She’ll wander your island from early morning until noon. 

After you’ve purchased your turnips for the week, the Nook boys, Timmy and Tommy, will buy them for you for a wide range of bells (I once sold my turnips for 560 bells per stack of 10). If you’re looking to store your turnips, you can put them in your house (in stacks of 10) or somewhere on your island, but it will affect your island rating as turnips count as “random” items. 

They will rot on Sunday morning, if you don’t manage to sell them by then. Or, if you decide to “time travel” and artificially move time forward to a week (or more) in the future.

What’s the purpose of the Stalk Market?

Put simply: to earn some bells and pay off your Nook island mortgage(s), in addition to putting money away for island infrastructure (bridges, inclines, and decorations). Beyond that, it’s a “push your luck” kind of mini-game that teaches folks to pay attention to patterns in turnip prices on your island. 

How do you know when to sell your turnips?

There are a few different ways to determine when is the best time to sell your turnips. If you’re curious about how the turnip price patterns may work on your island, Polygon has an excellent guide to understanding what turnip trends are in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

If you’re looking to track turnip prices on your island, you can use Turnip Prophet. Turnip Prophet allows you to input your turnip prices throughout the week and will help you to better understand the Stalk Market patterns on your island. There’s a graph with labels on what every data point means, too. 

If you’re looking to branch out and look to other people and their islands for turnip prices, both for purchasing and for selling with the Nook Boys, you can use Turnip Exchange. Hosts open their islands with Dodo Codes — special codes that you type in to visit people who aren’t on your Animal Crossing friend list — and you can join a queue to visit and sell at a higher price than what you might be able to sell on your own island. 

What’s the purpose of being a “turnip host”?

If your turnip prices spike, opening up your island to family and friends is kind of a no-brainer. Share the wealth and everyone ends up happier as a result. Opening up your island to strangers is a bit more of a risk, especially if you don’t want people harvesting your fruit or you don’t have it set up with fences to funnel people where you want them to go. 

And. 

Sharing the wealth often means that folks will leave you tips in bells, which means that when they sell for big money, you may get a slice of that. It’s really up to the folks that are visiting. 

What happens if the turnips “go bad”?

You lose them. They’re gone. You make no money off of them. 

The most important thing to remember is it’s better to take a major hit to your investment than for you to make zero return on your investment. So, when it comes to Saturday afternoon, make sure that you sell your turnips for something, rather than let them rot in your inventory or your house.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts and strategies!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

Looking for information about how multiplayer works in Animal Crossing? Check out our guide here!

Our new player tips for Animal Crossing are here!

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GTA6 is coming! And that means parents need to start paying attention. This franchise is rated M for a reason: It’s not appropriate for kids. In this blog post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about GTA6 (that we know so far) so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not it’s appropriate for your child.

GTA games are known for their violence, gore, and sexual content. GTA games have always been popular among kids and teens. GTAV was no different. The game was so popular that it sold over 11 million copies in its first week. That’s a lot of copies! And that means a lot of kids were playing it.

I’ve said it before on Engaged Family Gaming content. I’m not here to judge. You know your kids and your family better than any of us here at EFG do. So if you want to let them play, then by all means. Our goal is to provide as much information as we can about the content of the game so that you can make a real decision.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Is Going to be Everywhere

GTAV is one of the best-selling games of all time. Its successor is going to be a MONSTER. It will be a major topic in every available form of media once it is released. There won’t be any way for you to avoid it.

And if you can’t avoid it, then your kids can’t either. They will see ads. They will likely watch streams and YouTube videos. And, more importantly, they’ll hear about it from other kids either at school, in sports, or on the bus. It is almost inevitable that they will ask about the game. We want to make sure you have all the information that you can so you can be prepared.

GTA 6 Has Been Announced!

Rockstar Games has officially announced Grand Theft Auto 6. It will be set in Vice City (a fictional version of Miami), but will also extend out into a fictional region that will include all sorts of different biomes (like the Everglades and small rural towns). The trailer (embedded below) tells us that we’ll be playing as two characters (a man and a woman who are in a relationship). We don’t know the mechanics of the game for sure, but it is safe to assume that players will be able to switch between them similarly to the way you could switch between the three main characters in GTA 5.

GTA 6 Trailer Number 1


What is the GTA6 Release Date?

Grand Theft Auto 6 doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but Rockstar did list 2025 as the release year in Trailer 1.

The Potential ESRB Rating

Grand Theft Auto 6 is still in development and doesn’t have a release date. That means we don’t have ESRB information about it yet. However, we can infer what the ESRB rating will be based on the rating information for GTA5. It was rated M for mature with the content descriptors “Blood and Gore,” “Intense Violence,” “Mature Humor,” “Nudity,” “Strong Language,” “Strong Sexual Content,” and “Use of Drugs and Alcohol.” That is quite the laundry list of mature descriptors.

Sexual Content and Violence Against Women

One thing that I think is worth being called out separately is the sexual content. Parents often think of violence when they think about GTA games. But, the sexual content is often either forgotten or isn’t even thought about at all. This leads parents who are less concerned about violence to let the game slide. (This is a pretty common thing in the US. Many parents are far more concerned about nudity and sexuality than they are about guns and violence.)

Another detail that is worth mentioning is that GTA6 will feature a Latina protagonist. That is, admittedly, a big step for the franchise in terms of representation. However, It does mean that all of the violence being done against you while playing the game as that character will likewise be done to a woman. Rockstar Games isn’t known for treading gently with their games. So only time will tell how all of this will play out.

GTA Online 2?

GTA 5 included GTA Online which has been one of the most prolific online games of the last decade. In fact, “Shark Cash,” the game’s digital currency, generates more than $800 million annually. That kind of success isn’t something that Rockstar can ignore. It is very safe to assume that GTA 6 will include either GTA Online access OR access to a sequel to the smash hit online game.

GTA Online is a very different beast than the main game. It includes the expected content, but also the added “spice” of online interactions. The community that plays GTA Online is broad and robust and includes players of all ages. So this is something parents will want to be aware of and consider.

The Choice is Ultimately in Parents’ Hands

So there you have it, parents. Everything you need to know about Grand Theft Auto 6. It’s coming out soon and it looks like it will be just as violent and explicit as its predecessors. Let us know what you think in the comments below! Are you going to let your kids play? or will you be staying away?

Looking For Alternatives to GTA 6?

The EFG Essentials

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Minecraft mods on PC number into the thousands, especially if you’re playing the Minecraft Java Edition. The vast majority of the mods available to download from places like CurseForge – a modification repository that’s used for a number of popular games, including Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and Kerbal Space Program – are, for the most part, fairly innocent.

What are Minecraft Mods?

Mods that are available through Minecraft Bedrock Edition, which is probably the version of Minecraft that your kids are playing on console, mobile, and PC, are vetted by the Mojang team at Microsoft to ensure that they are both high quality and family-friendly.

Not all mods are made equal, mind you, and CurseForge ensures that all of those mods are available to download… for good and ill. One of these not-so-great mods is the Jenny mod that’s available through CurseForge on PC and via APK (Android Application Package) for Android OS devices. In theory, you can also purchase a version of this mod through in-game currency.

The Minecraft Jenny Mod

The Minecraft Jenny mod is a NSFW (not safe for work) unofficial Minecraft mod that introduces an in-game “girlfriend” for Minecraft players that simulates adult interactions. Yes, those kinds of adult interactions. It’s becoming an increasingly popular mod that runs in “Creative” mode. Now, Jenny can be your “bestie,” but that’s not why parents need to be paying closer attention to children downloading this particular mod, of course.

Minecraft Bedrock Edition doesn’t allow unofficial mod installation, so the best way to ensure that kids aren’t going to download and install Jenny is to make sure that Bedrock Edition is the version of Minecraft that they’re using. Java Edition has some excellent mods, including the Redstone mods on CurseForge, but it does require extra intervention. There are no parental controls available on CurseForge, so use discretion.

Jenny might be available for bestie status, but she certainly wasn’t coded just for those purposes. Be cautious.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you find confusing and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a series of terms that is applicable to video games: Respawn, Spawn Rate and Spawn Timer

Pokémon Center

Respawn refers to the act of reviving or returning to the area or field of play in a video game as a player, or the return of a threat or resource. The word Respawn was originally coined for multiplayer experiences, but now has generalized to all of gaming. (verb)

  • If all your Pokémon get knocked out, you respawn at a Pokémon Center.
  • In Legend of Zelda, if you leave a dungeon and reenter the monsters will Respawn.

Spawn Rate is the time it takes for a threat or resource to renew or return to the field of play. It may have a percentage /rate at which an object drops. Distribution of what might “spawn” treasure/creatures

  • The odds at which a Pokemon will “spawn” while you are in the grass.
Pokémon Spawn in the Grass

Spawn Timer counts drown is the time for the player to return to play.

  • How long you need to spend in the grass for a Pokémon to “spawn”

Example of Games:

  • Overwatch
  • World of Warcraft
  • Pokemon
  • Legend of Zelda

Respawn Elements in Game

  • Mineral Nodes (It is a point within the game for gathering resources that can be found within many games, such as WOW, Skyrim, Stardew Valley)
  • Monsters

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

Your Family Game On!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to many video games, as well as Movies, TV shows, Plays, and Musicals: The Fourth Wall

The fourth wall is the barrier between the audience and the character (or actor). It is also the perspective from which we (as the audience) view the experience.

Storytelling in games has been getting more and more advanced as the games industry matures. One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the games I’ve been playing have been breaking the “fourth wall.” The important thing about the fourth wall is that the audience (and the narrator, or even classically the chorus) are meant to be outside the story informing the audience. In “serious drama.” they are invisible. 

“Breaking the fourth wall” traditionally has been considered an act of comedy, though in more contemporary settings it can be more serious. This is where the characters in the story address the audience directly; often ignoring the story that is happening on stage. This type of storytelling device is often shorthand for making a reference or showing the internal thoughts of a character without having to involve the story that is going on. 

Examples in TV and Stage

Remember all of those times in Saved by the Bell where Zack would call a time-out and talk to the camera? He was breaking the fourth wall.

A more recent example is the Musical Hamilton. At the end of the show, Eliza Hamilton is telling the end of her story and gasps after the song ends. The gasp is considered her breaking the 4th wall.

Video Game Examples:

  • Guacamelee
  • The Secret of Monkey Island
  • Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Additional Resources

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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Virtual reality isn’t an emerging, fringe technology that is limited to tech nerds. These are mainstream pieces of technology that can be readily purchased at Target and Amazon. They’re cool pieces of technology that play games so it was only a matter of time before parents started asking us about virtual reality and whether or not it is safe for their kids.

We did our homework! Here are our findings!

What is Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is an immersive environment accessible through an avatar (computer representation of the player) through a set of glasses. Players can interact with a 3D space, as their avatar mimics their actions. VR can take the player to any environment imaginable and allow you to interact within that space through button pushes, movement monitoring, screen swipes, and so on. VR has the potential for education, social interaction, and gameplay combined.

Most VR glasses/headsets are recommended for children 12 years of age or older. The biggest concerns for parents in the short term will be VR sickness and eye strain.

VR Sickness

VR sickness is similar to car or motion sickness. It is caused when there is a difference between what is in your field of view and what your vestibular system detects. (The Vestibular System is the system in your inner ear that helps detect motion and to help with balance.) If your child is susceptible to either car or motion sickness then there may be a risk of VR sickness in the future. As technology progresses, there will likely be more ways to combat this, but there is no real “cure.” Most home remedies lack any real scientific backing.

VR Induced Eye Strain

Eye strain is a problem with any long-term screen usage. You can combat that with 15-minute breaks for every hour of screen time. Younger gamers may not be able to convey this to parents and require more parental supervision than others. Encourage frequent breaks, talk to your child about how they feel when and during play, and adjust their equipment for them where possible.

If your child wears glasses, then you should make sure that they fit comfortably inside the VR headset to limit discomfort.

Headaches and eyestrain could be increased for those with eye conditions. Frequent breaks can help

VR With Younger Children

VR is designed to create an immersive experience for the player. The younger the gamer, the more intense this immersion can feel. While this means younger children will often have a stronger emotional experience with VR tech. They might be scared or uncomfortable after experiencing something frightening or disorienting.

This means it will be very important for parents to talk to their kids. . Let your child tell you about their experiences and help them better understand the difference between the real world and VR.

Does this mean that children under 13 should be cut off from VR? Not necessarily. Every person is different. Monitor equipment for fit. Shorter time on the system. Talk with your children about how they feel during and after gameplay. However, because of the age limit on most headsets, content may need a closer review.

Many parents are concerned about the long-term effects of VR on developing brains and on vision. But, there is very little consensus from medical experts and manufacturers around this. This is why 12 seems to be the most common age limit among VR manufacturers six years into VR’s mass market availability. There have been a few studies done on mice and they did not demonstrate long-term effects on young mice. However, most professional advice regarding VR and kids leans towards being conservative and not using your child as a guinea pig. Every child is different so parents should use their own judgement.

VR Games and Content

Our advice regarding content for VR is the same as every other console. Parents should do their research on the VR games their kids want to play. Remember if it’s not something you would let them play in any other game setting, those rules will still apply to VR.

We do, however, recommend that new players (young and old) start with less stimulating experiences to ease their introduction to virtual reality and help them adjust to the new game style. 

Some VR games do have in-game purchases. Parents should check the parental control functions, and set limits with your child to avoid potential problems.

(Note: Check out our list of Essential VR Games for the Meta Quest.)

Safe Space

Virtual reality requires a lot of space (most of the time). Imagine your child moving around your house with a blindfold. That is going to be their real-world experience while they are in VR. Clear a space for them to play to make sure your child won’t knock into a wall, fall over a coffee table, or break your favorite vase. No setup is perfect though, so you will want to supervise them during gameplay until they are accustomed to their devices and the games they play.

Final Thoughts

VR isn’t all that different from other forms of technology that are out there. Each family needs to evaluate what works best for them. Parents can look to current research, but ultimately they need to know their children and their own comfort levels in order to make the best decisions regarding virtual reality or any other new tech.


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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Sony has released an upgrade to the PlayStation Plus program. The new version of the program offers a number of features and benefits that are sure to appeal to parents and gamers alike. In this article, we will discuss all the details of the new PlayStation Plus program so that you can decide if it is right for your family. We will cover topics such as price, content, and how the program works. So whether you are already a PlayStation Plus member or are just considering signing up, read on for all the information you need!

PS+ has been around since 2010. During that time it has delivered a ton of free games and discounts to subscribers.

The program has always been optional, but it was a requirement for anyone who wants to play online multiplayer games on their PlayStation console. The vast majority of PS+ members are happy with the service and don’t mind paying $60/year for it, but there are some that feel like they’re being forced into it. Forced or not… PS+ is a key part of the PlayStation ecosystem so you need to know how it works in order to make the most out of your console.

  • Classics Catalog
  • Game Trials
  • Cloud Streaming

PlayStation Plus is divided into three tiers: Essential, Extra, and Premium.

PlayStation Plus EssentialPlayStation Plus ExtraPlayStation Plus Premium
Monthly Games Monthly Games Monthly Games
Online Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Online Multiplayer
Exclusive Discounts Exclusive Discounts Exclusive Discounts
Exclusive Content Exclusive Content Exclusive Content
Cloud Storage Cloud Storage Cloud Storage
Share Play Share Play Share Play
PlayStation Plus Collection PlayStation Plus Collection PlayStation Plus Collection
Game Help Game Help Game Help
Game Catalog Game Catalog
Ubisoft Classics Ubisoft Classics
Classics Catalog
Game Trials
Cloud Streaming
This chart shows a quick view of the benefits of each tier.

PlayStation Plus Essential

“Enjoy all the core PlayStation Plus benefits: join your friends in online multiplayer, add new games to your collection every month, get incredible deals from PlayStation Store, and more.”

  • Monthly Games
  • Online Multiplayer
  • Exclusive Discounts

PlayStation Plus Essential also includes:

  • The PlayStation Plus Collection*
  • Share Play
  • Game Help*
  • Cloud Storage
  • Exclusive Content

PlayStation Plus Extra

“Get all the great benefits included in the PlayStation Plus Essential plan, as well as access to the Game Catalog, featuring hundreds of games from genre-defining blockbusters to innovative indies, with new titles added regularly.”

  • Game Catalog
  • Ubisoft+ Classics

PlayStation Plus Extra also includes:

  • Monthly Games
  • Online Multiplayer
  • Exclusive Discounts
  • The PlayStation Plus Collection*
  • Share Play
  • Game Help*
  • Cloud Storage
  • Exclusive Content

PlayStation Plus Premium

“Enjoy all the core PlayStation Plus benefits, hundreds of games in the Game Catalog, as well as exclusive benefits like game trials, cloud streaming, and the Classics Catalog.”

PlayStation Plus Premium also includes:

  • Game Catalog
  • Ubisoft+ Classics
  • Monthly Games
  • Online Multiplayer
  • Exclusive Discounts
  • The PlayStation Plus Collection*
  • Share Play
  • Game Help*
  • Cloud Storage
  • Exclusive Content

How Much Does PlayStation Plus Cost?

1 Month3 Month12 Month
PlayStation Plus Essential$9.99$24.99$59.99
PlayStation Plus Extra$14.99$39.99$99.99
PlayStation Plus Premium$17.99$49.99$119.99
This table shows the subscription price for each tier of PlayStation Plus.

Advice

If you own a PlayStation 5 and want to play games online (with a few exceptions like Fortnite), then you’ll need to buy one of the plans to do so.

At that point, it is just a matter of choosing which of the three plans you want to buy into. The Essential plan works just like the PSPlus did at launch. It grants access to online play, discounts, two free games a month (determined by Sony), the PlayStation Plus Collection, and a few other minor benefits.

The Extra plan is an extra $5 a month (or $40/year). That extra cost gives you everything from the Essential package but includes access to a catalog of PS4 and PS5 games at no extra charge.

The Plus Premium plan is only a few dollars more a month and adds access to the classics catalog. This is a collection of older PlayStation titles like Dark Cloud and Ape Escape. This is a great move if you have nostalgia for these older PlayStation titles, but have gotten rid of your older PlayStation consoles.

Other Guides

There are a ton of other premium video game services out there so we wrote guides for all of them.  Take a look below:

A Parent’s Guide to Xbox Live Gold

A Parent’s Guide to Xbox Game Pass

A Parent’s Guide to PlayStation Now


The new PlayStation Plus program is definitely worth a look if you are in the market for a gaming subscription service. With its low price and wealth of content, there is something for everyone in this program. Not to mention, the added features make it an even more appealing option for families. Be sure to check out all the details on Sony’s website so that you can decide if PlayStation Plus is right for you! And don’t forget to let us know what you think about the new program in the comments below.

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Update – 08/14/2022

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It’s no secret that video games are extremely popular among kids and teenagers. In fact, gaming is one of the most popular pastimes for young people all over the world. If you’re a parent, you may be wondering how you can get your kids into video games.

Here are a few tips:

Set up a gaming area in your home.

A lot of parents ask us to recommend good locations in the house for gaming areas. It’s a good question because everyone’s house is different. Our recommendation is that you have game consoles set up in one of the main areas of the house where it will be convenient and comfortable for you, as parents, to be with your kids while they are playing. This will give your kids their own space to play games while still making it easy for you to monitor their activity. My only specific recommendation is to make sure the area is well-lit and comfortable so they can enjoy their gaming experience. If it isn’t comfortable, then they might not use it.

Buy them age-appropriate games.

There are literally thousands of video games on the market, so it’s important to choose ones that are appropriate for your child’s age and interests. If you’re not sure what to buy, then that’s ok. We have plenty of recommendations for all consoles in our EFG Essentials recommendations. These lists of games include recommendations across a variety of genres and themes. You can check out our essential family game recommendations for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, or Xbox at these links.

Encourage them to game with friends.

One of the best things about video games is that they can be enjoyed with friends. If your child is interested in gaming, encourage them to game with their friends. Not only is it a great way for them to stay social, but studies have shown that playing video games with friends can improve teamwork skills and communication skills.

Play Games with Your Kids!

One of the best ways to get your kids into gaming is to get involved yourself. Play video games with your kids and let them show you how it’s done. Not only will this help you bond with your kids, but you might just find that you enjoy gaming as well! (Who are we kidding? Of course, you’ll enjoy video games!)

Talk to your kids about games

Show an interest in what your kids are playing and ask them about their favorite games. This will help you bond with them over a shared interest and will make it easier to monitor their gaming activity.

So there you have it! Our tips on how to get your kids into video games. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to share this post with all of your friends who have little ones at home. Gaming is a great way to bond with your children, help them learn new skills, and have some fun together. And who knows – maybe they’ll even teach you a thing or two about the latest gaming trends.

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to video games:

Battle Pass


A Battle Pass is a collection of rewards and cosmetics that slowly becomes available through play over a set period of time. These collections are often available either through real-life or in-game currencies and are often paired with rewards that are free for all players. 

Battle Passes reward players who consistently play throughout the month, with rewards that renew on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Battle Passes are often priced so that they can be purchased using real or in-game currency.

Fortnite Battle Pass

The Battle Pass’s name originated in Fortnite, but most major free-to-play multiplayer games have integrated some variation of a Battle Pass into their play and reward offerings.



Examples:

  • MTG Arena Season Pass
  • Fortnite Battle Pass

So, what do you think? Are Battle Passes a good way to keep players engaged and coming back for more? Or are they just another ploy by developers to get more of our hard-earned cash? Let us know in the comments below! And don’t forget to check out our other blog posts for more great content like this.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

Your Family Game On!

The EFG Essentials

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to video games:

Metroidvania

Metroidvania is a genre of games that features an interconnected map where shortcuts or entire portions of the map are locked away. These inaccessible areas are opened by in-game keys, or with new abilities acquired by the character during play.

This term comes from its first popular use in the SNES title Super Metroid and the PS1 title: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The interconnected nature of this design encourages exploration without tedious backtracking.

Metroidvania-style games often fall in the action/adventure genre of video games, but exist in other genres as well.


Metroidvania games will often include abilities and items that encourage players to rethink and re-explore places that have already been traveled through during the first part of the game.

The player will often encounter branching pathways where one or more exits are made inaccessible by being too far, too high up, or too hazardous to access.

These games will often have maps that loop back on themselves after unlocking more of the map through a key or new ability, which creates this feeling of an organically expanding world instead of a series of curated experiences.

Some examples of these types of abilities are:

  • Missiles (Metroid Series)
  • Double Jump (Symphony of the Night)
  • Cut/Surf (Pokemon Series)
  • Pollo Power (Guacamelee)

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

Your Family Game On!

The EFG Essentials

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