How to choose the right computer games for children? How to choose games according to your computer’s system requirements or how not to waste money? Where to see the characteristics of your PC.

Now that almost every family has a computer, it is of interest even to small children. They are interested in why you spend some time at the table, looking at the monitor, and everything mysterious attracts and beckons. But if you are interested in the Internet and the possibilities of the network, watching movies and clips, or your work is related to certain programs, then your child will be interested simply in the fact of the presence of this machine, the sounds that come from it and the pictures that flash on the monitor.

As he gets older, it is no longer enough for him to just sit on his parent’s lap and watch; he wants to participate in the process, touch, think. In this case, you should gradually introduce the child to working with a computer. But remember, 15-20 minutes a day - no more. It has long been known that a computer will not cause more harm than the same TV.

But simply putting a child in a chair and leaving everything in his hands is not entirely correct. Firstly, this is fraught with negative consequences not only for the computer, and secondly, it would be better to occupy it with something, for example, an interesting game.

First acquaintance

Let's say your child is 2 years old. He seems to be young, but on the other hand, right now he is interested in everything new and unusual, and therefore a healthy interest in computers will immediately arise.
Let's start with mouse control. You need to show how to hold it correctly in your hands, what happens if you press the left/right buttons, how the cursor moves on the monitor. He must remember which button opens and closes windows, and which shows functions.

In World Wide Web There is quite an interesting game, specially designed for the first acquaintance with a computer. It's called "Butterflies and Fishes". The bottom line is that flowers, butterflies or fish appear on a black screen if the child presses any buttons. This is very exciting, but you will quickly get bored, so it is better to choose several games of various themes and difficulty levels. This develops the skills to control the mouse and interact hand movements with subsequent changes on the screen.
After such games, your child will definitely want something new and more complex, then you can look on store shelves for a variety of educational games, teaching aids foreign languages and natural sciences, games to develop logic and thinking, as well as creativity.

Educational games

They help remember shapes and colors, shapes, letters and numbers. This good start in order to learn to read and count. Games develop not only mathematical abilities, but also humanitarian ones. This is very useful for preschoolers aged 3 to 8 years.

Games that develop foreign languages

In general, children don’t really like languages ​​at the beginning, since they are incomprehensible, but games attract interest. There are different levels: from beginners (alphabet and simple words) to more high level(with animated illustrations, exciting quizzes). Many fairy tales and stories can even be listened to in audio format. Games are made in interesting styles using some hero from a fairy tale or book. You can check your pronunciation using karaoke.

Benefits for the development of natural sciences

This is a very interesting offer for children 5-6 years old who are interested in nature, biology, astronomy, physics and chemistry. Your favorite character will tell your child with interest about life on planet Earth and the animals that inhabit it.

Educational games

They are designed to train memory, develop imagination and spatial thinking. Here you can find puzzles, puzzles, and labyrinths. They force the child to think, analyze and remember specific actions.

Games that develop thinking

They are suitable even for children under 12 years old. The bottom line is that there is some task and in order to complete it, you need to do some specific actions. A character can be either the main character or his best friend. There are also quizzes, competitions and tasks that develop memory and thinking.



Games that develop your child's creativity

These are probably some of the most interesting games. They will help your child decide what he likes best: music, painting or something else. Musical works by the best composers will make lessons easy and enjoyable, and they will also help develop your hearing. Together with the characters, the child can compose songs and sing them.

Some people prefer to create something original, like a card or sticker to give to mom or a friend. This hobby will allow you to create unique inscriptions and designs on T-shirts, cups, etc. These games are suitable for children 5-6 years old.

Disc selection

It’s very easy to get confused in the store, because there are so many games that you don’t know which one to choose. There is no need to buy a game based only on its beautiful cover.
The parameters of your computer must match the requirements of the disk, otherwise the game simply will not start or will not play well. The company must be well known and already well established in the market.

Don't forget about your child's age, it is usually indicated on the cover. But the most important thing is the baby’s abilities, preferences and interests. After all, boys like one thing (logic, adventure, technology), while girls like something quieter (music, painting, design). But there are also games, so-called universal ones, that will be interesting to both.

Computer games are not only entertainment and a pleasant pastime, they are also learning, learning about the world and the environment. The child learns to study (may this tautology be forgiven), to think, to think, and this is only beneficial.

Do you love logic games? But it often happens that you can’t answer a question correctly, but you just want to move on. Where is level 2 logic you can find out the answers on the website http://www.fan-igra.ru/?p=5071. Don't drive yourself into a dead end, there are still many questions waiting for you.

Quite difficult, with a huge number of computer games, choose a computer game to your liking.
Of course, the choice of game is influenced by the capabilities of your computer, the availability and quality of the Internet connection. Let's assume that everything is fine with this. Let's try to give an approximate classification of computer games and introduce some terms.
Maybe she will allow you to choose the genre in which you want to try your hand.

Computer games can be divided into:

Role Playing Game (RPG)

1. First person games. The player sees the game world through the eyes of a computer hero.
2. Third person games. While playing, you observe your computer character from the side.
3. Leadership games. You lead the activities of a group of characters.

Non-role-playing computer games

1. Arcades.
2. Puzzles.
3. Games for speed of reaction.
4. Traditional gambling. All casino games

Main genres of computer games

Action (action games)

Three-dimensional shooters (3D Shooter)

In them, the player, usually operating alone, must destroy enemies using a large arsenal of weapons. The player, after completing the assigned tasks, moves to the next level of the game. The opponents are usually: bandits (Max Payne game), fascists (Return to Castle Wolfenstein game) or other negative characters such as various aliens, mutants, monsters (Doom game, Half-life).

The plot of the game, as well as the arsenal of weapons, can be very diverse.
In “realistic” games (FarCry, FEAR), the character has a limited number of weapons at his disposal. In arcade games (eg Unreal Tournament, Quake) all types of weapons in the game are available. A feature of “realistic” “shooters” is a more developed scheme of damage dealt to the character and his enemies. For example, hitting critical spots in a "realistic" shooter will often cause the player's character to die instantly. In arcade games, a character’s “hit points” (health indicator) are only taken away.

First and third person shooters

A first person shooter (FPS) allows the player to look at what is happening through the eyes of the character, without seeing him.
*Doom
*Quake
* Unreal Tournament
A third person shooter (TPS) allows the player to see his character from different sides (usually from the back). Many games allow you to choose which person to play as.
* Tomb Raider
* Max Payne
*MDK

Tactical shooters

Unlike classic shooters, the character is not a lone hero, but plays as part of a team. Most often, the activities of units are simulated - interaction between combat units, maneuvers and choice of direction of attack, selection of a team and its weapons. In the single version, the role of partners is played by bots, in the network version - by real players.
*Battlefield
* Counter-Strike
*Star Wars
* Delta Force

"Bloody" shooters

The peculiarity of such games is destruction huge amount opponents, mostly computer bots (characters created by the game). Typically, the battlefield presents a gruesome spectacle of blood and body parts.
* Serious Sam
* Painkiller
* Will Rock

Fighting games (fights, brawls)

This is a combat between two (sometimes more) opponents, using hand-to-hand combat and a large number of different single and combined strikes. Battle arenas and characters can be very diverse.
*Mortal Kombat
*Street Fighter
* Tekken

Slasher

A type of third-person game, the feature of which is duels with fencing with edged weapons.
* Blade of darkness
* Rune
* Enclave

Arcade (game)

The gameplay is straightforward and does not change during the game. The player is basically required to have a good reaction. Arcades have an extensive system of various game bonuses, such as scoring points, gradually unlocking game elements, etc.

Stealth action (invisible action)

In such games, you need to try not to fight, but to avoid contact with the enemy in order to complete tasks.
* Assassin's Creed
* Thief
*Prince of Persia

Simulators

Technical

In such games, control of complex equipment is simulated (for example: a combat aircraft, tank, car, etc.). The quality of technical simulators is the maximum implementation of the completeness and realism of control, movement and combat operations of a controlled object.
*FlightGear
*Live for Speed
*Microsoft Flight Simulator

Sports

The name speaks for itself. This is an imitation of a popular sports game. The most common are simulations of all kinds of competitive game sports.

Arcade simulators

A lightweight version of technical simulators. These are mainly simulators of spaceships, tanks and cars.
* X-Wing
* Need for Speed
* All-wheel drive

Economic

Economic simulators are very close to the strategy genre. The player’s goal is to extract maximum virtual profit from entrepreneurship in conditions where the behavior of the market and competitors is close to real life.
*Capitalism
*Hollywood Mogul

Many strategy games include elements of an economic simulation, where one of the player's tasks is the need to make a profit for development. In similar strategy games, the player controls a variety of economic systems, for example, a city (SimCity), an island (Tropico), an agricultural farm (SimFarm), transport (Railroad Tycoon), etc. Sometimes the control object can be unusual objects such as a dungeon (Dungeon Keeper) or an anthill (SimAnt).

Strategies

Games, necessary requirement which is the development of a winning strategy to achieve a specific goal, for example, victory in a military operation. The player controls entire groups of characters. There are turn-based (players take turns making moves) strategy games (Turn-Based Strategy, TBS) and real-time strategy games (simultaneous execution of actions by all players) (Real Time Strategy, RTS).

Real-time strategy

Most often this genre has a classic gameplay including: collection of certain resources; construction and improvement of your base; creation of combat units (soldiers, equipment) on this base; creating squads from them to storm and capture an enemy base.
*Command & Conquer
*Warcraft.

Turn-based strategies

Here the players take turns. This makes the game less dynamic, and on the other hand, the player has much more time to analyze the situation and make decisions.
* X-COM
* Civilization
*Heroes of Might and Magic

Strategies based on gameplay volume

Wargames

In this type of strategy, the player's task is not to create an army, but to defeat the enemy with the forces available at the beginning of the game.
* Steel Panthers;
* Panzer General;
*Squad Battles.

Global Strategies

The player controls the state. Not only war and the economy, but also scientific progress depends on his actions. Much attention is paid to the development of new territories and diplomacy.
*Master of Orion
* Total War
* Civilization

God simulators

In these games, the player acts as a “god” - a kind of supernatural force that takes care of a limited number of characters. The player generally does not control the game characters. His role is determined by “divine” intervention in their lives.
* Black & White;
* Dungeon Keeper;
*Spore.

Adventures

In such games, the player's character solves logical problems, interacts with the game world using all kinds of objects and communicates with other characters.
* Space Quest series
* episode of Larry in a weekend suit
* Syberia series
* Myst series

Role-playing games (RPG)

The characters in role-playing games have a certain set of abilities, skills and characteristics that determine their capabilities. Most often, the main characteristic of both the character and the enemies is the level. It is this that determines the character’s capabilities: strength, set of available skills and items of equipment. To go to new level You need to gain experience by killing other characters or monsters and completing tasks.
Usually there is a large game world, interesting storyline. Dialogues are non-linear and involve many possible answers to a question. A large number of different non-player characters.
Various equipment is used, a large number of potions and artifacts, etc.

Subgenres of computer games RPG

action RPG - a mixture of shooter and RPG. There are complex tasks, non-linear plot development and a developed character leveling system.
Deus Ex
Hexen 2
Gothic

Hack'n'Slash RPG - games in which the emphasis is on exterminating enemies, collecting items with the best performance, and pumping up characteristics. It is characterized by a simple game world and plot with a limited number of dialogues.
Diablo
Dungeon Siege
Lineage 2

True RPG - a role-playing game with a significant amount of dialogue, great freedom in finding ways to solve various problems, a complex world and plot.
Gothic
Fallout
Baldur's Gate

JRPG - (Japanese RPG) . Big world, lots of dialogue, although freedom of choice is not very great. Usually has a very fascinating, albeit linear plot. There isn't much choice in how you can improve your character's stats. Characterized by very well-developed and beautiful characters.
Final Fantasy
Dragon Quest.

Tactical RPG

A mixture of role-playing game and turn-based strategy. Control takes place by a relatively small group of warriors.
Fallout Tactics
Jagged Alliance
X-COM (UFO)
Gorky 17 and Gorky 18

Puzzles, logic, puzzles

Puzzles, in general, do not require a quick reaction from the player and the time to solve is, most often, not limited (not always).
Sapper
Sokoban
Fox hunting
Portal

Traditional and tabletop

Computer embodiment of many board games, such as chess, backgammon, dominoes, all kinds card games, checkers, Monopoly, games from the Warhammer series.

Classification of computer games by number of players

Singles (singleplayer)

Designed for playing alone, against the computer.

Multiplayer (multiplayer)

Designed for play by several people (usually up to 32) local network or on the Internet.

Multiplayer offline games (PBEM)

Some games can work according to the following scheme: players make moves and send the result through some services (web or email). This type of game has the following features:
the player needs to periodically appear online. The frequency and time of connection is chosen by the player himself, without coordinating it with the presenters and opponents.
Unlimited stroke duration (from several hours to several days)
The game can last for a very long period of time.

Mass online (MMORPG)

Massive games that require an Internet connection. The majority of such games are unplayable offline. Browser games are good because they do not require installing the game on your computer.
World of Warcraft
Aion
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Ragnarok Online
EVE Online
RF Online
Everquest 2
Lineage 2
Steel Giants
My brute
Virtual pets website
Mist
DarkOrbit

Now that you are familiar with the main classification of computer games, it will probably be easier for you choose a computer game.

Remember that computer games can be addictive and addictive. You can read about this problem in the article:.

When choosing a computer, special attention should be paid to the 5 most important components of the device. First of all, it is necessary to select a central processor that will become the heart of the future gaming system and will meet the minimum performance requirements.

A processor for modern games must have at least 4 cores to cope with multitasking and the heavy computing load that falls on it when running heavy graphics applications. The processor clock speed is also important, which should be as high as possible. Among the optimal options for a productive system, for example, may be i5 and i7 processors from Intel with clock frequency at least 2.4 GHz.

Before buying a gaming computer, study the data provided by the manufacturers and collect an approximate equipment configuration by reading all kinds of reviews and reading reviews and tests of certain components.

Motherboard

The motherboard is responsible for the reliability and performance, as well as the potential expandability of the entire system. This part of the gaming computer must have several slots for RAM in case of planned purchase of new strips to increase system performance.

For budget versions of the gaming system, motherboards with one slot for a video card are suitable, however, to increase graphics performance, you can purchase a motherboard with two PCI-Express x16 so that you can connect two video adapters at once and combine them SLi technology to improve the performance of the graphics subsystem. Don't forget that you need to choose a board that matches the Socket number of the processor. Thus, when choosing a core for your future gaming computer, do not forget to choose the right motherboard.

Speed ​​indicators of RAM and hard drive

Properly selected RAM sticks should operate at high frequencies (1600 MHz and higher). This will allow for greater application response and faster data recording, which is actively performed during the game.

No less important components are hard drives, the reading speed of which should be higher and correspond to the volume of the media itself. The faster information is read from a computer HDD, the faster the game itself will load.

When purchasing a powerful processor, you will need to purchase other components of appropriate power so that the computing capabilities of each computer device are used to their full potential.

Selecting a video card

The video card will become one of the most expensive elements of any gaming system. If you are planning to purchase two or more video adapters, turn your attention towards the latest models from Nvidia. For systems with a single graphics card, you can explore models from both ATI and Nvidia. It is desirable that the memory capacity of the graphics video system be at least 1 GB, but today it is recommended to have 2 GB of graphics memory to run serious graphics applications.

Before downloading or purchasing any computer game, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the system requirements and compare them with the characteristics of your device. Let's figure out how to choose a game based on your computer's parameters.

Why is this necessary?

Depending on the level of graphics and the game engine, it becomes more or less demanding system characteristics. If your computer is much weaker than the requirements stated by the official publisher or game developers, then most likely the application will either not start at all or will be very slow.

What are the manifestations of game slowdown and how to identify it? Very simple. After launch, you will notice that the number of frames per second is significantly lower than the comfortable value of 30 or more FPS. This manifests itself in the picture twitching, freezing or slowness of the image on the screen. Of course, due to such inconveniences, playing becomes inconvenient or completely impossible. That is why it is necessary to select games so that digital entertainment brings pleasure, and does not force the player to tinker with the settings.

Most modern games have gradation of graphics settings by quality (low, medium, high and maximum). Often you can manually set each parameter and select settings that will allow your computer to cope with the load placed on it.

About 10 years ago it was considered normal to play on old PCs, with lags and slowdowns. In today's world, no spoiled gamer will even launch a game if it doesn't run well on his PC.

Optimization

We must not forget the fact that the stable operation of a computer game is influenced not only by the characteristics of the device, but also by engine optimization. Nowadays you can find many projects that are coming out in early access and are gradually being improved. Moreover, such games are accompanied by a bunch of flaws and poor optimization. Even the most modern configurations are not capable of handling the game, so they produce the same weak results as, for example, computers in the mid-price segment. In this case, it is impossible to select a game based on the computer parameters. You will have to wait for improvements from the creators or fans of the game itself.

What affects performance?

Let's figure out what you need to pay attention to when choosing a game according to system requirements. The first is technical specifications. In this case, you need to pay attention to all parameters: processor, RAM, video card, Internet availability and free space on your hard drive. Special attention should be paid to the video card, since it is in most cases responsible for graphics processing.

Second point - software. Some projects are developed specifically for certain versions of operating systems. For example, games from Microsoft now run only on Windows 10. Also, some applications are created exclusively for 64-bit platforms. These parameters also need to be taken into account when selecting a game.

Where can I find the specifications?

The operating system offers all the necessary information to the user. To access it you need to do the following:

  1. Open
  2. Pay attention to the "System" and "Windows Edition" sections. Everything is here necessary information about the computer, except for the video card.
  3. To understand which video card is installed in your computer, you need to select “Device Manager” in the “System” window.
  4. In the window that opens, find the “Video adapters” section and look at the name of the device.
  5. You can find the component specifications on the Internet.

Where can I find the game system requirements?

To select games according to the system requirements of the computer, you need to find a list of requirements from the project developers. It all depends on the method in which you purchase the game:

  1. When purchasing a game in a box, you can read the requirements on the back of the package.
  2. When purchasing a key from an online store (for example, Steam), read all the information on the description page.
  3. When downloading a pirated version, check the system requirements on the distribution page or ask other users in the comments.

To select a game based on your computer's parameters, you need to compare the PC's characteristics and the requirements for the game. If your device matches the power of the presented characteristics or exceeds them, then you can safely download and run this game. You should not have any problems during gameplay if the game meets its stated requirements and is well optimized. If you do not understand hardware and cannot select a game based on your computer’s parameters yourself, then use special services. There are many of these on the Internet.

Now you know how to select a game based on your computer parameters. Enjoy good projects regardless of their schedule and requirements!

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