Core Skills Analysis
Language Arts
The child played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and then reviewed the game for a friend, explaining an opinion about the experience. This gave the child practice organizing thoughts for an audience and communicating an evaluation in spoken or informal form. After being encouraged to write a longer review, the child had an opportunity to develop those ideas in writing and support opinions with specific examples. Considering an online audience also introduced the importance of clear wording and thoughtful communication.
Media Literacy
By reviewing a video game, the child practiced responding critically to a form of digital entertainment rather than only playing it. The activity invited the child to consider the game as an experience that could be described and evaluated for someone else. Sharing a review with a friend, and considering posting a longer version online, connected personal judgment with audience awareness. This offered a starting point for thinking about how reviews inform other people’s choices.
Digital Citizenship
The suggestion to post a longer review online created an opportunity for the child to consider how public writing differs from sharing an opinion with a friend. The child could practice making comments respectful, accurate, and useful to readers. The activity also provided a natural context for discussing how to protect personal information and review platform guidelines before publishing. These are practical skills for participating thoughtfully in online communities.
Tips
Tips Turn the child’s review into a mini publishing project: brainstorm the game’s strongest features, choose examples, draft an introduction and conclusion, then revise for clarity before deciding whether to share it. Compare the review with published game reviews and notice how reviewers explain opinions, describe gameplay, and address intended audiences. Invite the child to create a short rating rubric and score several aspects of the game, explaining each score with evidence. Before any online post, discuss privacy, respectful language, and the intended audience so the child can make an informed publishing choice.
Book Recommendations
- The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Third Edition by Jesse Schell: A widely used guide to analyzing how games work, with perspectives that can help a young reviewer think more deeply about player experience and design.
- Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal: Explores the appeal and wider impact of games, offering ideas for considering why people play and what games can contribute.
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White: A concise reference for improving clarity and precision when developing a longer written review.
Try This Next
- Review planner: rate the game’s story, gameplay, and overall experience, then add one example to explain each rating.
- Writing prompt: “What would a friend want to know before choosing this game?”
- Create a one-page review poster with a headline, short summary, opinion, and supporting details.