Parents' Guide to Dungeon of Gods

Kids choose a special skill before each round, and there's less emphasis on buying things than in other games -- but this role-playing game (RPG) doesn't vary much from scene to scene. The backstory Dungeon of Gods provides is brief, and the instructions kids get about how to play are too. They may be surprised to discover that much of the action in the game is automated. They essentially use the circular on-screen joystick to move the half-human, half-god warrior they portray around each setting to find monsters to attack. Once they're near one, the character generally just begins to fight, without kids doing much to start the process -- which may be a point of frustration if they enjoy managing their battle moves.

Players do control some aspects of the game, such as choosing a special ability for the next scene, which can range from having an enhanced assault range to a potion that provides recovery power. Kids can also move their character toward or away from opponents to avoid their attacks, which is a key part of surviving. If the demigod is hit too many times, he'll die. That can happen fairly easily if you get surrounded -- and quickly, since you can't really control the demigod's ability to fight back. Kids may feel like they're spending more time watching the action than actually participating in it. The whole process starts to feel a little routine after a while, since kids are basically doing the same thing in scenes, just sometimes facing more opponents. The gameplay gets more repetitive if they can't complete all 10 scenes, referred to as chapters, because they'll have to start over from the first one and go through the entire sequence again. Kids aren't under an overwhelming amount of pressure to buy things, which is a plus -- but that alone may not be enough to convince them to keep playing Dungeon of Gods.