Hearts of Iron IV

If your kid loves thinking strategically (including micro-managing) and loves history, then this game is perfect! The game includes mods that can span from (as I've seen) 1900-2030. So you aren't limited to just world war 2. In terms of violence, well it's a war simulation game, casualties will be usually in the hundreds of thousands if not millions, but none of it is shown, they are only numbers on a screen. When you first play the game, it is really hard to understand all the buttons and functions but doesn't worry, with each game it gets easier until soon enough it feels like there isn't too many options!

Hearts of Iron IV (often abbreviated as HOI4) is a complex World War 2 strategy game, where a player leads their nation through World War 2. The game starts off in history, but events will usually deviate to some degree, creating innumerable alternate historical possibilities. The warfare you see is generally about as violent as a board game. If you zoom in, you can see soldiers, tanks, warships, and planes moving and shooting at each other, but these are not realistic depictions, and the most violence you will see is an airplane being shot down (and vanishing before it crashes). The actual numbers and casualties are realistic for World War II, although historical atrocities are deliberately omitted. Gameplay is very complex, and the tutorial is not adequate. The best way to learn this game is probably from watching Let's Plays on YouTube. Even then, hours of trial-and-error are required to even grasp the basics. This game is not for those lacking in patience. This is the main reason for the game's age recommendation. There is no sex or profanity in the base game. A few military leaders are depicted smoking cigarettes or pipes, but that is the only representation of drinking or drugs. As for role models, well, it's World War II. Some of the historical figures are good role models, some are bad role models, and some of them are the actual Nazis. No review of Hearts of Iron IV would be complete without mention of the mod scene. This game is incredibly easy to mod, and Paradox has put a lot of work into supporting the modder community. Some of these mods, such as the incredible Kaiserreich, are easily worth the purchase price of the game. This does carry the risk of more explicit content, as new mods are not subject to approval before being uploaded. However, it also means that this game is particularly well-suited for children who are interested in game design. It is not hard to understand the game files and alter them. A fun project might be taking an ancestor who fought in World War II, and adding them into the game as a general.