Parents' Guide to

Rise of the Guardians

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Santa wields sword in combat-heavy, RPG-like action game.

Rise of the Guardians Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (2):

Rise of the Guardians is essentially a dungeon crawler for kids, save that Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost are put in place of the usual elves, dwarves, and mages. It might seem a slight difference, but it feels significant when playing. Seeing Santa -- or "North," as he's called in the game -- running around and hacking away at spooky creatures with a sword seems like something better suited to an episode of South Park than a game for kids.

Story and characters aside, the game isn't half bad. The mazelike levels will test kids' navigational skills, and there are loads of items to collect and little objectives to complete (friends that need to be rescued from cages, pals that need to be kept safe from bad guys, etc.). Plus, a simple, intuitive leveling system, complete with growing attribute statistics, unlockable abilities, and skill-altering crystals provides a good reason to keep playing. It's all very basic stuff, but suitable for a first-time dungeon crawling experience. Too bad that Santa is the character whose attacks you're leveling up. That just seems wrong.

Game Details

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