The reason why children nowadays LOVE ROBLOX so much is the same reason why many of us fell in love with the similar technology in it’s primal version. Games like PONG, PACMAN, DONKEY KONG, and STREET FIGHTER, drew children of the past to insert more coins and play repetitively as well. Don’t forget how NINTENDO and ATARI came into the picture bringing games into our homes, that solved problems of those who could not get to an arcade room.
The big difference between ROBLOX and those retro games is that, before we played these games together, regardless where we were. A child before having a portable device at home, would still need a player next to him or her to enjoy the game. Game arcades were full, and every single child was into playing with one another. Game equipment before was tangible and was passed from one player to another. Do you remember how you asked someone for a coin to continue playing? What about when you threw that ball in the shooting ring to gain some points? Also when you asked your friend if you can visit his house to play the SUPER MARIO game? Before, playing computer or video games opens communication among all players. There was real life interaction involved, and we love it, and we see it’s positive effects. All of these games that enhance human interaction suddenly came into halt when technology reached the new era of the internet.
DOOM is the pioneer game of this new age of computer games. The game uses technology and allows players to roam around in a 3d maze connecting with other players online. This technology opened a new door for games, and resulted in a new generation of online game players. New generation of game lovers which grew into our children’s undying love for ROBLOX today!
Parents normal perception
Many of us nowadays are anxious about the amount of time our children spend playing ROBLOX in a day. We have been facing curiosity about what our children get from this online game, and why it seems so impossible for our children to stop playing this game. Due to this, I have decided to get into their world, so I can better understand our children’s world. Yes!, I did play ROBLOX for a short time, played it with the kids, and having that hands-on experience playing the game widened my understanding about their great desire for ROBLOX. Let me tell you my personal point of view about this game.
Personal point of view
ROBLOX is not merely a game. It is a social platform for all the players to get along and socialize while playing games designed for them. There are unlimited options available that suit any child’s wants, desires, characters and personality. The games are designed to prevent boredom or make boredom a non-existing word. Choices are insane! I have come up with a list of reasons why a certain child will always long to play, or will not stop playing the games found in ROBLOX. Here they are:
- Signing up and joining is easy. Emails not needed nor any parental consent. Children can help themselves without disturbing any adult, and that’s what they love.
- Creating AVATAR is easy and FUN!
- The ingame avatar has unlimited lives, or shall we say, can play FOREVER…(well, unless the site shuts off itself) Hearing from our kids, they reacted, “that’s not true”. Well, from a child’s perspective, not from an adult. Believe me, there is always LIFE for an avatar to play endlessly!
- Playing the games from roblox.com involves stages, surprises, and discoveries that will make each child long for. Something new is always popping up making all children dream of it as soon as possible.
- The game gives our children the feeling of having possessions. These possessions they have make them feel good. Though they can’t touch it, knowing that they have these virtually is fulfilling.
- New strategies are always available to keep the children play and encounter new challenges. Anything new to a child is exciting and FUN. EXTREMELY fun!
I am certain that many if not all of us already knew the disadvantages of ROBLOX. The reason why I am not going through all those. Main thing I want to point out as my greatest concern that I found as the bad side of this game is that anyone can create an account easily. Signing up for a ROBLOX account does not require parental consent nor requires certain identification. For me, it is the biggest loophole of this entertaining game.
Let’s talk about the ADVANTAGES that I discovered after playing ROBLOX with the children. Here’s my list:
- CREATIVITY– Creating your own world through this game definitely makes a child ecstatic about how possible things can be. I can compare the feeling I got when I was creating my own little sanctuary in ROBLOX with the feeling I used to get when I was playing legos with my brothers before…way before! The sense of accomplishments from the two games are definitely the same. My excitement and enthusiasm were on top, but more than that, I believe creativity is being harnessed in ROBLOX through unlimited ways of crafting your own world.
- GENEROSITY and KINDNESS– Playing ROBLOX is more fun and exciting every time a player gives and takes some help from other players. Some players can be generous and kind enough to help you achieve your goals and in exchange; if someone knows how to show gratitude, then, giving back is pleasurable. Paying forward a stranger’s kindness is easy due to the fact that everyone involved in the game experienced the need and being needed. It builds character and personality. That I am certain with.
- DECISION MAKING skills – Many instances during the game are all about decision making skills. Everytime a player decides to buy, collect, save, trade, or sell resources and materials in the game involves appropriate decision making skills. Decisions that weren’t processed well with logical reasoning will cause a player to fail or delay some progress in his craft. A growing child may not be very adept about this, but as an adult, this is one of the traits being practiced when someone plays the game.
- PATIENCE and ACCURACY– A player’s patience and accuracy are constantly put into test because the game requires these skills for optimal gaming pleasure. As we all know and agree, “Patience is Virtue”, and striving for accuracy are some of the traits we want our children to know and develop. The way a player hits a key, drags a mouse, and releases it involves patience and accuracy. Without these traits, frustrations may happen, and I bet all children strive to be accurate with all their moves when they play the game. They avoid frustrations!
- PERSEVERANCE – Hardwork and determination is no doubt a big part of this game. We used to play games that come with instruction manuals and house rules that support us during the game. Not ROBLOX. A player needs to persevere, and should keep trying to figure things out on his own through trial and error to see which one works and which does not.
- SCIENCE involvement– The systematic use of such materials like for example turning iron ore into iron through heating is being introduced in the game. Technical procedures of creating some natural and man-made resources and materials are being implemented. These simple logical procedures that a player encounters definitely enhances someone’s understanding of Science in our daily lives. Nowadays, simple things like turning wheat into bread, sand into glass, and clay into bricks are experienced through this game by our children. Maybe that’s why children may find it less interesting to help us bake at the kitchen just to see our failed baked bread (at times). They do it in ROBLOX all the time, and unlike at the kitchen, they immediately see an almost perfect kind of bread, like I mean a divine looking one virtually! 🙂
- VOCABULARY– Not only that children are exposed to English vocabulary words, some technical and scientific words are also introduced during the entire course of the game. Example, “aqua marine”. Would you believe a 5 year old would know what an aquamarine is and what it does? What about “ pick ax”?, or the word “saplings”?, or an “iron rod”?, and many more! Well, thanks to ROBLOX! Our children are given the privilege to define and understand some words that a 12 year old young adult is expected to know. Pretty awesome!
- CRITICAL THINKING skills – This game gives a player a chance to think how to create things in a logical manner. For instance, players can only grow grapes with trellings, and a player needs to figure it out themselves, unless someone coached them on what they need to do. The discovery of this simple thing creates a self -contained feeling of achievement that a player may not express physically, but believe me, they have expressed those triumphs to their online playmates. Yes, ofcourse through chat boxes. The ability to anticipate during the game assists a player to have a wonderful and positive experience. Children’s ideas about cause and effect are prominent all throughout the game just like, “ planting gives you crops”, “ baking and many other tasks are made possible after acquiring a furnace”, and “selling seed crops can give you fortune”.
- REAL LIFE situation experiences– Most of the things that are happening in the game are certainly a replica of real life situations. Meeting people, making connections, establishing trusts, existence of betrayals, success, and failure are what the players face during game play. The way players respond to all these real life situations they encounter in the game play an important role on how they are going to be the moment they face adulthood.
- TEAMWORK– The spirit of working together among players and or friends is inevitable. The self-esteem a player could get after knowing that he or she has helped someone resolving a problem is an experience someone can treasure and learn from. That’s why we often hear our children always ask their classmates or real friends to join them on ROBLOX. Well, who else do you want to work with other than someone you know personally… way much better with real friends!
- STAYING INDOORS– We all know how dangerous it is nowadays to let our children play outdoors unlike how we used to play before. As a parent, knowing that my children are at home definitely gives me a peace of mind knowing that they are in a safe place. In addition to that, the COVID19 pandemic gives all children the best reason to play ROBLOX. This could be an advantage to many of us, especially if we have to do some tasks and daily chores, where keeping our children occupied is somehow our goal, so we can accomplish our tasks in a certain time.
- Gadgets Literacy – There is no question, children nowadays know shortcuts of some commands we as parents are not aware of. Their ability to understand functions of keyboards or touch screen devices is excellent, that made us wonder “how did they know about it?”, or “who taught them how to do it?”. Yeah, pretty much our children have been exploring all the endless possibilities of the 21st century devices available around us. They are gadget geeks!
Conclusion
To end, I can say that ROBLOX could be a tool for us parents to use in fostering relationships with our children. We have tried doing activities we thought could be better for our children like, baking, planting, cooking, painting, basketball and many more, but the delight they are getting from ROBLOX can never equate with whatever they get from the aforementioned activities. After getting into the game myself, I can definitely say that ROBLOX with parents’ guidance could be an advantage to the family. Not only that we are spending time with our children, but more importantly playing ROBLOX with our children gives us the chance to know them better, in a fun, more engaging way! In closing, I think ROBLOX is a fantastic game for kids between the ages of 8 and 12.
Chris!