What Is It Like To Play Astro Bot With A Child?
Some seemingly routine, mundane activities, like what you do every day, will look different when you do them with a child. For example, playing Astro Bot with a child will give you a whole new experience and perspective.
Is Astro Bot Really Easy?
As we all know, Astro Bot is a 3D platform game where players control the title character, a small robot named Astro Bot, by using the DualSense controller. Doesn't it sound simple? Or is it?
Of course, it is more than enough for an adult who is proficient in video games to play Astro Bot. Because in this game, you only need to use four simple verbs, you can run, jump, punch and spin. There are other uncommon actions, such as pulling the rope, but even so, you only use three buttons-Left Stick, X and Square.
However, when you open the game interface with a seven or eight-year-old child, the problem seems to arise. He doesn't control the camera, and you may find yourself struggling with how to manipulate it to accentuate cool shots or just make it flow. It's second nature. Apparently, this game isn't as easy as you think it is.
What's The Difficulty?
As mentioned above, the game requires touch controls. Controlling the camera can seem like a challenge for kids, as well as adults who don't play console games. This wasn't as much of a problem in early 3D games, because, paradoxically, the camera controls were much worse. The game did a lot of the heavy lifting for you, positioning the viewpoint where you needed it or giving you a limited range of choices.
Astro Bot has a similar perspective to Super Mario 64, but instead of turning the camera in set increments like Super Mario 64, it gives the player full control. When playing Astro Bot with a child, the inexperienced kid will only turn the camera when it absolutely needs to. So he'll run into a wall, lose sight of Astro completely, and get stuck. Only then, out of necessity, will he try to turn the camera.
As we know, returning to this full control scheme before 2025 may be difficult, you have to give up some control. If you don't have experience using R3 to frame the view, the old method is easier because it reduces the amount of work your hands have to do.
Playing this seemingly simple game with a child seems to bring some thinking to the game. When you see the world through a child's eyes, it is obvious that there is a new perspective on everything.
