Games for an 11-year old

[Toonces]

Hey guys-
I got my son a blazing fast new computer for Xmas.  The thing is probably faster than mine; Skyrim on Ultra settings fast.

Right now all he has is Minecraft on it.  I'd like to cherry pick some games from the Steam sale for him, but I don't know what is age appropriate for an 11-year old.  For example, I was looking at Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II but that's rated Teen.  Teen is a pretty wide grouping, though.

Anyway, any suggestions you guys have are appreciated.  I'm thinking of at least picking up Shogun 2 and maybe M2TW for him.  Really, I'm at a loss, though.

[LongBlade]

Thematically, what does he like?

[Bison]

The legos games if you have a controller are good, clean fun.  Torchlight 2 is good fun (there is a blood option you can turn off, but it really not too bad even when on), Magic the Gathering 2012 if he likes collectible card games (it also has blood I guess from the attack animation.  I looks like a cut I guess in a weird sort of way.)  Warlock is pretty clean and a good strategy game.  I guess the question is how much supervision will he have when he plays.

[Martok]

If you pick up Shogun 2 for him, you might want to make sure it doesn't include the Blood Pack. 

[bayonetbrant]

is he up to managing the wide range of stuff in the Civ games?  Thematically, there are no issues, but they can be a little complex in all the options you need to juggle.

[mirth]

I think Knights of the Old Republic II would be okay. It's pretty much PG. No nudity, no really graphic violence. I don't recall there being any foul language (maybe a damn or hell). The theme of the story is a little dark though. I guess that would be main concern. I'd probably let my kids play it if either of them were 11.

[Bison]

I'd check compatibility issues though with the old bioware star wars games.  There are some issues with the first one and win7.

[Jarhead0331]

How about Wargame: European Escalation? The Amazing Spider-man? (happens to be on sale right now) or the Portal games by Valve?

[Tuna]

Civ V... Xcom..

[mirth]

I'd check compatibility issues though with the old bioware star wars games.  There are some issues with the first one and win7.

Good point. I'm still running XP, so I wasn't thinking about that.

[eyebiter]

Plants vs Zombies is a good kids strategy title, introduces many concepts used in war games.

[Yskonyn]

Fallen Echantress if he likes Civ type games with magic thrown in.
It's pretty accessible.

Pokemon games (but probably better to play this on a handheld)

The Sims  (3) series

Trackmania series (very fun!)

Psychonauts

Rayman series

Age of Empires

Dungeons of Dredmor (?) (might be too graphic eventhough its cartoon?)

Awesomenauts (brawler)

Worms

[Keunert]

Sports & Racing games!

[Toonces]

Hey guys, I appreciate the suggestions.  We've actually played through most of the legos stuff on Wii already.  I think Civ games might be too complicated for him. 

I don't know what genres of games he's into actually.  He's not too helpful on the subject.  He used to be really into Star Wars but I'm not sure if he's moved on or what.  Dungeons and Dragons stuff never really goes out of style so I am leaning towards some of that stuff.  Torchlight 2 might be a nice choice, I'll have to check some gameplay videos of it. 

[Bison]

Torchlight 2 is a fun action rpg.  It's all about loot, stats, and skills.  Not a deep storyline but it's not the focus of the game either.  Unfortunately there is very little in the way for Dungeons and Dragons on Steam atm.  You can no longer get NWN2 or any of the titles offered on gog.  However I doubt your son would be into the retro look as much as some of the older guys, so a good alternative would be Dragon Age.