Does anyone play x-wing with the kids?

How young are they? How did you teach them?

I have a 4 and 6 year old, both girls.

I tried playing once or twice with my 3- and 5-year-old girls. They think the ships are fun and they want to like the same things daddy does, but it's really too complicated for them. Mostly it comes down to me controlling maneuvers and letting them roll dice.

Star Wars Life is a much better fit for their age at the moment.

EDIT: On the other hand, I taught the game to my 7- and 8-year-old nephews and they can comprehend it enough to have a good time. They make some rules errors, but the game still flows well enough.

I know a 13 year old that plays, and he's actually pretty good but thats as young as I've seen

You can't play games with girls their mean and have cooties.

I think around the age of 8 they can get it, but everyone 12 and under I've played with has played quite poorly. I've heard that some kids can be competitive when they're around 13 or 14 but I haven't seen it personally.

I think it's really more about having some quality time with your kids. Relax the rules, and make it about having fun with Daddy.

Jacob

My four year old boy loves Star Wars and he likes to play xwing with me from time to time. It really helps him with his math, as in, "your tie fighter has 2 shots, but you're at range 1 so you get plus one shot, so how many do you get now?" He gets most of the rules. I didn't explain actions and instead everyone focuses at all times. He has trouble picking "good" maneuvers but I let him change them anyway so he usually has a shot. Sometimes I don't get out my models and instead we end up playing "Kid Xwing"

This is a game where we use his Star Wars toy ships and Lego's for asteroids and dice. He always rolls "Kah-booms" and I always roll blanks for my evades somehow but it cracks him up and that makes me super happy. When he's a bit older I'm sure we will play more of a legit game, but for now, its very entertaining to let him play however he wants.

My nine year old has been playing in tournaments for about a year. He loses more than he wins, and is ok with that, as you need to learn how to lose. I recommend Keeping the lists simple like 4 B-wings, lots of dice and can take a lot of hits. At nine he makes lots of mistakes, which can frustrate some of his opponents...but oh well you are playing with toys so get over it....

Tried playing it with my girlfriends two boys since I got them into Star Wars and they are still to young to understand the rules nor can stay focused on playing the actual game and instead want to play with the ships.....so will try it again when they get a little older.

I play with my 8 year old. We load him up with a Fat Han and send him on his way. He's able to do surprisingly well, mostly because of the 360 firing arc, and because he makes so many <ahem> unexpected maneuvers.

Does anyone play x-wing with the kids?

I once asked if I could play with other people's wives, and it landed me in hot water. I don't want to think about the ruckus I'd cause if I asked to play with their kids.

I know a friend whose 5 year old plays. Pretty sure they just do the core set, no asteroids or stress or actions, just maneuver and shoot. His father is probably the most intelligent person I know, and his son clearly got the smart genes, so I'm sure this is pretty close to the extreme end of the scale and not the norm.

Thanks for the responses. I may try it and have a good family night.

I play with my son who is nine but started when he was eight and a half. He knows all the ships, upgrades, and most pilots. We go to tournaments together and he helps out. Three games in a row would be too much for him but we tried once to have him start a tournament and I took over halfway through the second match. He actually won the first game with double decimators vs interceptors.

He hates to lose though and gets 'bored' when he thinks that he's losing. When we play at home he builds 125 point lists vs my 100 and that makes up for his less than perfect maneuvering. I find that point range to be pretty balanced.

My 10 yr old can play, she is ok but can get distracted and does not list build. My 5 yr old recognizes all the dice symbols, knows wen to roll what dice and talks some mean smack.

Thanks for the responses. I may try it and have a good family night.

Go for it , have fun playing with our youngest who's 10. He loves the game and grasps the concepts pretty well. Have to suggest upgrades for him but now hes picking out more on his own.

Makes for a nice parent and kids night.

I play with 30-50 year old kids who have been brainwashed by Lucas to spend all their money on Toy spaceships

13 year old daughter plays also. She does well enough and does enjoy it.

I play 1v1 and 2v2 x-wing with my 5 year old daughter. She started out watching me play and rolling my dice for me. From there we phased in more and more of the game. Just maneuvering around to start, then red dice only combat, added green dice next. We're at a point now where she's playing full rules other than actions, upgrades and pilot abilities. The whole process has only taken a few weeks.

Oh, we do have one house rule (no shooting through asteroids at all) that she came up with.

In terms of game play she is a touch predictable with her own moves (likes to show you her ship's tail then K-turn back onto you) yet is strangely good at predicting what you are going to do.

My 10 year old girl plays in the local league and does Tournys. She wins now and then, her finest moment wining a match to place 32nd in a field of 35 and earning her Soontir Fel card. She has fun, knows the rules, and sticks with it. Other adult players have often commented how nice it is playing a kid who is precise and takes it seriously while having fun.

The boy plays for fun with us. He's only 8 and is only good for a game and a half before he gets distracted, gets tired, or starts to whine. I won't let him do leagues or Tournys until I am sure of his maturity level.

The other girl is almost 5 and she just watches Rebels, breathes like Vader, and tells me I am her Father.

As for teaching them...I started them on a single ship learning the mechanics of the game and how the ship moves. Then tossed rocks down and made them practice flying around them without hitting any, then adding tokens and have them fly around and try to land on them to collect them (I used quarters and they got to keep the ones they landed on). Once that was mastered I gave them 4 X-Wings and had them practice formation flying with and without obstacles. I had them setup the ships and discover what happens in turns and banks. Then we added different pilot skills and watched the frustration as low PS guys start rear-ending higher PS guys who hadn't moved yet. Only then did we start actual games (this was about 3 weeks into it). Simple scenarios working toward advanced. I did dial back my game, but never cut them a break. As they got better I dialed it up a notch. Then introduced upgrade cards and all the fun toys.

After about 6 months I let The Girl finally use a Falcon. I still wont let the boy use a turret (beyond a Y-Wing that is). Once they understand how to fly a formation and can focus on the kill, then they get the crutch of a big hull and a turret. Regionals, The Girl plans to fly her favorite Soontir Fel along with Deci-Cherrios. She was going with Echo...but Soontir is her favorite pilot/ship and she has gotten to be murder with him; so back to Fel.

Within the restriction I give them, I let the kids build their own lists and fly them. They learn PDQ what works and what doesn't. The Boy even came up with putting an Auto-Blast cannon on Ten Numb...HIS reasoning being when he shoots it you can't cancel Hits (from the gun) nor Crits (Ten's trait). This tells me he understands the game...just have to let him grow up a bit.

Add to this, our local league group is really supportive and even though they know they will likely win (barring dice failure...and you cant do anything about that) they have no problem playing The Girl. They even critique her game and give her pointers.

And now we are starting Armada and learning it together.

It may seem tedious, but this method also tells me if they are serious about playing this before I drop a lot of cash on a passing fad. Its also nice to use this to get the kids out from under mom and give her a break while giving me some time with the kids while they are still "my age" and we can play together and chat about school and other stuff they normally clam up about.