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The Parents Guide to Yu-Gi-Oh

The Parents Guide to Yu-Gi-Oh

What is Yu-Gi-Oh?

Please visit our Story Line page to gain a quick understanding of the game's story line and our Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Explained page for a brief overview of the cards.

Should I Purchase Yu-Gi-Oh for My Children?

Two general types of questions surround purchasing Yu-Gi-Oh. The first type are specific to this game, the second are general questions surrounding the purchase of toys, use of time, etc.

• Is it the proper age level for my child?
  Most Yu-Gi-Oh products are marked for a specific age level. Although the starter sets are often labeled for kids 4 to 10 years, you need to remember it has about a 35 page instruction manual. Young kids can enjoy looking at the cards, but if they are not pretty unusual kids, the game is going to be above them. It is probably more appropriate for 8 and up. Most kids are probably 9 and up.

• Is the content appropriate for my child?
  The Japanese versions of Yu-Gi-Oh (at least the early ones) were a bit racy and included some concepts that might not be appropriate for some children. U.S. versions have been sanitized by the licensees to remove any inappropriate content. We do not think many parents would have trouble with the current content, but encourage you to make your own informed decision.

• Is the game's Story Line appropriate for my child?
  Please visit our Story Line Page to gain a quick understanding of the story line. We do not think many families would have problems with the story line. Plus, it is not really in the forefront during play. The story line just sets the background and play focuses on dueling with the cards.

• Is it a good use of my or my child's money and time?
  That is a tougher question. We think children should understand the value of time and money. The money question comes down to alternatives, do they need other things worse or should they be saving the money? That is a question for discussion by you and them.

  Plus we suggest you set some sort of total spending budget for the game, otherwise they may be thinking about buying a lot of card packs in the future. This game has one thing going for it in that respect. It is more based on strategy than on the cards you assemble.

  Similarly for time. We do not think it a great idea to have your children spend every waking hour doing any one thing. You may need to exercise some time controls. On the other hand, you have the possibility they will rapidly tire of Yu-Gi-Oh and get little use for your or their hard owned money. To date, it appears many have stayed with the game. The major U.S. marketing arm is the same group the promoted Pokemon. The game is still going very strong in Japan. It would appear the game will have some staying power in the U.S., but you never know.

• Is this game familiar to any game my children may have played before or that I may have seen before?
  Yu-Gi-Oh is somewhat similar to Pokemon. It is more complex than Pokemon. Plus while Pokemon emphasized collecting ALL the monsters, Yu-Gi-Oh emphasizes strategy (hopefully easier on the pocketbook).

• Yu-Gi-Oh involves frequent addition and subtraction (attack and defense ratings) which might slightly help your children in that area (if they play the game with out a calculator). But overall, its value as an educational toy is probably minimal.

• The game is played reasonably quietly (involves some strategy) compared to many other games for this age group.

• Like Pokemon, part of Yu-Gi-Oh's attraction to teens is it creates a secret world beyond their parents, complete with its own language and terms.

• The cards are moderately durable and there are no small parts to lose. But, under heavy play the cards will wear. You might consider getting some card protectors, especially if you have younger children.

• The game console versions, Forbidden Memories (Play Station) and The Eternal Duelist Soul (Gamboy), are reasonable substitutes for the card game and keeps your kids from continuing to spend money on cards forever (allows play on a known budget). Most find the console games a bit more confusing than the trading card version. But if your family already has a game machine, you can just rent a game and see if the kids like it. Then buy the game if they do. One plus for the console versions are they can be use for single person play.

The topics above might make for a good parent child discussion before purchasing significant amounts of Yu-Gi-Oh products.

As an Associate of Amazon Book, we sell many Yu-Gi-Oh items. If you do decide to purchase Yu-Gi-Oh products, we would be honored if you would consider purchasing them from our Yu-Gi-Oh Store.

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