Single mum. Son. Desperate to surprise with handheld game thingy but no clue!

[Workreturner]

My son, 8.5.

I would love to surprise him with a handheld game thing.

I don’t have any idea about these sorts of things. He won’t be hung up about branding or the latest thing whatsoever.

So I’m just looking for a handheld fun device. No more than £100

Ninetendio 2ds?

Be gentle!

Many thanks

ah yeah your right.my son dosent like them games blardy typical

hope your son enjoys his gift

My kids had 3ds xl and I wish they had 2ds as they both broke the hinges from being overly rough opening them.

@PavlovianLunge I've played several pokemon games on the 3ds and really enjoyed them!

Thanks, @ItWentInMyEye - I’ll have a look at some of the DS games.

He will be thrilled with a ds

Also I think the 2ds doesn't close whereas the 2ds xl does.

The New 2DS XL is part of the New 3DS line. They are more powerful than the regular 3DS and 2DS. Some games, such as Hyrule Warriors, play much better on the New consoles, and Xenoblade Chronicles won't play at all on older models. Also, if old SNES games are your thing, they can only be downloaded on New consoles,

I've bought dd one with built in Animal Crossing and two Pokemon games. I bought her one last year and it disappeared on Boxing Day. No way would it have been stolen so I reckon it accidentally got binned or we'll find it in some random box years from now. Dd was devastated.

Any good game recommendations?

Thank you all for help

Animal Crossing New Leaf is fave of dds and mine. It's never ending, based in real time so time passes in the game the same rate as real life. You're a town resident and have to talk to animals, fishing, big hunting, building stuff in the town, all sorts of stuff to do.

Mario Kart is fun. (Pretty sure I did the same a pp and threw cartridge out accidentally as it went missing Boxing Day, one hundred per cent not stolen.
Anything Mario based really we both love. Super Mario Bros, Luigis Mansion etc

Professor Layton series is another fave but might be something you can do together as the puzzles can be tricky for younger ones. I think dd was mostly ok at 8 but needed help with some of the trickier ones.

Dd also loves all Pokémon games.

Hyrule Warriors.
Pilot Wings Resort.
Anything Zelda.
Tomadachi Life

I'll go check her entire games if you like and list the most played but those are the ones off the top of my head she's played a lot.

If you do buy him one I'd recommend turning it on, setting up etc and installing any software updates before giving him on Xmas day. Some console updates can take ages and seem to take longer on Xmas day (prob everyone updating at same time lol)

Also get a pack of spare stylus's. They sell them in Game. Because believe me the stylus will get lost.