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Original poster

Magic the Gathering for an 8 year old

6 replies

Babyrooboo · 05/12/2014 12:59

Advice needed please. My 8 year old DS has asked for Magic the Gathering cards for Christmas. I think that he just likes the look of them. As far as I am aware none of his friends have them and I am not sure that he is particularly interested in using them to play as a card game. I noticed that there is an age rating of 13+ on them. Can someone tell me why this is? I would also love to hear some thoughts on giving them to an 8 year old. His 5 year old brother will want to see them too.

OP posts:
Whyamihere · 05/12/2014 13:27

I used to play this about 15 years ago so my memory is a bit rusty, the rules can be a bit complicated but I should think would be OK for an 8 year old, there is a 13+ age limit at some of the conventions where they play this (and take it very seriously) and when I was playing some of the rare cards went for a lot of money - 100+ for one card. But it is fun to play and can be quite strategic as you need to work out a deck to use (I spent a lot of time choosing the decks I would use). It's a two player game though so will he have someone to play against?

I can't think of any problems with actually playing the game under 13, but as I say my memory is rusty and I played as an adult pre-children so didn't think whether it was suitable or not for them.

robotnikchair · 05/12/2014 15:17

DH plays Magic the Gathering and says the following: "I wonder why an 8 year old would want them. There doesn't seem much point, unless they play the game. However, some of the "duel deck" products might be suitable for a new player and a friend. There are two ready-to-play decks in it, designed to be evenly matched, and each with a special shiny card. The latest one is "speed vs cunning" and should still be available in shops. I believe it has a "how to play" guide in it. It can be a rather complex game though."

Perhaps the 13+ is to reflect the difficulty of the game (DH tried to teach me and it seemed extremely complicated). Some of the cards have images of supernatural creatures on them such as werewolves, zombies etc which some children might find a bit frightening/disturbing.

Hope that helps

OldAntiquity · 05/12/2014 15:27

Age rating is probably because it's complicated. Dh taught ds1 when he was five, there's nothing unsuitable on them from our point of view. They make decks for fun and ds, who is ten now, plays them against each other if there is no-one to play with. But they're also nice as collectible cards even if they're never played. The duel decks are good for the reasons mentioned above.

ralgex · 05/12/2014 15:53

The most dangerous thing is that they muck up your A levels...Grin It's a bit addictive, and can prove expensive. There's a whole thing around the artwork portrayed on the cards, and a lot of care is put into it.

OddBoots · 05/12/2014 15:56

According to ds the age rating is related to the artwork on some of the cards sometimes being violent scenes. It is very complicated to learn to play well, a lot of people start with Yu-Gi-Oh! before they move on the MtG.

MegBusset · 05/12/2014 16:08

I was going to recommend Yu-Gi-Oh for that age, my nearly 8yo is obsessed although I can't make head nor tail of the rules not sure that he can either

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