To be honest, I was stunned for a while when I opened this game. The things kids play with nowadays are really worlds apart from what we had back then.
When I was a kid, there weren't any decent games. Playing Snake on a Siemens mobile would keep me entertained for half a day. Going further back, in elementary school, I would sneakily go to arcades, clutching crumpled 50-cent coins, and just watching others play a round of 'Double Dragon' would completely captivate me. At that time, if anyone could say the words 'educational enlightenment,' we would definitely think they were reading some kind of divine text.
No exaggeration or criticism, my first impression of this game 'Baby Play House' is that the art style is indeed clean and the colors are soft, unlike some children's games that are full of overly saturated, harsh colors. My daughter is just three and a half years old and usually can't sit still, but once she opened this game, she surprisingly played quietly for more than ten minutes, which really amazed me.
The game has a master bedroom, a kitchen, a children's room, and an outdoor playground. My daughter loves to pull me into the kitchen to 'cook.' She imitates making food there, mumbling things like 'add some salt' and 'stir fry a bit more,' then she brings a plate of something unidentifiable to my mouth, looking at me expectantly and asking if it tastes good. As a father, I can only go along with the performance, pretending to chew and saying, 'Wow, it's really delicious.' She giggles like a little hen. Sometimes I think, this is probably the simplest joy at her age.
The little train and the carousel in the amusement park are also quite nice. Every time my daughter clicks on them, she makes the little character ride them. Watching it sway and spin around, she can watch for a long time without getting bored. And that bubble machine really produces bubble effects; the kid was staring at it with wide eyes.
Back then, we could spend an entire afternoon playing in the field with mud, lying on the ground taking pictures, or bending over to watch ants move their homes—that was also a kind of 'play house.' Nowadays, children sit in front of tablets, using a clean, little digital world to simulate the things that happen in real life. Times have changed, but essentially it doesn't seem to have changed much. They are all playing adults and trying to understand the world in their own way; it's just that we used mud and sticks back then, while they use touchscreens and animations.
There are quite a few NPCs in the game, including doctors, chefs, ticket sellers, and so on. My daughter would pick a character for herself and then drag a little figure around everywhere. One time I found her tucking an NPC into bed in the bedroom, quietly making 'shh shh shh' sounds to signal me not to make a noise. She looked so serious, it really amused me a bit.
To speak from the heart, when I play this game with my child, I occasionally think of my younger self crouched in the arcade, watching experts execute combos. Back then, the time for a single game was as precious as stolen time, and my hands would tremble when going up to play, aching from maneuvering the joystick. Now it's different: games are free, you can play on your phone, the graphics are so detailed, and there are plenty of items—play as much as you want. But I'm no longer at the age where I can haggle with the owner over a single coin for half the afternoon.
Watching my daughter busying herself in this little world—pressing the ice cream machine at one moment, then going to ride the Ferris wheel at another—I feel that this kind of companionship itself is quite a luxury. I checked, and the developer is Chengdu Youqu Network. To be honest, I usually don't pay much attention to children's game developers, but being able to make a seemingly simple children's game in a way that makes parents willing to put down their phones to play with their kids is already much more considerate than many parenting apps that aggressively push in-app purchases.
By the way, just reflecting for a moment, kids today have access to so many things, but on the other hand, they lack that wild energy we had back then, where just an empty lot and a few friends could keep us running around crazily all afternoon. That said, since we can't let them roll in the mud, roast grasshoppers, or climb over walls, giving them a safe, clean, and slightly imaginative small space indoors, where they can play house with their parents, is actually a pretty good compromise.
I hope this game can stay like this, without adding those messy in-app purchase pop-ups, without offering those recharge packages that lure children, and just quietly be a fun toy. After all, children's happiness is really quite simple, just like my daughter now, who can be happy for a long time just by seeing that little red train run. 😄
Alright, enough talking. The little master at home is calling me to the kitchen to 'help' again. It's my turn this time. Guys, if you have some free time, you can also download one to play with your own kid. It's worth it.