A Lesson on Gaming With Kids From Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek TNG fame), has an interesting idea for playing games with kids. The original idea is great when you're just learning a new game:

Rule 17a is a house rule we invoke when we're learning a new game. It basically states that, at any time, a player can say, "You know, I just realized that I did this stupid thing that I wouldn't have done if I had a little more experience in the game. I'd like a do-over." If the majority of the players agree (and we always do) then we just back up a little bit, and play on. It reduces the risk of doing something bone-headed that you can't ever recover from, and it keeps the game fun.

His new idea, termed Rule 17b, is a great one for kids, but I think can (and maybe should) be used by everyone:

Depending on your kid, the game, and some X factor that I leave to you as a parent, you could give your child up to three "roll again" markers, like poker chips or glass beads or whatever, that she can use at any time to re-roll a particularly bad dice roll. They can use it whenever they want to, but once the marker it used, it's gone for the rest of the game, so your child will have to choose very carefully about when she's going to use it. This would be especially great with a couple of smaller kids, because the parent isn't put in the position of awarding do overs and giving the appearance of favoritism (raise your hand if you've ever had to untangle that Gordian Knot.)

I'm thinking that this could be a great idea for computer and console games. Maybe I'll consider adding it as a feature in one the games I'm working on.