ARK for my 6 Year Old Son

On default ark I’d say someone that young would likely struggle to stay alive long enough to enjoy the game. However if you start a single player game you can tweak the stats such as health and food to make it easier. Theres also creative mode and cheats you can play with if you aren’t looking for a survival experience and just to enjoy the scenery and dinos! I’d say it might be enjoyable with a few cheats or tweaks of the settings. Hope I helped!

I play Ark with my son...I say go for it...just know you'll be doing most of the work to advance your tribe...I think my son was around that age when he started playing...there will be times where you and your son will be frustrated with the game...there will be crying...but in all it will help your relationship with your son...you guys will learn how to work as a team and communicate better...which will help you two irl...I remember a time when my son and I started a game...everything was going well...we made a little thatch/wooden hut...we started taming dinos...then out of nowhere a carno came out of the trees killed our dinos wrecked our base and killed my kill my son...it was total chaos...that's when he started crying while I was trying to save things...I had to calm him down let him know it's just a game and that it's okay...Now he's 11 years old and we're still playing Ark...now he knows the game like the back if his hand...I depend on him when I'm in a jam and he also depends on me...In all it has been a great experience for us...wish you two the best

It's totally worth the buy! I think they would love it. If you don't want to go survival you can use "GCM" and you have god mode :)

You can level yourself up (I usually craft Tek foundations) you can spawn Dino's from the pay to play DLCs and use commands to colour them.

In the settings you can tweak Dino level and how many Dino's spawn.

Sometimes I find I have to lower the Dino spawn alittle as I find there to be too many for me.

I recommend ALL the free maps and DLCs they include wyverns and other map exclusive dinosaurs.

You can play single player which is way more fun than PvP or PvE for me.

It's definalty worth it even if you start off in creative to start with and then switching to survival. They would love it.

Side Note: If you do use the GCM command once you reload the world after coming off you will be back in survival mode again.

I let that catch me out the first time

I hope this helps/makes sense

This is a Youtuber that I have enjoyed: (Ark Survival Guide)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmjOkJGRLT3DjsgeiFZYBblYpJwtLoo16

He has a whole series dedicated to Ark on the Switch.

I recommend checking it out.

As others have said, you should definitely be prepared to play the game some yourself so you know what is going on and how you can help him when (not if) he gets stuck on something.
You can tweak the settings so he doesn't get hungry as often and also you can change how long the nights last, as you are kind of limited in the dark.

Also, I would absolutely recommend sitting him down and having a discussion over character death. The good thing is that you respawn. However you don't necessarily respawn where your character died and you have to go find your old "body" to retrieve the stuff you were carrying at the time. That goes the same with losing a dinosaur. Taming your first dino is a proud moment, but there is always a chance your dino gets eaten or dies somehow.

When you first start out in this game, you will die. A lot! It is just part of learning how to play and how to survive (which is literally in the game's title - Survival Evolved).
Being young this will probably be extra frustrating, so setting expectations with him ahead of time will go a long way to a better experience.

Having been a six year old boy, this game would absolutely have been in my wheelhouse. However, again, be aware that it is rated for teenagers due to the violent deaths and blood. Not sure what he is used to, but every child is different and you know what he can handle.

In regards to freely roaming, this is a great opportunity to teach him situational awareness. Always be on the lookout for what dinos are around you and what they are doing. Herbivores just grazing? Probably safe enough to move around. Suddenly running for no reason? That means they are being chased by something. Better figure out what it is and keep your distance until you are ready to tackle it. Might be compy's or might be a Carno.

If you are playing together, no doubt it will be a great bonding experience.

Have fun!

Hey dude u on console or pc cuz if on console u can press right bumber left bumper xy/top and left buttons on the controller all at same time to bring up a admin command bar type in gcm and it gives u creative in ark so u can fly and dont need materiale to cragt andother command is force tame it tames the creature.ur looking at works on anything bosses alphas tek creatures just not the experemental giga from gen 2

I love Ark but I think the game content may be a little too mature for kids. I have a 5 year old and he is totally into dinosaurs, too.

But the gamer aspect and violence/dying inherent to the gameplay is what made my wife and I decide not to play around our son.

In the end, it’s up to you and how much gaming/screen time and what content they absorb through you.

Good luck, dad!

Try creative mode?