It's a good game which can become quite sophisticated if played exactly without any modifications.
Each Pokemon has HP hit points (lifespan) and the type of damages it can do. It good for mental calculation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.

Because Pokemon leads to harder stuff?

Yep. First it's Pokemon, then it's Magic: The Gathering, then next thing you know their turning tricks down at the Game Stop for ultra-rares.

Except you don't go to Game Stop for gaming supplies. Don't forget D&D.

Which as we know leads to murder.

My husband loves it all... hope he has good life insurance for me...

OP, in all seriousness, its a good idea for one parent to try to figure out what is going on. When one poster said some of the dad's get involved, mine does with other kids knowing some of the games as the cards can be very valuable and the younger kids often get burned in trades. They will go for the card that looks nice over cost/use value. (I'm grateful he does it all as I have no interest). The cost is the main reason we haven't pushed or encouraged it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.

Because Pokemon leads to harder stuff?

Yep. First it's Pokemon, then it's Magic: The Gathering, then next thing you know their turning tricks down at the Game Stop for ultra-rares.

Except you don't go to Game Stop for gaming supplies. Don't forget D&D.

Which as we know leads to murder.

No harm.

I can't say DH or I really understand how to "play," and I'm not sure our DD knows all the real rules either.

But she and her friends have been collecting, trading and organizing them for a couple of years now. (First and second grade). It's harmless stuff.

I actually think they use some math sometimes to figure out which combinations of cards would together make a fair trade. And there's lots of categorizing, classifying and discussing pros and cons of various cards. Not explicitly educational, but developmentally appropriate.

I remember similarly detailed and endless conversations with my friends about stickers. My parents thought it was bizarre how we assigned different (and shifting) values to seemingly random stickers, but we did it in order to trade them. At least for DD and her friends (both boys and girls), Pokemon is similar in a way.

There are some dads in our friend group who take it all WAY more seriously. That part is a little funny to me. The first and second graders are pretty chill about it.

P.S. Ask around for hand me downs from friends with older kids. We got a huge stash of cards from friends' middle and high schoolers, who have long outgrown their collections.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.

Because Pokemon leads to harder stuff?

Yep. First it's Pokemon, then it's Magic: The Gathering, then next thing you know their turning tricks down at the Game Stop for ultra-rares.

Except you don't go to Game Stop for gaming supplies. Don't forget D&D.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.

Because Pokemon leads to harder stuff?

Yep. First it's Pokemon, then it's Magic: The Gathering, then next thing you know their turning tricks down at the Game Stop for ultra-rares.

Harmless. I don't get them but my husband is a gamer and gets it and can play with our son. The reason not to - its very expensive. I'd wait a year or two till they can play more. Often at that age (our son is the same age), they are just collecting them because the other kids have them.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.

Because Pokemon leads to harder stuff?

^^^ "?" Was supposed to be

Try not to start down the Pokemon path.... ?

It's like the card game War, but more sophisticated. Each Pokemon character has certain strengths and weaknesses, and is good or bad against other types of characters. The cards are also collectible, and rare cards are typically more powerful than the common ones (and, thus, more expensive).

Imagine your were using baseball cards to make a virtual baseball team to play against your friend's team. Each of you would use the cards in your collection to make the best team you could, using what you know about your friend's collection to pick your players. If you happened to have a rare Barry Bonds card, you might be able to hit against any pitcher your friend has, but if your friend knows you have Barry Bonds he might go buy a card of a pitcher who did very well against Bonds.

Now just imagine it with cartoon monsters instead of baseball players.

No. Nobody is going to be able to explain it to you.

It is a harmless game.

I know two kids (not from DC area) who are literally (in the literal sense) internationally ranked. They travel all over for competitions.

To the best of my understanding it is sort of like an anime dungeons and dragons.

Why not? My kids love them! In fact, they are laid out all over my living room right now.

I don't understand it. I just know there are many, many different "animals" or characters and they have different abilities. I don't need to know any more than that. They read up and talk to their friends and each other about it non-stop. Your kids can learn about it from other kids. Buy them a few packs of cards and they will pick up everything from their friends. And then they will start reading the books.

Can someone tell me what they are? How do the kids learn to play them? Some of the kids in 1st grade are using them and not sure I want my DS getting into them.