You’ll see the magic unfold right before your eyes

The year I entered college was when dial-up modems were introduced, and when I started playing Dune—thanks to my younger brother who installed it in our personal computer with a pack of 3.5 floppy diskettes. It was my first taste of playing an adventure strategy game via the computer, and I got hooked.

But that wasn’t the first time I played video games. Like most, my brothers and I had fun with gaming console units from Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Playstation. You name it, we had it! In between, we had the game & watch handy consoles that evolved into more challenging flip versions, which eventually was taken over by Nintendo Gameboy handhelds. Then, everyone wanted a Nintendo switch.

My dad has always been an instigator, and my brothers loved playing video games, so you can imagine how my childhood was like back then. Now that I’m a mom-of-three, I want our children to enjoy the same experiences. In fact, I was the one who suggested to my husband that we get our then 11-year-old son a gaming computer. Not only was it his source of socialization in the middle of this pandemic that we are in, it also paved the way for him to explore other gaming platforms such as, his latest request, a virtual reality (VR) gaming set. And as much as I hate to admit it, I’m also having fun playing with it, when the three kids are not using it, of course!

I also have a niece who lives in Canada, and we set up online play dates in Roblox, an online gaming platform that lets players create their own worlds and play in other worlds as well. According to Backlinco, “Roblox has 43.2 million daily active users worldwide. An increase from 19.1 million daily active users by the end of 2019. In fact, the number of Roblox daily active users in Q4 2020 increased by 170.80 percent compared with Q4 2018. Averaged on a yearly basis, Roblox has 32.6 million daily active users as of 2020.”

If your children play Roblox, then they’re already experiencing the metaverse. Yes, I’ve heard of metaverse way back, but I only got to realize what it really is when my children started playing this hit game and when Facebook changed their name to Meta. It really is the way to socialize now, even if I was first against it. It helps our children learn social skills—even if it’s virtual and online.

Like any online game, parents still need to participate heavily by setting up the play date, and checking up on them from time to time so we know what’s happening and how they’re behaving. We also give them a time limit. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, play with them as I did. My three kids were just too happy to teach me how to maneuver in their world. Also, it’s better to buy a private server for younger kids as we don’t want them interacting with avatars (who might be older and not at all the same age as our children) and strangers. Lastly, we always have the group of children on video or audio call. This way, they can coordinate and plan their moves better with less misunderstandings and arguments—which makes us parents worry less about conflicts between the kids. Just recently, I was amazed that they were playing monopoly via Roblox. How cool is that?

Another metaverse game that teenagers are into is Fortnite which has over 80.4 million active users and four million concurrent players every day, according to TechACake. It’s a “free-to-play Battle Royale game with numerous game modes for every type of game player,” explains Fortnite’s home page. Hence, this is recommended for older kids and above. The first concert I ever heard being held in metaverse, and in Fortnite no less, was the globally acclaimed South Korean boy band BTS last Sept. 2020. Skip the travel, especially during this pandemic, and meet online to watch concerts together virtually. There’s always a way, and we work around our limitations and make the most of what technology can provide for us.

These games, in order to be considered metaverse, have to offer both immersive and social features that transport players to different worlds. Still confused? Watch Ready Player One and Free Guy with the family. Not only will you have a better understanding of what metaverse is, you’ll be sharing a different bond with your children as you gain better comprehension of this “new” world that will be part of our lives soon.

Next question is, do you need VR and AR (augmented reality)? No, but it’s amazing to watch my kids play together using the different electronic units we have at home. Imagine our three children playing Rec Room game where you meet up with friends and explore millions of player-created rooms, or even build new ones. It doesn’t get as integrated as this—the eldest using the VR unit, the second son via the tablet, and the youngest zoning in by the computer. They also take turns using different gaming units. But, by far, their favorite is the VR, as expected.

My husband and I also had a few conversations with our eldest son on NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) which are unique cryptographic tokens that can be used as mode of payment, depending on the company and the website. While cryptocurrency has yet to be widely accepted, it’s gaining traction. Never hurts to try, explore, and experiment—with caution and when they’re of age, because digital economy, which you will definitely need in the metaverse, might just be one of the next big things.