For more on Space Ark, check out our full Space Ark review. Or, for more of the best Xbox 360 games for a 10 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
In Space Ark, the idea of the game is to bounce your little animal around the screen, clearing the screen of all the coloured 'DNA crystals' to help rebuild the Arkonaut's home planet, which has been rendered inhospitable by a nasty black hole. Along the same lines as arcade classic Arkanoid, you have a bouncy pad at the bottom of the screen which you can use to bat your character around the screen, adjusting their trajectory with the other analogue stick if necessary.
It's these dual analogue stick controls that may be the game's undoing, at least for the less experienced players. Having to use one stick to move your bouncy pad and another to steer your character into the blocks on screen may require more co-ordination than younger children can cope with - and while you can just bounce them around on the pad, ignoring the fine control of your character, it does seem to make the levels that much harder to complete. But if they can get their head round using two sticks at the same time - if they haven't already, whether it's on shooters like Call of Duty or arcade games like Geometry Wars - they'll likely get hours of play out of the game.
Space Ark also comes with the option to play through every level with a friend, in two player co-operative. Everything about it makes it the perfect game to play together, with stronger players giving the newer players a helping hand, grabbing the harder to reach crystals for them - and kids would probably just have fun bouncing their Arkonaut around the screen anyway.
Absolutely nothing of the sort - Space Ark may well be the arcade's cleanest cut game. There's no blood, bad language or anything - just cute, cuddly animals with a penchant for fruit.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
