simulation games with little keyboard interaction

[slag]

My 8 yr old loves sim games like command and conquer, age of mythology, etc. He hates using the keyboard though and would prefer just the mouse or minimal keyboard interaction.

Can you recommend any games like this where you build an army and fight it against the npc army? he would rather it use machine guns, tanks, etc, but will play with magic users or bow and arrow type characters.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Ball and glove with directions to the park.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Rome Total War.

 

[KaOTiK]

Dawn of War. Just needs to select one unit to select the whole squad, you have tanks, guns/plasma rifles/flame throwers/chainsaws, dreadnaughts.

Base building is pretty minimal in it as well.

There is demo on Steam you can try too.

Who doesn't love space marines?

 

[Farmer]

All of the games you mentioned can be played without using the keyboard.

 

[Sulaco]

Dawn of War. Just needs to select one unit to select the whole squad, you have tanks, guns/plasma rifles/flame throwers/chainsaws, dreadnaughts.

Base building is pretty minimal in it as well.

There is demo on Steam you can try too.

Who doesn't love space marines?

This.

Also along those lines, Company of Heroes. Very pretty to look at, fast paced, doesn't require too much real strategy, and gives a bit of a history lesson to boot.
It's surprising how much kids can learn from their entertainment. When I was 9 or 10, my favorite game was a DOS strategy game called Fields of Glory, about Napoleon's Waterloo campaign.

From playing that game as a 9 year old I actually learned more through the game and manual about Napleon's battles and campaigns than most high school kids knew.

 

[MH2007]

This reminded me of Black and White ... I played the original a while back and the game-play was designed towards mouse-only controls, commands were made using gestures of your "Hand of God" ... It's not strictly a game where you build and army and fight but you can do that if you want (it's designed to be open ended).

I haven't played the sequel or tried the demo but there is a Black and White demo here if you're interested:

http://download.cnet.com/Black-White-2-demo/3000-7483_4-10514825.html

Not sure if the original is still for sale but the sequel is like $15 at Amazon and probably cheaper elsewhere.