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Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Peter Fenzel power slide their way into a Child’s Garden of Video Games. Partial adoption of Mario Kart World has rattled but not shattered more than a decade of global Kart unity. A toddlers become little kids, assisted gaming experiences give way to assisted ones. As little kids grow into big kids, glorified Minecraft machines rediscover that they are gaming consoles that can explore other genres.

Matt, Mark and Pete recount their decades with Mario Kart, culminating in introducing the game to their children. They look back bemused on the history of printed and online strategy guides. They reflect on how their racers of choice have changed through their lives, what they have learned about gaming with 3 year olds, and how even kids who love Sonic still so often gravitate to Mario.

They also expand from the now-orthodox bananas and bob-ombs to describe newer shared gaming experiences with children, such as Great Wolf Lodge’s immersive live-action adventure MagiQuest with the little ones or the Japanese walking simulator Exit 8, for those a little older and more prepared for non-turtle-shell-related psychological horror.

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Further Reading

• The Unofficial Guide to Mario Kart, from Topix Media Lab, on the Scholastic Parents’ Store
• An Unofficial Guided Journal for Fans of KPop Demon Hunters, from Topix Media Lab, on Media Lab Books
• Mercedes-Benz x Mario Kart 8, on the Super Mario Wiki
• Pushing Buttons: Finally, I’ve found a game I can actually enjoy playing with my child, by Keza McDonald on The Guardian
• MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge
• TIFF 2025: ‘Exit 8’ Is Liminal Videogame Horror at its Best