Is Angband healthy for 6-year olds?

[Timo Pietilä]

The interesting thing is, as a 6 year old he hasn't actually learned to read yet. In fact Angband is starting to teach him the letters of the alphabet.

Just pile Tolkien books for him to learn reading. Tell him that most of the unique monsters come from those books.

I think I was seven year old when I read LoTR first time. Before that there were bunch of detective stories and some science fiction novels. Learning to read ASAP is a skill he will benefit a lot.

[Carnivean]

No kids here, but he displays a healthy attitude. If you were to supervise and limit his session's durations, I can't see any reason why you shouldn't encourage him to play.

I also see many positives in the experience. The game isn't going to give him a participation award, so he'll have to earn everything he gets. It'll teach patience and risk vs reward, which are things that many people get to adulthood and beyond without learning.

On the negative side, he might sublimate the hidden messages of the game: materials gains trump self improvement, money is easy to acquire (especially through murder) and that the only way to the top is to murder everyone and everything.

[Wanderlust]

I have a 6 year old son, Mark, who's really interested in Angband. He can't handle the keyboard, but he provides running commentarry ("oh, those snagas are no problem!") and supports strategic decision-making ("ok! there's tons of items around, let's get 'em. but don't forget to check for traps first!")

The interesting thing is, as a 6 year old he hasn't actually learned to read yet. In fact Angband is starting to teach him the letters of the alphabet.

The thing is, as a father of 4, I have seen my older boys play crappy videogames, wasting their time even though they're actually quite intelligent and one of them is a competitive chess player. With my 4th, one of my goals is to really introduce him to quality gaming and make sure he'll never be a victim of marketing brainwashing that will try to steal his joy and turn him into another consumer.

On the other hand Angband might actually be character-building (sorry)

So in a way I see Angband as a kind of defense for him, against the consumer game industry ...

On the other hand, Angband can be pretty addictive ...

Basically I'm wondering whether or not playing Angband is a healthy activity for a kid of that age to do with his dad. I'm interested in any interesting or unique perspectives anyone here has on this question.