Based on one tweet from a Japanese mother, she claims she uses the Pikmin as a discipline strategy to keep her son in line.
Video games have been scrutinized by parents a lot, primarily violent ones like the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series or the Call of Duty games. Against that popular belief, video games can also contain solutions for real-life problems depending on how you use them. For example, a wholesome tweet from a Japanese mother gathered great attention online when she explained how she used Nintendo’s Pikmin to discipline her four-year-old son.
While the tweet cannot be viewed anymore due to the rising popularity of comments and follows she has had since, here is what the initial post read and was translated to: “My 4-year-old son always tries to wander off when we go shopping, so I told him, ‘you’re a Pikmin, and mommy is that one that the Pikmin follow around’. It worked so well. He follows my steps perfectly while squeaking like a Pikmin. Thank you, Nintendo, this one’s going to work for a while.”
For some context to what this mother is referring to, the video game series allows the player to take on the protagonist Captain Olimar (also a character seen in Super Smash Bros Ultimate). Players are tasked to lead a horde of tiny plant-like creatures called Pikmin and direct them to perform tasks in order to explore the environment and collect items needed to clear missions. The tiny, colourful workers have special powers depending on their type, and it is their nature to follow behind the player’s steps and loyally carry out their tasks. They are weak creatures in principle, so their safety depends on the player’s decision-making.
So, the Japanese mother essentially used the game’s core concept to make her four-year-old obedient like the cute little critters. Of course, the concept talked about is reminding her son that he should stick to her like the Pikmin stick to Captain Olimar. The strategy reportedly worked for her, and she thanked Nintendo for her child being well-behaved.
The tweet received over 87.7k likes since the post went viral, and now many other parents are trying out the same tactic. It was also said that the Pikmin strategy could also be used to make simple tasks easier for kids to complete. From imitating the whistle sound from the game to gather their kids to getting their kids to carry toilet paper where it needs to go, parents seem to be liking this Pikmin child-rearing solution.
The latest entry in the Pikmin series was Pikmin 4, which came out a couple of days ago, on July 21, for the Nintendo Switch. Our review praised the game stating, “Pikmin 4 is impeccable at taking the same basic set of mechanics and throwing them into different modes…” Clearly, the “different modes” has translated to outside of the game itself!
