Like a moth to a flame, my kids are instantly drawn to me the minute I sit down to enjoy a game. It’s as if they can sense my relaxation and happiness and feel compelled to shift my attention to them. While at 14 and 9, they are somewhat past the "look at me, look at me" stage (keyword: somewhat), they still want my time and attention.

And, I love to give it to them — except when I'm craving 60 minutes of me-time. The only thing a caring, yet guilt ridden, mother can do is take a deep breath and transform it into we-time and invite them into the game. Which is just what I’ve done.

The kids and I have been gaming together for a few months now and, largely, it's been a huge success. However, it's not been without a few challenges. If you are a parent and would like to add gaming to your repertoire of family fun, consider these points before clicking the download key.

Suitability: Suitability may be dictated by age. As mentioned, mine are 14 and 9 and, therefore, the calendar alone dictates the type of games I’ll permit. We don’t do violence at all and anything too gruesome is a no-no. While my son could probably take a game with a more intense theme than my daughter, the idea is to play together, so the littlest person's age level tends to dominate.

Personality and tastes: My son is a real sci-fi fantasy nut, who thinks Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings are just this side of nirvana. He's also a budding film director, so anything that plays on favorite movie themes like Prometheus type aliens or Godfather mobsters works well for him. The Italian/mobster themes of Grim Façade: Sinister Obsession and Redemption Cemetery: Grave Testimony have been favorites with him, although he plays those on his own, not with little sis.

My nine-year-old daughter is like most nine-year-old girls. She loves princesses, ponies, princesses, ponies and, did I mention, princesses and ponies? In fact, she likes most animals. Any big-eyed Littlest Pet Shop monkey can stop her in her tracks. And, considering today's game offering, castles, kingdoms, and wizards are not in short supply.

I’ve currently been playing Spirits of Mystery: The Dark Minotaur and am considering letting her join me in a second round. It has a nice mix of wizardry and kidnapped animals from a royal menagerie that I think would really appeal to her. This brings up a good point. I normally give any game a test run before I let the kids join in. Some seem tame (or even interesting) in CGG reviews that just don’t turn out to be suitable, for whatever reason.

Lest you think my own tastes and personality don’t figure into the equation, I do look for games that appeal to all of us, me included. For example, we are serious Christmas freaks. I'm talking "put up the tree and play Christmas carols after the last trick-or-treater leaves" Christmas freaks. So we all adored Christmas Stories: Nutcracker.

Vacation Quest: Australia was also a big hit, since daddy hails from down under (fabulous Crocodile Dundee accent and all!). Note to the Game Developers: Father-in-law is Greek and mother-in-law is Kiwi, so if you’d like to release Vacation Quest: Athens or Curse of the Maoris, you have at least one guaranteed sale.

Game Type: Both of my kids like time management games, as well as hidden object adventure. Since I'd rather gouge out my eyes with a toothpick than play time management, I let them play those together. Maybe it's my age or the fact that I'm a writer, but I love word games and card games (cue eye-rolling on the part of my kids), so I play those alone.

Gameplay: You may wonder how three people play one game. Good question. My kids and I have come up with a few variations. Sometimes, we let each person do what they do best. My daughter is the "hunt and gather" expert. She has the innate knack to know where to go and what to do next, like a human walkthrough. My son is Mr. Mini-game and I'm the hidden object queen.

Often with hidden object areas, we'll go round robin in age order. My daughter finds the first item, my son the next, me the third. If you can't find your item, your turn goes to the next person who finds your item and then their own. This can be particularly amusing when I just can't see that stupid feather or wrench, and my two giggling wriggling kids know exactly where it is. You can just imagine the taunts.

Really, the possibilities for gaming with kids are as varied as your imagination. If you decide to introduce gaming into your family time, I'd love to hear how you've done it and which strategies are successful for you. I'm not above using your good ideas to improve my own quality time with my kids.