The Drunken Lizard Pub

Okay, so... yes, it's a little early, but I was wondering -- because my father was asking me for advice for my niece's birthday gift and after he ordered I managed to convince him to leave Syberia I & II behind and that I'd pay him for it and hold on to it for her Xmas gift because because 1. he was giving her two other games already and four games were just too many, and 2. I felt Syberia I & II were more 'sophisticated' than the other two. (She's 11, now.)

Now... though I hear she likes The Painted Tower a lot, I'm still unsure about giving her Syberia I & II... not sure if she'd find it too frustrating, and also not sure if she'd lose interest really quickly despite the cool automatons in #1 which I'm guessing she'll be crazy about.

The other game my father gave her was Keepsake. All I know about that game is what I saw in the demo, which looked okay to me.

So... I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what sort of game to give an 11 year-old-girl who loves science, art, intrigue etc.

Yeah I have to agree with you about your sis maybe being to young for the Syberia games. They are wonderful games with a touching story and gadgets and technology she may like, but the puzzles, while not overly difficult, could prove frustrating to her at that age. In a year or two I think she'll be more suited for those games. Then again everyone develops at a different pace and I don't know your sis, so you're better suited to make that call.

Maybe Beyond Good & Evil? It's a terrific Zelda-style game (that sadly didn't sell) that will allow your sis to play as a strong and savvy female protagonist that's more action oriented, yet still has a great story. Also maybe Psychonauts. Another game that sold criminally poorly despite being one of the best platformers ever made. Weird psychic powers, wacky characters, and unbelievable variety in level design. The game also offers plenty of area to explore freely and things to collect if she gets bored for a while with the main story. Both games can be gotten on the cheap from GOG or other sources and should be easily playable on any semi-modern PC.

If she likes The Painted Tower, she might like some other adventure/hidden object game series. The Samantha Swift series of games have a strong female lead and feature science, intrigue, and hand-painted art. The Dream Chronicles series might also appeal to her.

For RPGs, she might like the Aveyond series.

Check out AGD Interactive Studios... they've remade the classics of King's Quest I-III and Quest for Glory II, as well as releasing a commercial effort of their own (with another in the works). The authorized remakes are free to download and play!

The Monkey Island adventure games are also good fun.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/6183/

Thanks all, I'll look into all of these.

The Dream Chronicles games especially do look pretty cool, she might dig those, I think.