[setr]

I feel like the attraction isn't that it saves time, so much as it saves thinking. At least for me (kid-less), it's really hard to imagine the difference between something appropriate for a 5 year old and an 8 year old; particularly things that straddle the line

Things are a lot easier if the producer just tells me the intended audience, which I can take with a grain of salt and decide from there

[madhadron]

The gap between what is appropriate for a 5 year old and what is appropriate for an 8 year old is surprisingly large if you don't have kids or otherwise deal with them day in and day out.

[jvvw]

Agree - I have a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old, and yes, enormous difference even though only 2.5 years apart. Suggested age range is definitely helpful for parents even though I often take them with a pinch of salt. Also if a developer hasn't tested enough to know what is a good suggested age range, then they haven't tested enough full stop!

I'm certainly happy with idea of a game teaching low-level cs concepts, although I don't tend to spend too much money on kids' games unless they have really good recommendations/reviews (or they have enjoyed other games from the same developer e.g. we have all the DragonBox games) as I can't guarantee what my kids will decide is interesting. I also don't think I'd get early-release stuff for kids as their tolerance for non-finished products tends to be limited.