O...! Just rembmer a flash game my kid loved: King of Drift.
Also all kind of 'memory' games for instance on www for Thomas the Tank Engine.

But you know - the more I think of it - it is not about him playing the game alone. It is about YOU and HIM playing together. Pick non-violent game with clear, big gfx not too fast and just play with him even if his action will be only pressing fire from time to time, comment what you see on the screen, laugh when he laughs etc.

EDIT:
Checkers or wolf and sheeps.

Quite true... I think I should take Botanicula as the first "project". Looks and sounds great, easy enough for himself to click around..
Good points.. However, is there reason you I should take Moto Racer 2 over Moto Racer 3? Seems GoG has only one Flatout, but I suppose I could checkout later how much the newer versions cost.

...not that the prices here were really overbearing, especially now at christmas time.

Roger - will check that out later. Thanks.

If your kid into building things and sims I suggest Roller Coaster Tycoon: Dexluxe, or RollerCoast 2 Triple Thrill. Either game will give your kid tons of tinkering time and will grow with him/her as they grow. I grew up playing Sims pc game wise until I got into a few RTS games. However it was always sims like Sim City 2000/3000 that I played the most because you could do so much in them.

Good luck picking a game for your kid.

Creatures Village - specifically made for kids, so it has lots of bright colors, is loud, quite easy and FUN.

I'm an ex-teacher and I'd definitely choose something like that for a 4 year old.

Preview video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOB0BEqwtz8

What I can say is I probably started playing around 4-5 years old. Definitely sure I was playing OoT around six.

And complexity or language never bothered me. It was a sort of a magical experience, completely unlike the way I play these days. I kind of hope I could go back to that way, but alas it seems impossible. I still get a huge dose of nostalgia from the games I remember playing as a kid -- and it was very rewarding to get to play them "for real" later on. I am very grateful for my dad introducing me to games early on in my life, it sparked a lifelong interest that might one day turn into a career. (somewhat to his chagrin, actually, he doesn't see game development as a viable career choice ; D)

Just make sure it doesn't have any content that might be disturbing. (One of the first games I personally played was Duke Nukem 3D, and I turned out just fine, if I dare say so : D I don't recommend though)

I can't really give good recommendations since I mostly grew up around Nintendo consoles, and only very little pc until I was around 9-10. Simple platoformers, racing games and adventure games are your best bet.

I almost suggested(jokingly oc) Duke Nukem 3D while it was free......then I thought about how much shit would be flung my way after the fact. 0.o

(On a side note: Maybe Duke Nukem 1 would be appropriate? It's mostly cartoonish run and gunning, after all.)

Definitely a can of worms

I wouid think of space chem ... not that he could solve the puzzles alone, but the moving things .....

When I was a kid I would load a premade city in Sim City and proceed to destroy it with hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, alien invasions, etc. Wait...I still do that.

Anyway, Duke Nukem 1 is pretty tame. I played that as a kid and my parents are pretty conservative. If I think of more, I will update my post. Who knows? Maybe he is a chess prodigy.

off the top of my head all i can think of that wasn't mentioned that i've played and know is on gog would be trine. seems like kids would like that one. I think the sequel is even on wii now so it seems like it'd be that demographic
its more of a platformer than a puzzle game so shouldn't be too frustrating its really casual and should be easy enough and even if he doesn't quite follow what the narrator is saying hes kind of got a story book aesthetic when he talks and the plot isn't that important.

edit-
theres a demo on steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/35700/
and a gameplay video on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W96arubcxeU

I still think Screamer 2 is better for a little kid! ;P

I'd vote for Botanicula at least for a while. The whole style of it is mesmerising and just clicking on stuff to see waht happens is what its all about really. Add in the charming sound, absolulately zero language skills required.

I think Occum's Razor would agree with you as do I. :)