@Natanox @Shrigglepuss @fluffy if the kid has no prior programming experience, RPi will be an overkill that will also be difficult to use. Microbit is designed for kids specifically. You just connect it and start coding in scratch, JavaScript or python, straight from the browser. Also, a ton of third party add-ons, like robot cars or servos.
@bonkers @Natanox @Shrigglepuss There's two of them. Also I wouldn't be there to physically help them out - for me the included documentation is more important than the hardware itself. Also they're interested in learning game programming, not hardware development. So Microbit doesn't really seem like a suitable replacement, although it might still be a fun thing for them to try out.