My kid has been playing with mame and roms since around 8 years old, he's 16 now, sure I used to have to jump in from time to time, but if anything ROM's and custom built images are what got my son into a basic understanding of how a lot of tech works. If a kid can do it so can others. The sheer amount of effort that goes into emulators is insane and I'm grateful for being able to share a lot of my childhood with my son because of those people's work and dedication.