Good games to play with young children

[3 others]

Got any recommendations for (preferably PC) games that are suitable to be played with kids? Mine are fairly young, so let's put the age limit at 8 years or so.

I'm not particularly interested in explicit kids' games - meaning the Paw Patrols and whatnot of the world - but sure, you can put a word in for those too if they're genuinely good to play.

The games should have:
* Minimal English communication
* Not too much text
* No graphical violence
* No horror elements
* Simple controls

For example, my 5yo daughter played through The Witness and was surprisingly good at solving the puzzles and liked traveling around the island after she got familiar with using a mouse & keyboard. The different levels of logic puzzles were enjoyable for her to solve and for me to assist. However, we haven't tried Talos Principle yet as I believe the mine enemies will be too intense for her.

Puzzle games in general seem to be a good fit. She enjoys the non-verbal Snakebird Primer, but Baba is You is incomprehensible for a non-English speaker. She also likes messing around in (for me underwhelming) Untitled Goose Game, although the tasks themselves are usually too fiddly for her to complete.

Abstract games are a total miss. No interest in Mini Metro whatsoever.

Might try Machinarium or Botanicula next. Or Ibb & Obb. Or HOMM3

What else is there?

 

[GreyViper]

Heroes Of Might and Magic 2-3 Definitely, the art and music is really vibrant in color and feeling. Maybe Crystal Caves and Classic Prince Of Persia. There are always, Sims or Sim City maybe she fancies them and maybe not. Definitely start with older classics first and progress to modern ones later.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I bought a genesis mini for my niece & nephew to play when they're at my house. Older console games tend to be a lot simpler, designed around 1-2 mechanics with little text/story and simple controls, so young kids can pick them up easily.

 

[spectre]

Machinarium is good. My 7yo pretty much knows it by heart at this point. Homm3 most definitely works, especially in hotseat coop.

I can swear by this shit:

We clocked +60 hrs on this and 100% it a few times. There's a bit of English text, but you can get by doing a quick and dirty translation.

Also this one:

Great, absurd humor, in the vein of Gobliiins, completely language independent.
Works great with kids of all ages.

World of Goo is another classic, language independent puzzle game to check out.

You can also check if the vaccinations took hold and the kid developed the kind of autism necessary to learn programming with The Incredible Machine,
the recent remake is called Contraption Maker.


This is basically remade Lost Vikings with purdy 3D graphics. You can do coop and there are physics-based puzzles.
There's also a bit of fighting going on, so check if you're fine with this level of violence.

While I hate Paw Patrol with every fiber of my being, I must concede that this one does a good job as a starter platformer.
It's not particularly well made and is obviously a low-budget cash-grab. The important bit is that it lets the kid practice all sorts of jump and double-jump puzzles
that get progressively harder (but not absurdly so) with no possibility to lose.

Holy crap, I just saw the asking price on this shit, just pirate it, mmkay?

And speaking of pirate, be sure to check this and have your spawn learn carribean geography:

Thee controls can be wonky (basically, you do everything on the numpad, can be done with one hand).

In a similar vein, the Lego games bore me out of my skull, but kids love them. There's plenty of them, so pick your poison.
Hairy Twatter? Ninjago? Star Wars? Blyatman? Lego City Undercover is almost like a family-friendly GTA.
Now, I haven't tried every one of them, but the Pirates of the Carribean looked the best, not one spoken line, very little text,
even had a bunch of puzzles.
You will probably need a controller for those.

I also tried Seasons After Fall, it has purdy graphics and is one of those decent starter platformers.
It's got a nice gimmick going on where you have to change the current "season" in each stage to solve puzzles.

Time wasn't kind for Star Wars racer, and I had trouble making it work with a controller, but I consider it a decent starter racing game.

This reminds me, I'll have to check if there's a serviceable Lemmings remake available.

 

[Falksi]

Get emulating 16-bit era games. There's a ton of pick-up & play thrive. I'd suggest:

SEGA Megadrive

• Sonic 2
• Sonic 3
• Sonic & Knuckles
• Magical Hat no Buttobi Turbo! Daibouken
  
• Golden Axe
• Gunstar Heroes
• Bonanza Bros
• Batman
• Arrow Flash
• Ringside Angel
• Toejam & Earl
• California Games
• NHL Hockey 94
• Ghouls N Ghosts (the only hard game on here, but one which is very accessible too)
• Afterburner 2 (this is a bit tough too, but the first 1/3rd of the game is easy enough)

SNES

• Super Mario World
• A Link To The Past
• The Combat Tribes (it is a beat 'em up, but I put it on here because it's done in a very cartoony style)
• The Legend of The Mystical Ninja (this is ace for simple, 2-play adventure platforming)
• Battle Soccer 2
• Joe & Mac 2

There's more besides, but that's a good starting point. Most are really easy to get into and not very hard to finish either.

 

[3 others]

Thanks for the suggestions. Plenty to consider already, although this isn't exactly what I'm looking for yet

The games should have:
* No graphical violence

and Classic Prince Of Persia.

 

[Grauken]

This isn't graphical violence, it's educational

 

[Viata]

Either play educational games or puzzle games. Let the kid play games while forcing himself to think and develop the most important skill, more so in this society: think. This is a good game:

Do not let the kid-looking game fool you. It can have some interesting puzzles.

 

[Catacombs]

Don't Starve Together

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Contraption Maker: Spiritual successor to the classic Incredible Machine made by the same people. Plenty of first party content that is further supplemented by Steam Workshop integration. If the $10 asking price is too much it can be purchased at a might lower price during sales.

 

[deuxhero]

Gurumin?

A bit more story heavy, but the main story is fully voiced (English dub is kinda eh though)

 

[Maxie]

this motherfucker better show kids some mario or i shoot

 

[Lemming42]

Sonic and Mario are the ultimates, surely. Sonic especially since it's specifically designed for retards (me) who want to win by just holding the right arrow and occasionally hitting jump.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

First party Nintendo games are very kid-friendly, low on text, and generally of at least decent quality.

My kids have both loved the adventure games from Humongous Entertainment, but they’re pretty wordy, and I’m not sure what localizations were made for them. Worth checking out if they’re available in your native language though.

The Lego games are also pretty reliably entertaining for kids, low on text, and they shine in co-op. Just make sure to research them before you buy, because my understanding is they really run the gamut in quality.

My son has also really enjoyed watching me play A Hat in Time, but it’s a bit too difficult for him to play himself.

Stardew Valley is very text heavy, but I believe it’s been localized into pretty much every language imaginable due to its success.

Trine is a good suggestion, and in the platform we vein I would add the Ducktales and Castle of Illusion remakes. Ditto for Crash Babdicoot and Spyro remakes.

Costume Quest is a pretty decent baby’s first jRPG, but it’s been a while since I played it and can’t remember how text heavy it is.

 

[Nazrim Eldrak]

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes with Nintendo Switch.
I've played it and for the most part it should fit your terms.
The "simple controls" might be a bit of an issue unless you're not interested in winning.

EDIT:
"What Remains of Edith Finch" is a game that I've put on my wishlist and I think it might be something that you and your child might enjoy after your child grows up. You can buy it on GOG and it has a very high rating.

 

[catfood]

Keep your kids away from video games, games are nothing but garbage.

 

[The Decline]

Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure.

 

[Sitra Achara]

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Just get a SNES/GameBoy/MegaDrive emulator and play the classics

 

[Viata]

Sonic especially

As long as you don't let them play too much sonic. The sonic fanbase is always a reminder of what can happens.

 

[Zenithsan]

Gurumin?

A bit more story heavy, but the main story is fully voiced (English dub is kinda eh though)

You can just download the jap voices, but I don't think this is a good choice for a kid, it has an actual pedo npc that's trying to fuck you since the start of the game.

I recommend one of my favorite games of all time; in aesthetics, puzzle, story, and overall atmoshpere.

 

[Zerth]

Since the classic Sonic games were already recommended. I suggest this fangame:



I've played Coop mode with the little mice I have as nephews, and We certainly had a blast. Although is kinda tough.

As long as you don't let them play too much sonic. The sonic fanbase is always a reminder of what can happens.

Mostly applies to modern sanic games. As long as they play classic, they will remain safe.

Modern sonic era brought melodrama, shipping and obsession with "canon" to the franchise. The perfect recipe to allure a legion of weirdos across the world.

 

[Neuromancer]

"What Remains of Edith Finch" is a game that I've put on my wishlist and I think it might be something that you and your child might enjoy after your child grows up. You can buy it on GOG and it has a very high rating.

Yeah, sure.
A game, where all the family members die some horrific deaths might be a good game for a five year old.
Very good for family bonding, too.

 

[dacencora]

Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure.

Also Commander Keen and Crystal Caves and Hocus Pocus. There are a bunch of great kid-friendly games on DOS. I would also add Super Noah’s Ark 3-D and Chex Quest.

There’s also a WAD that is meant to be a conversion of Hocus Pocus to DOOM.

 

[Viata]

The modern sonic fan started with the classic ones. See Chris-chan.