What games is it not scary to put a child down? The best projects for children and their parents
There are so many games for children now that you don’t even know what to grab onto. Most of them, especially when it comes to mobile projects, are mindless time killers that, at best, will distract the child for several hours, and at worst, they will also write off your money from your card if you have not blocked in-game transactions in time. And any titles that are more difficult for parents also have to carefully check for the presence of blood, a dubious plot, adult catchwords and other unpleasant things.
At first glance, the simplest and safest solution in this situation is to prohibit the child from playing at all. But gaming isn’t necessarily a waste of time and money, and gamer parents know this better than anyone else. And, in the end, it’s simply dishonest to block the children’s path to the console or computer if they themselves perfectly see how dad sits down to play “Tanks” in the evenings , and mom after lights out calms the nerves in some Death Stranding . As you know, it is best to teach by example – and rather than wait until the child hears from classmates about GTA , it is better to show him worthy projects that will both entertain and teach something new, and at the same time give the whole family a new way to get closer and have fun together.
In this article, we tried to collect the best games that you can safely show to children under 10 years old – and they will surely like it. We set such an age bar for a simple reason: after ten, the child will probably figure out what he wants to play, but preschoolers and primary school children need parental help with a choice of entertainment.
Together behind one screen
It is better to start acquaintance with games with projects where joint passage on one screen is supported. So you can immediately show yourself how to properly control the heroes, and at the same time, and insure the child in especially difficult moments.
This category will be opened by the classic 2D platformer Rayman Legends (PC, X360, XOne, XSeries, PS3, PS4, PS5, Wii U and Switch) – a bright and colorful game with simple gameplay: run, avoid traps, fight and collect bonuses. Rescuing the little ones, you will take turns to open access to new, dissimilar worlds (there are six of them). But get ready for the fact that the difficulty will increase with each level, and in the end you will need all the accumulated experience and good reaction.
It is much easier to play in co-op mode: the deceased character continues to fly in a bubble, which can be broken by a second user to return the loser to the game. In addition, the game has a competitive mode in the form of a kind of football, and all levels from the previous game, Rayman Origins , have been added .
If Rayman gets bored, you can jump into the Overcooked series of cooperative cartoon arcade games! (PC, XOne, XSeries, PS4, PS5, Switch). There you will have to hone your cook skills, jostling with friends in the vast kitchen and trying to cook all the dishes on time to save the world from the apocalypse in the face of the Pasta Monster (in the first part) or feed the Walking bread (in the second part). Sounds crazy? It is played exactly the same! Due to the cheerful and fast gameplay, you will have to lose often, but there is also a positive side to this. Overcooked Kitchen Battles! show the child that personal skill is not enough to win: you need to help others, work in a team and complete tasks correctly. And at the same time they will teach your child that losing is not the end of the world, but just an excuse to try again.
An alternative to the previous series is Moving Out (PC, XOne, XSeries, Switch, PS4, PS5 ). It’s a physics-based cooperative moving simulator in which you play as ridiculous but hilarious movers. Here you need to learn how to pack things in a van, fight against narrow doorways, fight off ghosts, run away from pets and solve simple logic puzzles. The advantage of Moving Out is that it immediately creates a positive impression and, at the same time, is not as crazy as Overcooked! – it will be easier for the child to get used to and accept the rules of the game. In addition, children who have been in Moving Out for at least a couple of hours will no longer have to show for the hundredth time how to neatly put things in a closet or properly pack a backpack for school.
Do you want to give your child a chance to play a hooligan and let off steam, but so that you do not have to make repairs after that, blush in front of neighbors or go to the carpet to the headmaster? Install Untitled Goose Game (PC, XOne, XSeries, PS4, PS5 and Switch) and help the ugly goose and his companion ruin the lives of the poor people of the English countryside. More recently, a cooperative mode for two was added to the game, and doing small dirty tricks has become doubly pleasant. With all the external simplicity of the project, it is incredibly interesting to go through it, and some puzzles will make you seriously brainwash even adults.
And the incredibly beautiful adventure puzzle Never Alone (PC, XOne, XSeries, PS3, PS4, PS5 and Wii U) closes this category . Unlike all previous titles, this game is made in a completely different key: it is slower and more judicious, and instead of frantic running, it offers to plunge into the fairy tale of the Inuit, one of the indigenous peoples of North America. She will show the child how important it is to live in harmony with nature, to respect other people’s traditions, culture and customs. In addition, this title is especially convenient for children who are just getting started with game controls: a parent can play as the main character, the girl Nunu, and a child can play as her playful fox helper.
It’s not scary to leave alone with the game
Here we will tell you about the games for which you can safely sit the children alone, knowing for sure that they will figure out the controls, get new experience and pleasure, and leave their parents alone for a couple of hours.
Do you know the motto “Brave puppies can handle everything!”, And your child will answer without hesitation who Ryder and his puppies are, and will be able to distinguish Marshal from Rocky or Zuma? Then you should pay attention to the games “ The squad of puppies is ready for business! ”(Paw Patrol: On a Roll) and“ Paw Patrol: Mega-Puppies Save Adventure Cove ” for PC, XOne, XSeries, PS4, PS5 and Switch. Even the smallest and most inexperienced gamers will figure out these projects: children will be able to control all the puppies, they will perform simple tasks and climb the main locations from the animated series.
Do you want to develop your child’s observation skills and introduce them to history? Then try Hidden Through Time (PC, XOne, XSeries, PS4, PS5 and Switch) in the Hidden Object genre: objects here are scattered across maps with stories from the Stone Age, Ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages and the Wild West. The game has a funny hand-drawn style, bright picture and cute animation. It’s impossible to lose here, but sometimes you have to comb literally every pixel in search of a particularly insidious element. And when you get tired of looking for objects on other people’s levels, you can switch to the map editor and draw your own.
Next on the list is the addictive Everything Simulator (PC, PS4, PS5, Switch), where you can control literally anything: atoms, rocks, microorganisms, plants, insects, animals, or even planets. In this very real “sandbox” you can connect objects to each other, change their shape and purpose, or replace one thing with another, creating funny situations. It will be useful for children to study the relationship of various phenomena, the relationship between biological species, but they cannot do without a healthy imagination and the ability to entertain themselves.
If you are one of those who have already got hold of the PlayStation 5 , then try letting your child play its exclusive: the pre-installed free Astro’s Playroom , where a funny robot travels through the virtual insides of the console (GPU, cooling system, SSD and RAM). It was created to showcase all the features of the new DualSense gamepad, and turned out to be a fun and self-sufficient five-hour adventure.
The game constantly offers new ways to interact with the environment through the gamepad: children will blow into it, catch sounds from the built-in speaker, feel its vibrations in different situations, fly with the gyroscope and use the touchpad. True, all this quickly drains the battery, so do not forget to charge it in time.
And if your child is already comfortable with a keyboard mouse or gamepad, you can make the entertainment a little more difficult and offer three-dimensional platformers. Here it is worth paying attention to the multiplatform Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair , the New the Super Lucky’s Tale , Spyro’s reignited of Trilogy , a series of Crash Bandicoot ( a collection of remastered first three games and recently released on Xbox and PS Thurs. e rtaya part ), as well as very fresh exclusive PS4 and PS5 – Sackboy: A Big Adventure .
For the most jumpy
What to do with hyperactive children who are trapped in four walls with huge reserves of unspent energy? When it’s cold and coronavirus outside, there is no access to sports sections and other active entertainment due to quarantine, but you want furniture, pets and parents’ nerves to remain safe and sound, the best solution is Just Dance .
Any game from the series is suitable here: joint (or even solo, as soon as the child understands the simplest interface) dances, a bunch of ridiculous and funny movements, a lot of fun and a complete depletion of irrepressible children’s energy are waiting for you in an hour or two active jumps. However, if you are missing 40-50 tracks included in each annual release, then you will have to subscribe to the paid service Just Dance Unlimited, which has already collected more than 500 songs in all possible musical genres.
You can play not only with the help of special controllers (for XOne – Kinect, for PS4 – PS Camera or PS Move, for Nintendo Switch – joycons), but also with a regular smartphone with the Just Dance Controller app installed . Just look that the last one has a protective case: the hour will fly out of children’s hands.
LEGO world
The LEGO series has dozens of games for every taste and color: they all provide almost the same gaming experience, but delight with local co-op, convenient controls, low difficulty, good replayability, and good humor.
Do not look for serious differences between titles, but just choose the setting that the child and you like the most: ” Batman”, “Harry Potter”, “Indiana Jones”, “Star Wars”, “Jurassic Park”, “The Avengers”, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit … The list goes on and on, but if you don’t have any special preferences, we recommend starting with the more recent ones: The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame , LEGO The Incredibles , LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 and LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game (available on PC, XOne, XSeries, PS4 and PS5).
Disney set
For many decades, Disney has been trying to capture every child on the planet in its networks of “goodness”, filling us with cartoons, films, comics, toys, dolls and other attractions. Computer games are also not deprived of the attention of this corporation: the first projects on the universes of Disney appeared during the time of 8-bit consoles and the very first slot machines. “Duck Tales” , “Miracles on the bends” , “Black Cloak” , “Chip and Dale” , “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” will be remembered by everyone who is now over 20, but modern children will be interested in slightly different games. Let’s talk about some of them.
” Rush: Pixar’s adventure from the Disney ” (X360, XONE, XSeries and PC) and immerse your child in the world of cartoons, like ” The Incredibles,” ” Ratatouille,” “Up,” “Cars” and ” Toy Story” . In the split screen mode, you will control familiar characters and go through various mini-games (15 in total): you have to run, swim, fly, fight bosses, solve simple logic puzzles, ride cars, collect coins and reveal secrets. By the way, it is impossible to lose.
Disneyland Adventures (X360, XOne, XSeries and PC) will give you almost the same experience as the previous game, only this time you will walk through Disneyland located in the American city of Anaheim. You can visit rides and carousels, complete funny tasks from Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Mowgli, Baloo, Aladdin, the Beast, Winnie the Pooh, fight Captain Hook, make friends with Buzz, jump with the Tiger, save Goofy and etc.
If your child loves cars, but to show him or her Up Need For Speed , Forza and Grand Turismo is too early, it makes sense to pay attention to the ” Cars 3: Towards the victory “ (PC, X360, XOne, XSeries, PS3 , PS4, PS5, Nintendo Wii U and Switch). A very easy level of difficulty has been added to the game, where you can not think about rivals at all, and a local co-op for four. There is no plot as such, and all progress is built on tests, for the completion of which you will gradually unlock new modes, tracks and characters. There is also a spacious Thomasville Playground, where you can freely ride and complete all sorts of tasks.
Role-playing adventure ” Brave “ (PC, X360, XOne, XSeries, PS3, Nintendo Wii) will give the child control of Princess Merida, who deftly wields a bow and sword and solves simple logic puzzles with the help of her bear brothers. There is a simple character leveling, a brave and brave heroine, as well as a sincere story about the importance of family, mutual understanding and the ability to forgive.
Universe Nintendo
And the article closes with a selection of games available only on branded consoles from the Nintendo universe, which is quite exotic for our latitudes . But in each of them there is a joint mode of passage, and in many of them there is also a flexible setting of difficulty.
If you’re not sure where to start, then try the timeless classic about the plumber Mario: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe . It’s a 2D cartoon platformer with painfully familiar characters. Even if you or your children are new to the genre, it will still take just a few minutes to get used to it. You will have to jump a lot, collect mushrooms and fight funny enemies.
Was the game about Mario too difficult for the child? Launch Yoshi’s Crafted World . This is a fun, cute and simple adventure that will not cause any problems for anyone: there Yoshi the dinosaur travels through a makeshift world of cardboard, paper, foil and fabric.
Tired of platformers? Then you go to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe . There is no storyline, no tutorial or cutscenes here – just pure, uncluttered fun, rampant go-kart races, smart controls for kids, 42 racers and 48 tracks.
This collection is far from complete and does not pretend to be encyclopedic, but it will definitely come in handy for those who first wondered what to give a child to play. In addition to these projects, you can also remember the super popular Minecraft , as well as the lesser-known Carnival Games , Slime Rancher , Beyond Eyes , The Gardens Between , My Brother Rabbit , Doritos Crash Course , Zheros , Nickelodeon Kart Racers , Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled , Disney Bolt and Ben 10: Power Trip .
And if you are one of those parents who themselves have long figured out the variety of children’s games, be sure to share your recommendations in the comments: we probably forgot something.
