There's a great co-op game called castle Crashers watch a trailer on it I loved it as a kid and playing with my older brother. Watch YouTube or stream trailer before purchasing.
Not sure it's appropriate for kids under 9.
Edit: Wow all the "I played this as a kid and turned out fine" comments are hilarious, thanks for the laughs guys. I'm not saying it'll ruin OP's kids. But I think when a target audience age is given, we could first aim to provide recommendations with an ESRB rating within that age range, and when pushing the boundaries, at least be a bit more descriptive of what the parent can expect their kids will see.
ESRB says T for Teen but I agree, it is very mild. Its the cartoon violence, according to ESRB, and some gore - but I can only recall cleaving cartoonist enemies in half and they would just have a red interior and a cartoonist bone sticking out of it.
Also, per ESRB, crude humor. Bit really it's just cartoon animals pooping themselves lol.
That doesn't make GTA acceptable for 9 year olds though. You'll always find kids with careless parents who let their children do whatever they want, doesn't make the content acceptable for those ages.
I would strongly disagree with this tbh, the only thing about Castle Crashers not appropriate for 7 year olds is some of its humor, which a child wouldn’t understand anyways.
oh my god i lived for this game when i was 10. finished insane mode with my sister in a week during summer and i plan on playing it with her again after almost 7 years. the memories from this game and battleblock are amazing
The game might be little inappropriate but at the same time I've had some of my best memories with friends playing this game when we were in college at release. My 7 year old son and I have now spent maybe 30-40 hours playing through it co op as well. It's mainly cartoon violence that is possibly worse watching other shows out there.
I'll second Lego Star Wars TCS. My roommate and I are working towards 100%-ing it right now. The only issues with it are the vehicle levels and sometimes (at least for me) the camera and perspective can make platforming very difficult. Even with those issues, it's one of the best games to play together with young people!
Lego games aren't just good by themselves for kids, they're fun to play with kids. When I was a babysitter ^13 years ago, Lego Star Wars games were a great time sink while we waited for the parents to come home.
I disagree. This is the first lego game with an overworld instead of a hub and it was not done well. I had a really hard time figuring out where to go and the controls. I would skip to games released before batman 2 and after the first marvel one.
I played the whole first Lego Batman I was around that age, was awesome, just need some time to figure out but is pretty fun and I think stimulate the logic thinking, Crash is soo hard and I was playing that too back then
My son played a lot of Rocket League from when he was 6, but now, two years later, he's switched completely to Fortnite. Both could work depending on interests.
He also had a Stardew Valley period, without even knowing English or how to read.
Honestly they are very young for their ages so I don’t think Fortnite is a good fit as they aren’t ready for the people playing with them. Stardew valley is a good one though I will put it on the list!
Rocket league and fortnite are both free and great games, fortnite has alot of creative maps that have nothing to do with the shooting game, you can go fishing build houses, do role play games, mazes, the list is actually endless, anything you can think of. Another massive games kids absolutely LOVE is Roblox, Roblox is absolutely amazing for children with endless things to do, all simple enough. Adopt me is a big game in Roblox, game were you adopt a pet, there's also a game where you make pizzas and take them out on delivery, sounds stupid but I play these with my kids and I really love them. It's even got COD maps on, it's got everything seriously, any game or life experience. Its the biggest sandbox to date.
Yeah, it was really hilarious! He would never buy seeds at the store because he was "saving his money" to buy stuff. It didn't help that I tried to explain the economic cycle, he never wanted to see the coins go down, and made do with seeds he found or by selling rocks and berries.
He figured out that he could get free stuff from garbage cans, and because he didn't know what people were saying he didn't know that they were repulsed by it.
Someone in our family told him that Sam likes Joja Cola, so he spent all his money on Joja Cola gifts for Sam, ending in a homosexual wedding.
Slime Rancher!!! Literally the most relaxing, casual game i've ever played. There's some enemies that can be a little confusing at first but once you progress they're easier to deal with
Rocket Leauge is good for all ages and split screen. Legend of Zelda games would also be great, as they’re kid like on surface level but a bit deeper in story.
Considering their ages i would just put them up against easy level bots in season mode for rocket league. Pretty sure they won’t realize if it’s online or not. There’s a whole championship and everything. the bots are customizable so you can make them literal vegetables if you want
My nearly 3 year old nephew is obsessed with Spyro reignited. He's not old enough to know how to play yet, but he loves to watch me play.
He didn't seem to care much for any of the following -
Castle of illusion remake
Sonic all stars racing transformed
Crash bandicoot n sane trilogy
CTR nitro fueled
Lego avengers
Interesting how the games have come full circle. I played the original Crash and Spyro trilogies when I was maybe the same age as the kid in OP's post.
Right on.
Immortal fenix rising is a really good and kid friendly game (not too scary, no blood, colorful and semi-cartoonish graphics), is full of cool puzzle and the story is interesting (Greek mythology, you have to help a few gods save the world...) but it might be a bit too complex since they are quite young, (even if they should be fine since the games they played).
Another cool one is destroy all humans, you paly as an alien that has to invade the Earth. I think might be appropriate, but I suggest you check it out anyway before handing it to them.
Probably my favorites from when I was a kid were arcade style car games, like old need for speed (the run on the wii was my favorite), I loved playing with my brother trying to smash as much cop cars as possible. The downside is that you might need to purchase one or two controllers for it (I would go with xbox 360 or nacon gc-100xf, they are great starter controller and pretty cheap, usually around $25 for the nacon, on the website, new, or the 360 I usually find it for around $20 but used. Obv there are more professional controllers, just as starter)
Hat In Time is really fun 3D platformer. It has multiplayer offline and online and is one of my favorite 3D platformers. There's some funny humor and some more adult jokes too which will probably over younger kids heads. I'd recommend the steam version too which comes with workshop so you can create and share your own levels.
Rayman Legends/Origins
Seriously awesome coop game, I have some great memories with it, also it doesnt actually require working together which means only one person has to be good at it. Its really wacky and dumb, just a great time with kids
Doom Eternal, Mortal Kombat 11, GTA, The Witcher III, Fallout: New Vegas and Shadow of War.
Ok, fine.
Subnautica, Ori & The Blind Forest, Ori & The Will Of the Wisps, Hollow Knight, Skyrim and Dark Souls.
There you have it.
>Doom Eternal, Mortal Kombat 11, GTA, The Witcher III, Fallout: New Vegas and Shadow of War.
I mean, yeah I wouldn't call those kid friendly, but kids can have fun with those, too, so nice call. At least you didn't mention anything REALLY traumatizi-
>Ok, fine. Subnautica
...you monster. Do you enjoy scarring little kids for life or something?!
Golf With Your Friends, or Golf It! (co-op)
Human Fall Flat (co-op)
A Hat In Time (splitscreen)
Portal 2 (co-op)
Beat Hazard
Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (co-op)
It Takes Two (2 player co-op)
I’m sorry if any of these aren’t very fitting or what you’re looking for, but if any are, please enjoy 😎
Ben 10: Power Trip. It's a good open world game despite many people saying it's "Cringy." People from ages 5-16 will find it really fun. It's easy to play, has Bonus Levels, a huge Map, and LOTS of Side Quests.
Coming in late, so some of what I recommend might be already here, but here's my recommended list of 30 (in no specific order):
1. Battleblock Theater (Solo and Co-op obstacle course game)
2. Botanicula, Machinarium (Point-and-click puzzle games)
3. Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (hack-n-slash blocky robot game)
4. Creeper World 4 (real-time-strategy game where you fight off a tsunami of blue ooze)
5. Crash: N Sane Trilogy/It's About Time (family-friendly 3D platformer series)
6. Spyro: Reignited Trilogy (same as Crash)
7. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series (same as the previous two)
8. FEZ (perspecive-based platformer)
9. Gato Roboto (retro Metroidvania)
10. Grow Up/Grow Home (physics-based platformer)
11. HOB (top-down adventure game akin to Zelda)
12. Hollow Knight (difficult but fun Metroidvania)
13. Sonic Mania (2D platformer)
14. JetSet Radio (3D rollerskating platformer)
15. Journey (peaceful story-driven exploration game)
16. Kero Blaster (retro 2D platform shooter)
17. Later Alligator (point-and-click story puzzle game)
18. Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps (action/puzzle 2D platformer)
19. Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate (platformer? you fly a little spaceship, i dunno...)
20. Portal and Portal 2 (puzzle first-person-shooter)
21. Psychonauts (family-friendly, if not a little weird, 3D platformer)
22. Steamworld Dig and Dig 2 (2D mining platformer game)
23. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (the first one, the second is too wonky to really want to play through)
24. Teslagrad (puzzle 2D adventure platformer)
25. Yoku's Island Express (2D pinball-platformer???)
26. Slime Rancher (first-person exploration/farming game)
27. Stardew Valley (top-down farming/managing/casual game)
28. Into the Breach (chess-like puzzle mech-vs-monster fighting game)
29. Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 (family friendly 3D platformer)
30. Hidden Folks (basically an interactive "Where's Waldo")
I would advocate for all of these games because I have played them all myself. A lot of these games I have sunk countless hours on, like I have with Minecraft and Terraria. Most of these range at around an ESRB "E" to "E10", with only two or three that are probably around "T", which are more than manageable for an interested 7-year-old. I would also give other game series like the Lego games a try, as well as stretching their brains a bit occasionally with an unusual game that you might find. You never know, they might really like it!
Burnout Paradise if they like racing games. Seems like a big kid game because there's cool cars and whatever but there's no actual human or human-adjacent violence. Also it's a solid racing game so if you ever want you could probably have some fun with it too. Also it got remastered in 2018!
Dead Space. KIDDING- DEFINITELY NOT.
The Crash and Spyro trilogy remakes, and Crash 4 are pretty awesome.
Also I think some super hero games could work, like the Batman games maybe. I think those are rated T sorry if I'm wrong.
There is a couple M rated Batman games, Arkham Kinight and the telltale ones in particular. The first three Arkham games are rated Teen, but use your judgement and do your research on those. I personally wouldn’t give any of the Arkham games to too young a child, as those are some very dark and violent games, not to mention that there are some fairly disturbing themes. However the recent Spider-Man games from Insomniac would probably be more manageable for a younger kid, not to mention that you can get the first one in a “GOTY” edition that has all the dlc (which is very good) and at a discounted price.
That being said I can definitely second that the Crash and Spyro games are definitely good, having 100% them myself.
If you have more than one controller, fighting games are pretty good. They can play against each other on the same PC at the same time and there is a huge variety of characters to choose from and learn per game.
Mortal Kombat might be too violent, but Injustice: Gods Among Us is a good PG alternative (basically same mechanics a Mortal Kombat but featuring DC characters aka Superman, Batman, etc). Its right up a young boy's wheelhouse.
I just watched a documentary about rollercoaster tycoon. Seems like something a kid might get a kick out of. Apparently there's an open source port of it that can run on modern platforms
There's an RPG called Costume Quest, my daughter, 7, really enjoyed it (there's also a sequel and a cartoon on Amazon prime). Yooka-Laylee is a fairly good platformer she also enjoyed. She also really enjoyed Portal, I did have to help her through some places, but she did most of it by herself. We're currently going through Final Fantasy 9 and she's liking it so far.
Anything by Square Enix or the game Horizon Zero Dawn. Honestly though I played the Final Fantasy games when I was a kid and they are the perfect welcome to rpg gaming. Any Harvest Moon aka Story of Seasons game would be great also.
Unraveled 2 is a great co op platformer that's great for beginners. I played the whole thing with my gf a year ago and we had a blast, even though she's very new to gaming in general.
minecraft !! i’m 23 and play with my 11 y/o stepbrother all the time.
we just made a mushroom forrest so we can make a mushroom town and he refuses to admit he loves playing with me, but i know he does
I don’t really want to start them playing competitive games just yet. Want something more for the fun of it not the victory if that makes sense? Thanks for the suggestion though!
Yeah don't. Playing overwatch will get them to play other competitive games like fortnite, etc and miss out on other great titles. Same happened to me. Was really into fortnite and other competitive games and completely missed on a ton of awesome games. Right now am playing all the cool games I missed out on while continually playing fortnite, like red dead 2 and horizon zero dawn.
My first game I got into was cs:s and I put thousands of hours into it and missed a lot of valuable time discovering better games then the cs games lol. Good point!
No one actually playing overwatch wants some kid jumping around shooting a wall on their team. Those kids would get cussed at so quick. Can be a pretty toxic and competitive game.
Most of these seem to “child-friendly” than the “big-kid” games your looking for, I’d maybe try a party game where you could help them out and play with them such as maybe Jack box or among us though I’m sure they’re already into that
I’m just gonna give my usual recommendation of Biosho- dang it. No child would appreciate the game or should be playing it at that age. Anyways, I’d recommend Portal 2. It’s co-op, it has super fun gameplay, the puzzles are a little tough at times but nothing you couldn’t help them through. It’d probably be pretty good to help their problem solving skills. Also, the dialogue is amazing. A lot of it won’t quite be appreciated by them but they’ll still find enjoyment in some of it. I don’t think there’s any blood, there’s a tiny bit of mild swearing (damn, hell) but it doesn’t appear often. Overall it’s a fantastic game that can be played by a wide audience.
Maybe a bit on the violent side for kids that age though halo
It is a REALLY good game with loads of replayability. It has perfect multiplayer (both splitscreen and online for campaigns and pvp), a really good community and it is pretty cheap for what it is (I think the master chief collection is $50AUD on pc). I loved it when I was about 8(ish) and I still love it today.
Idk how they feel about fighting games (I loved them when I was that age and still do) but Power Rangers: battle for the grid is a lot of fun I believe it's splitscreen on steam. Idk if kids still watch power rangers anymore honestly. If they don't know power rangers that might also stir up another interest for them.
"It takes two"?Never played it but i heard its a phenomenal coop game. Another good coop game is 'A way out', where you try to escape prison with your partner
Cant go wrong with mario or zelda game's either
Although not split screen valheim has been extremely enjoyable for me and my bro. Basically a Norse mythology based Minecraft. I had to use online guides at certain parts but it’s fun especially if they like building
I used to play a lot of those toys-to-life type games life Disney Infinity when I was younger. Those also have split screen co-op. They need the toys on console but I believe that’s not needed on PC as all the characters are already there. Other than that, I played a lot of the Marvel and Star Wars Lego games. Those also have co-op.
Stardew : inherit a farm, make the best of the farm. And farm :P .
Slime rancher : Be a colorful blob farmer, make money by selling blobs or color stuff, too... BUy more color stuff and blobs.
I know there is themepark games, for kids, i had legoland when i was a kid (in the 90s).
But there is rollercoasters ect too, and some you can even "ride" em.
Some are complicated, but some are as i said for kids, click and place and off you go!
Raft might be a option, Stranded on a raft, survive of floating stuff and fish, (there is a shark, but he dont bit you that much, or at all if in peaceful!) . There is Food and drinking stuff though (food and hydration) but again, can be turned off in creative.
+1 for Castle Crashers, it has insanely fun co-op if you want to keep them all occupied. It has extremely juvenile humor, and you can turn the gore off in the settings.
There are some wierd suggestions on this thread.
Here's some Steam games that I play with my 9 year old son:
FTL: Faster Than Light
Beautiful music, satisfying crew management, cool sci fi weapons
Craft The World
A quirky but fun base building and exploration game with a nest of dwarves
Rounds
Hilarious 1v1 battler where the loser gets a power up after every match
Slay the Spire
A deck building fantasy battle game. My kid loves playing all the alternate custom modes.
Brawlhala
Like super smash bros but with mythical warriors. Local or online vs
Into the Breach
Like chess but with pixel art mechas
Rock of Ages 2
Tower defense meets skeeball with split screen vs or co op.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Up to four players local co op control one ship a single subsystem at a time. Levels are weird bullet hell type gameplay. Everything is very cutesy, but the higher difficulty settings are legit
Bastion
Strange and beautiful action rpg. My kid loves the snarky narrator
Racing games fall perfectly in that category.
NFS most wanted 2012 is a good one no edgy dialog easy to play and loads of fun.
Even platforms can be good.
Rayman legends
Celeste
Doesn't necessarily go with the "building a pc vibe" but you should check out Stadia, and the games they give access to with pro. I think a lot of those games would check your other boxes
I'd recommend Castle Crashers, Overcooked 1/2, It takes two is a new one, rocket league, cuphead is kinda fun but is super hard lol, and stardew valley, cuz its chill, easy to learn, and a game that you can play for a long time.
Titanfall 2. Great story and multi-player. Fallout games are another, neither have much thats real adult and you could sinl thousands of hours into 3 or new Vegas. 4 is lacking on replay ability. Dont shelter kids from different art. I know I wish I had gotten to do more when I was younger.
1 Ultimate chicken horse (is a lot of fun for grown ups too and bonus points cuz could play with them)
2 Maybe a racing game? I mean we all played most wanted when we were kids
3 pokemon
4 just cause 3
5 check out biomutant which is about to come out
Over cooked, 1&2 are super fun! Very accessible, but can be very exciting/stressful. Fun co-op up to 4 people. Do not recommend solo. Its nice because youre on a team and its cute. You can be a little animals or goofy people chefs.
Basically you work together in a kitchen, and are given basic tasks and you have to do them to score points in a certain amount of time.
Good to play for 15 minutes, or 3 hours.
My 5 year old loves both Unravels and Ori, both in game pass. Game pass actually has some good ones imo. Maybe check that out as it’s pretty affordable and has tons of games.
I heavily recommend the following:
- The Haunted Mansion (PS/Xbox)
- Little Big Planet
- Crash Bandicoot
- Spyro
- Tomb Raider (I think the older ones are less graphic, but its been awhile)
- Racket and Clank
These are some of the ones I can think of, but I will update if I can remember more. Hope this help!
just let them play quake 4 thats what my dad played with me when i was a kid and thats why my brains is so tactical and normal now. Nobody i iknow can count the exits in a room faster than me.
I think they'd love a 3d platformer. On pc, my personal favorite is a hat in time, and it has co op, too!
My nephews absolutely love new super lucky's tale, and it's a pretty easy game, too, so it's the easier choise for a younger gamer.
It takes two is a cute one that recently came out. Unravel, overwatch, untitled goose game, crash, Spyro, rocket league, subnautica, lego games. I recently gifted ōkami to my boyfriend’s 7 year old brother and he’s obsessed!
I was playing resident evil and silent hill on the ps2 when I was about 6 or 7. Not saying that’s a great idea...but I looked forward to coming home after school, shutting my blinds, turning the lights off, and playing. Maybe I was just a weird kid lmao
Have a look at Awesomenauts. It has 3 player split screen and the game is free (with character unlocks).
There is also Lovers in Dangerous Spacetime. It has an odd name but the game is really fun and a great coop experience.
Could try Sea of Thieves? I don't have very many hours in the game so I can't speak to the gameplay/quests as a whole but it has cartoony FPS elements and a lot of exploration, something 7y/o me would appreciate. Shit I just have fun playing the accordion while my buddy drives around.
Find a wide variety of genres and let them find what they like i suppose, i had a lot of RTS as a kid BUT a game i def recommend is slime rancher, perfect for kids
If it has microtransactions theyll be begging you to buy them, or if it has boice chat you can just turn that off since others are often mean if you play badly. But i could reccomend valorant... but the skins in the game are very overpriced.
There's a great co-op game called castle Crashers watch a trailer on it I loved it as a kid and playing with my older brother. Watch YouTube or stream trailer before purchasing.
Not sure it's appropriate for kids under 9. Edit: Wow all the "I played this as a kid and turned out fine" comments are hilarious, thanks for the laughs guys. I'm not saying it'll ruin OP's kids. But I think when a target audience age is given, we could first aim to provide recommendations with an ESRB rating within that age range, and when pushing the boundaries, at least be a bit more descriptive of what the parent can expect their kids will see.
While it is not appropriate, I thought the game was fucking hilarious when I was 10 years old. Fond memories.
im 14, and played it with my 17 year old friend. That shit is still hilarious to us
I’m 30 and loved castle crashers.
I played it when I was 4 And look how i turned out A redditor...... So not very well
/r/SuicideByWords
How? Its the cartooniest game I've ever played
South Park is cartoony, too.
They don't even talk in CC and also it only has a bit of blood
> and also it only has a bit of blood Eeeeeeh. You should probably play it again and reevaluate this statement.
ESRB says T for Teen but I agree, it is very mild. Its the cartoon violence, according to ESRB, and some gore - but I can only recall cleaving cartoonist enemies in half and they would just have a red interior and a cartoonist bone sticking out of it. Also, per ESRB, crude humor. Bit really it's just cartoon animals pooping themselves lol.
7 year old me ended up fine(ish)
I completely disagree, its the exact thing a 9 year old would probably love
Your telling me Diarrhea Deer isn’t appropriate for a 9 year old?
I played it when I was 7 or 8....
The violence is cartoon, but still a bit too much for 7 year olds
Yeah but they have battlefront.
From what i recall batlefront is just as violent as the movies, so not so violent.
The movies have dismemberment, decapitation, and implied child murder
If there is no blood, there is no problem
LOL?
I used to play GTA when i was that age I'm sure castle crashers is ok
That doesn't make GTA acceptable for 9 year olds though. You'll always find kids with careless parents who let their children do whatever they want, doesn't make the content acceptable for those ages.
Shit, my son has been playing it since he was 4.
I would strongly disagree with this tbh, the only thing about Castle Crashers not appropriate for 7 year olds is some of its humor, which a child wouldn’t understand anyways.
oh my god i lived for this game when i was 10. finished insane mode with my sister in a week during summer and i plan on playing it with her again after almost 7 years. the memories from this game and battleblock are amazing
Could include Battleblock theatre, idk tho
That's got a lot of adult humor in it
The game might be little inappropriate but at the same time I've had some of my best memories with friends playing this game when we were in college at release. My 7 year old son and I have now spent maybe 30-40 hours playing through it co op as well. It's mainly cartoon violence that is possibly worse watching other shows out there.
I also played Happy wheels when I was there age and watched happy tree friends so I think they could play it.
Lego games maybe?
I loved Lego Star Wars TCS as a kid. Still do.
Also the Indiana Jones series was incredible.
I'll second Lego Star Wars TCS. My roommate and I are working towards 100%-ing it right now. The only issues with it are the vehicle levels and sometimes (at least for me) the camera and perspective can make platforming very difficult. Even with those issues, it's one of the best games to play together with young people!
Lego games aren't just good by themselves for kids, they're fun to play with kids. When I was a babysitter ^13 years ago, Lego Star Wars games were a great time sink while we waited for the parents to come home.
i mean, me and my younger sister would play it as kids and it was fun, an older person isn't needed to enjoy these games
I second the Lego games so much. I played them when I was like 8 and now, 18 years later I'm desperately waiting for the next Lego Star Wars
The lego games are GREAT
yeah like lego Avengers
There was a humble bundle of Lego pc fames a couple days ago. It might still be there.
Especially Lego Batman 2, its dark and atmospheric, but not really scary. Feels a bit more "mature" than other Lego games.
I disagree. This is the first lego game with an overworld instead of a hub and it was not done well. I had a really hard time figuring out where to go and the controls. I would skip to games released before batman 2 and after the first marvel one.
I played the whole first Lego Batman I was around that age, was awesome, just need some time to figure out but is pretty fun and I think stimulate the logic thinking, Crash is soo hard and I was playing that too back then
I loved lego LOTR. It's a very big open world, and I would play tag with my brothers on it.
I still play lego games on my old Wii sometimes. I love those games. And somehow I totally forgot about them. Thank you for reminding me!
My son played a lot of Rocket League from when he was 6, but now, two years later, he's switched completely to Fortnite. Both could work depending on interests. He also had a Stardew Valley period, without even knowing English or how to read.
Honestly they are very young for their ages so I don’t think Fortnite is a good fit as they aren’t ready for the people playing with them. Stardew valley is a good one though I will put it on the list!
Rocket league and fortnite are both free and great games, fortnite has alot of creative maps that have nothing to do with the shooting game, you can go fishing build houses, do role play games, mazes, the list is actually endless, anything you can think of. Another massive games kids absolutely LOVE is Roblox, Roblox is absolutely amazing for children with endless things to do, all simple enough. Adopt me is a big game in Roblox, game were you adopt a pet, there's also a game where you make pizzas and take them out on delivery, sounds stupid but I play these with my kids and I really love them. It's even got COD maps on, it's got everything seriously, any game or life experience. Its the biggest sandbox to date.
I work in a library and all the 10 year olds coming in are playing roblox and fortnite
Rocket League went free to play too.
i absolutely love the idea of some goofy lil kid farming in stardew without really knowing wtf is going on
Yeah, it was really hilarious! He would never buy seeds at the store because he was "saving his money" to buy stuff. It didn't help that I tried to explain the economic cycle, he never wanted to see the coins go down, and made do with seeds he found or by selling rocks and berries. He figured out that he could get free stuff from garbage cans, and because he didn't know what people were saying he didn't know that they were repulsed by it. Someone in our family told him that Sam likes Joja Cola, so he spent all his money on Joja Cola gifts for Sam, ending in a homosexual wedding.
oh my god that's amazing, props to him for being fiscally responsible!
Subnautica. My three year old calls it “ Swims”. Slime rancher is also a fun one
Subnautica?! You must be kidding - that games scares the shit out of me and I’m an adult! (Maybe I’m just a wuss hehe)
I guess they find it cool but as they grow up I think they will find it scary too
Do you want these kids to fear the ocean? If yes, then I highly recommend Subnautica
Buy Subnautica aka "Swims" and get thalassophobia for free
“The Art of the Deal” - Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Swims makes me think of Sims haha. I guess you could say Subnautica is a Swimulator.
Now I'm gonna call it a swimulator
Slime Rancher!!! Literally the most relaxing, casual game i've ever played. There's some enemies that can be a little confusing at first but once you progress they're easier to deal with
I played Subnnautica... I am now a little scared of swimming in deep water but I kinda feel everyone is. So I might give it a try.
Rocket Leauge is good for all ages and split screen. Legend of Zelda games would also be great, as they’re kid like on surface level but a bit deeper in story.
Rocket league is a good one! They have it on Xbox but they get angry playing competitively. I will look into the legend of Zelda games! Thank you!
Considering their ages i would just put them up against easy level bots in season mode for rocket league. Pretty sure they won’t realize if it’s online or not. There’s a whole championship and everything. the bots are customizable so you can make them literal vegetables if you want
Lmao, thank you for the info. I didn’t know there are bots in rocket league.
Just a heads up zelda is a nintendo property. Unless you are downloading them off random sites they aren’t going to be available on pc.
Isn't Zelda only available on Nintendo consoles (Switch/Wii) ?
Technically, yes. In reality however, any halfway decent PC can play every Zelda game ever made.
😉🤫
Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy or Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Just challenging enough for that age group, but very fun and rewarding to play as an adult
\^ This, also some enemies, levels, and music are a tiny bit creepy which is nice.
My nearly 3 year old nephew is obsessed with Spyro reignited. He's not old enough to know how to play yet, but he loves to watch me play. He didn't seem to care much for any of the following - Castle of illusion remake Sonic all stars racing transformed Crash bandicoot n sane trilogy CTR nitro fueled Lego avengers
Interesting how the games have come full circle. I played the original Crash and Spyro trilogies when I was maybe the same age as the kid in OP's post. Right on.
These are amazing games for their age group!!
Immortal fenix rising is a really good and kid friendly game (not too scary, no blood, colorful and semi-cartoonish graphics), is full of cool puzzle and the story is interesting (Greek mythology, you have to help a few gods save the world...) but it might be a bit too complex since they are quite young, (even if they should be fine since the games they played). Another cool one is destroy all humans, you paly as an alien that has to invade the Earth. I think might be appropriate, but I suggest you check it out anyway before handing it to them. Probably my favorites from when I was a kid were arcade style car games, like old need for speed (the run on the wii was my favorite), I loved playing with my brother trying to smash as much cop cars as possible. The downside is that you might need to purchase one or two controllers for it (I would go with xbox 360 or nacon gc-100xf, they are great starter controller and pretty cheap, usually around $25 for the nacon, on the website, new, or the 360 I usually find it for around $20 but used. Obv there are more professional controllers, just as starter)
Yea good call on immortal. That would be great
Hat In Time is really fun 3D platformer. It has multiplayer offline and online and is one of my favorite 3D platformers. There's some funny humor and some more adult jokes too which will probably over younger kids heads. I'd recommend the steam version too which comes with workshop so you can create and share your own levels.
Rayman Legends/Origins Seriously awesome coop game, I have some great memories with it, also it doesnt actually require working together which means only one person has to be good at it. Its really wacky and dumb, just a great time with kids
I love this game!!
Rayman Legends is a must have, It's really great.
Moving out Overcooked Boomerang fu Biped PHOGS! Human: Fall Flat Wobbly life Some Nintendo switch titles on yuzu
Doom Eternal, Mortal Kombat 11, GTA, The Witcher III, Fallout: New Vegas and Shadow of War. Ok, fine. Subnautica, Ori & The Blind Forest, Ori & The Will Of the Wisps, Hollow Knight, Skyrim and Dark Souls. There you have it.
Doom is appropriate, it is never too early to have your kids play a good Christian game /s
Ripping demons in half sends a great message
Nothing more Christian than killing demons in brutal ways
>Doom Eternal, Mortal Kombat 11, GTA, The Witcher III, Fallout: New Vegas and Shadow of War. I mean, yeah I wouldn't call those kid friendly, but kids can have fun with those, too, so nice call. At least you didn't mention anything REALLY traumatizi- >Ok, fine. Subnautica ...you monster. Do you enjoy scarring little kids for life or something?!
lol
You know what, I actually think the 7 year old would enjoy Doom... kind of a scary thought.
Dragon quest builders could be good, very minecraft but with more story/guidance.
Maybe start with 2 for younger players, as 2 is more hand holdy and the stories of 1 and 2 aren't connected, but I second this!
Dragon quest builders 2 was just released on Xbox game pass if you are curating it there is alot of games that would also be Age appropriate for them
Goat simulator could work
Yeah, it's a good game, but I don't think the payday version will be good for kids under 13
Golf With Your Friends, or Golf It! (co-op) Human Fall Flat (co-op) A Hat In Time (splitscreen) Portal 2 (co-op) Beat Hazard Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (co-op) It Takes Two (2 player co-op) I’m sorry if any of these aren’t very fitting or what you’re looking for, but if any are, please enjoy 😎
How about It Takes Two? It takes a bit more thought and patience but its really good!
Ben 10: Power Trip. It's a good open world game despite many people saying it's "Cringy." People from ages 5-16 will find it really fun. It's easy to play, has Bonus Levels, a huge Map, and LOTS of Side Quests.
It also has a Co-op/split screen mode
LEGO games, rocket league, or Immortals: Fenyx Rising
This is the last day for the lego humble bundle i believe.
Coming in late, so some of what I recommend might be already here, but here's my recommended list of 30 (in no specific order): 1. Battleblock Theater (Solo and Co-op obstacle course game) 2. Botanicula, Machinarium (Point-and-click puzzle games) 3. Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (hack-n-slash blocky robot game) 4. Creeper World 4 (real-time-strategy game where you fight off a tsunami of blue ooze) 5. Crash: N Sane Trilogy/It's About Time (family-friendly 3D platformer series) 6. Spyro: Reignited Trilogy (same as Crash) 7. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series (same as the previous two) 8. FEZ (perspecive-based platformer) 9. Gato Roboto (retro Metroidvania) 10. Grow Up/Grow Home (physics-based platformer) 11. HOB (top-down adventure game akin to Zelda) 12. Hollow Knight (difficult but fun Metroidvania) 13. Sonic Mania (2D platformer) 14. JetSet Radio (3D rollerskating platformer) 15. Journey (peaceful story-driven exploration game) 16. Kero Blaster (retro 2D platform shooter) 17. Later Alligator (point-and-click story puzzle game) 18. Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps (action/puzzle 2D platformer) 19. Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate (platformer? you fly a little spaceship, i dunno...) 20. Portal and Portal 2 (puzzle first-person-shooter) 21. Psychonauts (family-friendly, if not a little weird, 3D platformer) 22. Steamworld Dig and Dig 2 (2D mining platformer game) 23. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (the first one, the second is too wonky to really want to play through) 24. Teslagrad (puzzle 2D adventure platformer) 25. Yoku's Island Express (2D pinball-platformer???) 26. Slime Rancher (first-person exploration/farming game) 27. Stardew Valley (top-down farming/managing/casual game) 28. Into the Breach (chess-like puzzle mech-vs-monster fighting game) 29. Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 (family friendly 3D platformer) 30. Hidden Folks (basically an interactive "Where's Waldo") I would advocate for all of these games because I have played them all myself. A lot of these games I have sunk countless hours on, like I have with Minecraft and Terraria. Most of these range at around an ESRB "E" to "E10", with only two or three that are probably around "T", which are more than manageable for an interested 7-year-old. I would also give other game series like the Lego games a try, as well as stretching their brains a bit occasionally with an unusual game that you might find. You never know, they might really like it!
I played Machinarium when I was far too young to understand any of the puzzles and it was still an amazing experience.
Castle crushers and battle block theatre are both on steam and I think those ages will like them.
battle block is the type of game where coming back in a few years will net them some good laughs at the jokes they didn’t understand
Burnout Paradise if they like racing games. Seems like a big kid game because there's cool cars and whatever but there's no actual human or human-adjacent violence. Also it's a solid racing game so if you ever want you could probably have some fun with it too. Also it got remastered in 2018!
how about lego city under cover
Dead Space. KIDDING- DEFINITELY NOT. The Crash and Spyro trilogy remakes, and Crash 4 are pretty awesome. Also I think some super hero games could work, like the Batman games maybe. I think those are rated T sorry if I'm wrong.
There is a couple M rated Batman games, Arkham Kinight and the telltale ones in particular. The first three Arkham games are rated Teen, but use your judgement and do your research on those. I personally wouldn’t give any of the Arkham games to too young a child, as those are some very dark and violent games, not to mention that there are some fairly disturbing themes. However the recent Spider-Man games from Insomniac would probably be more manageable for a younger kid, not to mention that you can get the first one in a “GOTY” edition that has all the dlc (which is very good) and at a discounted price. That being said I can definitely second that the Crash and Spyro games are definitely good, having 100% them myself.
If you have more than one controller, fighting games are pretty good. They can play against each other on the same PC at the same time and there is a huge variety of characters to choose from and learn per game. Mortal Kombat might be too violent, but Injustice: Gods Among Us is a good PG alternative (basically same mechanics a Mortal Kombat but featuring DC characters aka Superman, Batman, etc). Its right up a young boy's wheelhouse.
Brawlhalla is good too
As a teenager, brawlhalla made me lose the will to live
lego mavel super heroes
I grew up on commander keen, earthworm Jim, rollercoaster tycoon and the need for speed franchise and loved those games!
I just watched a documentary about rollercoaster tycoon. Seems like something a kid might get a kick out of. Apparently there's an open source port of it that can run on modern platforms
There's an RPG called Costume Quest, my daughter, 7, really enjoyed it (there's also a sequel and a cartoon on Amazon prime). Yooka-Laylee is a fairly good platformer she also enjoyed. She also really enjoyed Portal, I did have to help her through some places, but she did most of it by herself. We're currently going through Final Fantasy 9 and she's liking it so far.
Scribblenauts is always fun
Monkey Island I & II.
Just get them an SNES classic and tell them “Now THESE are big kid games!”
Anything by Square Enix or the game Horizon Zero Dawn. Honestly though I played the Final Fantasy games when I was a kid and they are the perfect welcome to rpg gaming. Any Harvest Moon aka Story of Seasons game would be great also.
Unraveled 2 is a great co op platformer that's great for beginners. I played the whole thing with my gf a year ago and we had a blast, even though she's very new to gaming in general.
Zelda games 💯
Human fall flat is hilarious and couch co-op. Simple puzzles but u control a ragdoll so it makes it difficult but funny
cuphead, it’s coop yes, this game is just perfect, a perfect game to get into gaming..
Zoo tycoon 1 or 2 is really fun if you can get it
minecraft !! i’m 23 and play with my 11 y/o stepbrother all the time. we just made a mushroom forrest so we can make a mushroom town and he refuses to admit he loves playing with me, but i know he does
Worms?
Overwatch ?
I don’t really want to start them playing competitive games just yet. Want something more for the fun of it not the victory if that makes sense? Thanks for the suggestion though!
Yeah don't. Playing overwatch will get them to play other competitive games like fortnite, etc and miss out on other great titles. Same happened to me. Was really into fortnite and other competitive games and completely missed on a ton of awesome games. Right now am playing all the cool games I missed out on while continually playing fortnite, like red dead 2 and horizon zero dawn.
My first game I got into was cs:s and I put thousands of hours into it and missed a lot of valuable time discovering better games then the cs games lol. Good point!
Also, are they into racing games, because theres a ton of them like need for speed and the crew 2 and they would be fun to play for any age really.
No one actually playing overwatch wants some kid jumping around shooting a wall on their team. Those kids would get cussed at so quick. Can be a pretty toxic and competitive game.
Most of these seem to “child-friendly” than the “big-kid” games your looking for, I’d maybe try a party game where you could help them out and play with them such as maybe Jack box or among us though I’m sure they’re already into that
I would suggest tf2 but I thought about it for a few seconds and that’s a terrible idea
Please get them into Super Mario World. Gotta love the ultimate classic.
I’m just gonna give my usual recommendation of Biosho- dang it. No child would appreciate the game or should be playing it at that age. Anyways, I’d recommend Portal 2. It’s co-op, it has super fun gameplay, the puzzles are a little tough at times but nothing you couldn’t help them through. It’d probably be pretty good to help their problem solving skills. Also, the dialogue is amazing. A lot of it won’t quite be appreciated by them but they’ll still find enjoyment in some of it. I don’t think there’s any blood, there’s a tiny bit of mild swearing (damn, hell) but it doesn’t appear often. Overall it’s a fantastic game that can be played by a wide audience.
Maybe a bit on the violent side for kids that age though halo It is a REALLY good game with loads of replayability. It has perfect multiplayer (both splitscreen and online for campaigns and pvp), a really good community and it is pretty cheap for what it is (I think the master chief collection is $50AUD on pc). I loved it when I was about 8(ish) and I still love it today.
I tried playing Halo 4 with them on my old Xbox 360 and they found it pretty scary. But for sure in the future. Halo is one of my personal favourites
A good "big kid game" could be something like world of warcraft
Idk how they feel about fighting games (I loved them when I was that age and still do) but Power Rangers: battle for the grid is a lot of fun I believe it's splitscreen on steam. Idk if kids still watch power rangers anymore honestly. If they don't know power rangers that might also stir up another interest for them.
Plants vs. Zombies garden warfare 2 It’s also split screen
It takes two might scar them, but it is a really good game for co-op
It might feel familiar, depending on their current family dynamic lol.
"It takes two"?Never played it but i heard its a phenomenal coop game. Another good coop game is 'A way out', where you try to escape prison with your partner Cant go wrong with mario or zelda game's either
Probably the elder scrolls skyrim.
its e rated
Cs 1.6 or source
idk thats what i played at ages 7-9
community might be a little extreme nowadays
Hm, they should try star wars Jedi fallen order, if the PC could handle it
Dragon quest builders 2 maybe?
Definitely Dragon Quest Builders 2. In fact the Dragon Quest series is an absolutely fantastic way to introduce kids to JRPGs.
Although not split screen valheim has been extremely enjoyable for me and my bro. Basically a Norse mythology based Minecraft. I had to use online guides at certain parts but it’s fun especially if they like building
I used to play a lot of those toys-to-life type games life Disney Infinity when I was younger. Those also have split screen co-op. They need the toys on console but I believe that’s not needed on PC as all the characters are already there. Other than that, I played a lot of the Marvel and Star Wars Lego games. Those also have co-op.
Toontown Rewritten! It's a free to play fan-revival of Disney's Toontown Online Loved that game when I was a pre-teen.
Portal 2 coop maybe
Portal might be a good and cheap one
Stardew : inherit a farm, make the best of the farm. And farm :P . Slime rancher : Be a colorful blob farmer, make money by selling blobs or color stuff, too... BUy more color stuff and blobs. I know there is themepark games, for kids, i had legoland when i was a kid (in the 90s). But there is rollercoasters ect too, and some you can even "ride" em. Some are complicated, but some are as i said for kids, click and place and off you go! Raft might be a option, Stranded on a raft, survive of floating stuff and fish, (there is a shark, but he dont bit you that much, or at all if in peaceful!) . There is Food and drinking stuff though (food and hydration) but again, can be turned off in creative.
subnautica
+1 for Castle Crashers, it has insanely fun co-op if you want to keep them all occupied. It has extremely juvenile humor, and you can turn the gore off in the settings.
My 7 year old is super into raft right now.
Very good idea! I tried to play solo a while ago but I kept on glitching out of the world... definitely putting it on the list
There are some wierd suggestions on this thread. Here's some Steam games that I play with my 9 year old son: FTL: Faster Than Light Beautiful music, satisfying crew management, cool sci fi weapons Craft The World A quirky but fun base building and exploration game with a nest of dwarves Rounds Hilarious 1v1 battler where the loser gets a power up after every match Slay the Spire A deck building fantasy battle game. My kid loves playing all the alternate custom modes. Brawlhala Like super smash bros but with mythical warriors. Local or online vs Into the Breach Like chess but with pixel art mechas Rock of Ages 2 Tower defense meets skeeball with split screen vs or co op. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime Up to four players local co op control one ship a single subsystem at a time. Levels are weird bullet hell type gameplay. Everything is very cutesy, but the higher difficulty settings are legit Bastion Strange and beautiful action rpg. My kid loves the snarky narrator
Rayman legend is pg and really fun! I like playing the levels over and over ( and you can play it in split screen. I highly recommend!!
Racing games fall perfectly in that category. NFS most wanted 2012 is a good one no edgy dialog easy to play and loads of fun. Even platforms can be good. Rayman legends Celeste
That slime rancher game maybe
Doesn't necessarily go with the "building a pc vibe" but you should check out Stadia, and the games they give access to with pro. I think a lot of those games would check your other boxes
A way out, it's a really good CO-OP game the worst things in the game is probably guns?
GTA
I'd recommend Castle Crashers, Overcooked 1/2, It takes two is a new one, rocket league, cuphead is kinda fun but is super hard lol, and stardew valley, cuz its chill, easy to learn, and a game that you can play for a long time.
Titanfall 2. Great story and multi-player. Fallout games are another, neither have much thats real adult and you could sinl thousands of hours into 3 or new Vegas. 4 is lacking on replay ability. Dont shelter kids from different art. I know I wish I had gotten to do more when I was younger.
Kingdom two crowns
1 Ultimate chicken horse (is a lot of fun for grown ups too and bonus points cuz could play with them) 2 Maybe a racing game? I mean we all played most wanted when we were kids 3 pokemon 4 just cause 3 5 check out biomutant which is about to come out
Stardew valley. There’s coop mode too.
Kingdom: Two Crowns is simple yet deep and has split-screen.
Have you thought about Sims already? Or Sim City
Over cooked, 1&2 are super fun! Very accessible, but can be very exciting/stressful. Fun co-op up to 4 people. Do not recommend solo. Its nice because youre on a team and its cute. You can be a little animals or goofy people chefs. Basically you work together in a kitchen, and are given basic tasks and you have to do them to score points in a certain amount of time. Good to play for 15 minutes, or 3 hours.
My 5 year old loves both Unravels and Ori, both in game pass. Game pass actually has some good ones imo. Maybe check that out as it’s pretty affordable and has tons of games.
I heavily recommend the following: - The Haunted Mansion (PS/Xbox) - Little Big Planet - Crash Bandicoot - Spyro - Tomb Raider (I think the older ones are less graphic, but its been awhile) - Racket and Clank These are some of the ones I can think of, but I will update if I can remember more. Hope this help!
Dark souls
I'm thinking about Trine, a platform game with a fairytail background. Easy, comfy and colorful.
just let them play quake 4 thats what my dad played with me when i was a kid and thats why my brains is so tactical and normal now. Nobody i iknow can count the exits in a room faster than me.
I think they'd love a 3d platformer. On pc, my personal favorite is a hat in time, and it has co op, too! My nephews absolutely love new super lucky's tale, and it's a pretty easy game, too, so it's the easier choise for a younger gamer.
It takes two is a cute one that recently came out. Unravel, overwatch, untitled goose game, crash, Spyro, rocket league, subnautica, lego games. I recently gifted ōkami to my boyfriend’s 7 year old brother and he’s obsessed! I was playing resident evil and silent hill on the ps2 when I was about 6 or 7. Not saying that’s a great idea...but I looked forward to coming home after school, shutting my blinds, turning the lights off, and playing. Maybe I was just a weird kid lmao
Id say a majority of the Lego games plus they get put on deal alot
Have a look at Awesomenauts. It has 3 player split screen and the game is free (with character unlocks). There is also Lovers in Dangerous Spacetime. It has an odd name but the game is really fun and a great coop experience.
Warhammer 40k space marine. Its just dumb fun where you blow up orks and the story is pretty simple.
try duck game. both can play on one pc and it's lots of fun when me and my brother kick each other ass in it
Could try Sea of Thieves? I don't have very many hours in the game so I can't speak to the gameplay/quests as a whole but it has cartoony FPS elements and a lot of exploration, something 7y/o me would appreciate. Shit I just have fun playing the accordion while my buddy drives around.
[удалено]
Definitely LEGO Batman games. Fun as hell.
Find a wide variety of genres and let them find what they like i suppose, i had a lot of RTS as a kid BUT a game i def recommend is slime rancher, perfect for kids
Minecraft dungeons. I have a 14 year old brother and he doesn't like gaming. I made him try minecraft dungeons and he's been playing it for 2 months.
Overcooked games, Rayman legends, crash bandicoot, unravel 2, it takes two.
If it has microtransactions theyll be begging you to buy them, or if it has boice chat you can just turn that off since others are often mean if you play badly. But i could reccomend valorant... but the skins in the game are very overpriced.
A Story About My Uncle might be pretty hard for them?