Good game for a five-year-old?

Help me out here duders. I'm looking for a game which I could play together with my son, since he's really starting to develop an interest in games.

The game I'm looking for should obviously be appropriate in content, not overly complicated control-wise (motion controls?) and ideally for two players (though not an absolute necessity) and I'd prefer a real game over a minigame collection.

Anything that comes to mind? I'm really lost here. :)

For reference: New Super Mario Bros. U was too difficult for him. Platform doesn't really matter.

I see my bro-in-law playing Minecraft frequently with his young son. The little one seems to enjoy building things with his dad in that space, in Creative mode. He also seems to like the original Mario games also since 'thats what daddy played when he was a kid'!

Good luck in your pursuit!

=D

My nephews seem to like Skylanders. Minecraft can be a lot to learn, but they love it. And a racing game like Sonic Transformed.

I know it may sound crazy, but maybe try the witness? It's a very neutral game with a gorgeous world to explore. Some of the puzzles may be too difficult, but I say it's still worth a shot, especially with you there to help.

I'd think about the games that I played when I was five (i.e. the SNES era). There are a ton of games that have aged well, and worrying about only 2d platforming vs 3d platform should make it less complex.

Get ScummVM on a PC and play Pajama Sam with him

From what I've heard on the Beastcast, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a popular choice in the Caravella household.

The lego games are probably my go too. Some of the puzzles in them might be a bit too much though.

I play Rocket League with my nephew who is 6. We typically play Rumble mode because he likes the power ups, but after like three games or so he became pretty self sufficient in the game and was having a lot of fun.

If you like adventure games then I would highly recommend Botanicula or Samorost 3 by Amanita Design. Point and click controls, no dialogue (but fun stories), and great art and music. The puzzles aren't too hard and there's a good hint system too.

I got a 5 yo, we play Lego Marvel and Lego Batman co-op. Also the Little Big Planet games. We also have the Disney Infinity series and he liked collecting the figures but that's no longer supported.

On 3ds he plays the Mario games and likes Professor Layton.

Viva piñata is a great game for kids as long as they figure out the in game systems

My 6 year old nephew loves Mario cart

@bbalpert: Haha, must have missed that info :) Then it's pretty much a must-buy.

@white_silhouette: @tviddy: Those games came to my mind as well, since he likes both Lego and most of the franchises these games are attached to. I would have thought they were too complicated control-wise, though. The last one I played was Lego Star Wars II... How do they compare to that one?

@dafdiego777: Yeah, I initially also thought he should start with the classics, but after seeing his performance in Super Mario Bros. U, I'm not so sure he's up to the task yet. It's definitely something I want him to play,though.

Burnout Paradise or an open world Need for Speed is easy to understand for a small child. Just drive anywhere you want without much to worry about.

Mario Kart of course is also cool or any coop game where they can just tag along without having to do much. Maybe playing a builder / sim game with them like City Skylines or Kerbal Space Program might be fun too if you are adapt at those games.

As a kid I was real into games like street fighter 2, super mario all stars, super mario 64 and kart racing games(Diddy Kong 64, mario kart 64), as well as zelda and pokemon. He might be too young to play some of that stuff yet(without help, anyway, I hardly knew any English when we got through Ocarina of Time). I'm not sure if any of those work 20 years later, but I encourage you to go for stuff like it rather than "kids games" that are just awful but friendly. Maybe Angry Birds works?

@guthwulf: Not intending this to be the sick burn it's going to sound like, but you could start with a Kirby game and see how it goes? I never liked the way the new super mario bros. games played, so I don't know if your kid struggling with it is indicative or not.

@dafdiego777: What's wrong with Kirby games?

@dafdiego777: LOL, I just ordered Kirby and the Rainbow Curse moments ago.

@guthwulf: maybe an animal crossing?

Also I think Yoshi's Wooly World has a kid/easy mode so it may be a good first platformer if the Mario's are too difficult.

@hunkulese: nothing at all. I feel like in generally people throw a lot of shade at kirby for being easy or "kiddy" which I think is dumb

@dafdiego777: Haha nothing wrong with Kirby games!

I can say that Kirby's return to dream land is an amazing one-of-those NSMB style platformers like Rayman Origins, but I'm not sure I'd say it's any easier than NSMB. You can't hit one another or bump into one another, but you can easily suck each other up.

@warpr: Oh right, totally forgot about Yoshi! That's one I actually wanted to play as well.

My nephew is desperate to play Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 with me every time he comes over. It was difficult for him to control at first, but he was able to get better at it very rapidly.

Sounds like you already have a Wii U. Try Mario Maker. There are hard levels out there sure, but there are also really fun easy ones that people have made. It will also let him be creative if he ever feels like making one for himself since the tools are super easy to understand

@dafdiego777: Well, he is asking about what game his kid should play. Suggesting a kiddy game isn't really sick burn.

I cannot recommend botanicular enough, click on stuff and cute funny things happen

I asked around a little, and my friend's niece(8) is into Minecraft and Mario Kart, but three years might be too big a difference there. How about Rocket League? That's local co-op, I think.

@yesiamaduck: Oh I just saw that it's from the guys who made Machinarium, definitely checking that one out!

Peggle is well worth checking out.

I'd look at the Lego Star Wars (Harry Potter, Marvel, whatever) games.

Not sure if the newer Mario Karts do this, but didn't Double Dash let the second player be in charge of throwing items?

With my younger cousin's/friends little sibblings, we'd just throw a controller at them and we'd keep playing. They were happy to just sit there "playing" video games with us. The old NES games weren't exactly friendly to little kids.

Have you played any of the Puzzle Quest games? Pictures of scary monsters, but there's no actual violence if I remember correctly.

Peggle is pretty entertaining. Bookworm is as well.

Builder games are pretty chill. Something like Planet Coaster or Cities Skylines. There's no violence and you can go back and fix your mistakes.

Pokemon, Lego games

How long did he spend with New Super Mario Bros.? I ask because I came into this thread being ready to suggest either that or Super Mario 3D World which honestly are both pretty great games in teaching kids how to play and with not overly complicated controls. I watched my young nephew basically struggle a ton in his first hour or so with the game but after a bit of help he was going nuts and was basically solving problems all on his own. Honestly I think it's something Nintendo does a great job at, slowly introducing complexity into their games.

I have a four year old and suddenly the Wii U is the most played on console in the house, finally it's earning it's place in the TV stand! Usual suspects - Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bro's, Splatoon all popular. 3D Mario games a little challenging at the mo, so sticking with the 2D mario platformers. Mario run was a good starting point on my phone and its helped her move onto directional controls after mastering jump timing etc...

I also know that if I have to leave the room briefly she won't find anything on the console not suitable (Zombie U has been uninstalled!) Once your a parent it's clear how generally unsuitable the PS4 and Xbox are for little kids, everything from the controls to the types of games, although she loves FEZ. She'll probably master that before I do!

Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Or the LEGO games.

I have a 5 year old son and we've played a bunch of games together, here are the most successful:

Child of Light has a second player option that can assist the main character but isn't forced to do a ton of stuff, so he really enjoyed playing as that character sitting in my lap while I read the story to him. We played this one to completion together when he was 4.

Super Paper Mario he played the entire game on his own with me reading the story bits to him as they came up.

We played through Super Mario Galaxy together, he got a lot of the early stars himself and I played it more and more as we got closer to the end of the game.

The Lego games are fun, but he does tend to find them frustrating.

I think Skylanders is probably the most successful one I've found for getting him playing. We are on our third Skylanders game that he has played to completion on his own now (on easy mode). It's also great that it is so easy for me to jump in and out when he needs help or we just want to play together for a while.

At the moment he LOVES 1-2 Switch, I personally am not a fan but he wants to play every night so I try to get into it.

@tomgun: Yeah same here, the thought that a Xbone or PS4 game would be a good start didn't really cross my mind. I was already looking at Wii(U) games from the get-go. Now I also get to play some of the games I missed during it's lifetime which is also great.

@hazeai: Skylanders is also a good idea! Especially if it has an easy mode and co-op.

Not that long actually. I was kinda surprised because I also thought it would be a perfect starting point, but he didn't seem to enjoy it that much. Maybe we have to give it another try so that he can get a little better at it and maybe get into it more.

Guitar hero franchise, rockband franchise or if your are real adventurous...rocksmith.

Mario Kart with a Wii controller and steering wheel. Kids pick up on controlling that pretty quickly.

Lego Marvel Superheroes is a blast

My 6 year old is deeply obsessed with Breath of the Wild, Lego worlds in actually really good too, very much a mine crafty experience with lots of exploration and playing around with Lego toys

I was handed a copy of Pokemon blue and a gameboy at age 4 (or 5?) and never looked back. Those games are great for young kids, adults and everything in between. Pick up a 2ds and copy of one of the most recent pokemon games. If they bounce off that, there's plenty of other stuff on that platform to try out. Nintendo is considered kid friendly for a reason duder. Lots of stuff to work with there. Mario kart seems like an good choice especially given it's on every platform they've made so far (Except the Nes I suppose) and the controls are fairly simple.

I almost want to say Katamari Damacy, but the controls might be a little crazy for someone so young

@dudeglove: 7-8 old year old me got into gaming with a big box full of floppy's and some basic DOS commands, so why not.

Go hardcore and give your kid an 286/386/486 PC (or older)!

Yoshi's woolly world seems ideal for a young child, if you have a wii u. and a 2ds seems good if you're okay with a 5 year old having a handheld.

I have two sons, when they were five they enjoyed:

Lego Anything, especially Star wars. I did not like playing these games, or at least I got tired of them much quicker then they did.

Skylanders. These are legit great games to play with your kid. I have played and enjoyed them all. Just beware of the toy factor, my kids get pretty obnoxious wanting new Skylanders. But coming in new you can always pick up used toys from older games for cheap.

I would go for Knack on the PS4. I know the critics hated it, but my son absolutely loves that game. He played it to completion when he was four, and still returns to it every year.

It's also got a neat co-op mode where the second player (the parent) can help out by giving the main player health boosts.

Other than that I would say the Skylander games are pretty good. The Lego games can be pretty frustrating sometimes.

I'll second the Lego part - it's great for kids because it doesn't have consequences for failure that would frustrate them. Lego Batman 2 was fun enough for me that I liked playing it with him, too. Lego Avengers was a little on the complicated side, and those are the only two that I've played.

I play Stardew Valley with my 5-year-old quite a bit, and he likes it a lot. It's nice because it has an ending point (going to bed at the end of each in-game day) which helps keep his playing time limited. Since the days end even if you don't want them to, it enforces about a 10 or 15 minute limit on his playing sessions. With an Xbox 360 controller on my PC, he can control it with the gamepad, but I can still use the mouse and keyboard to override him when I need to.

Since you're a parent you probably know this, but being patient is really important. Playing with a 5-year-old isn't the time to max out your gaming efficiency, it's just a time to let them explore.