My daughter (5) loves to play games with me on my PC. Favorites of hers include Spyro Reignited, Untitled Goose Game, House Flipper, and Skyrim (she basically putts around whatever town I throw her in and steals from the locals’ homes).
She is really into anything with simple mechanics, non-scary exploration, and minimal reading/menu navigation. Being able to go into various houses is a huge plus. She loves to snoop.
Tonight she was laughing her ass off while watching gameplay from a game called I Am Cat. I told her I’d get it for her, but unfortunately it’s VR-only, and you can’t strap those things to a little kid. I believe you have to be 12+ to use them safely without adverse effects on development and motor skills.
When asked just now for anything she’d like to add, she said, “Funny, happy, and beautiful!”
With all of that said, any recommendations?
Oh I got this. Been gaming with my 7 year old since she was three. Spyro and Untitled Goose Game were hits with us too. Here’s some others we’ve enjoyed:
- Chicory
- Wandersong
- Tchia
- Donut County
- Wobbledogs
- Doronko Wanko (free concept game)
- Minecraft (in peaceful mode)
- Ultimate Chicken Horse
- Abzu
- Slime Rancher
- Battle Block Theatre
- Castle Crashers
- Stardew Valley
- Beastieball
+1 to battleblock theater. It’s a puzzle/platforming game with a cute aesthetic that I still go back to once every few years. Although now that I think about it, I am a little concerned about how a 5 year old would do with the more difficult bits in the later part of the game
She might like Little Kitty, Big City. You’re a cat, it’s an open world, you explore, make friends, and wear hats.
Doom Eternal
Fuck yea trial by fire.
My friend’s daughter was very into goat simulator on my computer, it’s a sandbox and you can’t lose. We’d hear her cackling from the other room as she ran into traffic or tried to climb a roller coaster or something. I’d have to start the game and get her into the world, but from there she loved it.
Little Kitty, Big City is a cute and wholesome game where you play a cat exploring a city looking for a way to climb back to their home, while befriending other animals and sowing mischief. Not sure how accessible it would be for a 5 year old to play, but it looks like something she might enjoy.
UFO 50 let your kid experience the evolution of gaming
Oldies but goodies:
(cdrom required)
- Frogger
- Lemmings
- Load Runner
New(er) stuff:
- Spore Galactic Adventure
- Cid meyer’s Civilization series
- Age of Empires Age of Mythology (loved playing this with my sister growing up, definitely need multiple real people though)
If you have a modern PC with bells and whistles, I’d be willing to bet this game would be a hit for a kid
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2287330/Empire_of_the_Ants/
Worms W.M.D is also super fun but only in multiplayer
Bro… Absolutely.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
PC, tablet, phone, ages 1-99 (fuck the century bastards they’re on their own) - kids seem to love this webGL fluid sim:
Check out Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq3JFQ0xCAE
She watched me play the first one up until the jail scene where the village gets raided. We only heard the screaming, but that part fucked her up a little bit and I had to turn it off. I had no idea that was going to happen. We were just kicking chickens and starting fights.