List of fun games to be played together with kids and spouse
The last two years have been wonderful experience for me and I hope it will continue that way. One reason is that because I was able to play many games with my two gaming partners: my kid and wifey. Now my kid is old enough to operate a console and fortunately, he has his old man’s DNA so gaming is one thing he is good at 😁
We are a family who loves playing games, but only allowed to play them at the weekend or holiday, lol. It’s a rule we created for ourselves.
Despite that, I managed to get 9 platinum trophies 🏆 result for doing 100% completion in PlayStation games 😎
I’m not going to debate whether games are completely bad for kids, or not. Because I myself grew up with the NES console and I can assure you guys that my grades are not that bad haha.
Anyway, here is my personal choice of games to be played with kids or spouse.
DISCLAIMER: The list below is not created in any particular order, and my opinion on each games is very subjective.
It Takes Two
Arguably the best modern co-op game in recent years. This game won the Game of the Year award in 2021. It takes two is a marvelous game to be played co-op with partner. In fact, it cannot be played alone … because it takes two people.
The gameplay is quite straightforward, there are a variety of mechanics available depending on the chapters. Sometimes your character’s weapon is a magnet, sometimes nails, or magic to rewind time, you can also have the ability to transform into flowers and stuff, and there are many more.
I would recommend this game to anyone, especially couples or parents.
We managed to complete the main story in 40 hours-ish. Could be faster if we were serious gamers, but in my case, my boy always having fun doing his stuff instead of focusing on the main mission 😅
Minecraft
Minecraft is the best! No introduction is needed for this one as it’s the most famous sandbox-based game in the world.
In my opinion, Minecraft is good for children, it can stimulate their creativity. I saw my kid’s progression, from building a simple box, to a mountain with a barn next to it, a levitated aquarium, a cave under the sea, a battleground between Iron Golem vs Wither Skeleton, and many more interesting building.
Every Sunday evening I try to check my son’s progress on his personal map, I’d love to know what he created during the day.
This game does support cross-play, and that’s good news. I usually play it via my SteamDeck and my kid with his PS5.
I often ask wifey to join our party, but looks like Minecraft is not her type of game, sad.
Also on PlayStation, you can play the game in co-op split screen mode.
Stardew Valley
If you ever played the original Harvest Moon: Back to Nature in early 2000 and enjoyed it, then there is a high chance that you will love this one too.
The basic gameplay of Stardew Valley is very similar to Harvest Moon except that it has more places to explore (like way way more places), many quests, bigger farms, tons of craftable items, multiple caves filled with various types of monsters, good weapon & armor system, festivals, legendary fishes, and so much more!
You can even raise a stegosaurus in your barn/coop, lol
This game supports cross-play multiplayer via LAN or the internet with maximum 4 players.
LEGO Jurassic World
This one is my favorite LEGO game, simply because it is a combination of LEGO and dinosaurs. I can’t ask for more!
LEGO Jurassic World is a huge game consists of several stories:
- Jurassic Park
- The Lost World
- Jurassic Park III
- Jurassic World
Having some knowledge about those movies helped me to complete the game, because the story is essentially the same.
In LEGO Jurassic World you will do a lot of adventure on two separate dino islands (Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna), playing as Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Ian Malcolm, and also as Owen Grady & Claire (depending on which story you play).
The puzzles are fun, and not as challenging as the one in the LEGO Batman 3 game.
Fun fact: there is no death scene in the game. Even if you see one, there will be a plot twist at the end of the game (a funny one). All characters survive.
Crash Team Racing (CTR): Nitro-Fueled
CTR Nitro-Fueled is a remastered version of the original PS2 Crash Team Racing game. This game was legendary back then, I still remember going to a PlayStation rental right after school time with my friends haha.
The PS4/PS5 version contains the same original content but with many cool additions such as new maps, better customization, new classes, online multiplayer support, and many others.
We love to play in battle mode because the racing mode is too hard for my kid, even with the easiest AI difficulty, it’s still too hard for him.
Fall Guys
This game is my wife’s favourite. It’s a casual online battle royal game where you need to compete with other players in various type of challenges through multiple stages. The objective is to become the last one standing.
Fall Guys is suitable for anyone who seek a fun colorful competitive game in their free time. But sometime it can get too competitive.
You can play solo or do a party together with your partner. It supports cross-play too which is nice.
Divine Knockout (DKO)
I believe it was sometime around last year that this game became free (for a limited period of time) on PlayStation. I decided to test it, … and it looks good.
DKO is a 3rd-person platform fighter. You will choose one character from the list of available chars (which are either gods or legends) such as Thor, Amaterasu, King Arthur, Ymir, and others. Each char has its own unique traits and spell.
You will play the game together with other random friends you meet during matchmaking. The goal of the game is to defeat your enemies or collecting points.
This game supports party system but not in co-op split screen mode. So you need another console or PC if you want to play it together with your friend.
In my case, I played the game from my PC/SteamDeck and my son uses the PS5.
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Hot Wheels is a fun racing game, It has many tracks and cars available, a campaign mode, a shop for buying cars and tracks, and the good news is the game does support co-op split-screen.
There is also several DLC or expansions available, buying it will unlock exclusive new content such as Bat Mobile, Monster Truck, and many others.
The sequel (Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged) is going to be released sometime this week.
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
PvZ Battle for Neighborville is my kid’s favorite game next to Minecraft and also my favorite 3rd-person shooter game at the moment.
This game has several modes:
- Campaign mode
- Competitive multiplayer battle with/versus other players (or AI)
- Play together with friends to defend the base during attacks from other faction
Each faction (plants or zombies) has a number of selectable characters available to pick, and you can switch to other character during mid-game. Characters are categorized with a role such as tanker, attacker, and healer.
For me, this game is almost perfect. My only complaint is it does not allow cross-play, sad.
Minecraft Dungeon
Minecraft Dungeon is a dungeon crawler game. It is a fun game with a straightforward combat system, gear & char leveling system, and adjustable difficulty.
There are a bunch of legendary / unique cool weapons that kids will absolutely love, such as Thor-like hammer called Stormlander, an axe that will unleash fire when slashed (the Firebrand), and many other.
Mojang officially announced that they have pushed their last patch for Minecraft Dungeon which marks this game will not be maintained moving forward, sad.
But there is already bunch of DLCs available with many contents in it, and I guess that’s not too bad.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
This one is a fun platformer-based game and an easy one. Sackboy gameplay is pretty much moving from one place to another, passing through obstacles, and fighting enemies in a colorful interactive world.
You can play co-op with up to 4 people in this game.
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
My first LEGO-based game, playing as the dark knight himself together with the other member of Batfamily to solve crimes, riddles, and fight enemies.
LEGO Batman 3 is fun but slightly hard to play especially for my kid. The game has many puzzles (as expected from a Batman game), and because of that reason only, we were not able to complete the story.
Still, my boy loves it because he can play as Robin. We repeat the game a dozen times until we arrive at a chapter where it’s too hard for us to continue.
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
This one is the predecessor of PvZ: Battle of Neighborville. It doesn’t support cross-play but you can play it together as long as you do it using the same platform (I use SteamDeck and PC).
Honestly I prefer to play the latest one (Battle for Neighborville) because it has more characters and customization and game modes. It’s just my kid sometimes asks me to play it together.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom — Rehydrated
This game is a remastered version of an old game with the same name. I remembered playing it on my PS2 back in 2005, so nostalgic.
Battle for Bikini Bottom — Dehydrated is a fun adventure game where you can play as SpongeBob, Patrick, or Sandy, doing adventure in many places under the sea including Bikini Bottom.
Unfortunately, the campaign (main story) can only be played in single-player mode. But the good news: the game also provides a multiplayer horde mode where you can play co-op split-screen (or with an online friend).
I guess that’s it for now, I’m going to keep the list here updated periodically.
Also, let me know if there are any other fun games out there I’ll definitely check it out!
