Best Nintendo Switch Games For Kids

My 5 year old LOVES MUA3 (she's always Ms. Marvel). On the lowest skill level, we have no problem advancing through every area as a team. The fact that she can beat bad guys mostly spamming simple attacks makes her feel so proud.

She likes Kirby Clash and LM3 for the same reason. For anyone complaining about simplicity in game mechanics, keep in mind there's a broader audience served by that simplicity.

This has just reminded me I must pick up crafted world

@KBuckley27 not sure what your point is?

@KBuckley27 And what's the problem with kids liking those games? In fact, what's wrong with anyone liking those games at all?

I'd add Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Breath of the Wild to this list personally.

No Kirby Star Allies? Kirby games are designed for entry level in gaming. They are a great place to start.

My 3 year old loves playing Doom and Luigi's Mansion 3

Have you tried playing crafted world with a couple of kids, well good luck.

Some of my favourite Switch games are in that list. As an older gamer, rather than telling me my tastes are juvenile, I think that list is indicating to me I'm generally rubbish at playing video games!

I have 8 kids, and here are their 10 favorites:
1. Minecraft
2. Human Fall Flat
3. Poi Explorer Edition
4. Luigi's Mansion 3
5. Smash Bros Ultimate
6. Untitled Goose Game
7. Rayman Legends
8. Mario Odyssey
9. Link's Awakening
10. Labo VR

"ERSB: Everyone 10+, PEGI: 7, NL minimum age recommendation: 5"
Sorry.. but going against the PEGI rating would be inadvisable. PEGI 7 means 7 and up, not 5.

My 10 year old hates MUA and was very disappointed at how difficult it was on friendly difficulty. It was somewhat better when he played with us but he never wants to play it alone. He has ps4 Spider-Man and has beaten that a few times now so he’s a capable player.

@sanderev PEGI ratings are ridiculous - to put it in perspective

Cel Damage HD features a character named "Dominique Trix" and a bird who speaks almost entirely in (mostly) bleeped-out swears, yet got rated 7+

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter ends by having the entire cast die because they live in the dreams of an orphan in a coma, yet got rated 3+

not to mention there's no actual legal consequences for giving a child a game beneath their age rating unless used for bribery.

@Noid "not to mention there's no actual legal consequences for giving a child a game beneath their age rating unless used for bribery."

Actually there is for the 16+ and 18+ rated games. At least here in the Netherlands. 3, 7, 12 is up to the parents. And teaching them to go against the official rating is just wrong. Also rating isn't based on the story or who appears in the game. But are based on what happens on screen.

For instance ARMS has some quite realistic violence (but not blood) and NL puts that at 7. Sorry, but that's just wrong.

Splatoon 2 for 5 years old kids? I'm not sure about that...
Also, I would have put Snipperclips on this list.

I personally want Super Luckys Tail

My 5 year old girl loves Captain Toad, Unraveled 2, Super Lucky’s Tale, and Ring Fit Adventure.

She also likes Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but she really just likes firing arrows at everything until there are no more arrows. Then I’m sad because when I play I have no arrows.

@dartmonkey You've written ERSB every time instead of ESRB. Great list, though!

My 3 years old son really likes to play "the ambulance game" (The Stretchers). It's perhaps not quite on a three year old's level but maybe 4-5.

My precious 8 y/o plays Bloodborne and Fortnite!

Why isn't DOOM on this list?

Great list, a lot of variety here and plenty of fun to be had.

I looked through this list and expected Kirby Star Allies. I'm disappointed.

@Kirby_Girl Agreed.

Thanks for this. My kids are 6 and 9 and love Odyssey, Wario Kart and Pokemon. Waiting for Minecraft to be on sale. Will give rocket league a go with them
There are also a good few smaller eshop titles - e.g. Puzzle book gave us a good few hours of cheap fun co-op play.

My 3 and 5 year old struggle with Mario Kart still - actually I do, biting my tongue while watching them play badly hurts me in places I didn’t think I could be hurt...

Thanks for this amazing article NL team!!

My kids like Mario Kart and Untitled Goose Game

DOOM is the best kids game

@MrBlacky why not? My 6 yr old loved the original and it's easy to play.

@Kirby_Girl Totally agree with the aspect on the gameplay, nut the themes of the game aren't the most kid friendly. But I don't think it's the biggest problem.

@mrmememan There is nothing in the Kirby games that is beyond a kid playing it. The literal theme of Star Allies is THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP. If that's not the most kid positive than I need to be reborn and experience my childhood again where I watched Sailor Moon endlessly.

My favourite kids game is Saints Row 3

@Kirby_Girl I'm talking about the theming of cults and stuff I know at least a few more would be creeped out by Hyness and Void Termina

@mrmememan Non of that is a big deal. The game is 100% kid friendly and is the target audience.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was honestly a huge disappointment for me. I personally wasn't a fan of how they ditched the realistic aesthetics and the darker storylines that derived from several Marvel comic arcs like Civil War in the second one, and the gameplay felt way too much like a Warriors game rather than the Ultimate Alliance's approach to being a Diablo-like Action RPG

It's fine for kids but honestly I'd recommend the other two games in a heartbeat over this one

Mario Tennis Aces is a must for playing local with friends and family, and it's pretty much for everyone! No matter the age, gender, or kind of person. It should be included in this list imo.

@baller98

I do have that. Haven’t let her play it yet. Good recommendation 👍🏼

Some eshop ones my kids (5&9) have had a lot of fun with:
Untitled Goose Game
Donut County
Pikuniku
Stardew Valley
Katamari Damacy

Needs more Kirby! Also f2p Kirby now too

Ugh...where is BotW? My kids were 6 & 8 when it came out and it’s probably their favorite Switch game. There’s nothing about it that I would say makes it unfriendly to kids. Spyro Trilogy is another game that should be on this list.

@Kirby_Girl I know they're kid friendly and very accessible. It's like Kirby's Dreamland 3 and Kirby 64, both are kid friendly and accessible, but have darker and more big kid themes

These are some awesome switch games! But I'm surprised breath of the wild isn't on here.

@mrmememan There's nothing big kid in them. I'm aware of bosses like Zero and Terminal Void etc. I'm aware of the implied lore and even with all that, nothing in the game is Dark enough that a child would notice or somehow give up on the game. If kids can survive that piano scare in mario 64 than any post game stuff in Kirby won't kill them.

I would say any of the LEGO series or Mario games would fit the bill here and Pokemon games. And I own all those as well-as well as having too many backlogs to get back to.

@Kirby_Girl Ok valid argument you win we let this go on far longer than it should've

My boy is 5 and we've just completed Yoshi's Crafted World in co-op. The last world is surprisingly dark but otherwise it was perfect for us as the mechanics meant that as long as I stayed alive he'd pop straight back in if he fell or took too many hits.

Mario Bros Deluxe is a significant step up in difficulty from the Wii version in our experience and even with Nabbit or Toadette is too frustrating for a 5 year old after the first few worlds.

My 6 year olds collection consists of Crafted World, Captain Toad, Super Kirby Clash, Yoku's Island Express and The Big Journey.

Always on the lookout for games which don't require a ton of reading to be able to progress and not story driven. If anyone has any recommendations throw them my way.

My 4-year-old and I just finished Luigi's Mansion 3 together. Perfect considering that Gooigi can't die.

Kirby Star Allies also offers a lot of co-op fun.

I feel like you're missing one of the best 'kids' games here, and one that kids who doesn't speak/read english, french or German can enjoy:

Super Mario Party

I have a 5 and a 9 year old and besides MK8 Deluxe it's their go to choice

I’m 36 years old, I’ve been gaming for about 30, I’d say I’m pretty darn good at games...and man, I am horrible at Starlink. I die constantly. On easy. I can’t imagine having a kid play.

Of course, maybe I’m just playing it wrong.

My 10 year old has loved Mario Kart 8, Kirby Star Allies (surprised this didn't make the list), Splatoon 2, Rocket League, and Smash. He has tried out Pokemon Sword, but didn't like it as much as others. Same for Mario Tennis Aces. Right now, he's recently discovered Fortnite.

No Kirby and no Mario Party in a list with games for kids?

@sketchturner oh my sweet lord, that poor woman

@sketchturner 10 KIDS!?!?!?!?! Jeez that's a lot of kids

@Dark_Magician Only 8 kids, not 10. 4 are adopted.

@sketchturner Oh sorry! That's still a lot of kids! How do you stay sane every day?

There are T-rated games, which aren't for kids at all.

MUA3 and Fortnight shouldn't be on this list. Kind of on the fence regarding Splatoon as well...
What should be added:
Pikmin 3 should be included though, as it is a very good introduction to strategic thinking.
Also Portal Knights should be included, as it's creative mode is similar to Minecraft, but with somewhat kid friendlier graphic.
Abzu was also a big hit with the kids, as the space/underwater and chill gameplay was a good fit.
Last but not least the two Dragon Quest Builder games, which combine classic Zelda gameplay and Minecraft creativity and crafting.
Edit:
Grow: Song of the Evertree also looks very fitting, haven't had the chance to look further into it though.

if i have a son/daughter i would buy for him/her, Super Mario Odyssey, Luigi Mansion 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Animal Crossing New Horizon.

❗️I like 'Marvel: UA3-TBO' but much-preferred the first two Games.

Anybody else play New Super Lucky's Tale? Grabbed a demo and thought it was just a very generic spyro style game. Not sure if my 11-yo would dig it.

Kid's won't understand how to play Fortnite, Breath of the Wild, maybe Sword & Shield, and I would even go as far as Link's Awakening due to the difficulty of puzzles. Age of Calamity? That Teen rating from the ESRB was not a joke - This game doesn't hold the same level of subtleties as Breath of the Wild, especially looking at Astor's death.

That's a really good list. Of all those, Smash should be #1, it's a gateway to so many other characters and franchises.

Me and my 5-year old love to play JUICED! in co-op mode. He just loves the story and charming characters.

My little girls were starting to get into video games by the age of 4 and 3. My oldest in particular. She was starting to really love Mario and understand it, and I created her some simple courses in Mario Maker to learn skills on.

Then my wife took them away to another country, and they learnt a different language and I haven't been with them in two years.

They're six and five now and haven't played a video game (apart from the silly Facebook games) since they left.

Kirby is not a "kids" videogame series. The games are about MURDERING innocent creatures!

My 4 year old is obsessed with Pikuniku and Untitled Goose Game. I'm kind of really sick of playing through the same levels with him over and over, but I'm also not entirely interested in adding any new games to my backlog. He loves Yoshi, though (I made him a beautiful Yoshi birfday cake!), so I might have to consider that one...

Why are there several TEEN rated games on this "kid friendly" list? And the NL recommended ages? Ridiculous in some cases. Was this list even created by actual parents?

WarioWare: Get it Together!
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Mario Party Superstars

JUST DANCE, JUST DANCE, JUST DANCE

Here we have a 9 years old daughter.

And the best games to play with her are (in this order):

1. Just Dance
2. Animal Crossing
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
4. Big Brain Academy
5. Yoshi

She did not like Toad, and other 2d/3d platform/adventure games...and she has difficulty with the most of Warioware game modes, unfortunatly (cause it is one of the best games).

90% of her time playing is with Just Dance. It´s the absolutely NUMBER ONE here....by far.

When she is among friends it´s only Just Dance.

Best value for our money here.

If you have a daughter, buy JUST DANCE NOW (and goodbye Nintendo Switch...you´ll need to buy another one)

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is one of the best kids' games I've ever played. My 4 & 9 year olds loved it. It's an open-world wildlife-identification adventure, and it's heart-warming and endearing. No violence at all. Highly recommended to anyone with young kids.

Looks like you forgot Hoa. I bought it (for my 5-year-old girl) as per your review, which says it's a platformer for beginners.

I would NOT let a 9 year old play Fortnite.

With due respect, this list seems to have a lot of input from people without young kids, who just leaned into ‘kids’ sounding titles (ahem, Lego).
Mario Party is a good go to, and Mario kart makes sense for young kids (sub 6yrs old), because you can turn on auto steer and gas… but otherwise, most of these recommendations are for platformer, action, and adventure titles that require a lot of hand eye coordination and multiple buttons/triggers to learn … I find my kids (both under 6) like to watch those types of games get played by me, but much prefer to play stuff like Mario kart or otherwise pinball and one and two button arcade titles with infinite quarters/continues (cute-em-ups are very popular in this house for example).

Co-op mode in Human Fall Flat has been a big hit with my son (8). I thought the controls might be too fiddly but he actually picked them up really quickly. He also loves all the Sonic games, 2D and 3D (yes, even Forces...).

My daughter (11) likes a lot of puzzle games like Puyo Puyo Tetris, Sushi Striker, Lumines and Picross.

Other ones both have enjoyed and gone back to a lot:
Pikuniku
Donut County
Untitled Goose Game
Toree 3D / Toree 2
There is no Game (after watching a playthrough)
Katamari Damacy

I know Kirby is easy and mostly kid friendly… but you have seen how 4/5 of those games end, right?

Might be a bit of a shock to the kiddies…

@thiob Hoa is sad and depressing.

My 5 year old loves Goose Game, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Yoshi, and Stardew Valley. I think those have been some of the better games for them to play on their own.

We also play Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Labo, Ring Fit, Splatoon, Cruisin Blast, Minecraft, A Short Hike, Pokemon Snap, Luigi’s Mansion, and Kirby. Many of those require more supervision and support.

My only problem is that I was hoping to find less popular games, so I can get a game as a gift to a kid of relatives. I don't know what games they have already, and this list is mostly popular stuff that they have a good chance of having.

Apparently the person who wrote this article has zero kids, because my little niece who is 5 cannot play Mario kart, because it is way to hard for her, she is new to gaming and she never can finish first, she gets mad and quits. Just because a bunch of 40 year old men think a game is easy does not mean all little kids will just master these games the second they pick up a controller , my niece tried Mario bros deluxe, she could not play the mini castle in the first world, could not move on , she kept trying and just gave up. Kids are not adults, kids who are new to games need games that are and I know this is a vulgar word , but easy for a child, not an adult, but a child that has never played games before. I know there are going to be people who say my 3 yr old brother can beat every level in Mario odyssey, WHOOPEE! EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT. there need to be ACTUAL REAL EASY GAMES FOR KIDS, who are new to gaming. So they can learn the game , beat the game, and then work their way up to more challenging games. 40 year old men have no clue what games are actually good for kids, just because you think they are easy does not mean every child who has never played a game, is going to automatically Ace right through it just because you did.

I’m surprised that a game is not in the list and neither in the comments: Game Builder Garage.

My 7yo LOVES it, and it’s a great way to introduce kids on the programming world.

My six year old daughter loves Overcooked All You Can Eat, and Lego Harry Potter; both in co-op. She also likes the SNES Super Mario games (no idea which one/s). Mario Kart gets the odd go too. (And Little Big Planet on PS4 in co-op was hilariously fun!)

2 that have been huge favs among my kids have been gunman Clive and mechextermination force. 5 and 3 year old both love them. I guess 3 games.

CAPTAIN TOAD is absolutely brilliant and charming for everyone! Kirby too is truly superb
P.S don't forget to try out the Captain Toad VR levels if you have a headset...so cute

I would add Game Builder Garage.
It can be as complex as you like but the tutorials are satisfying, and the characterisation is fun. Quite a lot of reading though, which may be good in itself.

Oh and Hellblade. Can't believe that has been missed off.

It seems 'kids' is a bit too broad description to make this list actually worthwile.

maybe every mini review here should list some criteria

• Level of gaming experience needed (actual ease)
• Possibility for coop (which makes lots of complex game more kids compatible)
• The pegi/esrb rating (as a guidance to the violence/realistic images, for a parent to assess what they want there kids too see)
• the use of language.. this thing is often overlooked, especially since lots of people on this site take english for granted.. So: does the game require reading skills, and are there other language versions available..
• are there good tutorials (like Labo or Game builder garage, quite complex concepts, but doable for kids thankx to their tutorials)

Otherwise, i expect many kidsto be dissapointed...and some parents shocked

Pretty solid Lust except for Minecraft (yes it creative) and Fortnite. Thanks to their business politics.

This is a great list but I am shocked that you overlooked "Lego City: Undercover" among the other Lego games which I think are more complex for younger kids.

I bought Lego City: Undercover on a whim but it was a brilliant success. My son loves to drive around in the cars and unlock all of the super builds and find the disguises and do the individual character challenges etc., so there's a LOT of game here. He's only 3.5 so is a bit young for some of the other Lego games but I've found that the barrier to entry and skill requirement is spot on in Lego City: Undercover.