You can play in co-op, with you controlling Mario and your kid controlling Cappy, and not only is this fun but it lets you tee up some pretty epic jumps. The pacing is superb.īeing a modern Nintendo game, Odyssey also offers a few additional options to make the experience even more kid friendly. And I love that you’re whisked from world to world in the first short playthrough, before unlocking the true meat of the game. Even if you hit minor roadblocks you’ll basically always be making progress. While a small kid isn’t going to be able to make it through many of the platforming gauntlets, passing the controller back and forth is a great way to play, and the difficulty as a whole (putting aside the difficult final final level) is pitched pretty low. Tooling around Odyssey’s overworlds is really accessible and fun for beginners, while Mario’s ability set allows for some pretty advanced moves that cater well to veterans. The fact that every possessed object winds up with a thick Mario moustache is a comedic delight, whether it’s a Chain Chomp, a Goomba, a taxi cab, a tree or a T-Rex. Super Mario Odyssey’s new hook of using Mario’s hat to possess objects and animals – which is layered atop very familiar fundamentals – isn’t just clever from a gameplay perspective, allowing Nintendo’s designers to give players a wide array of abilities to solve problems and platforming challenges, but it adds a wonderfully goofball sense of humour to proceedings too. Few games do such a great job of rewarding curiosity – the power moons are so plentiful and the secrets and hidden interactions so numerous, that it often feels like there’s something to discover around literally every corner. Super Mario Odyssey An incredible Mario adventure, and also ideal for kids. Yes, it’s an added expense, but a worthwhile one. There’s just no beating decent analogue sticks, a sturdy build and comfortable buttons. Pretty much every single game on this list – even games like Mario Odyssey, which is designed for the Jo圜ons – is greatly improved with a proper controller.
Oh, one other thing I would say out of the gate – get yourself one or more Pro Controllers. I’m also just going to stick to the Switch catalogue for this one so that it’s manageable, but I have recommendations across a bunch of other platforms too, so keep an eye out for follow-up features, including one dedicated solely to a game too large to be contained alongside other recommendations - Minecraft. This feature is in no way comprehensive – it’s just based on the games I’ve chosen to introduce in our household. And in doing so he has learnt a lot about the vocabulary of video games archetypal mechanics, structures, visual descriptors, and so on. For most of these I’ve done a lot of the playing, but my son has been an active participant in helping me make decisions, decide on tactics, decipher puzzles and discuss ideas. Again, your mileage may vary - and it's important to decide what's appropriate for yourself, too - but hopefully this will be good food for thought.Īlso bear in mind that these are not necessarily games for kids, but games that kids can get something out of. There’s no definitive way to approach video games as every child is different – and every child is constantly changing too - but I’ve been playing games with my (almost) six year old son for a few years now, and thought it might be useful to share some of the gaming experiences we’ve had that I think have been most compelling and enriching. They can be visually, aurally and mentally stimulating, good for hand-eye coordination and also a fun way to spend time together. After all, it’s easy to demonise “screen time,” but games have an awful lot to offer. If you’re a parent of a young child (or two), you may be wondering about the best way to navigate the world of video games.