Good games to play with kids on the same PC?

BillButNotBen 2017-04-18 02:29:52 UTC #1

I’m sure there was a thread like this already, it may even have been by me, but I can’t find it, so:

Does anyone have any recommendations for simple games that can be played with young kids on the same PC? Eg, split screen or single screen games.

2 Players, nothing too difficult, nothing too violent, etc…
Could be competitive or co-op. Being somewhat educational would be a bonus.

When I try to think of such games, pretty much the only ones I can come up with are the ones I played as a kid… because I haven’t played with 2 people on one PC since. Even then, a lot of the better ideas are probably Snes/N64 games like mariokart.
I used to play Golden Axe 2 player when I was a kid, but it’s not actually a very good game, and doesn’t really appeal nowadays.

I’ve come up with:
Some kind of Worms game.
Emulate a mariokart game.
Probably one of the 100 or so Lego games.

and I feel there should be a lot more.

The_Velour_Fog 2017-04-18 05:25:51 UTC #2

my kids loved Castle Crashers when they were younger
plus there are poop jokes

Squiz 2017-04-18 06:10:02 UTC #3

Never alone comes to mind, it’s cute and has some educational content without being “let’s learn while gaming, kids” about it. Maybe one character can be a bit scary for children and if your companion falls into a pit or the water it can be a bit sad, but overall I can imagine it being a great parent-child experience.

Edit: The **Trine **games should be good as well. Some tricky parts here and there if memory serves, but most fights and bits where reaction times matter (not that your kids won’t overtake you in that domain soon anyway) could be overcome by you helping out with taking control of a critical character. In my mind that should be a great co-op adventure.

Further ideas would include **Scribblenauts **and emulating some classics if you don’t mind the setup work. Bubble Bobble and Goof Troop (designed by Shinji Mikami, so you’ve got video gaming history lesson covered as well) are the first things that I could come up with.

The latter is a game I used to play a ton myself when I was a kid. It’s SNES era, it has pirates and puzzles, the characters (Goofy and Max) are parent and kid themselves, the soundtrack has some seriously catchy tunes and there is a lot of room for situational comedy since you can throw things at each other (both as part of puzzles and for giggles). Damn, I think I need to pick that one up again myself.

Here’s a quick review with some impressions of the game from a quick search on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0XK_JTs53o

Blackice 2017-04-18 09:31:09 UTC #4

I’ve tried a few with my 7 year old with varying degrees of success. I’m still learning how differently kids approach games and what they get out of them. As a stressed out adult I find I need the feeling of “achieving” something during a play session whereas he’s happy riding around on a cow in Lego Worlds for 30 minutes…

Anyway, here are a few suggestions:-

Ibb and Obb - Lovely looking co-op puzzle platformer. It does get hard pretty quick so will probably only pass a few hours, but the controls are simple and it is very cute.

**Rocket League **split screen. We play on the same team (he doesn’t like competitive games) and use the ice hockey puck to make things simpler.

Tricky Towers- A bit too competitive for my special little snowflake, but YMMV.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Another super-cute game but it does get quite hectic quite quickly, even on the lowest difficulty. But we had a lot of fun while it lasted. I’d do the driving and shield while he manned the weapons.

Lego Worlds has co-op I think, but not tried that yet. It is a delightful game for kids though. Not tried any of the other Lego games yet as he’s not a fan of combat at all, but hopefully he’ll get into them eventually.

L_No 2017-04-18 11:23:16 UTC #5

You already mentioned the Lego games, which are usually a great hit with children and parents alike. I don’t know what your limits on violence are, but I’ve spent many pleasant hours with the shared-screen co-op in Tyrian 2000 (free on GoG, I think?).

alms 2017-04-18 18:58:44 UTC #6

**Child of Light **is basically designed for a parent and child to play together. It’s exceedingly pretty, but not too compelling to play alone.

noiseredux 2017-04-18 19:08:21 UTC #7

This was my first thought.

And how about all those Sega Genesis games on Steam? There’s gotta be some good co-op stuff in there.

Um… Wacky Wheels is on Steam/GOG.

alms 2017-04-18 19:26:20 UTC #8

More typically co-op, besides seconding Squiz’s recommendation of Trine 1 & 2, Chariot has also been spoken highly of, and Cook, Serve, Delicious! has non-competitive play modes. I had a ton of fun with it in single player with a controller, very tactile game-play.

Another game that I really loved is Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. I don’t remember it having co-op, but Steam begs to differ.

vinraith wouldn’t miss the chance to mention Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. edit: another forum favorite that however leaves me completely cold is Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed.

**Screencheat **is technically competitive, but slightly reminiscent of hide and seek.

Not sure how fitting, other highly-rated games with local co-op that come to mind are Crypt of the Necrodancer, Towerfall Ascension, and …damn it slipped my mind.

Lorenzo Stanco’s useful tool reminds me of the following games, you can use it too, to find what you already have in your library and may have forgotten about.

Badland, Beat Hazard, DeathSpank, Guacamelee, Hammerwatch, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Jamestown, Magicka, Mercenary Kings, Monaco, Pid, Portal 2, Rocketbirds (this is often recommended for the co-op by Heliocentric), Shatter, Slam Bolt Scrappers, The Cave, Broforce/The Expendabros (the latter is free), Tobe’s Vertical Adventure, Vertical Drop Heroes, Victor Vran, and Wyv & Keep.

http://www.lorenzostanco.com/lab/steam/

^ just paste a link to your profile (public), then click on the Local Co-op tag.

GameCat 2017-04-18 19:30:39 UTC #9

Emulate a mariokart game.

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed.

Don’t play Worms, it makes people hate each other over that perfect impossible grenade throw that destroyed half of their team.

Heliocentric 2017-04-18 19:38:13 UTC #10

First things first, is he conflict averse? Because most 7 year olds sorta are by my reckoning. They dislike conflict, stress, competition and hate hate hate losing.

The best cluster of games for these kids are odd ones.

Blueberry Garden - Not the fraught Apocalypse survival of the main campaign, but the consequence-less ecology-em-up of the garden mode. You might cry! That’s no coop, but it is sorta.

Scribblenauts Unlimited - Same deal, you can build anything out of words, it’s mundane to an adult, frustrating for a young child, but for one of each teaming up it is a treat.

Minecraft Windows 10 Edition - You’ll be needing Minecraft on a mobile device, but you’ll be able to join each other’s games as long as you are connected to the same router with no messing about. And you’ll be probably the best parent ever when you show them how to build a nether portal.

GameCat 2017-04-18 19:45:09 UTC #11

another forum favorite that however leaves me completely cold is Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed.

Sorry, you didn’t pass Voight-Kampf, dispatching blade runner Deckard right now.

Sarfrin 2017-04-18 20:53:00 UTC #12

It is about as close as you can get to Mariokart without emulation.

alms 2017-04-18 22:25:44 UTC #13

Guess I can scratch off Mario Kart from my wishlist. Oh wait, it was never in there <burns Mario and Sonic merchandise on video while cackling evilly> :] Seriously though, I only tried single player mode and there really wasn’t anything holding my attention, hopefully it comes alive when playing with other people?

Swordfishtrombone 2017-04-18 22:35:23 UTC #14

When I was very little I used to play old LucasArts point ‘n’ click adventures (The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle etc.) on MS DOS(!) with my dad, which I absolutely loved.

GameCat 2017-04-19 07:16:37 UTC #15

Seriously though, I only tried single player mode and there really wasn’t anything holding my attention, hopefully it comes alive when playing with other people?

I have like 40-50 hours poured in Sonic All Stars single player. The driving system is basically Outrun 2006 (the same company made both games) disguised as a kart game with nitro boosts. I belive it’s getting even better in multiplayer.

Heliocentric 2017-04-19 08:44:53 UTC #16

Looking at the above suggestions it’s super obvious which of the above posters have ever played games with young children as adults.

Deathspank? Really… Didn’t even read the OP

MantisTobogganM.D.4 2017-04-19 11:53:28 UTC #17

Zombie Vikings isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty fun and different. It has some fairly kid age jokes too. I haven’t gotten all the way through yet, but unless it changes dramatically it’s kind of similar to Invader Zim or a show/movie like that in jokes and tone.

If you can turn gore off in Besiege that would be pretty solid. While it doesn’t have a strict 2 player mode just taking turns building different vehicles would be fun, and would encourage creativity and problem solving.

Shadoko 2017-04-19 12:05:01 UTC #18

You want **Rayman : Origins **or **Rayman : Legends. **Like, right now. It has coop and it’s absolutely lovely, you might want a controller though. (not sure if Legends is on pc, mind).

alms 2017-04-21 19:18:29 UTC #19

If you had read mine, maybe you would have realized it was a list offered by an algorithmic tool, whose use I was suggesting. Thanks, though, I really enjoyed this nice contribution of yours.

Heliocentric 2017-04-21 19:39:45 UTC #20

You weren’t the only one to make me raise an eyebrow with their suggestions, so I doubled back to look for the one that made me feel the most incredulously, but fair enough, I skimmed over your link and description, and I hadn’t checked who had suggested it even, I’ll blame being on a mobile and shut up.