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Please recommend me some games for my son, Era

grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,299
Germany
Hi,
I'm looking for some game recommendations for my son. His 7th birthday is in a few weeks, and I'm a little lost tbh.

First, some background. We were very strict with games in the past. We think a 4 year old kid has better things to do than playing videogames. There were some kids friendly iPad/iPhone games here and there, but nothing major. We are talking maybe one or two hours a month.

Now that he is in school, he has friends with PlayStations and whatnot, and of course he wants to play games at home too. I can't blame him for that XD

This is what I'm looking for:

- PS4 (sadly no Switch in our house yet, and it's too expensive as a birthday gift)
- It should be easy. Nothing complicated with too much text and crazy mechanics. I want him to have fun, we can play harder games later, when he learns to play
- absolutely NO GORE or anything close to real violence. It's ok to see Lego blocks fall apart, but there is no way he plays something brutal or scary
- Physical, I don't want to gift him a screenshot of a digital game
- Singleplayer, Couch Coop is a plus though as I could play with him then


I was thinking about the Lego games. There are a lot of them out there, are they any good? I don't care if it's older as long as it runs on my PS4 ;) It should be accessible and easy.


He played Knack for a while but got bored of it I think, and Skylanders at his friends house. Oh, and AC:Origins tour, he wasn't too interested into the history of Egypt though lol.


Thanks a lot!
 

VillagerMax

Member
Nov 4, 2017
279
Flower was pretty fun from what I've played but it depends if he can handle gyro controls. (There's a physical Journey Collection out there). I recommend checking Common Sense Media for this sort of thing with future games.
 
Liliana

Liliana

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,375
NYC
grmlin said:
I should have mentioned, that he will play not too often in the future either :D I'm not sure if that timesink would be a good idea
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I wouldn't say it is a timesink, unless he gets addicted or dedicated to a project he is doing in-game! You can definitely play in spurts; my daughter does.
 
Evergarden

Evergarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,408
Minecraft could be perfect for this occasion. There are infinite possibilities what can you do in it, it is perfectly fine for a 7 year old kid and I'm pretty sure it will increase his creativity. I can imagine he is saying "Dad, look at my house. Isn't it perfect ? I built it"
 
OP
OP
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,299
Germany
emag said:
Is your kid interested in any sports (or vehicles)?
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not really.
Regret said:
I wouldn't say it is a timesink, unless he gets addicted or dedicated to a project he is doing in-game! You can definitely play in spurts; my daughter does.
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I never played it, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I lived with the impression that doing things in this game takes a lot of time.
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,580
Kids loooove those Lego games. I've played them; they are quality and designed well for a young player or experienced player + young player co-op.
 

Deleted member 1656

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,474
So-Cal
I really loved Super Mario Bros. 3 when I was around that age, maybe a year or few older. Since you're using PS4, Shovel Knight might be fun. It has co-op. But Lego is the place to start, for sure. Those games are extremely accessible.
 
Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
Does your kid like animals?

2911057-the+last+guardian%E2%84%A2_20161212223807.jpg


The last hour or so might upset him, but hey, it'll put hairs on his chest.
 
OP
OP
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,299
Germany
Thanks all!

He tried Ratched & Clank, but that's definitely on the complex side of games for a kid that never played games like this before. Shooting, dodging, aiming... platforming.
 
Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
2,646
i'd probably start him right with something like knack, anything that gets his imagination going

minecraft isn't a bad rec either, co-op is super fun

make sure the gameplay is good, he deserves it
 
Dusk Golem

Dusk Golem

Local Horror Enthusiast
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,807
This is going to sound random, but for some reason Undertale came to mind. I think the gameplay is simple enough for a newcomer to grasp, the game has a lot of characters a kid may love, it's family friendly, has some good lessons the game expresses well, it has a good difficulty curve and isn't too hard, has replayability (as a kid when I had few games, I'd replay the hell out of the few I own), and may be an interesting place to start thinking on it.
 
angelgrievous

angelgrievous

Middle fingers up
Member
Nov 8, 2017
9,141
Ohio
Unravel is on sale for $4.99 right now on PSN. It could be good for you guys to get pumped for the sequel, of which you could co-op with him. Other than that I would say one of the Loco Roco (2 is on sale as well right now) games or Parappa the Rapper.

Edit* I didn't see the physical requirement. Sorry.
 
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IIFloodyII

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
24,014
The Lego games might be a good choice, though some of the puzzles might be a little nonsensical and frustrating for him.

Flower is a super good shout though. Very simple but fun game.
 
KingdomKey

KingdomKey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,106
Kingdom Hearts? Might be a bit too hard though.

Little Big Planet, Minecraft or Lego Games should be good.
 
Abu

Abu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,019
😏
overcooked and little big planet, my kid brothers and sisters love it. And both games are co-op and a damn blast to play. I'll also second Minecraft, ain't a huge fan of it but the kids love it.
 
OP
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grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,299
Germany
Some great suggestions, thanks! I think some of them are already in my library (PS+ games), so I guess I'll have a look into the Lego games for his birthday. They are all available in stores on disc if I'm not mistaken :)
 
The Doomed One

The Doomed One

Member
Nov 28, 2017
589
My 5 year old daughter loves playing:
- Both Knacks (but you've already mentioned that)
- Rayman Legends
- Plants vs. Zombies 2
- Tearaway Unfolded
- LEGO Worlds
- Peggle
- Snoopy's Grand Adventure
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,895
Since the Switch (which is really perfect for family friendly and kids games) is not an option I would recommend Rayman. That is a fun game to play together.

My kids are 7 too and I don't let them play it but Fortnite is the most popular game in our elementary school.
 

Deleted member 14002

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,121
Overcooked doesn't require reading, has no overly complex mechanics, a great learning curve, no gore, is on PS4/has physical copies, is great for co-op (local and online), and is 20$.
 

Deleted member 1759

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,582
Europe
grmlin said:
I was thinking about the Lego games. There are a lot of them out there, are they any good? I don't care if it's older as long as it runs on my PS4 ;) It should be accessible and easy.
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Lego games were the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title. They are amazing for younger kids and you can play them in co-op. And there are a lot of settings to choose from depending on what he's interested in. But I'd say that you can't go wrong with Lego Star Wars for a 7-year-old. Too bad the Complete Saga isn't available on PS4.
 
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grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,299
Germany
Fortnite, yeah, like a plague. Games with mtx and other ways to apply gambling like mechanics are a no go.

Overcooked, Little Big Planed and some other coop games are a great idea. I will definitely look into them.
 

KingBean

Banned
Nov 30, 2017
236
SNES mini to know and maybe love some classics and a 2ds to play Ocarina of time and other Nintendo classics.

Thats what I would do with my kid.
 
arcticice

arcticice

Member
Oct 31, 2017
519
Lego Marvel Superheroes, Lego Marvel Superheroes 2, and Lego Marvel Avengers. I played it through with my 6 year old nephew, and he absolutely adore them now (couch coop btw). very easy to play, fully open world to explore with a ton of content. I would highly recommend these
 
Gnorman

Gnorman

Banned
Jan 14, 2018
2,945
Me and my son have played a lot of lego and he has much more fun in the hub world rather than the levels. He's not really into super heroes but they are his favourite lego games because there are loads of characters with different abilities. What tends to happen is I play the levels and unlock as much as possible then we waste hours and hours in the 'open world' hub
 
cervanky

cervanky

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,296
Journey has no combat and is very easy, nice chill experience. A stress-free beautiful way to familiarize oneself with movement in a 3D video game. It's included in the physical release "Journey: Collector's Edition" which includes the games "Flow" and "Flower".

Sonic Mania is a fun 2D platformer and most of it isn't too difficult (last few levels get tough), I'd rank Sonic on the easier side of platformers compared to Mario and Crash (kind of closer to Kirby, but that's not PS4 of course). Has co-op too, although the camera only follows the first player - if it leaves behind the second player, they'll appear on the screen again after a few seconds. That way, if they're struggling they could be the invulnerable second player and still feel like they're helping out, while if they're feeling more confident they can be the first player and you can help take care of more difficult obstacles as the second player. It's getting a physical release as "Sonic Mania Plus" with more characters and an additional mode with remixed levels on July 17th.
 
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Mugman

Mugman

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,369
Sonic Mania is a great choice; super colorful and bright and fun. It's also great for couch coop since Tails can be a great asset played by someone who knows what they're doing, but if played by a young kid it can feel engaging for them while having no repercussions on player one
 
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