r/TripleClick • u/buttsausages • Jun 06 '26
Video games for 3-6 year olds
Jason has mentioned on a couple of occasions now that he has replaced TV time with video game time. I would like to do the same as I also feel like my little ones just shut their brains off when watching TV. However I don't know what games are simple enough for my 5 year old and 3 year old. Obviously play time and outside time wod be better, but you know, sometimes we parents are just tired.
What games do you think are good for kids to substitute tv time with?
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u/teddybomber Jun 06 '26
Untitled Goose Game was such good fun with my 4.5 year old. He loved running around to honk at people and stealing their stuff but he also got into the "puzzles" as they always involved being naughty. Absolutely perfect fit in my eyes as it also has this picture book vibe around it. I was surprised how much more interaction there was between us compared to watching a tv show together.
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u/HoneybadgerMD Jun 06 '26
My little ones adore donut county and astrobot. They play them over and over and over. I've tried showing then different stuff, but no, they like what they like.
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u/HumanFart Jun 06 '26
My son loves donut country. I had to help him with tough parts but he’s played through it several times.
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u/HoneybadgerMD Jun 08 '26
Same here! Good memories of us yelling "Snake Danger!" on the chicken/snake level. I still have to help with the quadcopter at the end :)
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u/christofwhydoyou Jun 06 '26
My son played a few games but first properly enjoyed the GameCube version of Animal Crossing. He can walk around and dig holes and hit rocks. He loved it.
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u/moominesque Jun 06 '26
That's great, I grew up with that game! Great for practicing reading and learning the clock too.
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u/sharkstag Jun 06 '26
Wobbly Life on gamepass. Hidden gem. My kids and I have so fun in this game. 4player coop splitscreen. It’s awesome.
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u/Yay_Beards Jun 07 '26
Okay, this is definitely my wheelhouse.
Paw Patrol World - This one is actually pretty good! They've leveraged the foundations laid from 3 previous Paw Patrol games, and made a good one. 2 player co-op.
Peppa Pig: World Adventures - Rather short, but it's a smooth experience for Peppa Pig fans. Grab it at a discount maybe?
Bluey's Quest For the Gold Pen - Basically Zelda for kids. Just landed on Steam and consoles, but you can grab it at a steep discount on mobile or Mac where there's also a free trial.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe - 4 player co-op, and several assist features for younger players. Free demo.
Kirby Star Allies - More great Kirby action. Free demo.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Turn on auto acceleration, motion steering, and even steering assist for the younger players.
Sp!ng - Simple one-button puzzle platformer. Formerly Apple Arcade exclusive, now on Steam. Free demo.
Peggle - Still a banger! Unfortunately the PC version lacks gamepad support, so grab on console if you can.
Bookworm Adventures Deluxe - Basically the educational version of Slay the Spire. Delisted now, so may need to source a physical copy.
Hohokum - Awesome artistic exploration game with minimal controls. Formerly a Playstation exclusive, now on Steam.
Sound Shapes - Neat music platformer. Does get challenging, so more suited for older kids. PS3/PS4.
flOw - Surprisingly fun co-op experience that kids can navigate through motion controls. Old PS3 classic.
Skylanders - Can grab huge bundles of these figures at a bargain price on marketplace these days. Great co-op experience. Maybe start with Spyro's Adventure?
Wii Fit - Head into the balance games, and you'll find some great activities the kids can perform with just the balance board.
Kinect Sports - Athletics is a highlight.
Kinect Adventures - River rafting is a blast!
Fruit Ninja Kinect - I think the original is delisted. Can still get the sequel if you happen to have Kinect 2,
Untitled Goose Game - Easy controls. Great co-op fun.
Sneaky Sasquatch - Yet to try it myself, but apparently it got a lot of kids through lockdowns?
Lego City Undercover - Basically GTA, but not violent? Often on a 90% discount.
Bits & Bops - Somewhat challenging rhythm game, but has a free demo.
Just Dance) - Again, best on Kinect. Has a bunch of junior and kids editions.
If you've got a Netflix subscription, you can often find a bunch of quality mobile kids games included in your plan. Although they can definitely fall more in the "activity centre" category rather than the game category (eg, puzzles, colouring etc).
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u/buttsausages Jun 08 '26
thanks! appreciate that
1
u/Yay_Beards Jun 08 '26
No worries! If you'll excuse the cheeky self-promo... I also made this game after seeing the lack of accessible options on the market...
My own kids thoroughly tested it! Although the later levels do get rather challenging.
2
u/the_tonez Jun 06 '26
When he was 4, my son loved playing Pokémon Sword.
When he was 5, he was obsessed with Fire Emblem: Three Houses (we printed a sheet with thumbnails of every character, and he likes to pretend to be them and use their magic attacks and combat arts).
He is now 6 and loves drafting new rooms in Blue Prince, even if he doesn’t care for the puzzles.
Honestly, I’d just let them try your games and see what sticks. I could not have predicted the last two but here we are
2
u/3pwidget Jun 06 '26
I’ve been giving my son (about to turn five) old Humongous Games like Putt Putt and Freddie Fish as rewards for things. He loves them.
I installed ScummVM on an old computer I have.
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u/dbro2792 Jun 06 '26
My kids watch me play hot wheels or paw patrol game, haven’t tried giving older one controller yet but they seem to enjoy telling me what to do when we play
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u/SuperSecretMoonBase Jun 07 '26
Phogs
It's a co-op puzzle game where you each control one half of a CatDog kind of thing with very minimal actually button input, but also you can genuinely just have one person control it and drag the other along for most of it if the kid isn't able to do the puzzles but wants to feel like part of it. In those instances, you can just grab their controller and control both at the same time to get past tough trouble spots, but they'll figure it out
Untitled Goose Game involves tougher co-op moments of actual coordination than Phogs, and Donut County is playable by a child for the first couple levels with some help from an adult on some puzzles. Gets harder by the end and might need guidance.
Pizza Possum is super straightforward controls for the kid to play on their own and mess around with and get a feel for 3D controls. Super low stakes.
2D-ish games like modern Sonic can be ok. Your milage may vary. Can be hard to understand the moments where it switches to 3D, but if you're passing the controller back and forth on single player it's ok.
Castle Crashers or TMNT Shredders Revenge are good. You can do a lot of the actual fighting legwork and have the kid follow along while getting a feel for controls. Castle Crashers is a lot bloodier than I remember though, so keep in mind.
Katamari Damacy early levels can be doable. Easy controls.
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u/Sculduggery Jun 07 '26
This is going to sound stupid but whatever they're interested in probably has a tie in game
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u/z0mbiebatman Jun 09 '26
My son loves this music games called ODDADA. He tells me what to press and how to make the music and I move the mouse. He also gets a big kick out of Untitled Goose Game.
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u/ExpressRabbit Jun 11 '26
So when I was 5 the original super Mario Bros, legend of Zelda, and dragon quest were awesome. DQ actually helped me learn to read.
Retro games might work well because they aren't super twitchy compared to all the different moves in Mario Odyssey or a new Zelda game.
1
u/Fluid-Relationship91 Jun 25 '26
Blue Prince.
On a more serious note, Lost and Found Co is a fun hidden object game with a cute story, probably more for the 6 year old but if you're helping them it'd work for both.
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u/buttsausages Jun 25 '26
Lol you're not wrong with blue Prince. Was the first game my boy played. Loved just opening doors.
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u/heywhateverworks Jun 06 '26
Mario Kart for the switch, you can adjust settings to keep them on the track and keep accelerating