Top Family-Friendly Video Games

Playing video games as a family is a great way to pass the time together. You can learn to work as a team and get the satisfaction of solving problems as a family, or face off in a race, a brawl or a contest.

Here are some top family-friendly video games that you can play alongside the little ones.

Mario Kart 8

Available On: Wii U, Nintendo Switch

Mario Kart has been a video game staple for almost 20 years, and for good reason. This go-kart racing game pits classic Nintendo characters against each other in a series of colorful, cartoon racetracks. It is just enough of a challenge to be interesting for all players – but it’s easy enough for the kids to enjoy. There’s a little cartoony violence, but it’s mostly about racing (and dropping banana peels behind you).

Super Mario Party

Available On: Nintendo Switch

Like Mario Kart, Super Mario Party is the latest in a long series of games starring the iconic Mario characters. Super Mario Party is like a board game with a collection of mini video games thrown in. As your characters move across the board, they’ll be launched into different minigames to play against each other. The most fun thing about Super Mario Party is the variety – with games like fishing competitions, tricycle races, barrel riding, penguin herding and more. Like it says in the title, it’s a perfect, low-stakes party game for all ages.

Heads Up!

Available On: iPhone, Android

Heads Up! is a great party game, and one of the most low-maintenance family-friendly video games. It requires almost no setup, and the rules that are simple and easy for everyone to understand. One player puts the phone that the game is running on up against their forehead, and the other players have to help them guess the word on the “card.” The ridiculous guesses will have you giggling in no time. It’s also a great way to keep kids entertained while waiting in line, stuck at the airport or in the back seat of the car.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Available On: Nintendo Switch

If you’ve got some older kids in the house, they might want to try their hand at a fighting game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the perfect solution. This game collects a wide variety of characters from different video games and has them face off in a series of different arenas inspired by video game settings. The fighting mechanics are sophisticated enough to retain interest, but they don’t resemble real-world violence in the slightest. These characters fight with ray guns, magic powers, paint blasters and Pokemon, after all. There’s no blood and it’s the closest to good, clean fun a fighting game can get.

The Jackbox Party Pack

Available On: All platforms

Jackbox has party games down to a science. In the Jackbox Party Pack, you can get five of the company’s best games in one. You Don’t Know Jack is a comedy trivia game. Fibbage XL is a game all about how well you can bluff (or how well you can make the other players laugh). Drawful is a game all about getting you to draw weirder and weirder doodles. Word Spud is a modern take on Mad Libs. Lie-Swatter is a fast-paced, true or false guessing game. The main goal of Jackbox games is to make you laugh – and for you to make each other laugh.

Splatoon 2

Available On: Nintendo Switch

Splatoon 2 is the family-friendly answer to third-person shooters. It’s basically a giant paintball game. The cute, squid-like Inklings and Octolings battle it out using weapons that shoot streams of colored ink. The game is naturally colorful and infectiously fun.

Yooka-Laylee

Available On: Mac, PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Yooka-Laylee is a colorful, cartoony platform game about a chameleon named Yooka and a bat named Laylee. It’s considered a spiritual successor to cult classic Banjo-Kazooie, but you don’t need to be familiar with any previous games to enjoy Yooka-Laylee. The kids will love the cooperative multiplayer mode, in which one player is Yooka and Laylee, and the other player is a swarm of helpful bees. It’s a top video game for kids who wants to be in control, but still want you to play along as well. It’s also a good option for very little kids who mostly want to watch while taking a small part of the action.

What games are you playing with the kids or grandkids? Have you played any of the games mentioned above? Let us know in the comments below!