Kody Wirth 
Image: Sony Entertainment
Kody is our expert Destiny 2 and shooter genre writer. He lives in Oregon.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
When you think of the best consoles with a slew of games for young kids, you probably don’t jump to PlayStation. You most likely think of Nintendo. Sure, PlayStation has somewhat cornered the market on mature, narrative-driven tales, such as Last of Us and God of War. But there are still plenty of great options among the best PlayStation games for kids.
Believe me, my daughter just turned one and I already snagged another controller and started scoping out games to try with her (obviously after a few more years have passed). So if you own a PlayStation 4, or are planning to snag a PlayStation 5 and want a few games to share with your little one, read on for our top picks.
The Best PlayStation Games for Kids Ranked
The following titles are a mix of first-party PlayStation titles, recent third-party hotshots, and a handful of classics for kids. We tried to focus on co-op titles you can play together, opportunities for creative expression, and a few single-player titles that your kid can grow with. Here are the 15 best PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games for kids.
15/15
Untitled Goose Game
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Stealth / Puzzle
- Developer: House House
- Rating: E
The goose is loose! When this charming stealth puzzle title was first unveiled back in 2019, it took the world by storm. Taking control of a mischievous goose, you quietly rampage within an English village. You’ll spend your time bugging the townsfolk, collecting items, and generally causing as much slapstick-infused havoc that a cute little goose can.
Its simple but inventive level design makes for hours of fun that never outstays its welcome. Plus the charming art style and low-key tunes truly allow you to relax and just enjoy life as a goose just trying to make its way in the world. And with a late 2020 update, you can now play local co-op, making it one of the best PlayStation games for kids and their parents!
14/15
Dreams
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Game Creation System
- Developer: Media Molecule
- Rating: T
You know that any game from the creators of Tearaway and Little Big Planet will make for an inventive and creative experience. Dreams takes this team’s knack for puzzle platformers and combines it with Minecraft’s creative mode to give you a title built around making games.
You can start with the genre-hopping story campaign, “Art’s Dream,” to get a taste of what to expect. Then start “Dream Surfing” to enjoy a curated collection of user-created experiences that run the gambit in terms of game genre, art style, production value, etc. With a bit of inspiration, you can then dive into shaping your own Dreams and learn the basics of game design, including making music, animating and so much more through easy-to-follow tutorials.
Dreams is a great option for any young kids out there that crave making things. It’s a welcoming community of creators on a platform that is built to help passionate would-be developers discover what it takes to make a game.
13/15
Bugsnax
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Adventure
- Developer: Young Horses
- Rating: E10+
As a follow-up to the purposely janky Octodad, Bugsnax retains the cartoony design but ditches most of what came before. Rather than being a streamlined room of puzzles, Bugsnax takes on the first-person adventure genre by leaning into exploration and collection. Think Pokémon but with fruit-bug combos that, if eaten, transform different body parts into food (yeah, there’s the weirdness).
This is a really silly title, with a bunch of memorable characters and unique puzzles that range from easy to incredibly challenging. It never feels too difficult or boring, and the narrative twist at the end makes it captivating enough to maintain interest. Plus, there’s the incredibly catchy theme song to get stuck in your head, so what’s not to love?
12/15
Unravel 2
- Platform: PS4
- Genre: Puzzle / Platform
- Developers: Coldwood Interactive
- Rating: E10+
The original Unravel was a pleasant surprise in the puzzle-platformer genre. Its use of yarn as a limiter, tool, and overall mechanic was inventive, to say the least, and it packed a surprisingly emotional punch. Unravel 2 retains the core of what made the original so unique, but now allows you to play with another Yarny through local co-op.
This game serves as an excellent next step for kids that have tried some simpler platformers in the past. The puzzles are a bit more challenging, the background themes a bit more adult, and there are even additional challenge levels that ramp the difficulty up a bit more. It’s great for playing together or solo and is really one of the best advanced puzzle-platformers available today.
11/15
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Platform / Battle Royale
- Developers: Mediatonic
- Rating: E
Do you know that show Wipeout? Fall Guys is kind of like that, but as a sixty-player, competitive battle royale. This party game is designed to be fun, chaotic, and a bit frustrating thanks to the minimal amount of moves your little bean can use. You run, dive, and grab your way through various wild and wacky events, all with the goal of claiming that final crown.
This is a low-stakes game that is best played with friends. It does require an online subscription and there are purchasable items in the shop, so be aware there may be some additional purchases involved. But overall, Fall Guys is a quirky and wild experience worth jumping into.
10/15
Overcooked: All You Can Eat
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Cooking Simulation
- Developers: Team17
- Rating: E
There are plenty of chaotic and challenging party games out there. Games that require a certain level of precision to be successful, but are also complex enough to escalate into wild and frantic antics as you try to stay coordinated. Overcooked is precision and chaos in a nutshell.
Playing solo or with up to four players (locally or online), it’s up to you to get as many orders right as possible in a given time limit. This starts easy and slowly escalates with multiple-step recipes, new hazards, and shifting level design. Add in the fact that this version includes the original and sequel to Overcooked, as well as all the DLC, providing hours and hours for you and your kids to live out your short-order cook dreams.
9/15
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy
- Platform: PS4
- Genre: Platform
- Developers: Toys for Bob
- Rating: E10+
So many classic games have received excellent remakes and remasters in the past few years. Crash Bandicoot, Demon’s Souls, Tony Hawk, and of course the other PlayStation icon, Spyro the Dragon. This series of remasters is very similar to the Crash Insane Trilogy, which brings a fresh coat of paint and a handful of quality of life improvements to the original games.
The difference between this and Crash is that these games hold up much better when it comes to controls and level design. No shade on Crash, they just don’t serve as great reminders of what makes a good platformer. Spyro, on the other hand, is well worth revisiting and looks more beautiful than even our rose-tinted visions of the originals.
8/15
Everybody’s Golf
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Sports
- Developers: Clap Hanz, Japan Studio, Camelot Software
- Rating: E
If the release of the latest Mario Golf game has you itching to revisit those virtual links, then you may want to check out Everybody’s Golf. With a mix of photo-realistic environments and cartoony characters, it serves as the perfect blend of Hot Shots and Tiger Woods, with a far more refined control scheme.
It’s deep enough mechanically to challenge players but approachable enough to make it an enjoyable first golf game. Jump in together with up to four local players or have your kids join friends online with up to twenty players. Throw in the ability to customize your golfer, level up specific skills, visit the clubhouse, and even free roam around courses, and this is one of the best PS4 games for kids and adults alike.
7/15
Minecraft
- Platform: PS4
- Genre: Sandbox
- Developers: Mojang
- Rating: E
Minecraft is a cultural icon at this point, and for good reason. The pixelated style, serene environments, building mechanics, and underlying secrets are all built upon one thing—creativity. You build the world you play in. You explore the environments, fight monsters, and strategize how you’ll keep going deeper.
Seriously, a Minecraft server with you and a few friends can lead to days and days of adventures all built around this relatively basic game loop. Dip into creative mode and the opportunities to experiment expand exponentially. It’s a modern classic with the opportunity to learn, innovate and build with friends. What more could you want from one of the best PlayStation games for kids?
6/15
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Action / Adventure
- Developers: Insomniac Games
- Rating: T
Insomniac knows how to make excellent games. Miles Morales serves as the epitome of their narrative and traversal design, basically refining the formula they developed in the original Marvel’s Spider-Man. To say this upfront, this is likely the most mature game on this list. But the gameplay and story can resonate with young kids, teens, and adults alike.
It’s a story about finding yourself and making your own path. It just so happens to be wrapped up in an excellently designed superhero game with some of the most fun and streamlined open-world travel of any game. It truly feels good to be Spider-Man, and what kid doesn’t want that experience?
5/15
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
- Platform: PS4
- Genre: Kart Racing
- Developers: Beenox
- Rating: E10+
Another excellent original PlayStation remake, Crash Team Racing takes the classic kart racer and turns it into a tighter racing title. On top of the original game modes, characters, and tracks from the original, this game also brings in a new challenge system, online multiplayer, kart customization, and two new adventure modes. You get fifty-six playable characters, including boss characters from previous games and Spyro for good measure.
The crazy thing is that this game also brings in almost every element from Nitro Kart, Tag Team Racing, and Nitro Kart 2. It’s simply a better version of the original in every way, and may even threaten Mario Kart 8 as the best kart racing title around.
4/15
Astro’s Playroom
- Platform: PS5
- Genre: 3D Platformer
- Developers: Team ASOBI! and Japan Studio
- Rating: E10+
This may be a packed-in title for the PS5, but the follow-up to the excellent Astro Bot Rescue Mission is still one of the best PS5 games for kids. Not only does it make clever use of the Dual Sense controller and create unique situations for you to try out the vibration, motion controls, and selective triggers, it’s also just a great platformer. The secrets, collectibles, and boss battles are truly challenging, but the navigation and gimmicks feel great to play.
On top of feeling good, it also looks incredible and has you navigating worlds that are actual technical parts of the PlayStation 5. Everything, including the recreations of classic PlayStation titles and using interactive PlayStation devices as collectibles, is built with such care that you can’t help but just look at it. It’s a love letter to the history of the PlayStation and well worth playing through if you can get a PS5.
3/15
Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart
- Platform: PS5
- Genre: Platform / Shooter
- Developers: Insomniac Games
- Rating: E10+
Ratchet and Clank has always been tied with visual spectacle. Every console generation features one to two new games that showcase innovative design and fidelity, and consistently hold up as just great games. Rift Apart takes that a step further, truly becoming a visual feast with a variety of new weapons, mechanics, and a decent story that takes it a step beyond.
This is one of those games that has to be played to really how good it looks. The level design, movement, and even the battles showcase how Insomniac learns and innovates with every single game. It’s a great jumping-on point for new fans of the franchise, easy to get into but with enough secrets and challenges for those that want a bit more.
2/15
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Platform
- Developers: Team Sumo
- Rating: E
Little Big Point has had a long and storied career with PlayStation. It had seemingly become a dormant franchise until this spiritual successor emerged and proved that there is still plenty of room for Sackboy. The best thing this game does is shift away from the 2-D sidescrolling environment, for a 2.5-D multiplayer format.
This is basically PlayStation’s version of Super Mario 3-D World, and it’s not really trying to hide it. The thing is, it may actually do that game style a bit better, making for a well-tuned, action-pack, and collectible-filled experience. Play it solo, locally, or online, to try and go for perfection all while grabbing everything you can to customize your cute little Sackboy.
1/15
It Takes Two
- Platform: PS4 + PS5
- Genre: Action / Adventure
- Developers: Hazelight Studios
- Rating: T
At #1 on our list of best PlayStation games for kids is none other than It Takes Two.
Hazzelight Studio has somehow cornered the market on co-op titles. Their latest, It Takes Two, is their best iteration on co-op collaboration so far, and truly serves as one of the most inventive and thought-provoking titles on this list. The story itself plays with deep themes of the emotional impact of separation, all through more lighthearted encounters that bring trust, loss, and hope into the limelight.
Its ability to tackle very complex and adult themes appropriately is only compounded by the gameplay. Unlock many co-op titles, this game really does require you and your partner to be in sync. You each have specific skills, combined with some general similarities, making each puzzle and enemy encounter feel more exciting and valuable as you figure it out together. Additionally, if your kid has friends looking to play online, it also comes with a free buddy pass allowing them to play together for the cost of one game.
It’s simply the best kids’ game on PlayStation right now and ticks all the boxes when it comes to what makes a good kids game. It may be a bit more advanced and mature, but the design, difficulty system, and cooperative mechanics make it well worth playing at any age.
What Makes a Good Kids Game?
There are so many sub-par pieces of shovelware mixed in among the best PlayStation games for kids — it can be hard to sort through the clutter.
As a parent, this makes it extra difficult to know which games to introduce to your kids. Is it approachable but challenging? Is it age-appropriate? Is it a genre that they’ll appreciate? Is it simply a good game?
Start with being certain that the game is made well. Check reviews and/or Metacritic, as well as any other source that can help you scope out the quality. Then think through the genre and age of your child. Is it going to require a lot of high-functioning motor skills to play or is the challenge built into puzzles in the game design? Just keep in mind that kids can likely handle more than you think. A game may look complicated or frustrating to you, but it may just take a few minutes for your kid to figure it out.
The thing is that you really won’t know what works for your child until you have them try a few things. They may gravitate towards colorful platformers, really enjoy party games, or simply want to play any co-op they can with their family.
Become a High Grounder
Introducing kids to gaming is a great time and there are plenty of excellent options in among the best PlayStation games for kids. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter and be sure to share it on your favorite social channels with the icons below.
Happy gaming!
You must sign in to comment.
Don't have an account? Sign up here!