Title, basically. Three Boys, aged 9, 10, and 13, are getting a PS5 for Christmas, and I want to expand their horizon beyond roblox and minecraft.
They’re gett8ng one controller each, so bonus points for something they can play together.
PS: I’m not too strict about age restrictions. They know we’ll what they are and aren’t allowed to say and do, so I’m not very concerned about VoIlEnT videO gAmEs to a reasonable extent.
They do enjoy builders and open world stuff, by the way.
Minecraft Dungeons is great for 3 player coop, and so is Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. My kids and I have played a ton of those two in particular.
They just added phogg on ps plus its a fun co-op game where you control a 2 headed dog.
My kids like:
Astro Bot
Crash Bandicoot
Sackboy
Spyro
Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart
Overcooked
Lego Star Wars
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Lego Hobbit
Lego Masters of Spinjitzu
Astro’s playroom comes with it, but there’s also a full game.
The plucky squire is a really cool concept of a game that I enjoyed as an adult, but is written and presented like a story book (you literally jump out of the book and manipulate pages for some stuff), and it’s definitely appropriate for kids both in terms of complexity and the writing.
A couple that come to mind:
- Crash Team Racing (basically Playstation Mario kart)
- It Takes Two (Fun co-op game, although maybe targeted towards older players based on themes)
- Boderlands (all support two players)
- Rayman games (should play up to four, basically Ubisofts Mariolike)
Also a great website for these things https://www.co-optimus.com/
As a gamer dad, there are sadly very few couch coop games that make the third controller worth it. It’s good for them each to have one, though, so they can each be responsible for keeping it charged.
Sports games, whichever sports they play. Spider-Man was a big hit, if they can manage to take turns. I’ve heard good things about It Takes Two, but I haven’t bought that one yet.
It Takes Two is a great game, but I would not recommend it for children. The story is about a married couple in the middle of a breakup. Also there is a pretty gruesome scene you can’t avoid. (Just look up “It Takes Two Cutie Scene”. Obvious spoiler alert though.)
Oh good to know. It’s been recommended to me for couch coop, but nobody ever mentioned that it was that heavy. My kids would definitely not enjoy that.
The controller responsibility was the ma8n reason for getting three. Plus, they each have a design that I’m sure each kid will like.
