The Engaged Family Gaming team has the mission to provide information and support families who want to play video games with their kids (and board games too). We work hard to provide parents with the tools they need to make informed decisions about their children’s gaming. To facilitate this, we help parents who might not be “gamers” themselves learn to understand the games their children are playing and help them find great video games for their kids.
The “EFG Essentials” is a core collection of games we frequently recommend across different genres. The purpose of these essentials is to provide a starting point for families to engage with high-quality games. Below are our EFG Essential games for kids on the Xbox One.
Minecraft
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Survival
- Also Available On PS4, Xbox One, Everything that can play video games
Minecraft is one of the best-selling games of all time, and one of EFG’s family games of the last decade. It is so well known that I questioned whether or not to include it here. But, it is too important of a game to leave off.
Minecraft holds a special place in a lot of kids’ hearts because it is so flexible. It can be so many different games to so many different people. It can be a survival game, a creative outlet, a multiplayer battle game, and more. It even ends up being the equivalent of a popular TV show considering how many hours of the game are consumed globally each month (Hint: It’s a lot.)
Madden 2021
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Sports Game
- Also Available On: PC, PS4
Madden 2021 is the singular NFL title for all your gaming needs. If you are looking for a high-quality football simulation with all the applicable NFL licenses this is going to be your go-to.
NBA 2K22
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Sports Game
- Also Available On: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
The NBA 2K games are far and away the most consistent and best performing NBA property on the market today. This is truly a basketball simulation that allows you to play as any of the current NBA teams, customize your own, or even play as some of the iconic teams of the past.
WWE 2K22
- ESRB Rating: T
- Genre: Sports Game
- Also Available On PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series
In WWE 2K22, you can take your dream of becoming a WWE superstar and make it a reality. With over 200 superstars from throughout WWE’s history to choose from, you and your family will enjoy laying the Smackdown on each other in a family-friendly way.
2K20 was remarkably bad. So bad in fact that they took a year off from publishing in order to refine the game engine. 2k22 is a return to form for the franchise.
This year’s entry gives you the chance to relive highlights from the brilliant career of Rey Mysterio Jr. Some of his biggest highlights are missing because the opponent isn’t in the game. But, it is a fun ride through history nonetheless.
New Super Lucky’s Tale
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Platform Game
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4
An adorable game perfect for families. This cartoony platformer is the sequel to the original Lucky’s Tale and follows the adventures of a fox, Lucky Swiftail, as you try and protect the Book of Ages and all the characters and worlds within. The gameplay varies from your standard open level 3D worlds to the occasional puzzle levels and even some 2D side-scrolling just to add flavor. This is wholesome entertainment great for the whole family to enjoy together.
Rocket League
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Sports Game
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, macOS, Linux
Rocket League is, quite literally, soccer as played by rocket-powered vehicles. It launched in in 2015 to great fanfare and has only grown as they added more game-modes like “hockey” and “basketball”
This is a great game to play (and watch) because of how wild the matches can be. There is just something exciting about watching race cars flying around a trach crashing into a massive steel ball and trying to score a goal.
The Messenger
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Platform Game
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4
Simply put… The Messenger is a modern response to the Ninja Gaiden series from the NES era. Sabotage Studio is a team full of people who love that game and have gone out of their way to show their reverence in game form.
It isn’t an easy game, but the experience is well worth the effort. The soundtrack alone is worth spending time with the game. But, exploring the different levels AND playing with the time travel mechanics are rewarding.
This is definitely a game that needs to be on your radar.
Steamworld Dig 2
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Platform Game/Metroidvania
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, macOS, Linux, Playstation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Stadia
Image and Form games is a small game development studio from Sweden. They have made several games in various genres that are feature steam powered robots as the characters. Steamworld Dig 2 is all about … digging. You are constantly digging deeper into a planet in search of resources and secrets. This is a wonderful exploration game that everyone should try! (The rest fo the Steamworld games are worth a look too!)
Overwatch
- ESRB Rating: T
- Genre: First-person Shooter
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4
Overwatch is a great alternative for parents looking to let their kids play a multiplayer shooter. It features cartoonish graphics, a diverse cast of characters, and a number of game modes that keep things interesting. One of the things we love about Overwatch is that the cartoonish aesthetic helped keep the ESRB rating down, and makes this more of an Avengers-like experience than a Saving Private Ryan one.
Kingdom Hearts 3
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Action Role-playing
- Also Available On: PS4
Kingdom Hearts 3 is the culmination of a gaming franchise that dates back to the PlayStation 2. The series is a mish-mash of Final Fantasy characters and Disney worlds that has no right to be as good as it is. The story is … complex… but visiting Disney worlds and battling evil monsters is a lot of fun.
Stardew Valley
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Simulation
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Playstation Vita
Stardew Valley is a remarkable game. It is a farming and life simulator where you play as a younger person who inherits a relatives run down farm. You need to build it up, explore the surrounding wilderness, meet people, get married, etc. It is a wildly engaging game that has been a sensation since it’s release. This is a great game to relax with.
Forza Motorsports 7
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Racing
- Also Available On: PC
Forza Motorsports 7 is a simulation racer. It is significantly more challenging than its arcade racer cousin Forza Horizon. It is intended to provide a more authentic driving experience. It also happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous racing game that features famous race tracks from around the world.
Forza Horizons 4
- ESRB Rating:E
- Genre: Racing
- Also Available On: PC
Forza Horizon 4 is an arcade racing game that has so many cars in it, that any car person will have trouble recognizing all of them. The game has an amazing single-player campaign but an even better multiplayer. With the wide range of minigames and races to participate in you will not get bored, you can even customize and design your own cars.
Final Fantasy XV
- ESRB Rating: T
- Genre:Action Role-playing
- Also Available On: PC, PS4, Stadia
Final Fantasy 15 is coming of age story, as the young prince Noctis grows from a brash teen to an adult and wielder of magic powers. His journey is assisted by three friends that are as much mentors as they are friends, each with stories in their own right.
With a steady, fast pace in mind, Final Fantasy 15 handles action in the third person view. It has simple commands mapped to the controller ahead of time. Combat happens in real time, players can choose to pause the action for an opportunity to plan and strategize that is an anchor point of the RPG experience.
FIFA 2021
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Sports Game
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Stadia
Soccer (Football for our international readers) is the most popular sport on Earth. It stands to reason then that the digital version would be wildly successful as well. If your kids play soccer, then they likely have this game on their wish lists every year. I can’t say that I blame them. FIFA does amazing work each year in crafting as authentic and fun of an experience that they can.
Ori and the Blind Forest/Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Platform Game/Metroidvania
- Also Available On: PC
We went ahead and put both of these games on the list because, while they are separate games, they are both great. These are a pair of Metroidvania games that tell the story of Ori, a nature spirit, and their adventures through a dangerous, magical land. These are pretty challenging games – not for the easily frustrated – but they are beautiful and would be a great additions to your collection.
The Show 2021
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Simulation Sports
- Also Available on PS5
The exclusive Major League Baseball property across all platforms, MLB The Show 21 is an exceptional baseball simulation. This year’s version brings two changes to the classic game. First, there is now a ballpark creator mode that allows you to custom-build your own ballpark to whatever specifications you desire. Secondly and we believe more importantly this is the first time that this is not a Sony Exclusive and instead has been released on both the Playstation and Xbox platforms, allowing access to the game to a whole slew of players that could only look on from behind a Sony sized wall.
Celeste
- ESRB Rating: E 10 +
- Genre: Platform Game
- Also Available On: PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC
In Celeste, you play as Madeline on a quest to survive her inner issues. This game is a platforming game that is really difficult. Each screen poses its own challenges, of which there are 700+ of them! As you learn new skills along the way, the game becomes more complex. As you run, air dash, and climb you will learn more about Madeline and the difficulties that she must face. If you want an even deeper challenge, you can go for all of the strawberries in the level, which require your best platforming abilities. Each world also has a B-side, which is a more difficult version of that world. Overall, Celeste is challenging but is not unforgiving. Anyone who is up to the challenge of a difficult platformer should give it a try!
LEGO Games
- ESRB Rating: E
- Genre: Action Adventure
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, macOS
From Harry Potter and Star Wars to Marvel and DC, LEGO has consistently captured the imagination of kids 0-99. The fact that they have been able to do that with their video games has been remarkable. Most of their games follow the same basic format of providing you familiar characters to interact with your environment while collecting blocks either by battling enemies or destroying objects in the world around you. This has proved a winning formula time and time again and has provided many many hours of entertainment to its fans.
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Third-Person Shooter
- Also Available On: PS4
Parents regularly approach the EFG team looking for alternatives to more violent M-rated shooters on the market. We regularly suggest the Plants Vs Zombies Garden Warfare series. This is the latest entry to the series, but any of them are worthy additions to your collection.
Everything about this game is all bright colors and goofy characters. There is even a Disco Zombie character!
No Man’s Sky: Beyond
- ESRB Rating: T
- Genre: Survival
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One
No Man’s Sky released in 2016 and wasn’t very well received. However, Hello Games has been releasing regular, free updates since launch. It is almost unrecognizable from its original form now. It still has the exploration on mode, but it has base building, a creative mode, multiplayer, and more!
Riverbond
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Action Adventure
- Also Available On: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4
Riverbond is a four-player drop-in/drop-out cooperative game that is a cross between Gauntlet and Minecraft with very simple controls that consists of attack, ranged attack, special attack, pick up/throw, block and jump. You and your friends slash your way through more than 100 levels, interacting and destroying everything in your path. The combat was easy to pick up and learn while at the same time being complex enough that I think that veteran gamers will be able to stay engaged and happy for quite a long time. I think it was the simplicity of the combat as a whole that is what made this game so great. There was no need to get used to the controls, we just picked up and played and were able to focus on the game without getting lost in the mechanics of this. This is why I chose this game as my “Game Of The Show” for E3 2017. It hit all the marks for me. Family-friendly, easily accessible, and endlessly playable in any environment.
Slime Rancher
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Simulation
- Also Available On: PC, PS4, macOS, Linux
In Slime Rancher you play a space-faring explorer who has landed on a planet filled with adorable bouncing slimes of different colors. The goal is to capture them, place them in enclosures, breed them, and collect resources they drop to expand your settlement.
This is an adorable exploration game that is a great idea for kids looking for a temporary alternative to Minecraft.
HALO 5: Guardians
- ESRB Rating: T
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Also Available On: PC
The HALO franchise has never appeared as a recommended game on this site due to its M rating with the ESRB. HALO 5: Guardians, however, is the first time in the series that has a T rating. The conscious decision to create a game with a T rating finally brings this to our table for a larger cross-section of the population is amazing and if you own an Xbox One you need this game in your library.
Minecraft Dungeons
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Genre: Action Role-playing
- Also Available On: Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC
Take Diablo but make it Minecraft. Sounds stupid but it makes a really good game. With infinite possibilities for weapons due to the enchanting system, and plenty of different ways to tackle every problem, and a very in-depth difficulty system. Minecraft Dungeons makes a great game for all ages.
Addendum: Fortnite
At this point, almost every kid on Earth has played Fortnite. But, we wanted to include it here for the sake of completion. It is a worthy recommendation though. Fortnite is huge. It is a great alternative for more mature shooters since there is no blood and most of the action is over the top and silly as opposed to bloody and realistic.
The EFG Essentials are reviewed and updated every few months to make sure we have the most current information for our readers. Last updated 11/7/20.
The EFG Essential Guide Collections
Check out our other Essentials Guides for great collections of games!
What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!
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