The Engaged Family Gaming team has the mission to provide information and support to 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 for both the PS4 and PS5. We have chosen at the moment to include both of these systems on to one list as there are currently very few PS5 exclusives at the moment and even fewer that would fall under the “Family Game” umbrella.
Minecraft
- ESRB rating: E 10+
- Survival
- Also Available On PS4, Xbox One, and Everything that has an electronic signal
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 for 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.)
Marvel’s Spider-Man
- ESRB Rating: T
- Action-adventure
- Exclusive
Spider-Man was our game of the year in 2018, and would easily hold its own against other games of the year that we’ve announced in the past. Insomniac Games was the perfect developer to bring the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to life. They were able to capture the true essence of what makes Spider-Man a fun hero to watch and to play: the traversal.
Swinging around New York City looking for backpacks, finding crimes to fight, and battling with supervillains was a blast from the very first second until its emotional end.
Madden 2021
- ESRB Rating: E
- Sports Game
- PC, Xbox One
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.
MLB The Show 21
- ESRB Rating: E
- Sports Game
- Exclusive
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.
NBA 2K22
- ESRB Rating E
- Sports Game
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5
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.
Rocket League
- ESRB Rating: E
- Sports Game
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, macOS, Classic Mac OS, Linux
Rocket League is, quite literally, soccer as played by rocket-powered vehicles. It launched 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+
- Platform Game
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
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 time travel mechanics are rewarding.
This is definitely a game that needs to be on your radar.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- ESRB Rating: E
- Platform Game
LittleBigPlanet gave the world a gift in Sackboy. Sony didn’t really have a mascot until he came along and he finally gets his own dedicated game in Sackboy: A Big Adventure.
Overwatch
- ESRB Rating: T
- First-person Shooter
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
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.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
- ESRB Rating:E 10+
- Platform Game
- PS5 exclusive
The sixth installment of the wildly successful Ratchet & Clank series, Rift Apart leverages the capabilities of the PS5 to provide exceptionally smooth gameplay and stunning visuals that were not possible on the previous versions of the Playstation. This game stays true to the themes and style of the previous Ratchet and Clank installments; it introduces plenty of new twists and turns such as the “Rift Tether” that allows the player to instantly change worlds, and the introduction of Rivet, the first playable female character in the franchise.
Kingdom Hearts All-in-One
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Action Role-playing
- Also Available On Xbox One
The Kingdom Hearts All-In-One package includes 10 different Kingdom Hearts experiences dating back to the PlayStation 2. This is an amazing value for Disney fans who are looking for an Action RPG series to sink their teeth into. Once you finish this amazing collection you can pick up Kingdom Hearts 3.
Stardew Valley
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Simulation
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, 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 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.
Final Fantasy XV
- ESRB Rating: T
- Action Role-playing
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One, Stadia
The Final Fantasy Series is a benchmark against which all role-playing games are weighted. Final Fantasy 15 is one of the best stand-alone role-playing games of the PS4/Xbox One era. The Final Fantasy series incorporates fantasy and futuristic elements into a compelling story.
Final Fantasy 15 is a 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 many mentors as they are friends, each with stories in their own right.
With a steady, fast pace in mind, Final Fantasy 15 handles the 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 which is an anchor point of the RPG experience.
The Final Fantasy Series represents a collection of stories throughout gaming history. All of the games are great in their own right, and everyone has a favorite that can be endlessly argued
FIFA 2021
- ESRB Rating: E
- Sports Game
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, 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 as they can.
Tetris Effect
- ESRB Rating: E
- Puzzle
- Also Available On PC, Oculus Quest
Just like the original Tetris, Tetris Effect requires you to place tiles in order to clear lines. This update though adds themes and music through different levels based on the beat of the music. It also adds a mechanic that allows you to place several blocks at once and a VR compatibility that varies greatly from your standard Tetris game. This is a high-quality addition to one of the most popular gaming titles ever.
Horizon: Forbidden West
- ESRB Rating: T
- Action Role-playing
Buy Horizon: Forbidden West on Amazon
Horizon: Forbidden West is an open-world action and adventure title that takes place in a land so far removed from a global catastrophe that civilization has reset again in the ruins of ancient cities. The game encompasses a rich story, beautiful landscapes, and great voice acting. In addition, there is the thrill of hunting giant robot dinosaurs.
The Story of Horizon: Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy, a young woman raised as an outcast, and her struggles to navigate and explore the lands beyond her home. This time around she is recognized everywhere as a hero who has already saved the world. She has to face the ramifications of that newfound fame while trying to save everyone from a dangerous blight that threatens to choke out all life. This takes her to new regions and introduces her to new tools, new people, and new robot beasts to fight.
Rocket League
- ESRB Rating: E
- 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 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.
Hollow Knight
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Platform Game/Metroidvania
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, macOS, Linux
Hollow Knight is an independently developed action game that blends the best of Castlevania and Dark Souls into a beautiful and family-friendly title. You take on the role of a wanderer who is brought to the entrance of The Hollowness from unknown circumstances.
The Hollowness is an interconnected dungeon with multiple entrances and exits to each beautifully crafted zone. Every part of the Hollowness is built to be both journey and destination, with levers and gates revealing backtracking paths to the surface, and many difficult challenges focusing on platform-based movement and fair, but brutal combat.
Hollow Knight is built to unfold by itself in a very organic path. Exploration and curiosity open up alternate paths and entire sections of the world. Your skills and the story are shown rather than told and are left for you to discover through environment and inference rather than straight and simple exposition.
LEGO Games
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- 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. That they have somehow managed to consistently do this with their video games titles is somewhat remarkable. Most of their games follow the same basic format of providing you with 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 tens of thousands of hours of entertainment to its fans.
Plants vs Zombies: Neighborville
- ESRB Rating: E 10+
- Tower Defense
- Also Available On PC, Xbox One
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!
Everybody’s Golf
- ESRB Rating: E
- Sports Game
- Exclusive
The latest installment in the series “formerly known as Hot Shots Golf” was published specifically for Sony platforms. Everybody’s Golf is a cartoony arcade-style golf game that allows for single-player or online multiplayer gameplay. The gameplay is refreshing and simple allowing for easier accessibility to players of all ages. In keeping with the theme, Sony has also decided that if you need a break you can feel free to drive your golf cart anywhere you like. This is typically frowned upon by the “establishment” for those that would like to know and infinitely entertaining. Go out, play golf with everybody, and have a great time.
Journey
- ESRB Rating: E
- Adventure Art Game
- Also Available On: Playstation 3, PC, iOS
Journey is one of the best games to come out in the last decade. It is a relatively short experience where you guide a cloaked wanderer through a desert, but the way that this game handles multiplayer will take your breath away.
No Man’s Sky: Beyond
- ESRB Rating: T
- Survival
- Also Available On: PC, Xbox One
No Man’s Sky was released in 2016 and wasn’t very well received. However, Hello Games has been releasing regular, free updates since its launch. It is almost unrecognizable from its original form now. It still has the exploration mode, but it has base building, a creative mode, multiplayer, and more!
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age
- ESRB Rating: T
- Role-playing
- Also Available On PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS
Dragon Quest XI is the most recent edition to an ongoing series of role-playing games by Square Enix. The series is known for the art style of Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball.
Dragon Quest is a series that consistently comes out with a reliable turn-based combat system that has seen nothing but simple improvements.
Its place as an EFG essential is based on its ease of entry in an ongoing, fantasy story. The fantasy elements that many other games work off of got their start here with a chosen warrior of light and a band of friends and heroes rally to fight the darkness.
Dragon Quest has had a consistent following in Japan since its first incarnation on the NES in the 1980s. That following was earned by creating a game that was as much a storybook as it was a turn-based game.
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 violent.
The EFG Essentials are reviewed and updated every few months to make sure we have the most current information for our readers. Last updated 4/10/2022.
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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