Playing video games can be a pretty fun time for people of all ages. It's hard to deny that video games have been rising in popularity over the years and these days, they're popular with so many different groups of people of all ages. There are a ton of different video games out there and, let's be honest, some of them are a little bit less family and child-friendly than others are.

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It can be hard to go through the huge selection of video games that are out these days in order to find some that are appropriate and fun for kids. There are a ton of video games and trying to go through them is definitely no easy task! To see a few Xbox games that are great for kids, keep reading!

Updated September 20, 2023, by Gabrielle Huston: As more games come out, we want to make sure you have the best options for the kid or kids in your life! This article has been updated with a few new games for you to choose from, and has organized them by age for easy viewing.

Video Games For Kids Age 2-4+

Untitled Goose Game

In this adorable and aptly titled video game, you play as a goose who has decided to torment the locals for the day. You can steal people's hats, honk at them, or waddle into local gardens. The game does have puzzles to solve and things to complete, but the players are welcome to just waddle around doing whatever they feel like instead.

It's very easy to understand and play for someone of any age. As an added bonus, a free update to the game now allows two players to torment the town together!

Peggle 2

Peggle is an old and beloved game that asks players to shoot balls at a set of "bricks" - the objective is to clear all the bricks from the screen with a limited number of balls. In the modern-day, this kind of game would usually be a phone app stuffed with ads.

Peggle games are filled with goofy characters and vibrant settings that are bound to keep anyone engaged. Plus, each character - called "Peggle Masters" - will provide unique powerups to help you clear the level!

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Fora Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is the twelfth mainline Forza game, and they're exactly what you'd expect from the picture: racing fast sports cars!

Of course, there's much more to the games than racing these days, and you would be completely valid if you just wanted to drive around the gorgeous scenery. This particular installment is set in Mexico, so there's plenty to see.

PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay

Does your kid love PAW Patrol? They aren't alone! The show is so popular that it's had multiple video games made about it. PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay is particularly fun because of its fantastical premise: the pups have superpowers now!

In this game, the player takes control of those pups and rescues other pups around town. It also features local and online co-op, in case they want you to join in on the fun!

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Video Games For Kids Age 5-7+

Rocket League

Combining high-speed cars with soccer? That doesn't seem like an unlikely combination to most people. But to fans of Rocket League, this surprising combination is one that actually makes for an extraordinary game.

In this game, the player drives around a huge arena and plays soccer on a massive scale while still inside their superpowered, high-speed car. While this seems like a game that would make no sense, it's a surprisingly fun and unique game, perfect for a sports lover that wants a fast-paced game.

Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition

Kerbal Space Program is an adorable game that's bound to capture any kid's imagination. As the player, you control an adorable green alien race (the Kerbals) and fly them to space in a rocketship! ...or, you crash it. The game uses realistic physics to simulate what would happen based on your spaceship design.

There are three different modes to satisfy any type of player. Science Mode is exactly what is sounds like: performing experiments and unlocking new tech. Then there's Career Mode, which asks you to oversee every aspect of spaceship design (including the finances!). Finally, Sandbox Mode allows you to build whatever kind of crazy constructions you want!

Unravel Two

Unravel Two is a unique platformer game in which the player controls two creatures known as Yarnys. A Yarny is an anthropomorphic creature made entirely of yarn. In this game, one Yarny was separated from his home after drifting out to see and when he washes ashore, meets another Yarny.

The two of them tie their ends together and head out on an adventure together. The player controls the Yarnys as they make their way through the world, solve puzzles, and form a friendship with one another.

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Donut County

Donut County is an absurdly simple video game. In it, you control a giant hole in the ground that goes around swallowing up the town. From sandwiches to houses to mountains, it'll eat anything! The hole slowly gets bigger as you feed it until the level is completely empty.

The premise is as goofy as it is heartwarming: the holes are being ordered by the local raccoons and one of them, BK, must earn his friends' forgiveness for ruining all their homes.

Human Fall Flat

Human Fall Flat is a light-hearted puzzle game that doesn't take itself too seriously. Players control human-shaped characters that lack much control over their bodies - they flail around, trying to solve the puzzles set in front of them as they struggle against the realistic physics in the game.

The environments you'll be faced with are just as silly and diverse, including snow-covered mountains, ancient castles, fabulous mansions, and more! Even if you don't make it to the end of the level, you'll have a good time goofing off anyway.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

If you were a Sonic fan growing up, you might enjoy watching this just as much as the kid will enjoy playing it. In this brightly colored Sonic adventure, players travel through an amusement park to free a race of aliens known as the Wisps.

There's a reason Sonic has been a beloved character for so long, after all. His games are action-packed, bright, engaging, and, above all, fun! Whether the kid wants to play with you in local co-op or take on the adventure themselves, they're bound to have a blast.

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Video Games For Kids Age 8-9+

Overcooked 2

Overcooked 2 is a cooperative cooking simulation game and the sequel to Overcooked. In this game, one to four players come together to do the various tasks involved in running a successful restaurant kitchen from chopping ingredients to putting them on the stove and plating them up.

Some levels of this game have some unique quirks that make the game even harder like moving floors or difficult recipes, meaning that this game may seem simple at the start but it gets tricky and addictive very quickly.

Minecraft

Minecraft is an open-world sandbox game in which the player can basically do anything they want. There are a ton of different biomes that have different types of plants and animals, villages where the player can trade with the NPCs they find, and underground caves where they can mine for resources and battle it out against enemies.

Minecraft is a fun and unique game for anyone that loves to be creative, explore a digital world, and play a game with no real rules, requirements, or expectations.

Cuphead

Cuphead is a game about a pair of little boys with, who'd've guessed it, cups for heads! The game is actually basically a series of boss fights against opponents with varied mechanics. As you play, you earn new attacks and abilities that help you to defeat them.

Now, trust us when we tell you that Cuphead is a challenging game. It might not be for every kid. However, we also know that there are plenty of kids who are up for a challenge! After all, many of us grew up replaying those Mario levels until we beat them, right?

Bugsnax

In Bugsnax, you play as a character exploring an island and attempting to capture little creatures that are half-bug, half-snack. It's a bit analogous to Pokemon, but there are plenty of major differences. For example, once you catch the Bugsnax, they can be fed to the locals, called Grumpuses, who are transformed (literally!) by the foods that they eat.

Eric Witzer reviewed Bugsnax for TheGamer, and he enjoyed its light-hearted gameplay and the relationships you can develop with the Grumpuses.

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Tunic

Tunic is an adorable indie game from a Canadian developer. The player controls the fox who appears in the image above, running through various levels while solving puzzles and battling monsters.

Tunic was inspired by the old Legend of Zelda games, so this is a great way to introduce the child in your life to your childhood without forcing them to play a game with graphics from the 80s or 90s. You can, of course, see the inspiration in the green tunic the fox wears and its red and blue shield.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The Skywalker Saga is the latest, and the most epic, installment of Lego Star Wars games. It spans all three trilogies of movies and even some of the television shows, allowing you to control characters never before seen in Lego form.

For those unfamiliar with Lego video games, they basically take the Star Wars movies and retell the stories but with Lego versions of the characters and lots of jokes about the silly situations they find themselves in. This particular Lego game is even open-world, giving you never-before-seen freedom to play!

The Oregon Trail

The original Oregon Trail game became infamous because of its difficulty. It was a common experience in the USA to encounter this educational title in a classroom. You may have heard the phrase "I died of dysentery on the Oregon Trail" before (even if it was just in that one Brooklyn Nine Nine episode). That's because it was just so easy to die of dysentery!

Even if you were aware of the original game, you may not have realized that they've continued to make Oregon Trail games since then. The most recent one is a huge improvement on the original, giving a realistic and educational snapshot of that time in American history.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is exactly what it sounds like, and it takes itself exactly as serious as the name suggests. This 2D game features a little turnip boy, who the player controls, while he takes down a corrupt mayor.

The gameplay involves not paying taxes (of course), solving puzzles, and defeating monsters to protect the town. Completing a side quest or two will give you some special rewards, on top of endearing you to the friendly town vegetables.

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Video Games For Kids Age 10-12+

Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers is a beloved game from The Behemoth, the company behind Alien Hominid and Battleblock Theater. In it, you play as knights saving princesses from evil, fantastical forces - with as many funny twists as you can think of.

This title is straightforward; it knows what it wants to be. The potty humor in this game definitely lands better with preteens who haven't become tired of fart jokes yet, but that doesn't mean it's exclusively made for them.

Slime Rancher

Slime Rancher is a really quirky and unique game in which the player controls the main character, Beatrix, after she makes her journey from Earth to a faraway planet where she becomes the new caretaker of an empty ranch. Out in the world, there are different creatures known as Slimes.

It's Beatrix's job to gather, feed, breed, and care for slimes and use them to make money to expand the ranch, purchase upgrades, and other things to make caring for her Slimes even easier.

Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is a life simulator game in which the player controls a customized character that recently decided to let go of their big city life to go live on their late grandfather's farm.

In this game, the player plants and harvests crops, cares for animals, explores the strange secrets of the nearby mine, and does other tasks in order to make money and restore grandpa's farm to its original glory. The player can also build friendships and relationships with the people who live in nearby Pelican Town to unlock some of the secrets of this game.

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LEGO Marvel Superheroes

Who didn't love playing with LEGO while growing up? In recent years, LEGO has gotten a huge upgrade and those little plastic bricks are no longer just used to build massive structures. Now, multiple different franchises have LEGO games that can be played on home consoles.

These games are a ton of fun, especially for kids that really love Marvel superheroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Captain America. These games blend the fun of our favorite franchises with the unique art style that LEGO buildings have.

Portal

Portal is a deceptively simple puzzle game. The player takes on the role of a subject in a series of scientific tests. You must complete the challenges of GLaDOS, the disembodied voice who guides you, until you get an opportunity to escape.

This one is a mind-bender that will keep kids occupied for hours despite being relatively short when compared to other games! The creators at Valve didn't take it easy on the poor player, and some of the later challenges truly earn the title of "puzzling."

Yooka-Laylee

Even though most kids have likely never experienced any of the games in the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, they'll still be able to enjoy its spiritual successor, Yooka-Laylee.

Some of the personnel that worked on the Banjo-Kazooie games for the Nintendo 64 back in the late 1990s came together to create a game developer company and created this challenging but addictive platformer game. Like in Banjo-Kazooie, the player controls two characters that work together to make it through the puzzles presented to them in each level.

Psychonauts

Psychonauts was released almost two decades ago, in 2005, so it should be proof of its quality that it's worth discussing and recommending to this day.

At it's core, this is a platformer featuring a charismatic young man named Raz. He ran away from the circus in order to attend a summer camp for kids with psychic abilities. Though the adults strive to send him home to his parents, Raz joins in on the psychic classes in the meantime and learns a lot about himself, his peers, and certain adults' nefarious intentions.

The platforming is challenging, the story is interesting and funny, and the game manages to approach heavy mental health subjects with empathy and nuance.

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Stray

Stray takes place in a vibrant dystopian future. Though all the humans have died, they left behind their sentient robots. These bots have been living in underground facilities for years, unable to access the surface world. You'll find yourself navigating this detailed world, trying to find your way home.

There's no fighting to be had here; Stray is purely an adventure game. You solve puzzles and do favors for the robots to make progress with the help of your own little droid companion. Take our word for it; you'll quickly be immersed in this glowing, living world.

Grounded

Remember the movie Ants? Grounded is the closest you get to that movie in video game form. You aren't playing as the ants, though; you take on the role of some kids who have shrunk in size and must figure out what caused their small stature in order to reverse it!

It's a survival game action-adventure game with multiplayer features, so it can be enjoyed by friends together! It's also received a few updates since its release that have perfected the playing and added new features.

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