With 2015 out of the way and we’ve already begun our adventures into 2016, the question comes on what you can do to start off the New Year, but not for yourself, but for those young gamers in your house that you may just happened to have gotten consoles for during the Holiday Season. With giftcards and cash in hand, it’s hard not to see the enthusiasm in a kid’s eyes when they see the walls of games at stores, and the endless possibilities to what their money could go towards. However, when it comes to glancing at what games are available for them to get their hands on, parents may come to recognize a forewarning regarding age restrictions. These restrictions include the following: EC for Early Childhood E for everyone, E10+ meaning everybody 10+, T for Teen, and the ever-so-popular and plastered everywhere – M for Mature. There are ones such as AO (Adult Only) and RP (Rating Pending), which are rare, but do happen depending on the title in question.
The crucial part of game shopping is always finding what is right for your kid or the kids in your life be them children of your own, cousins, nephews or nieces, or even grandchildren. For some this has been hard when it comes to finding games good for kids between the ages of 10, so here we are about to break down a good list of games we think just might be right for those kids who are getting into gaming, and love their newfound hobby. So what can you expect us to show you? Below is a list of games that have been compiled and found suitable for children wanting to go on a little bit of a joyride. Granted there are more titles than listed available, but these are our top 20 picks for kids to play.
Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (Wii U)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 2DS or Nintendo 3DS)
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer (Nintendo 3DS)
Cooking Mama (Nintendo 3DS)
Disney’s Frozen: Olaf’s Quest (Nintendo 3DS)
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Lego Dimensions (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Lego Franchise ((Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Little Battlers Experience (Nintendo 3DS)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo Wii U)
Minecraft (PC, Android, Apple iPad/Phone, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Nintendogs + Cats (Nintendo 3Ds)
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby (Nintendo 3DS)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Titles (Nintendo 3DS)
Poptropica Forgotten Islands (Nintendo 3DS)
Skylanders Supercharger (Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4)
Splatoon (Nintendo Wii U)
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (Nintendo 3DS)
Yokai Watch (Nintendo 3DS)
Yoshi’s Wooly World (Nintendo Wii U)
With this list having focused mostly on consoles and the Nintendo 3DS, there are always great alternatives on PC, Android or iDevice depending on the app or title you are looking for. While there are also hundreds of other games available, the ones that were picked are the more recent ones that seemed more reputable based on gameplay as well as word of mouth. We hope you enjoy and please feel free to let us know what games those gamer’s in your life found themselves enjoying.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.