Video games for children are changing fast, both how they are made and how they are sold. The trend towards tablet gaming continues as does the cross over between toys and video games. Then, of course, there is new gaming technology that offers new ways to play in the family like the Nintendo Switch. With Xbox One and PlayStation 4 now mature platforms there is also greater focus here on family and child-friendly game in those spaces too - Tricky Towers is a firm favourite on PlayStation. It all adds up to what can be a confusing and complicated array of choices for parents. To see the wood for the trees I’ve compiled a list of games that promise the best experiences for families in 2017, in addition to existing favourites like Lego Dimensions and Skylanders. The Nintendo Switch offers new ways to play. It’s a tablet looking device that plugs into a docking station to also work on a TV. Arms is an upcoming game for the new platform that plays a bit like Wii-Sports Boxing but now with high definition controls and a full campaign mode.
You control the action with the Switch’s Joy-Con motion controllers so it will get players up and active like the Wii. This will not only be popular with parents keen to see children exercise but also young players who will enjoy the exuberant battles. Buy Arms from Nintendo This combines the crafting and adventuring popularity of Minecraft with a fully brick based Lego world. Having been available on PC for some time, it now comes to PS4 and Xbox One. This not only grants access to families without a gaming computer setup but adds split screen play so parents and children can easily play together. Buy LEGO Worlds from Amazon This combines the popularity of toy-figure games like Skylanders with a game designed specifically for a tablet. The toys are made by Tomy and offer large articulated characters with an impressive array of interactions. The game-play is dungeon exploration a little like Runescape and there is also a physical card game that integrates with the on-screen action. This is a great combination of a toys-to-life video game for tablets where the toys are proper toys rather than static collectible figures.
Although not well know by younger families, the Zelda series has been going for 30 years. Breath of the Wild expands the game’s scope with a huge open world alongside the classic dungeon adventures and puzzles. This game is perfect to be played by parents and children together, taking turns to battle and progress through the dungeons. Releasing on both Wii U and Nintendo Switch it’s a great moment to discover how much Zelda has to offer as Nintendo’s new console launches. Buy Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from GAME This year we have Super Mario Odyssey returning Mario to open world platforming fun. However it’s Yooka-Laylee that really goes back to the open world platforming roots. The game works on many levels for families, offering youngsters a bright and colourful world to explore. Older players can then progress through each level’s layered challenges as they work to find every collectible. It’s cute innocent fun packed full of mischief and fun (and puns). If you are looking for a game to share with your children this year Yooka-Laylee ticks the boxers and is available on most platforms.
Buy Yooka-Laylee on Steam Splatoon on the Wii U was a great non-violent alternative to older rated shooting games. Coming back on the Nintendo Switch, Splatoon 2 adds lots of maps, guns and modes to keep families happy. Add to this the Switch hardware’s ability to let you play at home or out and about and you have the makings of a winning formula. What’s more, if you have a bunch of friends with Switch consoles, you can get together and connect up to eight of them for family multiplayer fun. Buy Splatoon 2 from Amazon Recently announced Knack 2 promises to build on its popularity with younger players. The games is PlayStation 4 exclusive and offers a Pixar-style story adventure. The main protagonist is a magical robot that can grow larger using broken materials he finds around the levels. Knack 2 adds a full two player co-operative experience that will further ingratiate families with this endearing franchise. Although an exact release date is yet to be confirmed, Knack 2 is a game that is perfect for families.
This is a game for older members of the family but offers a unique way to play and interact in teams. Players control large pirate ships by each taking on different roles. These vessels are then taken to the high seas for battles. Battling pirate ships has been seen before but never with this level of detail and team-collaboration. It will be players who organise themselves well and plan their strategy that win here. Buy Sea of Theives on Amazon With all the Lego games coming out this year Lego City Undercover is easy to miss. This is an update of the Wii U game that combines a family friendly open city to explore with missions and story to discover at every turn. Parents will enjoy the game’s puns about classic films and kids will revel in the Lego missions and game-play. It’s the perfect Lego mix of fun and adventure for a wide range of ages. Buy Lego City Undercover from Tesco Direct Proving the growing importance of tablet and smartphone games to young players, Alto’s Adventures was a popular game where children tapped to control a down hill snowboarder.
This year we’ll see the sequel, Alto’s Odyssey. With only a few hints of the exact game play we’re yet to see it in full, but the art style and characters look to continue the first game’s look and feel. For young children this is a game that’s a lot of fun to play. But specifically for this game, such is the beauty of the art style that it will also appeal to parents as well.When Markus Persson began to code Minecraft one weekend in 2009, he imagined a game without levels, story or points set in a vast, free virtual world, the future of which would be at the behest of its users. In doing so he created a gaming monster which, to date, has been downloaded more than 60 million times and is so popular that videos just discussing the game on YouTube attract 2.4 billion views.It's no surprise, then, that Minecraft is one of the globe's most successful gaming franchises; the best-selling independent game of all time, according to Guinness World Records. But its success is not merely confined to its digital landscape.
It has transcended into real-life like no other game before, having a positive impact on key areas as diverse as urban redevelopment, mapping, history and the arts.Minecraft's success is due to its flexibility. Anyone or any organisation can, with a bit of creativity and time spent coding, cultivate the game for a wide range of end results. Save the Children sought to build six new real-life clinics in Liberia; it set up an initiative called Clinic Craft, which created a virtual medical centre in the game, and challenged other players to better it, while gaining sponsorship for their efforts.Tate has created Minecraft worlds inspired by its art collection, giving young people a greater appreciation of historic paintings. Producer Tony Guillan turned the train tracks in Christopher Nevinson's painting The Soul of the Soulless City into a playable roller-coaster ride around New York. "Minecraft offers a really innovative way to explore the stories, ideas or themes behind individual artworks in a way that is genuinely fun and interesting to young people," he says.
But aside from affecting social and artistic change, Minecraft's greatest real-life role arguably lies in its ability to educate and engage children. Simon Baddeley, an English teacher at Holy Trinity school in Barnsley, uses the game to improve creative writing skills and Dan Bloom aids student understanding of DNA at his school in New York. urging local schools to make use of the game. "Minecraft is now a major educational concern," says Daniel Short, associate professor of Environmental Science at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. It is also a gamechanger. In July, tens of thousands of people are expected to attend MineCon at ExCeL in London, where they will come to understand more about its possibilities. "Once people are in the game world, there is no limit to the types of experiences they can have, from collaborative building to role-playing to simulations," says Joel Levin, co-founder of MinecraftEdu, which helps put the game into classrooms across the world.All of which is not bad for a game which some describe as "Lego online" (and which, as it happens, has even inspired Lego to produce plastic brick Minecraft sets).
"The way Minecraft players have used the game has taken on a life of its own," says Guillan.Struck by the need to get more young people in developing countries involved in planning their own communities, Block by Block, UN-Habitat's partnership with Minecraft makers Mojang, seeks to create sustainable public spaces in run-down cities across the world.By gathering information using photographs, online maps, Google Street View and physical visits, British Minecraft specialist FyreUK produces a digital map of a public space within the game. Youngsters are invited to rebuild the map with their own vision. The ideas are put forward to local architects and planners for consideration."In the developing world, 50 per cent of the population are under 24, so getting the views and input of younger people is really important," says Pontus Westerberg from UN-Habitat. "Minecraft gives us the means to do that."With no limitations, no right or wrong, and a freedom to build and explore, Minecraft is great for children with autism.
Unfortunately, many find other gamers kill their characters, steal from them, destroy their 'builds' or say cruel things – all of which put them off playing.Stuart Duncan, whose son has autism, has set up a Minecraft server called Autcraft. Only allowing children with autism to join (5,000 are enrolled), it protects gamers' properties and lets players buddy-up with those who are feeling lonely."We've heard from many parents who say that their children are reading and writing better, they're talking and making friends for the first time and have more self confidence," he says.Teachers have discovered that they can ignite a passion for learning by bringing Minecraft into the classroom. History teachers have recreated ancient worlds, science teachers have produced 3D models of cells and art teachers have been exploring pixel art. In-game currencies such as emeralds can be dug up and traded. "Minecraft exposes children to sophisticated financial systems," says TeacherGaming co-founder Joel Levin.
And since Minecraft is easily modified using code, it is also teaching young people how to program."Perhaps the most effective experiences come from having teachers get out of the way and letting the students play organically, says Mr Levin. "With a bit of coaching, this type of experience can lead to amazing conversations about digital citizenship, online identity and responsibility."With 16,062 square miles of Denmark recreated in Minecraft, and Ordnance Survey using 83 billion virtual blocks to represent 85,000 square miles of the UK, the British Geological Survey was inspired to get involved, too. It has been incorporating geology into the game, making it easier to understand how the different layers of rock join, fold, overlap, fault or dissect each other."Minecraft is a fantastic tool because you don't need to do any mental calculations – the rocks are right there and you are able to dig through them, mine out areas and explore the geology first-hand," says Steve Richardson, geospatial applications developer at the BGS.