• Hey everyone, staff have documented a list of banned content and subject matter that we feel are not consistent with site values, and don't make sense to host discussion of on Famiboards. This list (and the relevant reasoning per item) is viewable here.

Discussion Getting my 5 yo son first video game system, Switch Lite, looking at what games to get…

Old Sorta Fan

Old Sorta Fan

Contra superfan
Pronouns
He
Hello Famiboards, I am going to buy my kindergarten aged son a Switch Lite and am trying to learn more about good games for his age in addition to Mario Kart and 2D/3D Mario. How about Pokémon? I’ve never played a Pokémon as I was already in high school when it came out so I don’t know much about it other than many of my friends and friends’ kids like it.

Should I get him Pokémon? If yes, which Switch title is a good place to start?

I will also get him Puyo Puyo Tetris as he likes it from playing in my Switch,

Thank you for ideas!
 
0
If you're going with Pokémon, I'd say Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee are a good place to start. You can play co-op with your son. I'd also say Kirby games are good. Star Allies or Return to Dream Land Deluxe are both good choices.
 
Zelda: Link’s Awakening comes to mind. Cute/fun visuals, easy controls/mechanics, and a cool adventure all around. I think he’d like that.
 
Pokemon would be a good pick if your kid's friends are playing it. Gives 'em something to talk about. Maybe start him with Pokemon Sword/Shield so he can play something more directed. The Let's Go games could be good, too.

goldrogerii said:
Kirby games are also good
Click to expand...
Was about to say this too. Kirby has some fantastic entry-level games.
 
Kirby is a solid pick, maybe Captain Toad and Yoshi’s Crafted World too?

Pokémon being an RPG is fairly text heavy so you may have to help them a fair bit. Same with Link’s Awakening.

Also, definitely recommend getting a family NSO plan as there’s plenty of good stuff in the retro catalogs.
 
When my kid (now 8) was 5, he enjoyed Kirby Star Allies, Super Mario Party (yes, the motion controlled one), Just Dance, and Clubhouse Games the most. Anything that requires substantial reading or camera control is probably not suitable, as is anything with significant difficulty.
 
I teach a kid who is about that age and really loves the Crash trilogy. Maybe a little hard but let the kids struggle, I say
 
goldrogerii said:
If you're going with Pokémon, I'd say Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee are a good place to start. You can play co-op with your son. I'd also say Kirby games are good. Star Allies or Return to Dream Land Deluxe are both good choices.
Click to expand...
They can't play co-op on Lite

Kirby, Yoshi, and Mario Kart are good games to start. I'd also suggest NSMBD, but Mario Wonder is just around the corner. Definitely get him that. And don't worry about difficulty, Mario games have easy first worlds and he will gradually get better and slowly make progress.
 
5 seems to me a bit young for his own gaming system when he can play with the parents (what I would personally prefere with that age), but since you asked:

em said:
When my kid (now 8) was 5, he enjoyed Kirby Star Allies, Super Mario Party (yes, the motion controlled one), Just Dance, and Clubhouse Games the most. Anything that requires substantial reading or camera control is probably not suitable, as is anything with significant difficulty.
Click to expand...
This.
Reading comprehension, a lot of numbers or 3d camera movements are often pain points.

The mario sports games generally would be fun. Animal crossing COULD work, depending on what type of player he is.
2d Kirby/mario/yoshi, mario party. Bomberman.
zelda seems a bit to complex with the dungeons.

There are a lot of indie games.
Untitled goose game, many really short (so not to komplex) games, or even a metroidvania that could work: Yoko's island express.
Super monkey ball
Overcooked. (Could be to stressful?)
Snipperclips could also work.
Spiro collection!
A lot of SNES and gba games could work to.

More out there:
Wario ware
Catamari damacy
Pikuniku

If it's really Pokémon, then let's go is the way to go, and maybe the diamond and pearl remakes.

Oh and people mentioned captain toad. That one for sure is not to hard but could help develop a better understanding of 3D space without the abstraction of a free moving camera :D
 
My son is nearly 4 and he plays Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Yoshi's Crafted World. Both games have a young child friendly 'easy' mode so he can play through large portions of the games on his own. He plays on my Switch OLED at the moment but I'm going to get him a Lite for Christmas.

My kid is basically the young Anakin Skywalker of games though.
 
Last edited:
5 is pretty dang young. i'd say Splatoon would be a good choice cause if nothing else he can enjoy painting everything even if the mechanics are a little much

also just a nice easy introduction to shooters which is such a common genre
 
0
bixente said:
Imo the dungeons would be too complex for a 5 yo to solve. But that's just mel
Click to expand...

personally i was astronomically trash at anything resembling puzzles and RPGs or really more thought required than "press right and jump". i have this distinct memory of like pokemon ruby and having this tremendous amount of trouble getting out of the starting town lol
 
0
YolkFolk said:
How would Untitled Goose Game be for a young kid?

Can you just run around and cause havok?
Click to expand...

Yep. I let my nephew (about 5?) play the game with his little sister watching. They had a blast honking and just messing around with the gardener. But they wouldn't know how to progress the level in general. You'll need to help them knock the gardener out.
 
Last edited:
Going to second Untitled Goose Game as that game is a lot of consequence free fun that you could play together. Kirby feels like a very good idea as well. Forgotten Land and the remake of Return to Dreamland are both excellent and have co-op, plus they're not too hard. Return to Dreamland Deluxe comes with a bunch of pretty good party minigames as well if that's your thing.
 
I am contemplating the Switch Lite because he has been using his Amazon tablet for a year now. At first it was just for movies and tracing numbers/letters games. He is now downloading stuff and we have to delete garbage mobile games with MTX. He also likes Sonic the Hedgehog which has a mobile version and he is now getting through the first level on his Super Mario Game and Watch.

Since he is already playing video games, I thought to get him better games that I also know are rated E and don’t have MTX. The Switch’s parental controls are also harder to circumvent than a tablet’s. He has played some Mario Kart and likes Puyo Puyo Tetris.

Thank you everyone for filling me in that Pokémon will probably bore him at this age with all the reading. I forgot about Captain Toad since I played it years ago now! It’s good and he likes puzzle boxes.
 
Old Sorta Fan said:
I am contemplating the Switch Lite because he has been using his Amazon tablet for a year now. At first it was just for movies and tracing numbers/letters games. He is now downloading stuff and we have to delete garbage mobile games with MTX. He also likes Sonic the Hedgehog which has a mobile version and he is now getting through the first level on his Super Mario Game and Watch.

Since he is already playing video games, I thought to get him better games that I also know are rated E and don’t have MTX. The Switch’s parental controls are also harder to circumvent than a tablet’s. He has played some Mario Kart and likes Puyo Puyo Tetris.

Thank you everyone for filling me in that Pokémon will probably bore him at this age with all the reading. I forgot about Captain Toad since I played it years ago now! It’s good and he likes puzzle boxes.
Click to expand...
At that age Pokémon helped me to learn to read while learning phonics in school and I definitely enjoyed it from the start. But then I guess that could be taught later elsewhere, would probably have been frustrating without phonics.

Also definitely seconding Just Dance my much younger sister (also five) absolutely loves it.
 
Last edited:
Aether said:
The mario sports games generally would be fun. Animal crossing COULD work, depending on what type of player he is.
Click to expand...

Seconding these. My nephew, who is about one year younger, always goes back to Mario & Sonic at the Olympics. It's pretty much a soccer game to him, but the cartridge has spent more time in the Switch than anything else.

He's also fascinated by Animal Crossing, though he won't do much beyond running around, uprooting flowers and chopping down trees. Splatoon is his other fascination, and he's more competent at it than I expected at his age. Plays exclusively in handheld mode, too, even though gyro controls aren't great that way.

Goat Simulator is his favorite on PS4. I can't speak to the quality of the Switch port.
 
As I see Link's Awakening being not recommended because difficulty or being text heavy, I'd like to share a bit of my own experience: I beat it when I was five, and also in a foreign language (english is not my mother tongue). I can say that I had problems at the very first time, because I didn't know what did I have to do with a certain racoon at the beginning of the game, but some day I just found it and there were no problems from that point on. I didn't ask anyone, so having a father supervising it would have made it so much easier. I loved that game. Even when I was stuck, I just played it for hours, cutting grass, restarting the game time and time again to grab that swords and beat those little and funny spike things. So, at least in my experience, as a five year old child, I beat it and adore it - it was, in fact, the first game I ever beat.

Regarding it being a text heavy game, I kinda disagree but, more importantly, I strongly disagree with that being a con. I think encouraging lecture at young ages is key, and making kids read by gaming is a huge plus. Some kids can find it boring to just sit down and read, but if they're living an adventure it's by far a much more enjoyable experience. So having strong incentives to read in order to advance, making you try to learn new words because you don't understand the meaning of something you have just read, I strongly think is a major point for videogames when tought about from an educative perspective. Instead of wait for kids to understand everything, make this their way to grow and make them curious and wanting themselves to understand more. Never underestimate the power of curiosity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top Bottom