23/03/2021 / 3 years ago / Author: Jo Robertson

This week we are going to be sharing some of our favourite games to play together. Whether it's Friday night with the teenagers or Sunday afternoon with toddlers there are a great selection of games to get the family gaming together.

As a family with three teenagers there’s a lot of gaming going on in our house at any one time but not that much that happens as a family group. This means gaming becomes very separate and not something that we share as a family. The kids play upstairs and we don’t see them all evening.

In the past we have enjoyed Just Dance, Wii Sports and other living room fun but the children have grown up and moved onto games they can play online with their friends. During lockdown to try and tempt them out of their rooms, we started playing through Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PEGI 16+ ESRB TEEN) together.

We chose it because it's a game that was at the right level for us all to enjoy; It isn’t too tame or boring for the gamers; it has a suitable age range from mid-teen to nearly adult (and actual adults who don’t like anything too gruesome).

Even though it isn’t strictly a multiplayer game, we took turns with the controller and adjusted the difficulty according to the player’s ability. There was much hilarity at me attempting to steer a jeep up a muddy slope but I also got some kudos from the kids when I managed it. It’s a great story with very evocative scenery which makes it a great playing and watching experience.

If you want to get your family gaming together, where do you start? The Taming Gaming book has lots of advice for families starting out on the gaming journey together. I liked what Anne Longfield (Children’s commissioner for England)has to say: “Get involved by playing with them and watching them play. Taking an interest in this way enables you to support them when things go wrong and celebrate their successes.”

The Family Video Game Database has some really helpful themed lists of games to get you started:

• Compete on the Couch
• Work Together to Thrive
• Get Fit Playing Great Games

You can click Show Filters on these lists to refine them for the system you have, choose a suitable Age Rating, or you may want to filter Games Without Loot Boxes. Here's a filtered list of games to play together on the Switch for PEGI 12 and under

Here are some of the games we found in the lists that we plan to try: