In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to Colour With Crayons in the following lists:
Video games and toys are two separate things in a child's life. Online and in stores they are sold separately. At home, however, children will move from toys to video games without such strong distinctions. This list draws together all the games that cross over with toys in this way.
Very young players are often drawn to games with toy-like play. Whether
Toca Boca or
Sago Mini offer video game interactions but without missions, tasks or scores. They are games that create space, characters, locations and items for children to make up their own fun.
Then there are games that import physical toys into the play-process of the game. Sometimes this is to have a figure unlock items and save progress like in
Skylanders or sometimes this is to create new ways to interact like
Tori, Hotwheels id or
Anki.
These games are for children under seven years old, who will, with some help, discover activities they want to try that will expand their imaginations while establishing the role of your guidance and engagement as part of the gaming world as they grow up. The more open imagination of young children lends itself to games that offer an open world. Rather than forcing the player in a particular direction open world games let players explore wherever they want. The games here offer unusual and age-appropriate experiences that are often educational but keep the emphasis on the sheer joy of interactive play rather than hard learning.
While a significant portion of video games focus on combat and competition, these titles offer a less aggressive way to progress and win. None of these games enable or require the player to cause harm to another living thing -- even Mario's merciless campaign to stomp on every Goomba he meets bars him from this list. Or then there's catching and selling fish in Animal Crossing that rule that one out.
Many of them are aimed at children and families, but you'll be surprised how many explore deeper, more mature themes in their narratives, or require just as much skill as a fast-paced first-person shooter. This means there's plenty of offer for parents who might lack the reflexes (or interest) to survive a round of Fortnite.
We've focused on the games you might not expect to be played non-violently here, but you can find the full list at
Non-Violent Games Of the Day curated by James Batchelor.
Some forms of play are timeless. Running around with a stick pretending to be in the army. Chasing each other in games of tag. And, of course, hide and seek. The games in this list offer digital ways to play hide and seek with a variety of different twists.
Hide In A Crowd: There are games like
Spy Party,
Thief Town,
Hidden in Plain Sight and
Buissons, that let you play as a range of characters and then challenge another player to find you amongst a computer-controlled crowd, from what way you move and interact. The
Fruit game in
Game & Wario on Wii U has the same mechanics, with one person trying to steal fruit without the other players working out who they are.
Wii Party offers hiding in its Spot the Sneak mode where one player has a secret advantage in the mini-games that the other players have to spot. Another great example is
Wii U Party,
Lost and Found Square mode. One player stands in a crowd of identical people and uses the Wii U gamepad to look around and describe their location to other players, who use the TV to explore and find them. At the end, you see a map of where the players had run.
Prop Hunt: There are games with "Prop Hunt" modes where you can change into the items in the world to hide.
Fortnite has a great Prop Hunt mode, as does
Minecraft. Then there are games like
Witch It designed around this idea of transforming into normal items and hiding in a game world.
Separate Screens: There games like Mario Chase and Luigi's Ghosthouse in
Nintendoland, or
Pac-Man Vs where one person has their own screen while the others team up to hunt for them use the main TV screen. Or games you play online where everyone has their own screen and try to hide from a particular character like in
Secret Neighbor.
Screencheat is a twist on this, where you share the same screen and try to shoot each other, but your characters are invisible.
Hidden Objects: Or there are hidden object games where the computer hides things that you have to find, like
Hidden Folks and
Hidden Through Time. There's a hidden object mode in
Super Mario Odyssey where you hunt online player's hidden balloons. A twist on this is
Here Kitty where one person hides a phone that then makes cat noises until the seeker has found it.
Open World Hiding: You can use pretty much any open-world game to make your own hiding fun. You can hide in
Minecraft (having turned nameplates off), sneak around on public transport in
or simply count to 10 while visitors hide in
Animal Crossing New Horizons.
In this series, we are learning how different aspects of video games work by playing games that offer an easy introduction to this one concept. This is designed for people new to gaming, and aims to identify games with the least barriers. In this entry we are looking at
Creative games.
While all video games could be considered creative, as you are interacting to create the experience. Creative games focus on this aspect of play. You can make something new that remains in the game world, like a picture, character, arrangement of houses, landscape or even how nations are situated on the map.
Some Creative games let you make your own levels, characters, objects or even entire playable games to share with other players. When these creations are shared online they are called "User Generated Content". This content falls outside the PEGI/ESRB ratings and is worth noting for younger players.
Creative games come in many forms. Perhaps you can create your own
Platform or
Puzzle levels. Or you could craft something new in an
Open World. There are
Racing games where you can design cars and circuits. There are
Adventure games that involve drawing and sculpting to progress.
Video games often create spaces like beautiful paintings. Designers and artists spend years crafting worlds that invite us to interact with realistic or stylised brushstrokes. The games in this list let the play take part in that painting process.
Some of the games here, like
Okami or
Concrete Genie, use painting as a way to solve puzzles to progress through the game. Other games in the list, like
Splatoon,
De Blob or
Chicory, use painting as a way interact with the game world itself. Then there are games like
The Unfinished Swan, that use painting as a way of revealing what is in front of you, giving the impression of limit faculties. Finally, there are games like
Ete or
Dordogne, that use painting in the game to express emotion.
Unlike the world of real painting, in video games anyone can create a masterpiece. The game
Sloppy Forgeries, uses this idea as its main mechanic. You are presented with a classic painting and given a limited time to race other players to recreate it. In amongst the frantic silliness is something lovely. The usual barriers to creativity fall, as we all get stuck in and have a go. Another notable game is
If Found where you are erasing your drawings and paintings in a powerful way that aligns with a narrative of rediscovered identity.
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