Bonfire Peaks is in These Lists
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 Bonfire Peaks 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.
All games make you think in some way or other. However, some are designed to stretch your puzzle-knowhow more than others. There are games that don't lean on reactions or visuals to tell a story. Instead, they offer a conundrum to get you thinking.
I've worked with some people from the
Thinky Puzzle Game movement to track down the best little games that get you thinking. "The devotees of such games have been known to smile at all sorts of diverse puzzles and conundrums. Puzzle games, platformers, number games, word games, games with or without grids, games with or without secrets. Easy games. Hard games. But keep it thinky and save your FPS games and dexterity-intensive platformers for another day."
Many of the games in this list look simple and, well, a bit basic. But that is part of the charm. The clever bit is how their design draws you in and gets you thinking. If you want more like this, you can find helpful people on the
Thinky Puzzle Discord group.
Chess is a game that has stood the test of time. It's the ultimate test of strategy, forward planning and cunning. While there are some games that offer a computer chess experience, more interesting are games that use chess as inspiration.
These games use the familiar movement of the pieces, the ability to plan ahead and the standard grid layout as part of their video game challenge. Although this may sound like a bad idea (why not just play proper chess) many offer a nuanced and intriguing experience. They also have the benefit of being an on-ramp to the world of chess that can be unapproachable.
The games in this list all have chess-like elements, are turn-based and usually played in a grid playfield.
Fidget spinners burst into the hands of children a number of years ago. While that initial trend subsided, the interest and enjoyment of tactile objects to fiddle with are very much with us.
Fidget toys are like the yo-yo or Rubik's cube but without the focus on skill. The enjoyment comes from doing something that isn't learning or achieving anything. It's no surprise that there are a number of video games that have picked up on this style of play.
Some games, like
The Longing,
Animal Crossing and
Adopt Me, simple slow down the need to progress, so all you do is check-in, fiddle around with the game world and then leave. Then there are other games, like
Townscaper and
Pok Pok Playroom, that let you craft your own structures but with none of the usual video game emphasis on score and winning. Other games, like
Everything and
Proteus, offer a huge world to poke and prod without getting embroiled with progression.
Even games that do offer a strong sense of story and development often include post-game play or side-quest distractions that are simply there for you to spend time fiddling with rather than winning or losing. Games like
A Short Hike,
Alba A Wildlife Adventure or even
No Man's Sky.
Get Indie is a YouTube channel that aims to aid discovery of really amazing independently made video games. Their approach shuns the common promotion-led cycle of new games, and instead digs deep to fund unusual and compelling games that adults as well as youngers will enjoy playing.
Each year they have selected 10-20 games as their recommended games of the year.
PlayStation 5 Activity Cards are a part of the operating system that provide a quick and easy way to see your progress, and get helping progressing (or finding what you’ve missed) in games. It’s a really neat part of the system that you can pop-up while playing by pressing the PlayStation button on the controller.
They are like your very own guide, tailored to your current play through, providing information on progress, tips on things you've missed, more things to do (and how long they will take) and short videos of how to complete objectives (that you can pin to the side of the screen while you are playing).
However, as with the use of PS5 Dual Sense features, different games do this in different ways. Some just include Activity Cards to load and save your game or access a game mode (which saves time but isn't a game changer) while others go to town on tips, hints and other helpful ways to get more from their game.
As one player put it, "Honestly, I'm just really enjoying them in Control where they tell me where to go when I'm lost in the wonderfully convoluted building. Then in Maquette it's extremely useful to just get a step solved for me when otherwise I'd switch to another game. These are the kind of frustrations that generally stop me from beating games. It's like having a Prima guide on my PS button."
The games in this list are those we think do a great job with Activity Cards. This not only provides quick travel, fast loading, how long main- and side-quests will take, tips and video guides but is a real reason to consider buying the PlayStation 5 version over the Xbox Series X|S.
These are games that involve actual Lego bricks or offer an experience that has the same plug and play building and creating as the classic toy.
Being able to discern between reliable sources and unreliable sources of information is an important skill for children to develop. This starts with questions of trust and authority but then leads to decisions about how we use and share information ourselves.
We've worked with
Childnet International on this list of games that help children and young people experiment with what they should trust and the potential unintended consequences. Childnet International is an online safety charity working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children and young people. They believe that the internet is a wonderfully positive tool for children and young people. Childnet are also part of the UK Safer Internet Centre and organise Safer Internet Day in the UK every February.
Some of the games, like
Thousand Threads, either put them in a world where what people say and believe impacts the other characters. Other games, like
Headliner, put the player in charge of information so they can see the consequences first hand of its misuse. There are even games, like
Papers Please, that enable the player to police who is and isn't allowed access to information or even access to the country.
As Childnet write, "Critical Thinking is an important skill that we need in order to navigate the internet safely and find the latest news headlines or facts and information. With the amount of content that is online sometimes it’s quite easy to be reading something that is inaccurate without realising."
These games each provide different ways for players to develop critical thinking. They provide a space where trust and authority can be experienced first hand, and where the negative and positive consequences of how we handle these topics play out.
In a culture that holds up youth as an ideal rather than a stage of life, it can be hard to embrace our ageing lives, bodies and dreams. The games in this list offer a chance to step into the shoes of older protagonists as well as spend time with people coming to terms with the ticking clock themselves.
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.
Start Here
