Knights And Bikes!
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting and Narrative
Released: August 2019, updated in 2020. Added to this library 6 months ago, last updated 10 weeks ago.
Overview
Enter a hand-painted adventure in a fictional late-eighties British island and work together as Nessa and Demelza to explore its coast on bikes to find treasure, mystery and trouble. There’s fighting with frisbees, water balloons, tape cassettes and puddle-stomping. And as you explore the island, you acquire new abilities. As the two heroes encounter an adult world, it’s their ingenuity, friendship and wide-eyed-wonder that guides the adventure.
The chance to play in an imaginative and gleeful childhood world makes this a perfect game to share. The retro-modern Stranger Things-feel is ideal for parents and children playing together. It's a tale that keeps things light but also includes a moving backstory of the passing of one of the characters mother and the journey to come to terms with that in the family.
The two-player cooperative play suits parents and children working together. This, combined with the visual style, gives the game the feel of a Saturday-morning cartoon show. Taking charge of either Nessa or Demelza and exploring the island on their bike is an entertaining and well-observed recreation of backwater holiday destinations.
Tip
This game is good if you want to play BAFTA nominated games, connect with grandparents, play games without in-app purchases, find hope, process loss or work in a team to win.
Commitment
Costs
You will need PlayStation Plus to play online with PlayStation 4. You will need Xbox Live Gold to play online with Xbox One. You will need Nintendo Online to play online with Nintendo Switch.
Ratings
In addition to the rating advice parents should note that at one point players throw water on live electrics to make a connection and progress the game.
This game has been rated ESRB EVERYONE 10+.
Users Interact: The game enables players to interact and communicate with each other, so may expose players to language usually associated with older rated games.
Accessibility
System settings: Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games. PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping). Xbox One has a wide range of system features including some that can be used on all games, like the excellent co-pilot mode... read more.
Similar Games
The following games address a similar topic or offer a similar way to play. They are good options to play after Knights And Bikes!, and also offer a range of alternatives for different age ratings.
It Takes Two
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Platform and Puzzle
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
It Takes Two is a running, jumping and exploring game that tells a story of a young girl, Rose, who's parents are divorcing. The girl creates two dolls to represent her parents, which unexpectedly come to life. The game proceeds to share the girls...
Frog Detective (Series)
Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Puzzle
Duration: Between 1 and a half hours and 2 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
This is a comedy adventure game where you play a detective frog, named (unsurprisingly) "Frog Detective".
Where Cards Fall
Platforms: iOS Apple Arcade
Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 10 hours and 12 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Where Cards Fall, from the same developer as Alto's Adventure, is an adventure where you build houses of cards to advance. In a beautifully hand-drawn world, you need to create pathways with the cards through the dreamlike...
Chariot
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 14 hours and 15 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Chariot is a co-op platform game where you haul around a wheeled Chariot, to the end of each level. Pushing, pulling or dragging with ropes, you need to use the real physics of the game to solve puzzles and time jumps to get the heavy object to the...
Sizzle And Stew
Genres: Action, Puzzle and Simulation
Duration: Between 5 minutes and 15 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Sizzle & Stew is a cooking game where you don’t have to follow the rules. It’s a lot of fun and works well in the two-player split-screen mode. Experiment as you explore all the kitchen gadgets to make a meal, or just see what happens when you put a...
New Super Lucky's Tale
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 8 hours and 12 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
This is a platform game where you play a fox on a quest to recover pages from a magical book that will save his world. It takes gameplay in a more action-oriented direction but the islands and characters are full of quirky character and treasures like...
Ibb and Obb
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC and PlayStation 3
Genres: Action, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Ibb & Obb is a puzzle game where you run, jump, land on enemies and solve momentum puzzles. The novelty is that it's a game designed for co-operation. One player controls the green creature, Ibb, and the other controls the pink creature, Obb. The world...
Lego (Series)
Platforms: Android, GameCube, Mac, Nintendo 2DS/3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting and Open World
Duration: Between 10 hours and 15 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost. Season pass and in-game purchases.
The combination of Lego, a popular film franchise and a video game is a rich recipe for gaming fun. The series of Lego games has developed since the first release on Nintendo DS. Not only do these games offer a chance to explore, destroy and fight in a...
Cuphead
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Duration: Between 1 minute and 5 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Cuphead is a running, jumping and shooting game that looks like an old Mickey Mouse cartoon. You play on your own or with someone else and work across the screen, jumping gaps, shooting enemies and avoiding projectiles.
Unravel (Series)
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Unravel and the two-player Unravel Two are a pair of jumping and swinging platform games where you control a character made out of wool. As well as making him look super cute, the wool is used to swing around and interact with objects.
Disney Infinity (Series)
Platforms: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Creative, Fighting, Open World and Platform
Duration: Between 5 hours and 6 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Disney Infinity is an action game with themed adventures around iconic Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars characters. Players unlock content in the game with physical figurines and PlaySet pieces placed onto a Base peripheral plugged into the console...
Mutazione
Platforms: Mac, PlayStation 4 and iOS
Genres: Adventure, Creative and Narrative
Duration: Between 6 hours and 10 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
In Mutazione you play as a 15-year-old girl visiting her grandfather on a faraway island inhabited by friendly but mutated villagers. By finding seeds, tending to gardens and talking to people, you uncover a tightly knit web of characters with...
Tearaway
Platforms: PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita
Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Platform
Duration: Between 9 hours and 12 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Tearaway on PlayStation Vita and Tearaway Unfolded on PlayStation 4 create a game world entirely from paper as the setting for this fantastical adventure. It’s beautiful and funny, and offers a running, jumping exploration challenge. Drawing on...
Costume Quest (Series)
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Role-Playing and Turn-Based
Duration: Between 6 hours and 8 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Costume Quest is an adventure game where you play a trick-or-treating child when they encounter a monster that kidnaps your sibling. You travel the neighbourhood collecting items for your costume, candy and fellow children as companions in order to face...
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart (Series)
Platforms: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Platform and Shooting
Duration: Between 15 hours and 20 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 4 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Ratchet & Clank looks more cartoony but still offers the B-movie-style action. As Ratchet, you explore planets and space stations, battling enemies with a variety of weapons and gadgets. Sidekick Clank sits on Ratchet’s back and offers more abilities,...
Knack (Series)
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative, Platform, Puzzle and Shooting
Duration: Between 10 hours and 13 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Knack is a platform action series where you control a shape-shifting robot called Knack. Through beautiful arcade-style battles and worlds, you collect Relics that enable you to grow bigger and gain more powers.
Oxenfree
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Adventure and Narrative
Duration: Between 5 hours and 8 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Free-to-start. In-game purchases.
Oxenfree is an adventure game where a teenagers’ beach party spirals into a supernatural story. You guide the outcome with your choices as the well-written dialogue reveals characters coming to terms with family breakdown, death of a sibling, blame...
Way Of The Passive Fist
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Fighting and Rhythm
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Way Of The Passive Fist is a fighting game where you parry, dodge, dash and counter-attack to outwit and outlast your enemies rather than kill them.
Night in the Woods
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Puzzle
Duration: Between 9 hours and 16 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Night in the Woods follows college dropout Mae Borowski returning home to the crumbling former mining town of Possum Springs. But the place is different now her friends have grown and changed. There’s something suspicious happening in the nearby...
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Platform and Puzzle
Duration: Between 4 hours and 5 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an action-adventure game where you control two brothers at the same time with a single controller. After their mother passes away, they must find some water from the Tree of Life to save their father. The controls weave...
Alan Wake
Platforms: Xbox 360 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative and Shooting
Duration: Between 16 hours and 35 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Bright Falls is the sleepy Midwest setting for this Twilight Zone-style horror game. The action focuses on surviving attacks from possessed ‘Taken’ locals. You use flashlights to burn away the possession before dispatching them with firearms. It’s...
Haven
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X
Genres: Action, Fighting, Narrative and Open World
Duration: Between 7 hours and 11 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Haven is an adventure about companionship and exploration in space. As star-crossed lovers Yu and Kay, you escape to a forgotten planet to stay together and set up home against the odds. You explore the world around you, able to glide over the plains,...
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Adventure and Narrative
Duration: Between 1 and a half hours and 3 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Free. In-game purchases.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit is an adventure game set between Life Is Strange and Life is Strange 2. You play Chris Eriksen, a young boy who creates the superhero alter ego Captain Spirit to deal with the loss of his mother.
A Way Out
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting and Shooting
Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 2 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
From the same developer as Brothers A Tale of Two Sons, this is another game centred around two playable characters simultaneously. With another player, you control Leo and Vincent, two convicted prisoners who...
Knights And Bikes! 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 Knights And Bikes! in the following lists:
Work Together to Thrive
Along with teamwork, the games I’ve selected here use the fact that players are all sitting next to each other.
These are games where players take on different roles in order to complete unusual tasks. The fun is often as much about the conversations (and arguments) that happen in the room as what’s happening on the screen.
BAFTA Nominated Games
The awards started in 2004 and are presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). For parents, they are a great way of discovering brilliant games to play in their family. The games included here are from the:
- The Family Games award highlights games that will work really well for parents and children. These often include multiplayer features and feature a cast of family-friendly characters.
- The Games Beyond Entertainment award is also of interest as this highlights more unusual games with an emphasis on storytelling that addresses topics that parents may find appealing themselves.
Hope Through Play
There is something innocent and childlike in play, and video games each have a slice of that in different ways. Sometimes simple and sometimes complex, games can help us return to the hope we had as children, or call us on to the wisdom and perspective of older years.
Great Games Without In-App Purchases
The games in this list are really good for families but have all been selected because they don't include any in-app purchase costs. You either pay a single up-front cost or they enable you to play them for free.
Space For Grief
I've come up with some games that explore this topic, along with help and suggestions from Gaming The Mind (Twitter), an organisation of UK-based mental health professionals who aim to promote positive mental health within the gaming community. By focusing on the intersection between gaming and mental health, they want to raise awareness of mental health challenges and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues. "We express grief in different ways depending on our age," they said. "To help children cope with loss, it is important that they receive honest explanations about death, appropriate to their level of understanding. With these games, players may find valuable space in which to acknowledge grief as a completely normal reaction to bereavement."
"The games we have selected don't necessarily offer an ideal way to cope with death but tackle the topic of death openly and with a positive attitude. They can help show the player that they are not alone in what they are going through. Playing these games with young people, and answering questions they might have along the way, can be a useful starting point for important conversations about grief."
Ease Loneliness With Intergenerational Games
Video games are one way that we can reconnect with each other, without needing to be in the same place. Finding games to play online with grandparents and carers is not only a good way to keep in touch but a lot of fun.
The games on this page are part of the PLAY&TALK Weekend, which has launched in time for National Loneliness Awareness Week, aims to reduce feelings of isolation by getting people to talk with friends or family safely online. Backed by over 30 companies in the games industry, the Play&Talk weekend hopes to initiate 10,000 extra conversations across the UK through the power of games.- Co-operative: Some of the games are good ways to connect and play co-operatively online (like Feather, Overcooked 2, Ibb and Obb, Skylanders Children of Light).
- Competitive: With some practice there are easy and fun online competitive games (like Tricky Towers, Videoball)
- Asynchronous: Other games are a way to connect and play without being online at the same time (like Horizon Chase Turbo, Worms, Words With Friends, Wargroove, Animal Crossing).
- Community: Then there are games that connect you with a wider player community in a gentle non-invasive way (like The First Tree, Journey, Lost Words, The Endless Forrest).
Thanks for using our resource, supported by AskAboutGames and ParentZone. We are editorially independent, written by parents for parents, but welcome sponsorship, partnership and suggestions. Email our editor for details on these opportunities.The information on this database is designed to support and complement the in-depth discussion and advice about video game "addiction", violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. If you have any concerns or questions in these areas, email our editor who is quick to respond or can arrange for a one-to-one conversation.
Email a correction for Knights And Bikes!.