Splatoon (Series)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Wii U
Released: July 2017. Added to this library 7 months ago, last updated 5 weeks ago.
Overview
Splatoon on the Wii U and Splatoon 2 on the Switch are games where you shoot ink rather than bullets in this deeply skilled combat game. As well as taking out opponents, teams work together to cover the arena with their colour of ink. This not only decides who wins but enables them to rapidly traverse areas in their colour. Weapons are both varied and imaginative, ranging from paint rollers to buckets of paint and water cannon-style shotguns.
For younger players, this is a good alternative to more violent shooting games like Fortnite, but every bit as skilful and exuberant.
Tip
Commitment
Players: You can play with 8 players in the same room and up to 8 players online. To play battles in the same place on the Switch version with up to 8 others you each need a console and the game. Or you can play online with up to 8 players in public or private matches.
Costs
This game supports Nintendo's amiibo, figurines and cards that can be purchased separately to unlock in-game items.
You will need Nintendo Online (must be 18 to purchase, but can be any age to use) to play online with Nintendo Switch.
Ratings
Some of the bosses look evil but the general atmosphere of the game never gets scary. Characters use expressions like: “Oh carp!” and “This sucker’s not messing around” but no actual swearing.
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
- Difficulty: The different matches of a variety of challenges and there are good tutorials for each mode and spaces in which to practice with each weapon.
- Reading: There is reading to do, the text is quite big but the font is stylised.
- Controls: There is a range of controls. Motion controls are default but can be switched off in favour of sticks. Sensitivity can be adjusted.
- Image calibration: Visual indications of audio cues in the game. The colours are bright and can be locked to blue and yellow for colourblind mode.
- Audio calibration: Rumble is used to communicate when you’ve taken damage and give you feedback on your movement. The sound effects and score are also pretty helpful in anticipating attacks. There are stealth attacks that you aren’t going to notice, but that’s a universal thing. You can't adjust the sound effects and music separately.
System settings: Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
The Wii U has some limited settings, such as disabling rumble and selecting mono audio... 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 Splatoon, and also offer a range of alternatives for different age ratings.
Krunker
Platforms: Web Browser
Duration: Between 6 minutes and 7 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play this with 10 players online.
Costs: Free-to-start. Season pass and in-game 'loot box' purchases.
Krunker is a shooting game where you compete against online opponents in various maps. As you level up you unlock weapons that help you in the game. It's unusual because you play it in any web browser with no need to download anything.
Otterman Empire
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox One
Duration: Between 2 minutes and 15 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
The Otterman Empire is a fun shooting game where you battle anthropomorphic characters in Splatoon-like arena encounters.
Trailblazers
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Racing and Strategy
Duration: Between 5 minutes and 15 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 6 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Trailblazers is a racing video game where you paint the track your colour to gain a boost. In multiplayer mode, this creates a uniquely co-operative race. There are 8 different vehicles to choose, each with different stats and capabilities.
Roblox
Platforms: Android, Mac, PC, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Creative, Fighting, Platform, Puzzle, Rhythm, Role-Playing and Strategy
Duration: Between 5 minutes and half an hour to play a round.
Players: This is a single player game. You can play with up to 100 players online.
Costs: Free-to-start. Season pass and in-game purchases.
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Phantom Forces
Platforms: Android, Mac, PC, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Shooting and Strategy
Duration: Between 10 minutes and 15 minutes to complete.
Players: You can play this with 32 players online.
Costs: Free-to-start. In-game 'loot box' purchases.
Phantom Forces (Phantom Forces Console on Xbox) is a popular game on Roblox. It's a shooting game played in an online arena in teams. Although it looks simple, it offers a high skill challenge similar to Battlefield. Players...
De Blob (Series)
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Duration: Between 9 hours and 12 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
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Plants vs. Zombies (Series)
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Fighting, Shooting and Strategy
Duration: Between 7 hours and 10 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 24 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare is a series of third-person shooting games about the battle for supremacy between weaponised plants and attacking zombies. It's good for families because the comedic zombies and funny plant powers keep things away from...
Screencheat
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Shooting and Strategy
Duration: Between 15 minutes and 20 minutes to play a round.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room, but you can’t play it online.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Screencheat pits four players against each other in a shooting battle on one system but keeps the violence low by making the players invisible. You win by peeking at other players’ portion of the screen to figure out where they are as you hunt them...
Superhot
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Web Browser and Xbox One
Duration: Between 3 hours and 5 hours to complete.
Players: This is a single player game.
Costs: Purchase cost.
Superhot is a shooting game with a twist. Time only moves forward (bullets, enemies, damage) when you move your character. This is still a violent game, in fact, in slow motion, it feels more violent.
Overwatch
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Fighting and Shooting
Duration: Between 10 minutes and 20 minutes to complete.
Players: You can play this with 12 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game 'loot box' purchases.
Overwatch is a shooting game but with the focus on teamwork and skill rather than violence. Along with games like Rocket League it has professional e-sports competitions where players compete for prizes.
Halo (Series)
Platforms: Android, Mac, PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Action, Fighting, Narrative and Shooting
Duration: Between 8 hours and 12 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 16 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
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Duration: Between 6 hours and 9 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room and up to 40 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. In-game purchases.
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Call of Duty Modern Warfare (Series)
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Duration: Between 5 hours and 6 hours to complete.
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 16 players online.
Costs: Purchase cost. Season pass and in-game purchases.
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Splatoon 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 Splatoon in the following lists:
Nourish Youthful Ambition In 7-12 Year-Olds
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.
Exuberant Games For Pre-16 Year-Olds
We go through some really good examples of these exciting, fast-action game for a range of ages. They are all PEGI 12 or under, apart from Halo, which we have included as this is a lower ESRB TEEN rating in the US for the latest release and mostly features space-themed rather than realistic violence.
Designed To Be Easier To See
- Fonts: Larger, scalable font sizes and bold fonts, like Moving Out.
- Zoom: Ability to increase the size of all objects on the screen such as in Untitled Goose Game's zoom feature.
- Contrast: Settings to adjust contrast and brightness, as well as distinct colours with good lighting, like Splatoon.
- Non-Visual Cues: Sounds and haptic feedback that help direct the player, like Lego games.
- Colourblind: Modes that invert colours or change colours to accommodate different types of colourblindness, such as in Hue.
- Screen Readers: Functions that read text and menus as they are highlighted and appear on the screen, such as in Eagle Island.
Some platforms provide system-wide accessibility features that help. The Nintendo Switch offers a built-in zoom function, while the Xbox offers co-pilot mode that allows two people to play as a single player. Such features create necessary flexibility for players.
There are many different types of visual impairments, and no two people ever see things the exact same way. Because of this, games that are accessible for one person may not be accessible to all low vision gamers. For gamers who find visual games too cumbersome, audio-only games may provide a solution.
It may be difficult for parents and caregivers who are fully sighted to understand which games will be easier to see. The best way to learn about what works and what doesn’t is hearing from people with impaired vision themselves. Can I Play That? has a variety of reviews discussing accessibility of games for people with disabilities, by people with disabilities.
First Steps Into Online Video Games
The games in this list offer small steps to go from local play to online play. Some games, like Roblox are designed for young players with lots of special safety settings. Other games, like Sky, are designed to lead players into co-operating with each other with in-game purchases you give away, and interactions that start limited and expand as you gain experience. Then there are co-operative games like Ibb and Obb where you work together and communicate with gestures on the screen.
You can use Family Settings and Parental Controls on your system to limit how your child interacts with other players online. As well as finding the right games to get them started, it's also important that you play with them and keep game screens in shared family spaces so you can see what they are doing.
Motion Plus Wii Games
You could purchase the Motion Plus block and plug it into existing Wii Remote controllers, or purchase updated Wii Remote controllers that included Motion Plus. These newer controllers are indicated by the Motion Plus nomenclature on the bottom. This nuanced motion-controlled continued on to the Wii U in games that used the Wii Remote controls and needed extra fidelity for the player.
Wii U Party minigames, Nintendo Land, Table Tennis and Archery in Wii Sports Resort as well as the exploration and combat in Zelda Skyward Sword each stand out as really good use of this extended Motion Plus controls.
Thanks for using our resource, supported by AskAboutGames, ParentZone and PlayAbility Initiative. 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.
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