Curated lists of games are a popular way for parents and guardians to find new games for their family to play. Like Netflix's unusual and quirky collections of films, these offer games in categories, themes and groupings that may seem unusual at first, but are carefully designed to highlight a particular aspect of video games.

Each list represents a hand-picked set of games that we've tested with real families. We also partner with experts in different areas of family life to help us identify games that meet deeper or more unusual requirements.

Themed lists are one of the four ways we use to help you find the sorts of interactions that are the best fit for your family:

• Style of Play: How you want to play games together (Split-Screen, Co-operative, Competitive, Online).
• Game Genres: Which interactions and game structures you enjoy (Adventuring, Racing, Puzzling, Strategising).
• Game Components: The elements that you play with and the kind of world you are playing in (Dice, 3D, 2D, Cards).
• Curated Lists: What themes you want to engage with (Trust, Identity, Justice, Hope, Love).

Along with finding games for a particular system, these three aspects of video games combine to offer almost endless ways of playing games together, particularly when you consider different numbers of players and whether you play online or in the same room.

Recently Added Lists Of Games

These are the lists that have been added to the database most recently. You can browse all the game lists chronologically to see how they have grown over time.

Our Most Popular Lists Of Games

These are the lists that have have been used by families the most this month. You can browse all the game lists chronologically to see how they have grown over time.



 

Accessibility Lists

Games that have been designed to be inclusive of a wide range of players, as well as including specific accessibility settings for further tailoring the experience. You can search for specific features in our accessibility search.
 

 

Age Related Lists

These relate to games that are designed with a specific age of player in mind. Sometimes this is about the age of a child, but also this can be for a particular stage of life. The group also includes games where ageing and time passing is the theme.
 

 

Award Winners Lists

There are many different video game awards. But over time a few of these have become the benchmark of which games have excelled each year. Awards like BAFTA are helpful to find games but also to illustrate the artistic, educational or culturally significant experiences.
 

 

Board Games Lists

It's easy to assume that board games are being eclipsed by video games. But actually, they have never been so popular and for good reason. Board games often offer an experience far and above what video games can currently deliver. The level of story telling, use of physical pieces and the people playing is second to none.
 

 

Competitive Lists

These relate games that focus on the competitive side of video games. Whether that's esports titles, or simply games that are great for families to compete against each other, they are all player versus player experiences.
 

 

Connection Lists

These relate to games that focus on the connection between people and communities. This highlight different ways that games can connect us with existing friends, as well as being a place to make new connections.
 

 

Digital Play Lists

These relate to games that focus on digital interaction that mimics or takes a lead from physical traditional play. This highlights how games can be the new playground or toybox for children. Not to replace these things, but to offer them in a new way that inspires creativity and engagement with the world.
 

 

Digital Stories Lists

These relate to games that tell stories in different ways. Like novels, picture books, movies and theatre, video games can create narratives. However, they do this in new and unexpected ways. They uncover some different styles of storytelling in video games.
 

 

Educational Lists

These relate to games with different educational benefits. Along with games that are designed to be educational, this includes games that can inspire learning and knowledge because of the worlds and stories they create. The collateral learning uncovered here is a glimpse into the ways games can help children learn about themselves, their community and the world.
 

 

Events Lists

These all relate to a specific event or festival.
 

 

Getting Started Lists

If you don't play games yourself (but would like to give it a go), you are on the right page. It can be hard to know where to start with video games. We have a list of great games for parents and guardians wanting to find games to play themselves. These are easy, quick and affordable games about interesting and mature topics.

If you want to try out games from specific genres (like Adventures, Puzzles and Narrative), the lists on this page offer hand picked selections that are great examples of these experiences. These are lists of games for people who don't play many video games.
 

 

Identity Lists

These relate to games that help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. This uncovers the important identity work that players are often doing in the games they play. Dress-up and role-play in the play room, video games offer a chance for us to be someone else for a while. Building understanding and compassion for ourselves and others.
 

 

Light Hearted Lists

Sometimes games are serious culture or competition. But often they are a way to blow off steam and have a lovely playful laugh with friends. Here are ways to discover games to just have fun with.
 

 

Locale Lists

Fundamental to video games is its ability to create a space and invite you into it. These spaces can be somewhere to escape. Somewhere to see your own world more clearly from. They can be zones where you can behave in a way you wouldn't in real life. The locale of the video games we play can be as powerful as any character, interaction or achievement. The places that games create stay with us like the memory of the views from a mountain.
 

 

Mental Health Lists

These are games that are helpful for mental health. This includes games that have been helpful for specific mental health challenges, as well as games that help us understand the challenge faced by the people we love. Some of these are designed to be used as a source of games that offer wellbeing in different ways.
 

 

Motion Gaming Lists

These are games that can be played with different sorts of motion controls. They focus on the options for different hardware and controllers, but also uncover the unusual interactions and physical engagement that video games offer.
 

 

Therapeutic Lists

The games in these lists are evaluated and subject to an activity analysis to determine their therapeutic potential. Meaning, therapy professionals may be able to use these games as part of the therapeutic process to help individuals in a variety of ways. The evaluation process and activity analysis were conducted by University of St. Augustine Doctoral Occupational Therapy student, Tyler Brinkman as part of their doctoral capstone project and reviewed by other professionals and academics in the field.

The in-depth activity analysis for each game can be read in Tyler Brinkman's Video Game Analysis. This provides the therapeutic benefits that each game was found to offer.

 

 

Top Games Lists

These are the games we pick out for being particularly great. They offer something unusual or go above and beyond in some way.