(Co-op) PC games for kids for Xmas?

varkanoid · 20 Dec 2018 at 22:33

V F said:
It must be amazing to be a child with gaming and technology right now. Imagine what it'll be like when they're 20 and still young.

My 6 year old racks up 12-15 kills on Fortnite without blinking and I struggle to get 1 and my other 9 year old can now beat me at FIFA.
Might not be particularly what you are looking for but we also play World of Warships and have can private voice chat too. Make sure whatever you decide on you both get headphones and can chat as it makes a big difference when in different rooms.

plus one for Turbo Toybox they love that.

danewesley · 21 Dec 2018 at 07:20

Rust, it can be toxic as hell but find a decent server and it's a great game to play together and with the wipe cycles there's always replayability.

strumpusplunket · 21 Dec 2018 at 08:35

Emo_hug said:
with the steam sale i have just remembered :
Turbo Toybox
Warhammer: Vermintide 1 & 2 - check for violence though may not be what your looking for.
Factorio

try some of these :
Cuphead
A Hat in Time
ARK: Survival Evolved - Private Server
Prison Architect - this just got multiplayer
just cause series
payday
ASTRONEER
Neverwinter Nights
Golf With Your Friends

Kerbal Space Program - single player but you can set them head to head to see who can reach object x 1st i.e. reach the moon / orbit the moon, get in to space / 1st to launch ect

I like the idea of an ARK private server. I didn't consider that, tbh. And it has dinosaurs! My kids do like dinosaurs.

(Just Cause and Vermintide are way too violent, though!)

varkanoid said:
My 6 year old racks up 12-15 kills on Fortnite without blinking and I struggle to get 1 and my other 9 year old can now beat me at FIFA.
Might not be particularly what you are looking for but we also play World of Warships and have can private voice chat too. Make sure whatever you decide on you both get headphones and can chat as it makes a big difference when in different rooms.

plus one for Turbo Toybox they love that.

Heh, playing Fortnite with my 11 year old requires all my years of gaming ingenuity to even get out with any honour intact! He still gets disorientated and surprised (and very frustrated! :cool:

) if I keep on the move and snipe him, but if he manages to get within about 15 in-game feet of me I'm done for - just can't compete with his reaction times and erratic movement!

Will have to have a look at World of Warships.

We do all have headsets, so will need to set up Discord I guess (is that still the go-to program for online voice comms?)

danewesley said:
Rust, it can be toxic as hell but find a decent server and it's a great game to play together and with the wipe cycles there's always replayability.

I'd not considered Rust for the same reason I'd not considered ARK - online toxicity. If it's possible to set up a private server that might work, but then I don't know if that would ruin the game (I've never played it).

Anyway, so far I've grabbed some extra copies of Torchlight II, Sanctum 2, Gauntlet, Orcs Must Die 2 and Portal 2 in the Steam sale. That should keep us busy for a while. I'm quite excited about doing some co-op gaming with the kids, so hopefully this will herald a new trend for gaming in our house.

bakes0310 · 21 Dec 2018 at 09:28

V F said:
It must be amazing to be a child with gaming and technology right now. Imagine what it'll be like when they're 20 and still young.

Pretty much like it was for us who's first gaming experience was on a Amiga and Mrs, it's come a long way. Know what you mean though gaming will be even more advanced and life like.

Spacedeck · 21 Dec 2018 at 09:58

I'd always recommend Overcooked 2. Very fun to play and the game supports up to 4 players. Working together is key to success.

strumpusplunket · 21 Dec 2018 at 10:06

Spacedeck said:
I'd always recommend Overcooked 2. Very fun to play and the game supports up to 4 players. Working together is key to success.

One thing I couldn't figure out about this from reviews - it says "local co-op" on the Steam tags, does this mean couch co-op, or can it be played via online/LAN co-op too?

Spacedeck · 21 Dec 2018 at 10:18

strumpusplunket said:
One thing I couldn't figure out about this from reviews - it says "local co-op" on the Steam tags, does this mean couch co-op, or can it be played via online/LAN co-op too?

2 is both local and online. Just checked and on the menu you have the option of inviting from your friends list. The first game was only local (couch) coop, so avoid that one.

strumpusplunket · 21 Dec 2018 at 10:30

Spacedeck said:
2 is both local and online. Just checked and on the menu you have the option of inviting from your friends list. The first game was only local (couch) coop, so avoid that one.

Cool. Thanks for clearing that up! I wasn't sure what type of co-op it was referring to, and I did have a feeling the first was couch only.

Cheers!

lltfdaniel · 21 Dec 2018 at 13:58

https://store.steampowered.com/app/548430/Deep_Rock_Galactic/

linktoinsanity · 21 Dec 2018 at 14:05

Would Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop be suitable?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/563560/Alien_Swarm_Reactive_Drop/

It's free if that helps...

bigmike20vt · 21 Dec 2018 at 17:35

I forgot to mention what about classic 2d shooters? Skyforce is often cheap as chips (I paid 69p) and has couch 2p. It is one of my most played steam games I love it

Parky · 21 Dec 2018 at 21:04

Something a little bit different, what about Path of Exile?

Probably the best aRPG going at the moment with tonnes of content in the latest season that can be done solo or as a group. It has a dark atmosphere in places with a bit of blood, but nothing graphic. Plus it's free to play.

strumpusplunket · 21 Dec 2018 at 22:33

I'm not really a fan of 2D shooters. No real reason; they've just never done anything for me.

Parky said:
Something a little bit different, what about Path of Exile?

Probably the best aRPG going at the moment with tonnes of content in the latest season that can be done solo or as a group. It has a dark atmosphere in places with a bit of blood, but nothing graphic. Plus it's free to play.

Ahhh, I played through this game about one-and-a-half times a while ago and thought it was really good. I'd not thought of the co-op angle for some reaosn. I think I just forgot it had that option. And as you say, it's free! Good call!

Teh_Next · 22 Dec 2018 at 04:19

strumpusplunket said:
I have two boys who love their gaming PCs. They're just about to turn 12 and 10 and most years I try to get them a game or two to play over Christmas.

In the past, given their age, this had been largely limited to the Lego games, Scribblenauts and the like, but now the eldest at least is getting to an age where it feels I can push the envelope a bit in terms of potential games.

Obviously I'm thinking nothing too graphically violent, gory or with adult sexual themes, but something between, say, Borderlands level of violence as too extreme on one end and the tameness of Lego games on the other.

Ideally, something we could play co-op together would be great. If all three of us could play together, even better!

Both kids love world-building games, crafting and exploring and action (Sims 4, Subnautica, Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite are their staples at the moment). I love my RPG, strategy and open-world games. None of us are fans of sports or driving games.

I was hoping to be able to co-op with them on Subnautica but it looks like that's not straightforward to set up.

So far I've come up with Portal 2 and Orcs Must Die 2 - which probably indicates my inspiration circuits are not running at optimum capacity...

Trine.
1 and 2
Haven't played 3 but, 1 and 2 are great co-op games and fit the family bill.

Participant · 22 Dec 2018 at 07:18

Cuphead is brilliant.

Yaayuh! · 22 Dec 2018 at 12:05

Participant said:
Cuphead is brilliant.

It’s also balls hard!

chroniclard · 22 Dec 2018 at 12:25

Borderlands 2 with the blood turned off is fine.

LostCorpse · 22 Dec 2018 at 13:19

Zero-K - free rts and looks like you can invite people to your games campain. maybe wortha look at some time.

strumpusplunket · 22 Dec 2018 at 13:39

Rossi~ said:
It’s also balls hard!

Yeah, that's something I'd heard, which puts me off it being suitable for easily-frustrated kids. It looks amazing though in terms of its art style.

chroniclard said:
Borderlands 2 with the blood turned off is fine.

Hmmm. I may have to reinstall it on my PC and have a look.

Emo_hug said:
Zero-K - free rts and looks like you can invite people to your games campain. maybe wortha look at some time.

May well look into this, but the screenshots on the Steam page for this game look pretty confusing!

LewisRaz · 22 Dec 2018 at 13:50

Get them(and yourself) move or die!

I am not responsible for any arguements that break out