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

[strumpusplunket]

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...

 

[strumpusplunket]

Was going to recommend rocket league but guess not!

What about something like Guild Wars 2? I know it's a MMO but seems to tick a few boxes anyway.

Yeah, we tried Rocket League, but it didn't really do anything for any of us really.

GW2 I've never played. Kind of want to keep them away from online communities still for a bit, so I don't know if that's really possible in that game?

divinity original sin 1 and 2 have fairly solid co-op and are different kind of games from the usual fair deep RPGs with turn based combat. Diablo 3 is pretty good these days as well.

I've also heard good things about don't starve together, though I've not played it

I love D:OS 1 and 2. I kind of considered them, but they're sooo long! Diablo 3 I didn't realise had co-op! I'll check that out, cheers.

Will look at Don't Starve Together too. I didn't see the attraction with the solo version, but co-op might add more interest.

 

[strumpusplunket]

Naw that's fair.

Rayman Legends or Castle Crashers maybe?

Rayman Legends looks quite fun. I'll add to that to the list, cheers!

 

[strumpusplunket]

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.

Yeah, I think this quite often. I like to show them videos of Frogger, Pac-Man, Jetpac, etc. to show them how far games have come since I first experienced them. It's really incredible.

Rayman Co-op is absolutely fantastic, definitely highly recommended!

Excellent! Cheers, I'll see if I can find a good deal in the forthcoming sales and pick up a few copies.

Dungeon Defenders
Gauntlet
Hero Siege

These look great too! Just had a look on Steam. The first two especially look just the kind of thing we might enjoy.

Ok, this is cool - building up a nice little list now!

 

[strumpusplunket]

Trine 1 & 2
Monaco: Whats Yours is Mine

The three games above, all are absolutely fantastic playing together (local co-op and 3 players is the perfect number)

I tried Monaco solo and to be honest didn't even get what I was supposed to be doing. Is this one of those games you have to play co-op to really appreciate the gameplay?

For some hilarious manic co-op couch fun.. Overcooked.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/448510/Overcooked/

Yes - Overcooked is on my list too. I'm guessing this is better for couch co-op by the looks of it, so could grab a copy for the lounge PC for Christmas.

may be some of these (i've removed the ones already mensioned) :
a virus named tom
alien swarm & reactive drop
assult android cactus
battleblock theater
boarder lands 1/2/pre sequal
broforce
castle crashers
dont starve togeather
dota
double dragon: neon
jamestown
left for dead 1 & 2
lovers in a dangerous spacetime
magicka
metal slug 3
moonbase alpha
octodadd
portal 2
sanctum 2
terraria
the cave
The Expendabros
tiny brains
tourchlight 2
worms armageddon

Whoah - quite a list, thanks. Will have a look through. And of course - Worms, how did I forget Worms! I prefer versus rather than co-op, but it would be fun if the boys could get into it.

Borderlands I have a feeling is a bit adult and I notice it's PEGI 18, but looking back on it I'm not really sure I can actually remember any specific sections that would be too inappropriate, other than that it's just generally chaotically violent.

 

[strumpusplunket]

Stardew Valley recently had co-op mp added, no idea if the mp aspect is any good but the game is certainly kid friendly.

I may have sunk some hours into this game in the past.

Had no idea it had co-op. Not sure I can go back to it though.

I've got a nice list now. Including a good number of three-way co-op games, which is cool.

Some of them seem to be quite cheap as well, which helps

Will be keeping an eye on the sales.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

 

[strumpusplunket]

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!)

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! ) 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?)

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.

 

[strumpusplunket]

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?

 

[strumpusplunket]

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!

 

[strumpusplunket]

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

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!

 

[strumpusplunket]

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.

Borderlands 2 with the blood turned off is fine.

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

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!

 

[strumpusplunket]

i wish i had Kids so i could play some of the listed games with them

Yeah, looking forward to some father-sons co-op!

7 days to die would be ideal, its a mix between minecraft and dayz with unique tower defence element. Its a great game to play PVE with a few people in coop. You explore a apocalyptic world filled with zombies and collect materials, weapons and ammo to build a base and survive. What makes it different from other similar games is that every 7 days there is a blood moon and your base will be descended upon by waves of zombies and you have to try and hold out till morning. So for the first 7 days its a race against time to build a base and set spikes up etc. I think your kids will love it.

It does have blood, but its zombie blood. I wouldn't say its that graphic, but you might want to just google it to make sure. If you do decide to give it a try i'd opt into the experimental branch as the latest Alpha adds a ton of content and improves AI. It does however mean that your save could be corrupted when they update the game, but it should be safe over the holidays as they probably wont be updating the game for a bit.

That sounds great, actually. It looks great too. BUT - the first screenies I've seen of it seem to involve hacking zombies up with an axe! I would be in too much trouble...