(You might remember #2 from your childhood!)
(You might remember #2 from your childhood!)
Header image courtesy of Steam.
Gaming is something everyone should be able to enjoy – while it’s often marketed toward adults, it has a lot of benefits for kids, too. It can be a great tool for developing motor and reasoning skills, and is a fun and engaging way to learn certain skills that kids might be otherwise uninterested in, like reading or math. It’s also a great way to hone social skills, whether they’re doing co-op with their friends or playing in a widely online world.
If your child is showing interest in gaming, it’s a good idea to encourage them – getting them some fun kids’ gaming merch is a great way to engage with them and show your support, but you can also introduce them to some new games. Finding kid-friendly games can be tough, but luckily, we’ve got you covered with 6 of our favorite Steam games for kids, including:
Young Alba is ready to visit her parents on Seccaral, a fictional Mediterranean island – but when she sees an animal in danger, she has to help! Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is an inspiring little game: it depicts a polluted town, but also so many people willing to step in and fix it. Your child will love running around and identifying all sorts of new animals (one Steam reviewer even noted it got them into birding), and it will teach them not only about the world around them, but also how to take action within their community to protect it. A Wildlife Adventure is a pretty short game, but one with no set time limit, so it’s easy to pause and come back to it later.
As a bonus, the devs plant a tree as a ‘thank you’ for each purchase and download – and even though they planted over a million trees within the first year of the game’s release, they’re still going!
🎮 Buy Alba: A Wildlife Adventure on Steam
An oldie but a goodie – you may even have played Spore yourself as a kid! Spore lets you create all sorts of fun critters, from adorable rascals to crimes against nature, and evolve your own civilization and universe all the way from the cell stage to the space age. It’s a great way to encourage creativity in your kids, and fantastic for any future scientists out there.
If your kid’s been begging you to get a puppy, Wobbledogs may be the perfect solution – their dogs will start out fairly normal, but will mutate as they go on, influenced by the food they eat. It’s a good introduction to ideas about genetics, and allows your kid to be creative while also learning some responsibility, as they get to design appealing habitats for their Wobbledogs and even interact with them directly by petting them or helping them get unstuck from places.
Note that Wobbledogs can die by default, either from age or neglect, but you can disable this in the gameplay settings if it’s something your child might be sensitive to.
LEGO Star Wars is another game you might have played in your childhood (I know I spent hours playing it on the Wii with my brothers). Now that it’s available on PC, your child can through all six of the original Star Wars movies together in one game, and exercise those creative muscles as they make new builds and solve fun puzzles in order to progress (or have fun shooting some droids). They’ll love recognizing the scenes from their favorite movie, and have a blast playing through them themself. As a bonus, the Steam version has local two-player co-op, meaning they can play with a friend or a sibling (or with you!).
🎮 Buy LEGO Star Wars - The Complete Saga on Steam
Does your child have a bit of a mischievous streak? If so, Untitled Goose Game might be the perfect gift for them! Untitled Goose Game allows players to become a horrible little goose, and run around inconveniencing people. Steal, set up pranks, conduct psychological warfare, and honk to your heart’s content. It’s not just fun, though – it has a lot of little puzzles that require creative thinking to get past them, making it a great learning opportunity.
🎮 Buy Untitled Goose Game on Steam
A lot of people can be scared of spiders, but they’re our friends! Not only are they cute, but they’re an important part of our ecosystem. Whether your little ones love spiders or are a little uncertain about them, Webbed is a great way for them to put themselves in a spider’s many shoes. Play as a spider rescuing her boyfriend from a mean ol’ bird, and use webs to create your own path to victory. You may even make some friends along the way!
That’s a wrap on our list of the best games on Steam for kids (though there are plenty more out there). We hope you’ve found something for your young ones to enjoy – and if you have your own recommendations, feel free to drop them in the comments!
