Your Guide to February's Family Friendly Video Games
Another sleepy month, unless you're into Apple's offerings, some teen-centric horror, or Mario and friends playing tennis.
It’s yet another slower-paced month in terms of kid and family-friendly games, which makes sense as we still exit the holidays. It’s also fine with me, because my nine-year-old has become obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, anyway. Will that passion last? That’s why I haven’t written about it yet; the thing about my kids and video games is how fast the fire burns. Few games turn out to be legitimately sticky.
Anything you’re looking forward to, or are we looking at another backlog month?
If you represent these games and have a potentially interesting story to share about how these games consider kids as part of their audience, do get in touch with me!
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII (Apple Arcade) — February 5
Description: Sid Meier’s Civilization VIl is now available on Apple Arcade, empowering you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known! This is the authentic Civilization VIl base game experience, bringing the latest entry in the award-winning strategy franchise to your Apple devices including Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Rating: 13+
Price: $6.99/month
The last time I seriously tried to play a Civilization game was Civilization Revolution, where they tried to simply the franchise for consoles. It was pretty neat, actually! But I am the last person to ask for advice on strategy games, because they simply do nothing for me. However, IGN’s review of Civilization VI on iPad was really glowing, calling it “about as good of a PC-to-iPad conversion as we could have hoped for.”
Retrocade (Apple Arcade) — February 5
(The above video is taken while using an Apple Vision Pro).
Description: Step into the neon glow of the 80’s and relive the thrill of the arcade like never before. Retrocade brings the most popular and legendary games of classic arcades together in one place!
Rating: 9+
Price: $6.99/month
A neat enough idea that’s hard to say much about without trying it. Of course, the nicest benefit is that any games on it—or added later—will be “free,” aka the monthly cost of an Apple Arcade subscription, or, more likely, in an Apple One subscription.
Felicity’s Door (Apple Arcade) — February 5
Description: Felicity’s Door is a rhythm game that takes you on a journey through Tom and Felicity’s magical world of dreams. Come and join the twins and their lovable bear Mi-chan as they adventure through the depths of space, tops of seaside cliffs, and through sprawling cyberpunk cities. What will Tom and Felicity dream about tonight?
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
Not much to go on with this one; this isn’t a developer with a long pedigree int music/rhythm games. It’s actually developer behind the Advance Wars-inspired strategy game Tiny Metal from some years back? (A sequel is on the horizon.) Which isn’t to say Felicity’s Door isn’t any good, but there’s not a track record to point to.
I Love Hue Too+ (Apple Arcade) — February 5
Description: As in the first game, players arrange coloured mosaic tiles to create perfectly ordered spectrums. However, I LOVE HUE TOO includes over thirty brand new geometric tiling patterns to create mind-bending challenges that test the player’s colour perception and logic even further.
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
Naturally, the first thing I see when I look up the App Store version of I Love Hue Too is a complaint about ads. So they’d like this version of the game, at least! Hardcore Droid seemed to enjoy the original release, saying it’s not “super intense, but in these trying times, something calm and relaxing is probably what we all need at this point.”
Mario Tennis Fever (Switch 2) — February 12
Description: Join Mario and friends for over-the-top tennis mayhem! Use topspins, slices, lobs, and other familiar shots—along with fancy footwork and new defensive maneuvers—to outpace your opponents on the court. Keep a rally going, build up your Fever Gauge, and unleash powerful Fever Shots that can be augmented with special effects by equipping Fever Rackets.
Rating: E
Price: $69.99
2018 doesn’t feel that long ago, but between the release of the last edition of Mario Tennis and Mario Tennis Fever, it’s been nearly a decade. You’re cruel, time. Nobody has gone hands-on with Mario Tennis Fever yet, though I suspect that’ll change soon. It’s been the same developer (Camelot) behind this series since the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color versions back in 2000. The series actually premiered on Virtual Boy, though.
Reanimal (PS5 Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC) — February 13
Description: The original creators of Little Nightmares & Little Nightmares II have returned to take you on a more terrifying journey than ever before. In this co-op horror adventure game, you play as a brother & sister who go through hell to rescue their missing friends. Exploring by boat and on land, you must use your wits to survive, work together to escape the hellish island, and the dark secret that haunts you.
Rating: M
Price: $39.99
Okay, okay, this one is a bit of a goof. I showed my kids the trailer for this one, hoping I could convince my more adventurous nine-year-old into doing co-op with me, but both children shook their head and called me crazy. Guess I’ll be doing this alone.
Poppy’s Playtime: Chapter 5 (PC) — February 18
Description: In the latest terrifying chapter of the Poppy Playtime saga, you are propelled further into the gruesome depths of the factory, with Playtime’s security system Huggy Wuggy in hot pursuit. Abandoned by your only allies, your fight for survival gets all the more challenging as you race further into the abyss that is His domain.
Rating: T
Price: TBA
Less of a goof? I actually have a Poppy’s Playtime interview I’ve been sitting on since before the holidays. I’ll have to dust that off in time for this release next month. This series exists alongside Five Nights at Freddy’s in being “horror” meant for young people who probably don’t consider themselves “horror” fans but do like to be scared. The fan response to the last chapter seemed a bit mixed, but I’m out of my depth here.
Hey Patrick, did your family opt for transferring a prior island for AC:NH to Switch 2?
We've got a funny case in our family where everyone (minus Dad) decided the original island stays on the Switch 1, but that's been left disconnected from the TV for the Switch 2, so the SW1 is now handheld only here. There's excitement in the house for the new update, but it's rough looking at the launch Switch's screen at this point compared to SW2. Leaving it on the original console means we don't get the full update to the game, and I'm not doing the grind again for a new island (since every Switch gets its own island/save, which is still a Nintendo decision that drives me at least a little crazy). Any other Crossplay readers out there running into odd game save stuff between multiple switches, including Switch 2?