Your Guide to August’s Family Friendly Video Games
A calm before the fall storm, as children head back to school. And once again, Apple Arcade has a great lineup.
A summer of pools, pools, and more pools is headed towards the end. I know that “summer” is often categorized as June, July, and August, but as my kids have gotten older, it becomes clearer and clearer that summer is really just “July." You spend June waiting for the weather to warm up, July doing as much as you can, and August begins the anxious walk towards the start of school, even if the weather remains very hot.
As a summer person, I’m already sad it feels nearly over.
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!
One note: for some reason, many games did not have their prices or ratings available this month. This is common on Steam, where video games often do not announce their pricing information until the last second, but it was more widespread this month.
Fields of Mistria (PC) — August 3
Description: Start your new life! Build the farm of your dreams as you discover a world brimming with possibilities. Magic, romance, and adventure all await you in this nostalgic farming / life sim RPG!
Rating: N/A
Price: $13.99
One of many games that’s been kicking along in early access for a few years, and while there is no shortage of life sim games set on a farm, this one does appear to be one of the better ones. When PC Gamer played an earlier version in 2024, they argued “Fields of Mistria has a shot at becoming the face of a new generation of farming games.”
Big Walk (PS5, Switch 2, PC) — August 4
Description: Set out with your friends through a wide-open world full of challenges, puzzles, and discoveries. You’ll need to work together to find your way around, stay in contact using an assortment of tools and toys, and figure out new ways to communicate when you suddenly find yourself speechless.
Rating: E
Price: $19.99
I’m excited. I have this on a Switch 2 and Steam Machine so my nine-year-old can give it a whirl with me, but she came back from our vacation with strep throat. In the meantime, Game Informer was impressed, saying “It’s not just about the shared achievements and challenges, but about the virtual third space you can share together.”
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls (PS5, PC) — August 6
Description: Dive into fast-paced, skill-driven battles where team synergy and strategy shape every fight. Build your team of four from a diverse lineup of legendary Marvel heroes and villains, each with unique abilities, playstyles and rich backstories.
Rating: T
Price: $59.99
Never been a fighting game person. The one exception: I poured hundreds of hours into the Mortal Kombat games in my youth, but that had more to do with seeing the finishing moves more than anything else. (Plus, I was charmed by the mythology of the world. It might have been the first game world that really captured my attention?) Anyway, while Marvel Tokon is not a new Marvel vs. Capcom (sadly), it does appear to be a fighting game that almost anyone can dive into and have fun. According to Kotaku, “shaping up to be one of the most approachable fighting games out there.”
Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition (Apple Arcade) — August 6
Description: Jump into fast, fun, and uninterrupted football action with no ads, no in-app purchases, no currencies, and no paywalls. Lead & coach your team through every stage of the season in an authentic NFL football experience built for mobile arcade. Take control of every game, make strategic decisions, and guide your team from kickoff to championship glory. Whether you’re a longtime football fan or new to the sport, Madden Arcade makes it easy to jump in and play.
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
This is not the first time Madden is on mobile devices—2009, if you can believe it. But it’s first for Apple Arcade. The descriptions for these versions of the game always crack me up. “No ads!” “No in-app purchases!” “No currencies!” It’s plainly admitting the economies of these mobiles games purposely hostile. In any case, there aren’t really critic reviews of previous installments, and the vibe from people who played last year’s version echo are familiar: it’s pretty fun—but the economics are annoying.
Retro Bowl College+ (Apple Arcade) — August 6
Description: Enhance your experience as the new coach on campus with an expanded 12-man roster and Kick Return gameplay, use the detailed editor to tailor conferences, Bowl games and over 250 college teams to your liking, or dive into Exhibition Mode to create crazy matchups and see if your alma mater could hold their own against the best teams in the Pro league. With the brand new “League Style” feature you can change your conference alignments and Bowls to match schemes from 2022 though to 2026, or start your career in any year and roll through the changes as they happen!
Rating: 13+
Price: $6.99/month
I haven’t touched Retro Bowl College because my Illinois football team was awful while I was in school, but hey, why is the rating so different on this one? NFL Retro Bowl is 4+, while Retro Bowl College is 13+. Do they simulate keg stands in this one? These games rule and I’m very excited to dig back into Retro Bowl after a great Bears season.
NFL Retro Bowl ’27 (Apple Arcade) — August 6
Description: NFL Retro Bowl ‘26 features all the real teams and players from the NFL faithfully reproduced in glorious retro pixel-art style! Start your NFL coaching career by assembling your roster from a choice of over 2,000 real-life NFL & NFLPA players. Take on the real teams from the AFC and NFC, manage your roster, handle the press, and play the key moments on the field to take your team to the Super Bowl and write your name into the Hall of Fame!
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
I watch football games with my neighbor. Our families get together, the kids play, and we slowly sip beers as football games play on. We don’t watch evening games together because it’s usually when the kids are getting ready for the next day, but, uh, the Bears were apparently good last year and they’re playing a ton of evening game this year? Which means I’ll probably be playing a lot of Retro Bowl to try and calm my nerves.
Water Sort Puzzle: Get Color+ (Apple Arcade) — August 6
Description: Need personal coloring therapy? Get Color - Water Sort Puzzle+ is a great stress and anxiety relief. Thousands of colorful and inspiring color puzzle, designed to relax, expel negative thoughts and take away all the worries. Download Get Color - Water Sort Puzzle+ and get a personal relaxing colores puzzle with a broad range of levels. Find the most interesting rainbow puzzles and sort them any time, whenever you feel down. Get Color - Water Sort Puzzle+ is always here to help!
Rating: 16+
Price: $6.99/month
I haven’t thought about one of these games since my oldest was briefly obsessed with one during a flight. She asked for my help with a puzzle, prompting me to hand the tablet to my wife. I’m sorry, but these puzzles make absolutely no sense for my brain.
Everyday Puzzles: Mini Games+ (Apple Arcade) — August 6
Description: A hub of word puzzles and brain teasers to keep you entertained daily! Daily puzzles plus unlimited access to our entire calendar archive-your puzzle fun never ends!
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
By all accounts, a well-made series of daily puzzle games. When I looked up the one-star reviews, every single one was complaining about the litany of advertisements.
Royalty Free-For-All (PC) — August 11
Description: This hilarious party brawler features iconic characters, stages, and music reimagined for a modern generation—and simplifies combat, including an all new PARTY MODE, perfect for friends new to the genre.
Rating: N/A
Price: N/A
There are courtliness Smash Bros.-like games, but I’ll admit one where you’re jumping and punching as the Big Bad Wolf, Dorothy, and other literary classics got a chuckle out of me. Plus, I’m convinced this screen shot shows one stage is the, uh, backrooms?
Grounded 2: Into The Abyss (Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS5) — August 11
Description: For the first time, players will be able to explore both above and below the water’s surface, uncovering new locations, new challenges, and new mysteries hidden beneath the pond. The deeper you go, the more there is to discover.
Rating: T
Price: Free
Beyond updates, this is the launch of the sequel on PlayStation 5. Given the ongoing tumult at Microsoft, it’s fair to have concerns about the future of Grounded, but it would shock me if this didn’t continue to receive resources. In my recent interview with the developers, we chatted about the game’s playful approach to “friction.”
Pro Jank Footy (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch, PC) — August 12
Description: Pro Jank Footy is an over-the-top arcade comedy-sports game. Score goals to unleash game-changing power-ups, build a deck of absurd abilities, and tackle a season where no two matches are ever the same—solo or with your mates.
Rating: N/A
Price: N/A
You might not know anything about the Australian Football League—I am among you—but don’t let that stop you from trying Pro Jank Footy. I tried the demo months back and was hooked. Quest Daily was charmed, saying “Pro Jank Footy is a gloriously unlicensed, proudly ridiculous arcade love letter to Aussie Rules footy. If it keeps kicking on like this, we might finally have the footy game we’ve been crying out for.”
Madden NFL 27 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) — August 13
Description: Run the league one decision at a time in EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 27, powered by the all-new Persona Engine.
Rating: E
Price: $69.99
Earlier this year, I accidentally archived an email that would have allowed me the opportunity to interview Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Alas. Tragedy.
Wild Blue Skies (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X) — August 13
Description: Wild Blue Skies reimagines the classic on-rails adventures of the ‘90s. Join Bowie Stray and the Blue Bombers as they soar through breathtaking skies on a mission to save the world, battling Grimclaw’s forces in this action-packed arcade shooter built for newcomers and genre veterans alike!
Rating: N/A
Price: N/A
I was left cold trying this earlier this year, but given that I was similarly left cold while playing Nintendo’s Star Fox 64, I justmight be cold on old school Star Fox right now. Lords of Gaming was much higher on it, saying “everything I loved about the best Star Fox games, but with modernized controls and that same arcade fun they offered.”
Pokémon Pokopia (Update) + Expansion Pass (Part One) (Switch 2) — August 2026
Description: Enjoy an underwater town, with new Pokémon to encounter, furniture, and outfits for Ditto. A free update is also coming to Pokémon Pokopia this August that adds a new move: Dive. With Dive, you’ll be able to explore the world on the ocean floor and enjoy a life with Pokémon living under the sea.
Rating: E
Price: $34.99
There are a couple of reasons this game didn’t take in my household, despite being over the moon initially. One, my kids didn’t want to play. My visions of collaborating on a sprawling town? Shattered. Two, the game doesn’t have a universal box to share items and resources. I simply do not have time to manage stuff like that. If the game adds a solution to that issue in the future, I might seriously consider coming back.