Your Guide to July’s Family Friendly Video Games
A surprisingly solid lineup of video games, as the heat rages on.
Happy 4th? Other than the whole America falling apart thing, I guess.
Summer might seem like a sleepy time for video games, but that does not appear to be the case in 2025. It’s probably helped by the launch of Switch 2. Despite reports of disappointing sales for non-Nintendo games (so far), it makes sense companies want to be front and center as people are thinking about games for their new console(s).
Where is everyone else at with their Switch 2? My kids flipped in the first few days of the Switch 2 being in the house, but beyond the initial disappointment, they have floated back to their individual tablets, rather than asking to play Dad’s Switch 2. It makes my decision to avoid a second Switch 2 make sense, but it’s a little surprising.
(Children are also habitual. If I ask them to play Mario Kart World with me, they will.)
Switch 2 really launches for me this month, anyway. Come on, Donkey Kong Bananza!
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!
Angry Birds Bounce (Apple Arcade) – July 3
Description: Join Red, Chuck, Bomb, and the rest of the gang on a brand-new adventure. Angry Birds Bounce combines the classic charm of Angry Birds with an innovative arcade brick-breaker twist. When the pigs take over their islands, the birds must bounce back — literally — combining into powerful flocks and launching themselves to defeat an army of piggies and reclaim their home. With strategic rogue-lite gameplay, each level is a new challenge where players will master precision shots, unlock exciting power-ups, and build unique combos during each run.
Rating: 9+
Price: $6.99/month
Angry Birds feels a little desperate now. I guess they’re making a third movie that comes out in a few years? Did you know they made a second one? I’m not entirely sure who the audience is for these games anymore, but it’s got huge brand recognition.
Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD+ (Apple Arcade) – July 3
Description: The latest game in the award-winning tower defense saga builds upon the lightning-paced and captivating gameplay of its predecessors, but raises the stakes with more power, chaos, and strategy than ever before. For the first time in the series, players can command two heroes in each stage. With 15 epic heroes to choose from, 17 unique towers, 32 upgradable characters, 22 detailed campaign stages, and over 40 types of enemies, Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance TD+ offers thrilling gameplay, the signature humor that fans love, and endless replay. The game includes all DLCs and is playable across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Rating: 9+
Price: $6.99/month
Not my thing, so take any thoughts from me with a grain of salt. Instead, let’s hear from Digital Chumps, who quite liked the original game: “Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance from developer Ironhide Game Studio is the best in the series. It has beautiful gameplay balance, adequate amounts of grind thanks to its challenging difficulty, and gives a bevy of reasons to replay it multiple times.”
Suika Game+ (Apple Arcade) – July 3
Description: The viral puzzle game where players drop fruits into a box is coming to Apple Arcade. The goal of Suika Game - Aladdin X+ is to combine matching fruits into bigger creations, culminating into the ultimate fruit: a watermelon. The game’s energetic physics add a fun challenge. When dropping and merging bouncing fruits, players must strategically keep them from overflowing out of the box. They will compete with other players around the world and aim for the top of the daily, monthly, or all-time leaderboards.
Rating: 4+
Price: $6.99/month
There’s a decent chance you’ve already played one of the million clones of this game!
Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets+ (Apple Arcade) – July 3
Description: Creativity meets responsibility as players immerse themselves in vibrant 3D worlds to color, care, and play with over 90 adorable digital pets. Inspired by the top-selling Crayola toy, this game lets young players nurture empathy and responsibility through interactive pet care activities like grooming, feeding, and washing, while also boosting attention and memory skills with detail-oriented play. With endless creative fun using digital Crayola art tools and imaginative journeys across colorful 3D environments, Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Pets+ transforms the traditional pet toy into an engaging digital experience.
Rating: $6.99/month
Price: 4+
My youngest was super into the physical versions of these toys for a minute, charmed by being able to color something, erase it, and do it all over again. By all accounts the mobile take on this is well done, having already existed prior to this Apple Arcade version, but I think it’s possible my five-year-old has graduated beyond this, as well.
EA Sports College Football 26 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) – July 10
Description: Bring Glory Home in EA SPORTS College Football 26 and experience the world of college football. Whatever path to greatness you choose, from high school recruit to the Heisman, or as a coach, you can forge your legacy. Rep your colors across 136 FBS schools featuring over 300 authentic coaches, 2,700 new plays and 10,000 college athletes with upgraded abilities. Sharpen your playstyle with new offensive and defensive mechanics to prove your program belongs at the top.
Rating: E
Price: $69.99
Every year, I think about trying a football game. The reception to last year’s game was mostly positive, but as IGN’s review noted, the game felt unfinished: “It isn’t a bad game, and it certainly gets the on-field action right, but it’s not a great one, either. Like any good-but-not-great football team, there’s a solid foundation here; you just hope it can reach its full potential somewhere down the line. We’ll get ‘em next year.”
Islanders: New Shores (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S/One, Switch, PC) – July 10
Description: The next chapter in the beloved minimalist city-building franchise is here. Islanders: New Shores invites you back to a world of tranquil creativity, now reimagined with expanded gameplay, stunning visuals, and a host of fresh features that build on the charm of the original.
Rating: E
Price: $9.99
There are many “city builder” games, but the Islanders series is more chill than the others. Instead of trying to build a sprawling empire, it’s more about a high school. In that sense, it’s more puzzle-centric than most city builders. Nintendo World Report enjoyed the original, saying: “It’s a relaxing little puzzle game that just put me in a fantastic zenlike mood and let my brains focus on finding simple solutions to achieve my own goals. I think that it works wonders for short pick up and play sessions.”
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S/One, Switch 1/2, PC) – July 11
Description: Get hyped for the legendary franchise to return with Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater 3 + 4. Everything you loved is back, but revamped with more skaters, new parks, gnarlier tricks, eardrum shattering music, plus a whole lot more.
Rating: T
Price: $49.99
I fell off the Tony Hawk series after the second one, I think. Banger soundtracks, during an era where I was finding quite a few of my favorite bands from video game soundtracks. That’s actually how I fell for David Bowie, because he starred in and made music for an early, weird Quantic Dream game called Omikron: The Nomad Soul.
Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2) – July 17
Description: With DK’s brute force and Pauline’s special singing abilities, you can crash through walls, carve tunnels with your fists, punch straight down into the ground, and even tear off chunks of terrain to swing around and throw in groundbreaking exploration. The more you smash, the more areas open up to explore.
Rating: E10+
Price: $69.99
It’s funny, you’d think playing a video game would help inform how excited you are for a game, but when Nintendo let me try Donkey Kong Bananza in March, it told me very little about what the game was truly up to. The most recent Nintendo Direct, however, suggests we may have a certified banger on our hands, and as I wrote recently, my children are really excited for this to come out. They want to play co-op with me and weren’t disappointed to find out it’s in a lower stakes partner capacity.
Shadow Labyrinth (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 1/2, PC) – July 17
Description: Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer and a genre-twisting alternate take on the iconic PAC-MAN. As Swordsman No. 8, awoken by a floating yellow orb, PUCK, on a mysterious planet amidst relics of wars past, you are chosen to become the instrument of its will. To survive you will discover many secrets, consume your enemies, and grow from prey to the apex predator as you embrace your true purpose.
Rating: T
Price: $29.99
This is probably for the slightly older children in your life, if it’s for anyone at all? I played this briefly earlier this year and came away genuinely confused at the whole project. It doesn’t seem like a bad game, but in a sea of Metroid-inspired video games, you have to do something special to stand out. I’m not sure violent Pac-Man is enough.
Monument Valley 3 (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S/One, Switch) – July 22
Description: Monument Valley 3 takes you beyond the monuments and into the open sea. As Noor, you’ll navigate stunning, changing environments, solve mind-bending puzzles, and uncover the secrets of the Sacred Light. With her village threatened by rising tides, Noor must chart her own course—and discover her own strength—in this stunning, emotional adventure.
Rating: E
Price: $19.99
I adored the first Monument Valley. I…didn’t play the sequel. Can’t remember why. These are not story games, might as well just dump into the third one, right? I should download it on my Switch 2, honestly. Unfortunately, reviews for Monument Valley III, previously a Netflix exclusive, were a little mixed, with Eurogamer saying: “The third one strikes me as being frustrating because it has all the problems of the first two, until it suddenly doesn't anymore. You get a couple of levels where new ideas come in and they're as playful and expressive and fun to tinker with as you could hope. And then the game's over - for now. It concludes just as it feels like it's getting started.”
Doronko Wanko (Switch) – July 23
Description: DORONKO WANKO is a DORONKO Action Game. In this game, You can become a cute, innocent Pomeranian, make your master's home messy and dirty. "Will the master be angry with me?" Don't worry. Because you are a sweet doggie.
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
People have even comparing this game to de Blob, an older but wonderful platformer about translating a black and white space to color. That activates something deep in my soul. Higher Plain Games had this to say: “Doronko Wanko translates from Japanese as Muddy Dog. Doronko is a mud event about getting as messy as possible and Doronko Wanko takes this principle and applies a De Blob gameplay loop to it.”
Wheel World (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S/One, PC) – July 23
Description: You are Kat, a young cyclist with one mission: save Wheel World from total collapse. Explore a stunning open world filled with impressive vistas, hidden secrets, and races that will test your skills. Customize your bike with an endless array of parts, from sleek speedsters to off-road beasts—there's no limit to how you can ride.
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
This is from the developer of Nidhogg? Yes. Plus, it has one of my favorite things when it comes to playing games with my kids: a big world that has lots to do, even if you ignore the “objectives.” TheGamer played it and had good things to say: “Cruising around gorgeous landscapes while listening to an original synth-pop soundtrack from Italians Do It Better is exactly as enjoyable as it sounds, while the races show off the high level of precision and care that went into creating this bike-riding fantasy.”
Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch 2) – July 24
Description: Enjoy 20 new minigames using Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, HD rumble 2, and the system's built-in microphone. Some minigames can be played by plugging in a compatible USB-C camera. You can also play 78 minigames previously included with the Super Mario Party Jamboree game, too—in greater detail!
Rating: E
Price: $79.99 (Full Game) / $19.99 (Upgrade)
I want Mario Party to work in my family. It was a complete disaster when this game originally came out, with my oldest getting upset that we were giving the youngest preferential treatment, but if we didn’t give her preferential treatment, the whole enterprise was going to fall apart. It fell apart anyway. The camera stuff seems neat, and I’m hopeful that with everyone one year older, we’ll be in a better place for this.
Grounded 2 (Xbox Series X/S, PC) – July 25
Description: When you've been shrunk to the size of an ant, what was once familiar is now a wild, uncharted frontier. Traverse sprawling manmade spaces overgrown with nature with buggies that can fight alongside with you, uncover hidden secrets, and fight to survive in a world much larger than the backyard. The playground may seem familiar, but beneath its bright colors and towering structures lie mysteries hidden in plain sight. Are you ready to uncover them?
Rating: T
Price: $29.99 / Included With Game Pass
I’ve heard good things about the original, especially when it comes to families playing together. We might give this a shot? The one problem being that it’s Xbox and PC-based to start, and my Xbox currently lives in my office. All the HDMI inputs are taken up. An IGN preview was cautious about Grounded 2’s originality, though, saying: “I still have a lot more questions about what Grounded 2 is bringing to the picnic table that will justify an entirely new game as opposed to just expanding the existing Grounded. Mechanically, I'm not fully sure rideable bugs is going to sell me on it.”
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap (PlayStation 5) – July 29
Description: Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap combines chaotic third-person combat with devious trap-laying strategy. Enjoy endless replayability as your War Mage grows stronger through roguelite progression. Repel relentless orc hordes solo or with up to 4 players.
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
This series has been around a while now, and remains still a version of tower defense where you can also control a character. It’s already out on other platforms, and Game Critics wasn’t impressed: “Anyone new to the series is at a massive disadvantage, and existing fans are going to be scratching their heads. This series might’ve put Robot Entertainment on the map, but what they’re doing here isn’t their future.” Yikes!
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, iOS, Android) – July 29
Description: From the creative studio, Wētā Workshop, live the cosy life of a Hobbit in the wonderfully serene landscape of the Shire. Discover, decorate, and share in this idyllic corner of Middle-earth. Join friendly Hobbits and familiar faces awaiting your arrival in Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game.
Rating: E
Price: $34.99
It makes sense for a cozy mashup with Lord of the Rings, and while I am not the person to ask about cozy, GameReactor also wasn’t quite sure what to make of it: “This game is all about embracing the rudimentary, perfectly respectable, unexpected life as a Hobbit in the rolling fields of the Shire. Wētā Workshop has captured the pure essence of Shire life in this game, and yes, that does mean that it's slowly paced, has little excitement, minimal mechanical depth, absolutely zero danger, but so much charm that you could bottle it and quench the thirst of the armies of Mordor.”
You can always ask me about cozy, Patrick, just so you know 😃
A review of Tales of the Shire that stuck with me called it uninspired and flat, but I'll still check it out, for science
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