Your Guide to August’s Family Friendly Video Games
A slower month still has some interesting games to keep track of, as the summer winds down and fall approaches.
School is approaching. The summer is almost over. But video games are relentless.
July was a more fruitful month for family video games, all told, though Nintendo’s incredible-looking Super Mario Wonder is fast approaching in October. And who will have time parenting when Starfield drops in September? In the meantime, Crossplay has you covered for what’s coming in August, and what makes sense for your family.
If you see a game that I’ve missed, please reach out and let me know! I’ll add it in.
If you represent these games and have a potentially interesting story to share about how these games consider kids as part of their audience, please get in touch with me!
P.S. This feature is meant to be helpful. If there are improvements that could be made, or more info you wish you had access to, let me know and I’ll keep it in mind. This month, we’ve added game descriptions, age ratings, and the price of the game.
Flutter Away (Switch, Steam) — August 3
Description: “Enjoy the serenity of the Amazon rainforest in this cozy short nature exploration game. As a butterfly researcher on a five-day camping trip, explore nearby tracks, take photos, meet animal friends, and journal the discoveries found along the way!”
Rating: E
Price: $12.99
The TikTok trend has passed, but my children still love to sing that capybara song. It’s possible they don’t remember what a capybara is. Flutter Away looks like a calming exploration game with a journal element, which might slot nicely next to my oldest’s “summer journal” she’s been working on, where she draws events from the summer, and then practices writing by attaching a sentence describing what she did that day.
WrestleQuest (Switch, Steam, PS4/5, Xbox Series S/X/One) — August 7
Description: “In WrestleQuest, your rise to stardom begins at the feet of giants.... and the only way to earn a legend’s respect... is victory! Witness how players interact with real life legends in the game.”
Rating: E
Price: $29.99
This feels more squarely directed at fans from the 90s, but given how popular wrestling remains, it’s not hard to imagine kids looking for another outlet for their fandom, especially given the uneven quality of the official games for WWE and AEW.
Stray (Xbox X/S/One) — August 10
Description: “Lost, alone and separated from family, a stray cat must untangle an ancient mystery to escape a long-forgotten cybercity and find their way home.”
Rating: E 10+
Price: TBA (But it was $30 on PS5/PC)
Stray was a phenomenon when it arrived on PC and PS5 for good reason: it was delightful. Many games feature animals, but few games not only let you play as those animals, but make it feel (albeit with exaggeration) accurate. This is not a cozy game, however, and it’s possible to die as the cat. Here’s a video that shows how death work.
Moving Out 2 (Switch, PS4/5, Steam, Xbox Series X/S/One) — August 15
Description: “Working as a solo F.A.R.T, or with up to three friends, slip into your Smooth Moves uniform and help the residents of Packmore, and beyond, to pack up and ship out!”
Rating: E
Price: $29.99
These physics-centric team games have never done much for me, but they’re basically an entire subgenre at this point, which means you probably shouldn’t listen to me, anyway. The reviews for the original game were positive, with IGN saying: “Provided you’ve got at least one friend in tow to share the load and the laughs, Moving Out is an absolute blast. It takes a simple set of mechanics and milks madness and mirth from them in equal measures, consistently shaking up the parameters of its heavy-lifting assignments to keep you on your toes while you’re bending at the knees.”
Vampire Survivors (Switch) — August 17
Description: “Vampire Survivors is a time survival game with minimalistic gameplay and roguelite elements. Hell is empty, the devils are here, and there's no place to run or hide. All you can do is survive as long as you can until death inevitably puts an end to your struggles. Gather gold in each run to buy upgrades and help the next survivor.”
Rating: T
Price: $4.99
Having Vampire Survivors on the go is already a great pitch if you haven’t already burned out your phone’s battery from the mobile version, but crucially, this comes alongside Vampire Survivors getting local co-op, too. It’s very easy for me to imagine this being a blast to play with someone else. It’s unclear to me, though, if there will be options to adjust difficulty for a younger player, but my guess would be it’s unlikely.
Madden NFL 24 (PS4/5, Steam, Xbox X/S/One) — August 18
Description: “Exemplify greatness in Madden NFL 24! Lead your team to a Super Bowl victory in Franchise, build a powerhouse Madden Ultimate Team, take over The Yard, be the star in Face of the Franchise, and unleash your X-Factors in SSKO.”
Rating: E
Price: $69.99
With NFL teams reporting for training camp, it feels like the new season, and another chance for me to experience heartbreak, is here. This is not an approachable series for anyone not already deeply invested in football, and even if you’re deeply emotionally invested in football (like me), you may (like me) long for something simpler.
Chicken Journey (Switch, Epic Games Store, Steam) — August 22
Description: “Embark on an epic adventure with the cutest chicken in this relaxing 2D puzzle platformer.”
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
I had not heard of this game putting this together, but it looks positively charming. It’s difficult to parse what the level of “puzzle” and “platforming" is, though, which makes it challenging to know whether its cute look is targeted at adults or all ages.
Smurfs Kart — August 22
Description: “Who will be the fastest Smurf in town? That is the question you will need to answer in this dynamic kart racing game in the world of Smurfs! The whole family can choose their preferred Smurf driver, their kart and special power. Then, you’re ready to go off on wild races!”
Rating: E
Price: $39.99
Well, I hope your kids aren’t big Smurfs fans? Are any kids big Smurf fans in 2023?
Goodbye Volcano High (Steam, PS4/5) — August 29
Description: “Fang is a typical 18-year-old dinosaur: they’re more concerned about their band going viral than they are about what happens after graduation. But when graduation is upstaged by terrible news, everything changes. Will they find time to figure themselves out? Can they balance navigating a changing world with a budding romance?”
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
This game is not meant for anyone young in the house. The game’s developers, per its Steam page, mention the game “contains mature representations of queer teen life, strong language, mentions of drug and alcohol use, death, and sexuality.” But while so much of Crossplay is focused on the youngest gamers among us, they age up, too.
Samba de Amigo: Party Central (Switch) — August 29
Description: “Samba de Amigo has been reborn and is even groovier than ever! Get shakin’ to 40 hit songs from across the world’s most popular music genres and enter a visual party, with unique settings and fun, active gameplay.”
Rating: E
Price: $39.99
The Dreamcast version, with maraca peripherals, is one of my all-time favorites. Joy-Cons are slightly less cool, but admittedly much more practical. From a GamesHub preview: “Samba de Amigo: Party Central is shaping up to be a solid and worthy new entry in the rhythm genre. Between funky bops and ridiculous posing, there’s plenty of tension relief waiting in the arms of Sega’s joyfully resurfaced franchise. After the last few years we’ve all had, its silly maraca dances feel like healing remedies.”
Sea of Stars (Switch, PS4/5, Xbox X/S/One, Steam) — August 29
Description: “Embark on a journey of peril and wonder as a Solstice Warrior in this turn-based RPG inspired by the classics.”
Rating: E 10+
Price: $34.99
Is this a way to smuggle the Chrono Trigger experience to a younger person under the guise of a “new” game? Probably not. This feels pretty squarely targeted at older players seeking that style of game. The brief time I spent with the demo was good. It’s unclear to me how games like this, rooted in nostalgia, land for younger audiences.
Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy (Steam, PS4/5, Xbox X/S/One, Switch) — August 31
Description: “The Trine Series is back with their biggest, most magical co-op puzzle adventure yet! The three Heroes of Trine must foil the plans of dastardly villains, and the clock is ticking for the kingdom.”
Rating: E 10+
Price: $29.99
It’s remarkable this is still going. I have fond memories of playing the original installment back when I was still at Giant Bomb moons ago. I cannot speak to where this series has gone in the many installments since, but its distinct mixture of co-op puzzle and platforming was novel at the time and appears to still be working for them.
The Shape of Things (Switch) — August 31
Description: “Relax from the comfort of your cozy room by solving puzzles inside collectible gachapons... No pressure, no timers, just chill and progress at your own pace.”
Rating: E
Price: $6.99
A puzzle with my kids usually involves a small number of pieces, but even when we’re only working with a few spell out a Minnie Mouse activity, it feels good. It feels better to watch them slot one into place. Per a Vulgar Knight review of The Shape of Things: “It’s a very good puzzle without being too strenuous, and thus well worth the price.”
Was this helpful? Would you like to see more of this on Crossplay in the future? Let me know! We’re still in such early days when it comes to figuring out what Crossplay even is, and I’m grateful for your patience as I try to figure out what works best.
See you next month!
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This is incredibly helpful! Always hard to keep up with all the new releases, and it's nice to be introduce and talk about new stuff with my students.
This was helpful! I think I might look into Flutter Away when it comes out to play with my child. Some stuff on here for me too like Sea of Stars and others (of course BGIII for me as well)