Your Guide to December's Family Friendly Video Games
As the holiday season approaches, there's just a handful of games on the horizon.
It’s a sleepy time for video games, but games—and the rest of us, frankly—deserve it, because it’s been a relentless assault of excellence for most of this year. There’s only a few more weeks for parents to be buying stocking stuffers, so it’s not shocking that, with a few exceptions, most games directed at families have already come out.
My child adores the little Switch cartridges, and so while the vast majority of the video games sent my way are digital codes, every once and a while a box will show up. It doesn’t matter what the game is, she wants to hoard the tiny object and make it part of her collection. Should I tell her to lick it? What kind of father do I want to be?
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!
Batman: Arkham Trilogy (Switch) — December 1
Description: Face off against notorious DC Super-Villains: The Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and more in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Step into the shadows of Batman: Arkham City’s open world, the new maximum security “home” for thugs, gangsters, and insane criminal masterminds. In Batman: Arkham Knight, tear through the streets of Gotham and take on the ultimate threat in the trilogy’s epic conclusion.
Rating: T/M
Price: $59.99
It’s a bummer to have this arrive months before Rocksteady drops its underwhelming-looking Suicide Squad game. I’ll play Suicide Squad out of curiosity and I’m still hoping for the best, but this stands as a reminder of what was. Superheroes haven’t sunk their hooks into my kids, though for a stint, my youngest was truly Spider-Man obsessed.
SteamWorld Build (PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/X/S, Switch) – December 1
Description: In SteamWorld Build, you must escape a dying planet by building a mining town to dig up vital long-lost technology. Meet the ever-growing needs of your citizens, trade resources and defend your mine from the creatures that lurk below.
Rating: E10+
Price: $29.99
Building sims do nothing for me, but every SteamWorld game has kicked ass, so…? IGN was mixed in its review, calling it a “refreshing city builder worthy of a few fun weekends, but not a particularly deep one I’m likely to boot up year after year.”
Born of Bread (Switch, PS5, Xbox X/S, PC) — December 5
Description: Play as a flour golem who possesses a never-ending childlike wonder and a set of odd abilities. Team-up with a colorful cast of characters, explore the different regions of a wonderful world ripe with mysteries and engage in a fun and quirky turn-based combat system.
Rating: E10+
Price: $29.99
It seems RPG Fan’s time with the demo was positive: “A lot of love was poured into this project, and the foundations for a good Paper Mario-style RPG are clearly there. I would love to see more of the game’s wacky characters and witty writing. However, the imprecise jumping and wonky difficulty balance need further refinement.”
Puzzle & Dragons Story (Apple Arcade): December 5
Description: The newest installment in the immensely popular and definitive puzzle RPG series takes players on a new epic fantasy adventure with Puzzle & Dragons Story, exclusively on Apple Arcade. The game combines match-three puzzles with creature-collecting RPG gameplay, where players will recruit allies, improve their teams, and conquer dungeons.
Rating: 4+
Price: Apple Arcade ($6.99/month)
The last time a story was attached to this series it didn’t go well, with iMore finding the Switch take didn’t work as a puzzle game or a story game: “I'm really sad that I didn't end up enjoying this game, but it just doesn't live up to previous versions. The story mode feels like it was thrown in as an afterthought and the fun puzzles are bogged down by unpleasant mechanics. It really makes it stressful to play.”
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (Switch) — December 1
Description: Psaro is cursed and is unable to harm anything with monster blood. Now, he must become a Monster Wrangler to create an army for battle. The hunt for high-ranked monsters takes Psaro through the ever-changing seasons of Nadiria and its unique environments, with rivers of bubbling lava, mysterious ancient ruins, and soaring towers of cake.
Rating: E10+
Price: $59.99
My last time with a monster fusing game was dropping CDs into my PlayStation for Monster Rancher. Early word on this one is optimistic, with Monstervine saying: “I spent 5 hours playing the demo and generally enjoyed my time with it. Performance struggles out in the field, despite it not appearing to be a visually demanding game, but not enough to bother me. What did put me off was its presentation of the story, with abrupt developments that left me puzzled about what just happened.”
A Highland Song (Switch, PC) — December 5
Description: To reach the sea, Moira must first cross the Scottish Highlands—a wilderness of paths, peaks, shortcuts, dangers, and song.
Rating: E
Price: $17.99
I have early access to this, but haven’t had a chance to spend much time with it yet. It looks absolutely delightful, and I’ll happily take a chance on something unexpected.
Disney Dreamlight Valley (Switch, PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/X/S) — December 5
Description: Disney Dreamlight Valley is a hybrid between a life-sim and an adventure game rich with quests, exploration, and engaging activities featuring Disney and Pixar friends, both old and new.
Rating: E
Price: $29.99
This almost caught my daughter’s attention, but in the end, too much reading. This is 1.0, but even a year ago, IGN praised it as “an awesome life simulator that flexes its iconic characters to riveting, satisfying effect. Adding these instantly recognizable villagers to your magical kingdom and forging friendships with them through quests is a blast, even when many of those amount to mundane village errands.”
Sonic Dream Team (iOS) — December 5
Description: Join Sonic and friends as they dive deep into a bizarre world of dreams! Unravel an original and captivating storyline while taking command of six dynamic playable characters. With their unique abilities, dash, climb and fly your way to victory against infamous Eggman!
Rating: 4+
Price: Apple Arcade ($6.99/month)
This looks [squints] good? Sonic Frontiers was a more impressive swing to marvel at than it was to play, but maybe this is the 3D Sonic game where it’ll all come together!
LEGO Fortnite (All platforms) — December 7
Description: A match made in the Fortnite® game? Introducing an Epic new adventure. With LEGO bricks. Drop into a world of unlimited imagination – and llamas – with the LEGO Fortnite game: the ultimate survival crafting adventure!
Rating: TBD
Price: Free-to-Play
This was announced after I’d written this article last week, but this has the potential to be cool as hell? I might even see if it’d be the kind of thing my oldest could get into.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (PS5, Xbox X/S, PC) — December 7
Description: Set after the events of the first Avatar film, you’ll embark on a journey across the Western Frontier, a never-before-seen continent of Pandora, as you join other Na’vi clans to protect Pandora from the formidable forces of the RDA.
Rating: T
Price: $69.99
It feels dangerous to dismiss the potential success of anything Avatar, but it does feel like Avatar is a cinematic event and not much beyond that. I hear the Disney attraction is really cool, though! But I’m not sure what Ubisoft is gonna capture with this.
Lego Bricktales (Quest) — December 7
Description: In this puzzle-adventure, use an intuitive brick-by-brick building mechanic to solve puzzles and bring your creations to life! Experience a charming story as you explore beautiful LEGO dioramas and help the people inhabiting them.
Rating: E
Price: $29.99
A VR port of an existing game with decent reviews, and I can imagine the VR component adding a twist. Nintendo Life was cool with it, calling it “the closest thing in years that a Lego video game has gotten to the actual feeling of playing with Lego, and those of you who appreciate the famous toy will find something to love here.”
Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties: Definitive Edition (PS4/5, Switch, Xbox One X/S) — December 8
Description: You know the story. John's a plumber. Jane's a beauty. John meets Jane, and it's up to you to get them together or tear them apart. But what if it was more? The Plumbers Don't Wear Ties: Definitive Edition is chock full of extra features like audio commentaries, video featurettes, interviews and more that puts this infamous 3DO game into context.
Price: …
…Okay, I’m just fucking with you.
Bear and Breakfast (PS4/5) — December 12
Description: Bear and Breakfast is a laid-back management adventure game where you play as a well-meaning bear trying to run a B+B in the woods. Hank and his friends find an abandoned shack and, equipped with their teenage ingenuity, turn it into a money-making bed and breakfast scheme for unsuspecting tourists. As your business expands so do the mysteries of the forest, and Hank soon finds himself uncovering a plot deeper than the wilderness itself.
Rating: E10+
Price: $19.99
This one has been out for a minute, but now it’s coming to PlayStation now, and it’s already been well-received elsewhere, with Switch Player saying: “Bear and Breakfast delivers a wonderful and addictive game that oozes charm from the get-go.” Not bad.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (iOS, Android) — December 12
Description: Wish-granting Mermaid’s Tears in the hands of SpongeBob and Patrick… What could possibly go wrong? Sure, the very fabric holding the very universe very together could come very undone, opening up portals into Wishworlds full of knights, cowboys, pirates, and prehistoric snails. But that’s nothing everyone’s favorite sponge can’t handle - with the right cosmic costume! Everybody do the Cosmic Shake!
Rating: 9+
Price: $9.99
Same as before, now on mobile. It was fine, with Game Informer describing the original as “a game I recommend to fans of SpongeBob SquarePants with ease; for those looking for a great platformer, though, better options lie elsewhere in the sea.”
House Flipper 2 (PC) — December 14
Description: It's time to dust off your hammer - House Flipper is back in a brand-new fashion! Buy and renovate run-down houses! Or maybe you want to build new ones? Now you can! Start as a rookie Flipper and make a fortune by helping out the community of the charming town of Pinnacove.
Rating: TBA
Price: TBA
House flipping feels grosser in today’s climate, but the last game was a hit! And if you liked that one, Gameluster says: “it’s a vast improvement both mechanically and visually. I’m really impressed with what Frozen District has done in their sequel.”
Pokémon Scarlet And Violet: The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero – The Indigo Disk (Switch) — December 14
Description: Study abroad at Blueberry Academy, where the curriculum emphasizes Pokémon Battling. Here, you’ll explore the undersea Terarium, a facility with artificial environments teeming with Pokémon. Each of the four areas of the Terarium has a distinct climate, ecosystem, and Pokémon to find.
Rating: E
Price: $34.99
Looks like a challenging add-on, as Inverse said: “Indigo Mask is shaping up to be a welcome challenge for players who have seen everything the base game has to offer.”
Raccoo Venture — December 14
Description: A collectathon 3D platform game where you explore the world to find all hidden collectibles, solving secrets, puzzles and find new outfits to customize our cute hero. Special abilities will blow your mind controlling chaos and order. Recover the pieces to defeat the terrible Tattooed Tatus.
Rating: E
Price: $14.99
A platformer kicking around in Early Access, and now hitting 1.0. It’s tough to find much coverage, but the Steam reviews praise it, with one saying: “This is a great and really impressive work by a single dev. The fluid gameplay mechanics with beautiful art and a cool story makes it a great deal for the price. Really worth checking it out!”
Also worth calling out Lego Fortnite! I'm very curious how that's going to work in the Fortnite space...can it give Minecraft a run for its money? So far my kids (8yo) haven't really heard or asked much about Fortnite, thankfully. Not sure if I want to give them this gateway drug.... but I'll be checking it out myself at least!
I was really wondering at the definition of "family friendly" for a second there... :P