3-4 Player Co-op Kid-Friendly Games

pjft

Hi all,

Sorry for creating a thread about this, but I wanted to probe the collective mind on this.

Short context: my 2 kids, aged 4 and 6, are now very keen on playing games on RetroPie. We have the most fun on games that are co-op, and ideally that we can play the 3 of us at the same time.

Given their ages, however, games that aren't "physically aggressive" are preferred - meaning, no TMNT or Knights of the Round yet, nor anything that they would mimic the behavior and get in trouble. However, anything else that fits the bill and isn't overly complex or reading-dependent should be ok.

Here are the games that we have played so far with quite a bit of success:

Micro Mages - NES homebrew platform game. Bought on Steam. Allows for 4-player simultaneous play, and the great thing is that if someone dies, they just keep helping the remaining players, and can even come back to life. Very recommended.
Turbo Force - a rare 3-player shmup, where you're a flying car. The kids like it a lot. And it's not really "physically aggressive", so that's a plus.
Super Mario War - you can pretty much play a team of 3 players vs the CPU and have fun with it. The kids enjoy it as well.
Snow Bros 2 - I know it's not really as charming as the first one, but it allows for 4-player simultaneous co-op, which makes it ideal for this scenario.

So, these are my current games for this scenario. Anything you'd recommend? I'd very much be interested in hearing about it - especially any game like Bubble Bobble / Snow Brothers that can be played in 3-4 player co-op mode :)

Thanks!

Impman66

You could try - I think they are both co-op type or at least 3-4 players.

Micro-machines - Basically a toy car racing game, where you race around an environment such as a table that has the salt and pepper pots and things like that. You are micro sized, the other common or garden things are all their proper size.

Gauntlet and Guantlet 2 A maze type shoot em up, where you play, different characters and work to collect treasure and magic potions whilst avoiding the bad guys.

Here are a couple of screenshots.

Hope it helps.

pjft

@Impman66 Thanks for the suggestions - Gauntlet is a great suggestion which I may explore!

I love the Micro Machines games, they're great. I may try them out as well, but unsure if they'll grasp the "relative controls" of left/right turning the car, and a button for acceleration, but it's definitely worth a shot as it was great fun.

Any more ideas, do send them over.

Clyde

Do you know this thread?

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16218/kids-friendly-games-age-around-6

pjft

@Clyde I hadn't been there recently - thanks for resurfacing it! I've skimmed through it and a few gems came up - great stuff.

Impman66

No worries, hope you and your kids enjoy whatever you find.