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The GKIS Guide to Family-Friendly Nintendo Switch Games

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Spending time together and sharing experiences is extremely important when it comes to developing close family bonds and a sense of connectedness. While many of us think of playing board and card games to develop connectedness, many children would disagree. These days, they would generally rather play video games than spend time with their parents. While we at GKIS recommend that real-world activities should be prioritized, video games can be utilized both as a reward and a convenient way of connecting with your child. You don’t have to wait for connection until you’ve found time to plan a lavish camping trip. For every day, a video game could be just what Dr. B ordered. Today’s GKIS article covers the pros and cons of the Nintendo Switch, recommendations for games to play as a family, suggestions for appropriate games that your kid can play alone and unsupervised, and some brief tips to keep your kids safe and connected when it comes to gaming.

What is the Nintendo Switch?

The Nintendo Switch is a video game system that was launched in 2017. The Switch is unique in that it is considered a hybrid system where the console itself can work as a tablet and the controllers can attach to the sides to be used as a portable game system. It is extremely popular and has sold over 89 million consoles worldwide.[1]

The Pros and Cons of the Nintendo Switch

Pros

The biggest advantage of the Nintendo Switch is its portability. Unlike the PlayStation and Xbox consoles, the Switch can be taken on long trips and utilized just about anywhere. Also, Nintendo heavily markets its console to families and children. Many of the games are family-friendly, perfect for family game night or for your children to play by themselves. Another big bonus is the price-point. At $299, which is at the low end for current generation consoles. In comparison, new PlayStation and Xbox consoles sell for about $1000.

Cons

The Nintendo Switch is not as technologically advanced as the current PlayStation or Xbox consoles. The graphics are not as jaw-droppingly realistic and the processing speed is not as quick. Yet, the differences are not so great that they will affect the overall gaming experience.

Nintendo Switch Games to Play as a Family

Playing video games as a family could be a great, interactive way to connect with your children.  The Connected Family Course gives expert advice and strategies to create a connected home environment without having to disconnect from the internet. Here are 3 fantastic choices for Nintendo Switch multiplayer games.

  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
  • Super Mario Party
  • Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart is an iconic series that has been around since the early 1990s, and they have not changed the formula that much. The reason that they haven’t changed the formula is because it works! It is ridiculously fun to race against your family and friends as your favorite Nintendo characters. Plus, there is a luck-based element to the game that evens out the playing field for younger less experienced players. It doesn’t matter how good someone is if they can get knocked out of first place when someone else gets the perfect power-up.

This game has an ESRB rating of “E.” meaning it has been approved for all age groups or “everyone.” Up to 4 players can play on a single Nintendo Switch. But if you have two consoles, there can be a total of 8 players at once. This is perfect for slumber parties, holidays, and other occasions where you might have a bunch of kids at home. We think this game is well designed, and the controls are intuitive making it just as fun for the parents as it is for the kids.

Super Mario Party

Super Mario Party is the ultimate family party game. Four people can play Super Mario Party on a single Nintendo Switch console. The great thing about Super Mario Party is the diversity of gameplay and modes of play. Players can play board games consisting of mini-games, which are short games that usually last under a minute. There is a total of 80 minigames that are chosen at random as characters move around the board. Because each minigame is short, kids don’t get bored easily.

On Super Mario Party, everyone competes against each other, as teams, or you can all play on the same team against the computer. Super Mario Party has an ESRB rating of E so it has been deemed appropriate for children of all age groups. This game is also great for parties and family game nights.

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate can get extremely competitive, but we think it is crazy fun to play together. This game is a fighting game where everyone picks their favorite Nintendo character from a large selection of choices. The point of the game is to knock out the other players’ characters. The best part is that each character has a unique set of moves and plays completely differently than the others, so strategies for winning are almost endless.

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate has an ESRB rating of E10, so it has been approved for everyone ages 10 and up. It may not be appropriate for young children due to the cartoonish violence. As far as fighting games go, this is one of the most family-friendly options out there.

Nintendo Switch Games Your Kids Can Play Alone

There are many Nintendo Switch games to choose from. However, many have excessive violence, sexual themes, drugs, and other material that you don’t want your kids to be exposed to. If you are looking for a game for a younger child, it can be difficult to find something age-appropriate. Here are 3 games to kids can play on their own.

  • Luigi’s Mansion
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  • Splatoon 2

Luigi’s Mansion

Luigi’s Mansion is a fantastic single-player game that is great for all age groups and has an ESRB rating of E for Everyone. In Luigi’s Mansion, you wander around a haunted hotel sucking up goofy ghosts with a vacuum cleaner. Although there are ghosts, we don’t think they are very scary. It has a story mode made for a single player but could be played by two players (with one player playing as Luigi’s doppelganger, Gooigi). There are other online multiplayer modes to play as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

We at GKIS think Breath of the Wild is one of the best single-player Nintendo Switch games out there. In this game, your character explores an expansive and elaborately detailed world filled with almost never-ending things to do and places to explore.

This game has an ESRB rating of E10 for everyone age 10 and up due to the violence against animated monsters. The violence is very mild when compared to other games, and there is no blood or guts. For a single-player game, it has an incredible amount of replay value due to the vast number of things to do in its virtual world.

Splatoon 2

Splatoon is Nintendo’s answer to shooter-type games where none of the characters get hurt. In Splatoon 2, you play as human/squid hybrid characters and run around spraying each other with ink. Splatoon is probably the safest series of games to choose from if your kids are trying to get you to buy them a shooter.

Splatoon 2 has been rated E10 (for everyone 10 and up) due to cartoon violence, even though you are basically hitting each other’s squid characters with ink bombs, paint guns, and paint rollers. As a warning, even though Splatoon has taken out the blood and guts it still involves cartoonish gunplay. Though it is a single-player game, up to 10 players can play at the same time in one location. The downside is that each player needs their own Nintendo Switch console to play together, which would be expensive.

How To Keep Your Kids Safe Playing Video Games

  • Research the games before buying them
  • Check the ESRB ratings
  • Play with your children or check in on them
  • Talk to your children and maintain a close family bond.

To stay in the know about how to keep your kids and teens safe online, check out the Screen Safety Essentials Course. Through weekly coaching videos and other valuable resources, this program will keep you in the loop with ways to keep your family connected and safe while engaging with the internet, social media, video games, and more. The goal of this course is to provide families with the knowledge and tools to help prevent digital injury before it occurs.

Thanks to CSUCI intern, Michael Watson for researching family-friendly games for the Nintendo Switch.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Works Cited

Craddock, R. (2021). Switch console sales hit 89 million, has now outsold PS3 and Xbox 360. Nintendolife.https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/08/switch_console_sales_hit_89_million_has_now_outsold_ps3_and_xbox_360

Photo Credits

Photo by Kelly Sikkema (https://unsplash.com/photos/bUgaIaZysH0)

Photo by Mika Baumeister (https://unsplash.com/photos/HUyICL8qbEE)

Photo by Ke Vin (https://unsplash.com/photos/-HuMEdCPM0U)

Photo by Joao Tzanno (https://unsplash.com/photos/ho-ZjptZDfI)

Thanks to Kent Williams for the beautiful painting used for the thumbnail.  (https://www.kentwilliams.com/paintings/2018/8/16/2018/8/16/m-w)

 

Gaming Together Increases Family Bonding

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Although a lot of parents let their kids play video games, not many co-play. Parents are busy! And for many, video games are unknown territory. Trust me, I’ve seen my mom try to play new video games, and she was beyond lost. But as a kid’s interest in video games increases, your relationship with them may seem to decrease, as if screen time replaces relationship-building. And with newer games like Fortnight, God of War, and Call of Duty, the complexities can drive a wedge between digital immigrants and digital natives. But it doesn’t mean they should! Many games offer teamwork and cooperation and can be fun for the whole family. Gaming might not be as scary as you think. Using hobbies your kids already enjoy is a great start to strengthening family bonds. Check out Dr. Bennett’s Connected Family Course for a guide on balancing screen time, like gaming, with family time. Read on to learn what co-playing has to offer, and why you might want to start gaming with your kids.

What makes co-play important?

The “fear of the unknown” can cause parents to separate themselves from their children’s virtual activities. As a result, kids can become isolated. Parents see this and either reprimand the kid for playing too much or guiltily allow the distance.

When I grew up, my mom provided me with interactive video games that offered entertainment and learning experiences. As a digital native, I started playing more and more online games and would even search some out in hopes that my parents would play with me. But because they were digital immigrants, they never did.

In 2013, researchers Hayes and Siyahhan found that “parents miss a huge opportunity when they walk away from playing video games with their kids.” They elaborated that parents don’t realize that there are many games designed to teach problem-solving, science, or literature. Not only can you learn alongside them, gaming with your kids can also offer countless ways to interact and have teaching moments. Gaming together offers new lines of communication and give them a reason to want to bond with you.[1]

Teaching and Bonding

In 2018, Bingqing Wang’s research on video games and family cooperation showed that family members who play video games together have better family satisfaction and family closeness. They also showed that families with poor family communication can benefit from co-playing.[2]

One benefit of co-play is the opportunity to work together to achieve a common goal. Strategizing and reflecting on executed choices encourages sportsmanship and the value of failure. Rather than the child walking away from a failure disheartened, parents can teach them to analyze the loss and improve on strategy with enthusiasm rather than defeat. Co-play also allows parents to set good examples for setting limits. Ending a gaming session together seems better than being “forced” or “made” to stop playing.[3] Shared experiences are more fun, wins are more fulfilling, and cooperation is much better than isolation.

You may be concerned that, even with effort, you’ll look stupid and won’t “get it.” But if you both played and had fun, they’ll recognize you took the effort to get close to them and better understand why they love to play. You’re not just an outsider trying to limit something they enjoy. Growing up, I had multiple friends who got to play with their parents and bond over the games they liked. They loved talking about it and became even closer, something I missed out on.

What to Play

Which games are family-friendly? Dr. Bennett said her kids asked for a Nintendo Switch so they could return to games they used to play together on the Wii. There are many options that are rated E(for everyone). It also offers parent controls and time limits that allow parents to manage what and how much their kids are playing.

Some fun and family games we at GKIS recommend are:

Mario Kart is a competitive driving game with lots of cute levels, fun characters, and a ton of quality. Race against friends and family in different beloved Mario worlds. Dr. Bennett cautions to start with the cow land…she says she’s spent many hours screeching in agony trying to stay on the slippery Rainbow Road while her kids roared. She says kids can’t get trusted to pick the level…

Just Dance is another Nintendo Switch game that Dr. B says provided hours of fun family co-play. With many popular and even old hits, everybody finds their favorite games to competitively dance to. She says her youngest was delighted by this game, because even when he was little, he could out score her and his older sisters! Plus, everybody worked up a sweat and got a little exercise. No pain, all gain.

Super Mario Party is a game designed for group play and loads of fun. With 80 mini-games, like Bumper Brawl and Croosin’ for a Broosin’, everybody has a favorite. Play with or against your kids with the large board game style platform.

Yoshi’s Island is an fun and simple game for the whole family. Jump around as the adorable Yoshi solving creative puzzles and collecting all the hidden items.

Snipperclips has great games for the whole family don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. This game is designed for communicating and working together to snip your cute little paper characters into the perfect shape for each unique and entertaining puzzle.

Knock ‘Em Down Bowling is a fun one with many game modes like split screen, team matches, and no gutters. With a variety of traditional bowling games and party modes, team work is always a fun possibility.

Forza Motorsport Games for Xbox offers lots of options for fun family car racing in professional-style track racing events.

Scribblenaughts for the Nintendo DS is a fun, emergent puzzle action video game where the players must solve puzzles in order to collect Starlites. Warner Bros. Active Entertainment published this game with the goal of promoting emergent game play by challenging the player through systematically more difficult puzzles.

I’m Jack Riley a GKIS intern. I hope you find the courage to carve the time and try co-play now that you see the pros in family gaming. My parents were never able to do any of this with me and as my interest in games increased, I felt as if our family relationship decreased. Interested in learning about other benefits of video game play? Check out the GKIS article Is Your Child a “Professional Gamer”?

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,
Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty

Works Cited

[1] (July 2013). Move over, Monopoly: ASU researchers find families bond over video game play, Arizona State University.edu

[2]Wang, B. (April 2018). Families that play together stay together: Investigating family bonding through video games. Sage Journals.com

[3]Shapiro J.( December 2014). Research Says Parents And Kids Should Play Video Games Together. Forbes.com

Photo Credits

Photo By Kelly Sikkema

“My mini on our PS4” photo by Samantha Sophia

“Two people playing Sony PS4 game console” photo by JESHOOTS

“Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons” photo by Aleks Dorohovich

The Dangers of Online Multiplayer Video Games

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In my 25 years of psychology practice, I have treated many kids and teens victimized by online predators and cyberbullies. And in many of those cases, there were steps the parents could have made to prevent this type of digital injury. First, parents must block inappropriate games and content using the rating system and parental controls. Second, teach the red flags that kids must look for to spot dangerous inquiries. That’s why I created the Cybersecurity and Red Flags Supplement to add to our free Connected Family Screen Agreement (available on the home page of GetKidsInternetSafe.com). Finally, maintain a close parent-child relationship with ongoing topics for learning (offered in your GKIS weekly articles). To help, parents have to learn what’s out there and accept that kids will make mistakes. Today’s article will discuss the risks in the multiplayer gaming world, expertly written by a young female gamer.

What is a multiplayer game?

“Multiplayer games” refers to video games where an individual player can join a team in defeating a computerized enemy or can battle it out against other gamers. To play multiplayer games, Xbox and PlayStation require gamers to purchase memberships.

Battle Royale Style of Gaming

Battle royale is a relatively new genre of multiplayer gaming that can have over 100 people competing on a large map. These games embody a survival element as players are dropped onto a map with little armor or weapons. Players can either battle their way through the game with friends or fight solo. The ultimate goal is to be the last player standing.

Before the likes of Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, battle royale was a concept heavily influenced by the popular movie The Hunger Games. In the early days, the only way to play battle royale was by downloading modifies to a base game. This modification was extremely popular in Minecraft as it added an extra dose of flair and made the game more challenging and intriguing.

Brenden Greene made battle royale mods for the hit games DayZ and Arma III, which quickly became huge sensations. In 2017, he released PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which paved the way for other games like Fortnite and Apex Legends.[3]

Who plays multiplayer games?

In 2018, 28% of gamers were under 18 years old, 45% of gamers were female, and 55% were male.[5] Although multiplayer games are entertaining and fast-paced, there are dangers young gamers could be exposed to including chatting with random strangers, bullying, and child grooming by sexual predators.

Create a party for you and your friends.

One of the ways kids can gain access to voice chat over the PS4 console is to be invited via “party.” Party directly sets up friend invites using your friends list. People can also request to join a party, but the creator has the option to deny specific player access. On PlayStation, the creator must specify whether the party is private or open to the public. Opening to the public will allow anyone to join the voice chat, meaning child players could be exposed to bad actors.[4]

Xbox one has the same features, except if the person receiving the invite does not accept it within a five-minute window, Xbox Live will cancel the invitation, and the person who sent the request will have to resend it.[5]  Voice chat can be a great way for socially isolated or anxious kids to connect with others. However, there are dangers as well.

Meeting Strangers in the Lobby

A lobby is where players wait to join a team game in multiplayer games. This feature is also known as matchmaking because it randomly assigns players to teams.

While in the lobby, you can communicate with other joining players. In some instances, you can also check out what the other player characters look like and view their cache of weapons. You can also communicate with other players in the lobby if you have the microphone enabled.

When I play multiplayer games, I disable the microphone feature (mainly by not plugging my headset in), unless I am playing with friends because, even as an adult, I don’t feel comfortable chatting with strangers online.

Bullying, Abuse, and Harassment

People can be cruel over voice chat for no reason. Insulting gaming skills or using racial slurs and sexual comments are typical. I’ve been in lobbies where players threaten to find and kill you as a form of intimidation. Younger kids seem to get the brunt of it.

While scouring the Internet for answers as to why kids are harassed on gaming platforms, I came across blogs and forums dedicated to how annoying young children can be online. A majority of these posts were made by people in their late teens or older. One of the biggest complaints is the profanity and racist comments from younger gamers. While many gamers just hit the mute button, some will take it to the extreme and harass the younger kid until they leave.

As a female gamer, I’ve experienced an unbelievable amount of harassment and abuse, ranging from people calling me names to more extreme measures like asking for sexual favors or making inappropriate noises.

Predators

According to ABC News, predators are grooming kids by making friends with them online and then gaining their trust so that they can meet in person. Fox News has also reported that Fortnite has recently become a favorite place to target young kids because of the volume of people who are playing online all at once.

The interactions between the young child and the predators are not always sexual. For instance, Breck Bednar was 14 years old and loved to play video games with a tight-knit group of people. The only person that was unknown to the group was Lewis Daynes, an adult who developed a strong relationship with Bednar over time. This chilling and disturbing “friendship” came to an end when Daynes lured Bednar to his home and killed him.[6]

Parental Features on Gaming Consoles

There are many ways to keep child gamers safe while playing video games and many of these features are available on the gaming console itself.

PlayStation 4 Parental Features[7]

Xbox One Parental Features[8]

  • Restrict access to certain tv shows, movies, games, and apps
  • Web filtering
  • Parents can determine what type of apps can be downloaded

Tips to keep child gamers safe!

  • Use parental features.
  • Pay attention to the rating guide on video games. Avoid mature-rated games for kids and teens.
  • Use anonymous and masculine or gender neutral Gamertags.
  • Inform kids about the importance of not sharing personal information while online.
  • Don’t accept friend requests from strangers.
  • And connect better with your child and set up your home for screen safety using our Screen Safety Essentials Course.

Thank you to CSUCI intern, Kassidy Simpson for providing parents with the information they need to help keep their kids safe on multiplayer games.  If you learned something fun from this article, please “like” our GetKidsInternetSafe Facebook page so other parents can find us!

Want to learn more about the dangers of video games? Check out Sex and Violence in Video Games Change the Brain: What GKIS Parent Need to Know.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,
Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty

Works Cited

[1] PlayStation®Plus 12-Month Membership. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2019, from https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/IP9101-NPIA90005_01-1YEARPACKAGE0000

[3] Hornshaw, P., & Hornshaw, P. (2019, February 28). From PUBG to Apex Legends, this is how battle royale happened. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/history-of-battle-royale-games/

[4] Joining a party. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2019, from https://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/party/join.html

Katersky, A. (2012, April 5). Online Gaming Is Becoming Predator’s Playground. Retrieved February 12, 2019, fromhttps://abcnews.go.com/US/online-gaming-predators-playground/story?id=16081873

Nath, D. (September 17). Fox on Tech: Predators using online games, FBI warns. Retrieved February 12, 2019, fromhttps://www.foxnews.com/tech/fox-on-tech-predators-using-online-games-fbi-warns

[5] U.S. average age of video gamers 2018 | Statistic. (29018, May). Retrieved February 12, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players-since-2010

[6] Moore, A. (2016, January 23). I couldn’t save my child from being killed by an online predator. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/23/breck-bednar-murder-online-grooming-gaming-lorin-lafave

[7] PS4: Family Management and Parental Controls. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2019, fromhttps://support.playstation.com/s/article/PS4-Parental-Controls?language=en_US

[5] Xbox Live chat on the Xbox 360 console. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2019, from https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/xbox-live/chat

[2]  Buy Xbox Live Gold. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2019, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-live-gold/CFQ7TTC0K5DJ/000G?rtc=1&activetab=pivot:overviewtab

[7] How to manage play time controls. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2019, from https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/my-account/parental-controls/play-time-settings/

[8] About the core family safety features of Xbox One. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2019, from https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/security/core-family-safety-features#e1f06038f2184dac80b0167174e26e4e

Photo Credit

Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

Photo by Fabian Alberton Unsplash

Photo by Alex Haneyon Unsplash

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