Gaming Together as a Busy Dad
Intro
Being able to play video games with your kids one day is the ultimate dream for any gamer parent. Having your child sat on your lap or by your side while sharing one of your favourite games together is special, especially when they are truly engaged in the moment with you.
Finding games that both of you enjoy can be difficult though. Of course my 4 year old daughter is going to have fun playing My Friend Peppa Pig, and while I can appreciate her getting excited about gaming, it’s certainly not a stimulating game for me to watch her play.
But I’m also not going to expect a 4 year old to play Baldur’s Gate 3 with me either… although that’s definitely the end goal one day.
Thankfully, with a bit of trial and error, my 4 year old and I have managed to find a handful of games that we love playing together. Some games we each have a controller for, while others she plays by herself with a bit of help from me. Either way, it’s quality time together, and that small moment before she goes to bed genuinely makes my whole day.
Number one on this list is the game we absolutely LOVE playing together. It’s the one she always asks to play before bed, and I never get tired of playing it with her.
5. Astros Playroom
Her first ever video game
When I first thought about getting my 4 year old into gaming, this was the very first game that came to mind. What better place to start than Astro’s Playroom?
The PlayStation 5’s pre-installed demo is colourful, vibrant, it’s kid-friendly, and easy to learn. It’s also a great way to show off the DualSense controller. The haptic feedback buzzing in her hands, blowing into the microphone to activate certain mechanics, and tilting the controller to move objects all felt like magic to her.
The sounds coming from the controller whenever she picked something up or smacked an enemy gave her the biggest smile.
What impressed me most was how quickly she learned. Her favourite level was Cooling Springs, and it didn’t take long before she was making her way through it with very little help from me. The only section that really gave her trouble was the spring suit. Once I helped her through that part, she was able to finish the rest of the level on her own.
One of the best things about Astro’s Playroom is that it barely takes up any storage space. I always keep it installed so she can jump back in whenever she feels like playing.
This will always be my daughter’s first ever video game, and that’s a memory I’ll never forget.
The first level she finished by herself.
4. Need for speed (And racing games in general)
Proof that proficiency isn’t required to enjoy gaming
Kids really don’t need to be good at games to enjoy them. If you want proof of that, try handing a racing game to a 4 year old.
I decided to give Need for Speed a go with my daughter because I thought she’d enjoy customising the cars. Building and styling cars has always been my favourite part of racing games too, so it felt like something we could both enjoy.
I already had plenty of money from when I had played years ago, so I let her choose whatever car she wanted.
Then we started looking through some paint jobs.
We spent ages scrolling through paint jobs and wraps before she finally settled on a design that was pretty cool, but overly pink. I put her name on the number plate, tweaked the tuning so the car could do donuts, and we were ready to hit the road.
I drove us to a long straight stretch of road and handed her the controller.
She made it about 100 metres.
Crash.
“Oops.”
A burst of laughter.
I’d reverse the car back onto the road and point it in the right direction.
Another 100 metres.
Crash.
“Oops.”
More laughter.
And we repeated that cycle over and over again.
She didn’t care that she wasn’t overly good at driving. In fact most of her driving was done by holding the nitrous button rather than the drive. She was simply having fun driving a bright pink car she’d created herself.
Eventually we’d head back to the garage and start the whole process again.
Usually because she wanted a different colour.
Peek ‘Sally’ in the back
3. Exit 8
This one was a big surprise
My daughter will often come and sit on my lap while I play games, providing a running commentary on everything that’s happening on screen of course.
One game I kept finding myself playing was Exit 8, an anomaly-spotting game where you’re trapped in an endless loop inside a train station. The goal is simple: if something looks wrong, you turn around. If everything looks normal, you keep walking forward. Make the wrong choice and you’re sent all the way back to Floor 0.
Surprisingly, my 4 year old became incredibly good at spotting anomalies, and some of them aren’t easy to catch either. When you watch streamers play it, they’ll often call out anomalies the moment they see them. At first, I was doing the same for her. Before long though, she was spotting them before I could.
“TILES, Dad!”
“He’s smiling, Dad!”
Or my personal favourite:
“CLEAN!”
Meaning everything looked normal and it was safe to keep moving forward.
I even love it when she yells out the most obvious anomaly of them all:
“TWINS!”
It’s not a game she’d enjoy playing herself. It isn’t colourful, there aren’t many buttons to press, and most of the fun comes from observation rather than interaction. Yet she still loves sitting with me and helping solve the puzzle.
It’s proof that kids don’t always need a controller in their hands to enjoy gaming with you.
NO SMOKING!
2. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Gaming together isn’t about you
When I was looking through my game library for something to play with my 4 year old, Sackboy: A Big Adventure caught my eye. It looked colourful, family-friendly, and most importantly, it supported co-op play. It seemed like an easy recommendation, so I downloaded it for us to try.
I have to admit, it ended up not really being my kind of game.
The art style didn’t quite click with me, the gameplay felt a little basic, and platformers have never been my favourite genre. But I realised something important: this game wasn’t for me, it was for her.
And she loves it.
One of the best things about Sackboy is that both of us didn’t need to be equally skilled to make progress. My daughter would often miss a jump or panic with enemies around, leaving me to make it to the next checkpoint so she could respawn.
She never got frustrated about it either.
Every time she popped back into the level she would excitedly yell:
“Look, I’m back now Dad!”
And off we’d go again.
It’s another game that permanently lives on my PlayStation for her. If I’m being honest, I’ll usually try to steer her towards games that both of us enjoy playing.
But Sackboy taught me something important. Sometimes gaming with your kids isn’t about finding your favourite game. It’s about finding theirs.
She does really love this game
1. Stardew Valley
This is OUR game
Stardew Valley has long been one of my all time favourite games, and I recently just did a Dad Review on it as its one of the best games for a busy parent. It’s a cozy farming game with a vibrant world to explore and an almost endless amount of things to do.
For years I have been trying to get my partner to play it with me, but she’s never really been into gaming. Thankfully, she gave me a beautiful daughter who loves playing games with her dad.
And she absolutely loves Stardew Valley.
Getting her interested wasn’t difficult. The colourful pixel art immediately caught her attention, the fixed camera makes it easy to navigate, and the entire game feels friendly and welcoming. That said, it’s probably best to keep your expectations in check. If you’re hoping your 4 year old is going to help you build a highly profitable farm, you’re going to be disappointed. Even watering crops can be an ambitious task.
What my daughter loves however, is exploring the world of Stardew. Her favourite thing to do every morning is make her way to the Lake to visit Linus at his tent. She’ll ask me what he’s saying, and then she makes her way into town to talk to everyone, while I do all the chores on the farm.
I even placed her cabin beside the farm animals so she could pet them every morning. She also greatly appreciated the effort I put into decorating the inside of her house. The festivals are always a highlight, and the changing seasons help keep the world feeling fresh and exciting for her.
The times spent playing Stardew with her will always be some of my most cherished memories, even though I know we will eventually move on to something new.
I put a lot of time into decorating her house
Conclusion
Finding games your kids love playing with you isn’t about finding the perfect game. It’s about finding moments to share together. And you never really know where those moments will come from.
Games will come and go, but the memories you make with them will remain. Whether it’s crashing her pink Honda endlessly, spotting anomalies together in a random horror game, or slogging through a game she loves, the memories matter more than the games themselves.
I know that one day she won’t be asking me to play Stardew Valley anymore, but I’ll never forget the smile she gives me when she says:
“Dad, I found Linus!”
Wanting to read more?
I wrote a Stardew Valley Review from the perspective of a working father with commitments. Check it out and consider giving Stardew Valley a go with your kids!