What's incredible to me is that the successfully make a game where all of the progress is through information gained while exploring, there are absolutely zero artificial barrier to progress. Once you know the world, you can finish in one play through.

Most games cheat regarding exploration by tying exploration to unlocks in the game. As a huge metroidvania fan, this is can still be amazing.

It's just nearly unbelievable that the team behind Outer Wilds achieved this all through clever construction of the world they build.

On top of this you get a very emotionally compelling narrative and music that instantly gives me chills when I hear it.

Honestly the perfect game.

Outer Wilds excels with creative planets full of adventure, while Riven is a slow paced affair that is impressively dedicated to creating an intricate world wordlessly.

Without written aids ala the logs in Outer Wilds, gleaning insights from disparate information in Riven often means scrawling down notes & looking for patterns.

While I highly reccomend Riven for fans of the structure of Outer Wilds, Riven is now a dated game that operates at a glacial pace. I played it recently at a time that I was taking a break from more modern games and I think that did wonders for helping me adjust to its conventions & pace. If you give it a shot know that it'll demand your patience before it'll absorb you into its world.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bsh_vyAfMuE

Riven and its siblings (Myst, etc) are the only games that I've ever had to take down written notes to plan how to approach and solve the puzzles. Riven is more than just a play-for-fun-with-no-benefit way to spend my time; it is an intellectual exercise.

One way they achieved this is they made a paper prototype they could play through quickly to make sure they got the narrative and knowledge and progression down. They also made a simple digital point and click version (using the Java library Processing, apparently) and got that rock solid before they built the rest of it. Very smart, and something people should consider if they want to make their own narrative games.

They have a whole article about it, including pictures[1]. I only wish the simple digital version could be downloaded. I'd love to play around with it now that I've beaten the game.

[1]: https://www.mobiusdigitalgames.com/news/demaking-outer-wilds

It does contain spoilers but the games creator wrote a masters thesis on this game[1].

[1] https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/Share/o7d2vbuapqgd2mkjke8j752...

Also, skip the DLC together.

Dying is not depicted in bloody ways, should be acceptable even for kids of certain age.

A masterpiece indeed

Firewatch - about 6 to 10 hours narrative walking exploring adventure with beautiful scenery. Teens and up probably.

Outer wilds : astonishing space exploration game. So many mysteries and puzzles and wonders and connections to be made. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Tale of two brothers. There's sadness in this game but handled very well. If you're ready to discuss life and death with your kids. Beautiful graphics and fun puzzles.

Machinerium / Botanicula / Samorost, of course. Beautiful and lovely and happiness inducing.

Tons of point and click adventures.

Coop

It takes two - might be super fun for your kids to play as parents! Beautiful graphics and fun gameplay.

Lovers in dangerous space time - technically there's guns but nothing with people or anything recognizable.

Overcooked - if no guns is really a strict mandate :)

I don't recall any physical violence in the following games, although psychological violence can be very personal and some may run you in a mood or facing events that can be unsettling at times. Some of these have neither.

    Gone Home
    The Swapper
    Fez
    Day Of The Tentacle
    VVVVVV
    You Have To Win The Game
    Braid
    Shelter 1 & 2
    Her Story
    Portal 1 & 2
    Thomas Was Alone
    One Night Stand
    The Stanley Parable
    Antichamber
    Carto
    RiME
    Oxenfree
    Never Alone
    Life Is Strange

Mirror's Edge has punching but you don't kill anyone and you can avoid most encounters, with parkour style. Definitely not COD.

Limbo and Inside have gore but clearly not the COD one.

While enemies have guns and the setting may subscribe to "war-like", I seem to recall you can also complete Deus Ex Human Revolution Director's Cut without lethal action (in the original non DC bosses have to be killed) which is rewarded with an achievement at the end of the game.

Heavy Rain is also a great game with original mechanics. Don't attempt to play with PS Move, use a controller.

Some of these are good for kids, some aren't, depends on kid age and how you want to raise them!

In Portal 1 & 2 there are quite a lot of robots that trying to kill you with guns.[0] In Mirror's Edge there is a lot of parkour but there's also killing people with various guns.[1]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NBDulvHYr8 [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcaMnQD7G8

Correct. I should have put it aside, although the player only throws portals around to solve puzzles using his brain. And we can definitely describe GLaDOS as being a violent being.

> In Mirror's Edge there is a lot of parkour but there's also killing people with various guns

Wow I completely forgot about that in Mirror's Edge. I think I completed the game without ever using a gun and then forgot they ever existed in the game.

If you put your heart in it, you learn to communicate effectively under pressure (especially when trying to conquer those 4th stars), tolerate/move-on from each other's mistakes, and control your temper around each other.

We've been recommending the game to every couple we know.

Life Is Strange is a well-done adventure game. It's not quite *zero* violence in that the story takes some turns, but you're fundamentally a high schooler in a relatively normal setting, I wouldn't expect you to run into any issues.

Journey may be more abstract than what you're looking for, but it's a fantastic experience.

It goes on and on. It wouldn't give it to kids that aren't old enough to handle complex and subtle emotional situations.

Not to say it isn't a great game, but the subtle violent atmosphere building up is a very core part of it.

Portal is a great game, with a good story.

But part of this greatness is the psychological games it plays with you.

Hence people need to have enough maturity to deal with this.

Hence this is not a good game for playing with younger kids, even if there is almost no graphical violence in it.

That's what he's saying, some kids might not get the humor aspect of Portal and just perceive the paranoia and violence.

I enjoyed the game, mostly, but I found myself wishing it skewed more towards "slice of life" and less towards sci-fi crime thriller.

But also one thing you can do is play the two player co-op mode on Portal 2, which as far as I know is pure puzzle solving.

The stories in Portal are great though, especially Portal 2 which is rich and funny. You could just skip the end of the game and I think that would be pretty non violent? I don’t know if destroying a machine counts as violent.

(I originally thought GP was making a Companion Cube joke, but now I’m not sure.)

Factorio is probably a bit more advanced, but meets your criteria (except for story, maybe). There is a rabbit hole of games like that to go down.

Assassins Creed Origins and Odyssey have “education” modes that are about exploring the world and not murder.

The Mario-plus games (Tennis, Racing, Party) tend to be not violence oriented, are collaborative, but have super hokey stories.

Old school point and click games are definitely up there (Monkey Island, Myst) as people have mentioned.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus do have violence and battle as central elements, but not in a COD type of way.

A challenge is that most games rely on competition and conflict as core drivers of both the story and the game mechanics. I think something like Tomb Raider could easily minimize conflict while still retaining a lot of really interesting puzzles, game mechanics, and story elements… sometimes playing that game (and uncharted) you feel like a mass murderer with the body counts you rack up. But other games like Metal Gear Solid are designed to allow you to get through them without needing to kill anyone (subdue/knock out though). It’s also hella hard to do that.

Death Stranding is an interesting one to consider as well. There is some violence and extremely dark themes, but aside from the boss battles it’s really minimal on guns and violence.

Ape Escape for PS1 kind-of fits the mold as well - capturing escaped monkeys is a really fun.

Katamari Damacy (spelling?) is really fun as well- you roll up things under your magic rolling ball becomes planet sized.

The Ace Attorney series is also almost entirely narrative and puzzle.

That's subjective! Personally, having the biters enabled removes a big part of the gameplay for me as suddenly I need to focus on being able to defend myself, while for me that game is about building as effective factory as possible.

Seconded. This "walking simulator" - as they say - unexpectedly turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time. The story is just magnificent.

Excerpt from Ultralearning by Scott H. Young[0]:

Eric Barone had just graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma with a degree in computer science when he thought, Now’s my chance. He had decided that he wanted to make his own video games and that now, before he got comfortable in a salaried programming job, was his opportunity to do something about it. He already had his inspiration. He wanted his game to pay homage to Harvest Moon, a charming Japanese series of games in which the player must build a successful farm: grow crops, raise animals, explore the countryside, and form relationships with other villagers. “I loved that game,” he said about his childhood experience with the title. “But it could have been so much better.” He knew that if he didn’t follow through with his own vision, that improved version would never be a reality. Developing a commercially successful video game isn’t easy. AAA game companies budget hundreds of millions of dollars and employ thousands of people on their top titles. The talent required is similarly broad. Game development requires programming, visual art, musical composition, story writing, game design, and dozens more skills, depending on the genre and style of game developed. The breadth of skills required makes game development much harder for smaller teams than other art forms such as music, writing, or visual arts. Even highly talented independent game developers generally have to collaborate with a few people to span all the skills required. Eric Barone, however, decided to work on his game entirely alone.

Deciding to work alone came from a personal commitment to his vision and an indefatigable self-confidence that he could finish the game. “I like to have complete control over my own vision,” he explained, saying that it might have been “impossible to find people who were on the same page” regarding the design. However, that choice meant that he would need to become proficient in game programming, music composition, pixel art, sound design, and story writing. More than just a game design project, Barone’s odyssey would entail mastering each aspect of game design itself.

Pixel art was Barone’s biggest weakness. This style of art harkens back to the earlier era of video games when rendering graphics was difficult to do on slow computers. Pixel art is not done with fluid lines or photorealistic textures. Instead, a compelling image must be created by placing pixels, the colored dots that make up computer graphics, one at a time—painstaking and difficult work. A pixel artist must convey movement, emotion, and life from a grid of colored squares. Barone liked to doodle and draw, but that didn’t prepare him for the difficulty. He had to learn this skill “completely from scratch.” Getting his art skills to a commercial level wasn’t easy. “I must have done most of the artwork three to five times over,” he said. “For the character portraits, I did those at least ten times.” Barone’s strategy was simple but effective. He practiced by working directly on the graphics he wanted to use in his game. He critiqued his own work and compared it to art he admired. “I tried to break it down scientifically,” he explained. “I would ask myself, ‘Why do I like this? Why don’t I like that?’” when looking at other artists’ work. He supplemented his own practice by reading about pixel art theory and finding tutorials that could fill gaps in his knowledge. When he encountered a difficulty in his art, he broke it down: “I asked, ‘What goal do I want to reach?’ and then ‘How might I get there?’” At some point in his work on the game, he felt his colors were too dull and boring. “I wanted the colors to pop,” he said. So he researched color theory and intensively studied other artists to see how they used colors to make things visually interesting.

Pixel art was just a single aspect Barone had to learn. He also composed all of the music for his game, redoing it from scratch more than once to make sure it met his high expectations. Whole sections of the game mechanics were developed and scrapped when they failed to meet his rigorous standards. This process of practicing directly and redoing things allowed him to get steadily better at all of the aspects of game design. Although it lengthened the time it took to complete the game, it also enabled his finished product to compete with games created by an army of specialized artists, programmers, and composers.

Throughout the five-year development process, Barone avoided seeking employment as a computer programmer. “I didn’t want to get involved in something substantial,” he said. “I wouldn’t have had the time, and I wanted to give game development my best shot.” Instead, he worked as a theater usher, earning minimum wage so that he wouldn’t get distracted. His meager earnings from his job, combined with support from his girlfriend, allowed Barone to get by as he focused on his passion.

That passion and dedication to mastery paid off. Barone released Stardew Valley in February 2016. The game quickly became a surprise hit, outselling many of the big-studio titles offered on the computer game platform Steam. Across multiple platforms, Barone estimates that within the first year of its release, Stardew Valley had sold well over 3 million copies. In months, he went from an unknown designer earning minimum wage to a millionaire named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” stars within game development. His dedication to mastering the skills involved played no small part in that success. Destructoid, in its review of Stardew Valley, described the artwork as “incredibly endearing and beautiful.”6 Barone’s commitment to his vision and aggressive self-education had paid off handsomely.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44770129-ultralearning

"Return of the Obra Dinn" has some of the finest game story telling I have ever experienced, the story it told was ok, a good serviceable story, but nothing exceptional. However the way it was told was amazing, I found it a highly satisfying experience.

Made by Lucus Pope who also made "Papers Please"

I also find I have to read books in one or two settings, I just loose the plot if it takes longer than that.

I've even seen games that explicitly say "you haven't loaded this save in a while. Do you want a refresher?"

It's a cool idea and seems to me to solve the problem of "where was I" after a break, but it hasn't caught on fully yet.

Walking sims also rarely feature you, the player character, committing acts of violence, although - again - they often they take place in an environment where violence is a backdrop. I think this happens in a lot of games, because violence is an easy way of creating drama. However, I generally prefer these games that feature a violent backdrop to games where you are actually doing the violence, because they tend to address it in a way that better reflects how we deal with trauma in real life.

Some suggestions: Deponia series, Dreamfall series, Life is Strange series, Edna and Harvey series, The Inner World series, Nelly Cootalot series, Space Pilgrim series, Blackwell series, The Journey Down, Anna's Quest, Jenny LeClue, Sumatra: Fate of Yandi, Milkmaid of the Milky Way, Firewatch, Tacoma, Draugen, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture... There are tons of games like this. Some of these might have a death or two along the way that you might click into or through, but none of them felt like gratuitously violent games per se, at least nothing close to shooters and RPGs.

Hack N’ Slash was great. Not a very long game, but a charming setting and a fun story. It starts out looking like a standard swords–and–sorcery adventure game, but it is actually about programming. Instead of killing monsters, you reprogram everything, and use debug tools to delve into the source code of the game itself. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but the final boss attacks you by randomly deleting bits of source code from the game. Don’t take too long to fight him, or you might really regret it!

Here's a tech demo of what I've been working on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q0l87hwmkI

I created a path finding algorithm that can simultaneously path 300,000 units to random destinations at a comfortable frame rate. Units can choose from any of the shortest paths between two points (there are many in a grid), and from those paths, can also choose the path that matches any preferences they have.

Very early stages of development still!

Soma, a science fiction horror game around the idea of transplanted consciousness. It's a common sci-fi theme but Soma handles it much better than most and adds a very interesting setting.

What Remains of Edith Finch, not scary, it's a "walking sim" that explores a family's surreal curse over generations. It's actually really touching.

Disco Elysium, a detective RPG in an interesting fictional "post-soviet style" setting. The world building and writing are incredible. While it has a sense of melancholy, it can also be incredibly funny.

Honestly, I thought I'd have an easier time coming up with some other suggestions to throw in but there's usually some ass-kicking in my favorite story driven games.

The Oni platformer games are a little bit fight-centric but not really violent or cruel, and the story is great. Worth looking at.

Another decent one I just thought of is Outer Wilds, it's kind of a myst-like puzzle game where you just explore the world and discover the story as you go.

W.r.t violence, it is indeed present as a murder is the center of the story, but it's always in service of a story about self-discovery, exploration and a talking tie.

Also, if you like Disco, check out The City & The City [0], it inspired DE and is a great time.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_%26_the_City

I'm reading The City and The City now and there are moments and plot lines where it feels like DE is the game adaptation of the book.

Or Ori? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ori_and_the_Blind_Forest

I recently finished The Age of Decadence, which is a turn based story-heavy RPG. This game is what actually got me into Disco Elysium.

They we pretty stoked to see Ron Gilbert's announcement that he's making another game in the series.

Portal doesn’t have guns or violence as such, but not much of a story either - quite fun.

It is a kinda short (~5-6h) feel good game in which you more or less just have to explore a holiday island and meet different other Animals

The developer held a talk on the GDC how he made the game: https://youtu.be/ZW8gWgpptI8

"Where are the bad guys?" "No one is here, honey. Just us."

Reminds me I should revisit Myst and Riven.

Based on this I picked up Obduction to play with him and he loved it, still I suspect not really understanding the puzzles. heck, I loved it, I had forgotten how much I enjoy cyans brand of puzzles(Apparently I have a real soft spot for puzzles based on strange base number systems). I had to keep stopping myself from playing when he was not around so we could enjoy it together.

* puzzle solvers (Portal, Phoenix Wright, etc)

* simulations (city builders, etc)

* driving games (racing, boats, etc)

* discovery (often a form of puzzle game, but there are things like the whale petting game - Endless Ocean - Animal Crossing could be one of these)

* RPG (though most involve violence for some it is very stylized, Pokémon could go here)

* Collection (usually an aspect of another game, such as Pokémon or animal crossing - the drive to complete the sets)

* High-level army simulations (Things like Age of Empires, Heroes III et al - games that technically have violence but it’s more like chess, you’re maneuvering armies against other armies. The Heroes storyline was pretty decent and I love the gameplay)

* Sports (Madden, FIFA, many have a career or dynasty mode focusing on a player or team)

So something like a racing RPG with collection aspects might be perfect - though most have a relatively weak “story mode”.

* Fez

* Overcooked

* Animal Crossing

* Untitled Goose Game

* Baba is You (maybe?)

* Snakebird

* Stephen's Sausage Roll

* The Witness

* Rock Band (or it's ilk)

* Bernband (haven't played but looks interesting)

* Slime Rancher

* Mini Metro

* Journey

I would recommend "Unrailed" but there is a bit of violence with the robbers that come in that you can kill.

IA has a playable version [0].

[0] https://archive.org/details/Rockys_Boots_1982_Learning_Compa...

- Portal & Portal 2

- Outer Wilds

- The Talos Principle

- Antichamber (I haven't finished this)

- Quern - Undying Thoughts

- Myst Remastered

- Infinifactory

Platformers:

- Braid

- FEZ

I don't even know:

- TIS-100

- EXAPUNKS

- World of Goo

Violent but in a different way:

- Inscryption (do not look anything up about this game)

- Stone Story RPG

- Hollow Knight

Pretentious story but extremely fun puzzles (except one.... you know which one it is jblow):

- The Witness

Yes. That message about the pets, oof.

> except one.... you know which one it is jblow

I found several to be un-fun, but yes, that's part of how Jon explores the conceptual space of a puzzle. If he didn't include those puzzles then he feels the exploration would be incomplete. The player would be left wondering "What if..." and I think these puzzles are sort of Jon's way of saying "That would suck. Trust me, I checked.".

Yes, truly that WOULD suck

I think the critiques in this video [0] sum up my main feelings about the game. The puzzles are fantastic. The <spoiler> puzzles are fantastic. The movement, environment, graphics, etc are all fantastic. But, the "story" and "message" of the game can be interpreted in many ways. It is art in the sense that everyone gets something different from it. But it is pretentious because, if everyone gets something completely different from your "experience", you really didn't convey anything. That's what most people (I think) are talking about when they say "<art> is pretentious".

[0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZokQov_aH0

It would be pretentious if Jon's intention had been to throw a bunch of crap out there and then say "it means what you want it to mean", but I don't think that's what Jon did. Jon did what artists do: they take ideas that can be difficult to express simply and they try to express them in art. That any individual can come away from the work with one experience or another is just how the world is. We all exist in our own contextual bubbles that inform our interpretation of the things around us, and while an artist can try to communicate the meaning more clearly they will find, like Heisenberg, that precision in one aspect ensures imprecision in another. And yes, these are all themes expressed in the game itself, though by no means the only ones.

When I see criticism like this, I can't help but feel like some people just can't stand that there isn't some definitive documented interpretation, some twist ending that makes it all makes sense. Like it's a twilight zone episode or something.

[0] Actually, I've only ever seen people link to it and try to claim its ideas as their own. I don't know about you, but I'm especially disinclined to take "here, read this link" seriously if it is the sum totality of an argument.

so fun

Day of the Tentacle

https://store.steampowered.com/app/388210/Day_of_the_Tentacl...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Tentacle

PS: There also is https://store.steampowered.com/app/32360/The_Secret_of_Monke...

1. Chuchel (point&click about a funny creature in pursuit of a cherry)

2. Donut County (drop things into a hole that gets bigger)

3. The Henry Stickmin Collection (classic multiple choice 2D animated Flash game extended, funny)

4. Superliminal (very imaginative space distortion puzzle, adult help needed)

https://amanita-design.net/games.html

The game is great, but some design elements are really rough. It can be brutally difficult at times and at others cringingly slow. Both emulator features fix that - I wouldn't play it without.

[1]: http://www.thaumistry.com/

[2]: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl

Psychonauts

Full throttle (gritty tone, one scene of bike fighting)

Point n click adventures e.g. Monkey island and Indiana jones series

There's a lot of nonviolent puzzle games. Like portal, superliminal, antichamber, stanley parable, ect.

If you’re OK with that though the Lucasarts point and click games are really good.

Then there are platformers like Ori and fun games like Overcooked.

If you're looking for games with a creative spark there's always Minecraft and if you want to throw in some problem solving into the mix, checkout Cities Skylines or any of the games in the Tycoon series. These games might be single player but it can be played by a committee if you know what I mean

[0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/225080/Brothers__A_Tale_o...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12FNU8bNEbE

I've been meaning to buy this game, and in fact I just about bought it today (it's on sale right now). Now I'm not sure I want to.

If I understand correctly, this is a game in which great pains are taken to make you take the emotions and ethics seriously, in which you are railroaded into making an unethical choice (murdering an innocent thinking creature for the sake of personal convenience)?

I don't know of anything less ethical in storytelling than convincing players that sometimes murder is the only reasonable choice, in situations when clearly it is not the only reasonable choice.

To be honest, I can’t think of railroading as “right” or “wrong”, but instead as a poorly understood narrative choice in games. Another example that stands out in my mind is Nier and Nier Automata, which both feature early boss fights that occur mechanically, regardless of the player’s personal morality. You, as the player, may be playing a character and this is a deeply troubling thing for people to do. That character may have desires that do not match the player’s desires.

On a more real level, the question about violence in games is more “can I talk to my children about this” and less “does this game depict violence”.

I don’t have the answer for It Takes Two.

Games can’t really force you to take ethics seriously, IMO. Few games have ever really had any serious take on ethics. If you want a serious take on ethics in games, play Undertale or something.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/does-not-commute/id971756507

A Short Hike (haven’t played it but heard great things)

Signs of the Sojourner: A brilliant game about going on bus trips to trade and collect merchandise for a local store, but the core gameplay is conversation represented by collectible cards. The catch is that you can only carry a limited number of them, and the change in your deck over time represents the way leaving home for the first time changes a person… perhaps so much that when they return, they can’t relate to their old friends anymore.

Vader can force choke other minifigs to death.

I recommend playing together and reading the dialog out loud, giving each character a unique voice if that's your wont.

The story and investigation are the main draw, but the core of the game is an ongoing puzzle about deciphering an ancient language that's a slick blend of the game mechanics helping you along and the slow, free-form expansion of your own understanding. It's a great group activity.

Cities: Skylines - tell your own story as you build a city.

Farming Simulator - again a “tell your own story” setup, since it has no storyline.

Braid is a platformer with neat mechanics, not sure about deep story, since I never got far in it.

This one gets interesting. I believe it safe to say that it isn't going to be what you expect. It's not so much a deep narrative story but rather a philosophical one.

stardew valley has some violence but it's not the focus of the game (it's a farming simulation), you only has to fight if you go to the caverns with monsters, but you can play the game without doing this (you just won't have minerals for tools and cash)

i will second the suggestion of world of go

Or get a Nintendo Switch. If Gaming is a necessary evil for kids ( I wouldn't say that but some people do ), Nintendo is trillion times than anything on the market. No stupid Mobile Games Pay to Win or 30 sec Ads. ( Those companies should pray, someday, somewhere, someone will take revenge on them in the market ), Playstation and Xbox gets you Serious Gaming which isn't really good for kids.

A puzzle-platformer adventure video game based on the traditional Iñupiaq tale, "Kunuuksaayuka". Single and two player swapping between an Iñupiaq girl named Nuna and her Arctic fox companion.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Alone_(video_game)

I know having a great story was a condition but I would also recommend shallower stories in rhythm based games for playing with your kids or alone.

Once the mechanics are learned, you can indulge in a similar feeling of accomplishment as with those fun trick shots in fps games.

There's OSU!, Arcaea, Rhythm Heaven and a recent one that has a story that became really popular is Friday Night Funkin and associated mods.

There are classics like portal 1 and 2 for depth in story, but I don't see many puzzle games with strong stories.

Real time strategy like age of empires or mythology are violent but can be considered somewhat educational because it's based on history/myth.

And the following games are shooters but the story is so deep that it doesn't feel unreasonable, the Bioshock series and Control.

Secondly, The Beginner's Guide. It's a first-person "walking simulator" type game with a great story.

And I'm pretty sure I cried at the end.

Here are some I have played that I enjoyed:

Balsa Model Flight Simulator - https://store.steampowered.com/app/977920/Balsa_Model_Flight...

Celeste - https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste/

Everything - https://store.steampowered.com/app/582270/Everything/

Hollow Knight - https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/

Lego games, starting with Lego Star Wars: The Video Game - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Star_Wars:_The_Video_Game

No Man’s Sky - https://store.steampowered.com/app/275850/No_Mans_Sky/

SteamWorld Dig 2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/571310/SteamWorld_Dig_2/

Valheim - https://store.steampowered.com/app/892970/Valheim/

Zelda: Breath of the Wild - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of...

meaning it was a design decision not a technical one

> Mechanically, Blood Moons are a way to refresh Breath of the Wild's long-term memory and appear to purge the game's cache. Consequently, data stored within the game's long-term memory is reset, including the presence or lack of Materials and Weapons.

Frostpunk

Hypnospace Outlaw

80 Days

Classic LucasArts point'n'clicks in general

The Paper Mario games (specifically the original and The Thousand-Year Door) technically have violence, but it's obviously rather cartoonish

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

I avoid all tablet games because there is too much garbage.

Anyway, depending on the age of your kids, those two have "cartoon violence", yoshi throwing eggs, not sure if you would count it as that.

Does super mario count as violent with jumping on monster heads?

* Super Mario Odyssey

* Sackboy: A Big Adventure

* Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

* Paw Patrol Games (gameplay maybe a bit too simple though)

* Overcooked 1 & 2

* Untitled Goose Game

* Ultimate Chicken Horse

* Astro's Playroom

Super Mario Odyssey was good early on, but now she gets bored because it's too easy to play as the hat. If she plays as mario, it's too boring for myself, but playing by herself is still too challenging.

The other ones, I will try! Paw Patrol is indeed too easy, she played harder games with me (we played together Sundered, which is metroidvania coop, quite hard for myself too) and I was keeping an eye on it and determined she would learn anything new from it.

It's particularly challenging to find for kids "hard but not frustrating" because their frustration meter is quite lower than that of an adult.

I originally thought super mario would be good but the older ones are surprisingly hard for younger players. Although that reminds me Super Mario 3D World / Bowsers Fury is pretty good for co-op too if you’ve not tried it yet.

I’ll also mention its worth playing any game with a builder, my son loves building his own tracks in track mania turbo for instance.

SUper Mario 3D world looked good, but I was afraid after the Odyssey experience, I'll put that on my wishlist.

I'll check sackboy, never heard that game!

EDIT: I see, it's playstation only, I'm cut out of that. PC or Switch in this home, and it was a big sacrifice bringing a Switch in (I'm against consoles in their current form and try to vote with my wallet against them. Steam Deck is a good compromise)

RE Sackboy - keep an eye out Sony seem to have relented and are releasing their games on PC now so it’ll probably appear at some point.

Returnal for myself, obviously ;)

The hand-eye coordination my daughter has is incredible too, her creativity is incredible. A lot of in-the-park games are a consequence of what we play: one time she grabbed a short stick (a wand) and a huge stick (I assume a two handed sword) and invited me to go around and defeat monsters and bosses. Never played a game like that in the park with her, she came up with it. We actually had a great time.

Use videogames like any other toy: with a critical eye at all time, with moderation at all time.

EDIT: Sorry I'm very bitter on this. People keep treating videogames like a special case, but it's like any other toy. TV included. Just keep careful eye on your child and constantly re-evaluate how toys are impacting them. It's easy to see how more than 1 hour TV makes your child grumpy and bored, however it's also easy to see how some movies stimulate her will to dance and sing (Moana, Frozen), which in turn promotes playing with her little brother.

Tetris Effect: It's Tetris! With lots of shiny colors! I'm not the hugest fan of how they set up the grading system, but it has lots of replay value and has lots of no-fail modes.

Abzu: Somber, deep, with bright colors and lots of fish. A little eerie in places. No dialog/words.

Journey: Possibly a little mature (despite its Everyone rating) for how eerie it is, Journey contains no words. There's spoken dialog in a language that nobody knows anymore. [2] reviews.

Offspring Fling: You're a momma fluff who's gotta get her little fluffs home! Very little penalty for failure, it's a fun sidescrolling platforming game. A few spots might need help from a parent to get right.

Echochrome: Think MC Escher, but as a perspective puzzle game. PSP/PS3 only, though...

Do you read to your daughter? If she's got the basics of words down and you want to work on words being read, heard, and having meaning, I have some suggestions!

SkateBird: BIRBS! TECH DECKS! Heckin TRICKS! There's story, told in birbish. The difficulty can be turned to super low, the assists turned up super high. There's very few "big words" anywhere -- most of them are maybe two syllables, and the story revolves around "Big Friend". The whole first part of the adventure is cleaning up Big Friend's room. You can customize the bird you play as. You can, in fact, pet the bird.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX: Pokemon, but with a focus on... the pokemon? Yeah it's an RPG, and there's fighting (like any pokemon game), but it has just enough plot that you'll be able to read for your daughter and help her along. [1] reviews it.

PIKMIN 3: It's Pikmin, there's really nothing else to say. It's cute, it's teamwork, but beware: There's a lot of (vaugely useful) dialog.

Katamari Damacy: Not super recommended, but worth a try if you're not familiar. The king of all cosmos has gotten himself "one with nature" (read: drunk off his petard) and dumped all the stars outta the sky. Lots of colors, but the difficulty curve is tough for a 4yo. Also there's a loud siren at the end of each level as you run out of time that spooked me the first time I was playing it.

Here Comes Niko!: You're Niko! Your goal is to make friends! Dialog-heavy in places, but with a little adult help, definitely doable!

The Unfinished Swan: perhaps a bit artsy, give it a glance and see if it's something you and your daughter would enjoy.

[1] https://youtu.be/qrvRbKiLZKI [2] https://www.gameinformer.com/games/journey/b/ps3/archive/201...

If you'd like some games that you might enjoy playing with your daughter watching (or sometimes engaging in as appropriate), I left another list: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31625560

A few nice examples of story-rich games on mobile:

Monument Valley, Assemble with Care, Guildlings, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Pilgrims, Mutazione

If you’re looking for a compelling story, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrUWFo2D1Xs

>Game Helpin' Squad: Severe Running

Although having grim theming, the creator specifically wanted a game not focused on violence and instead for a symbol of "togetherness".

Another one I haven't played but I've seen a lot of; Stardew Valley.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

(no username pun intended)

As she is grieving, the world is bland and she's lost her voice in the world. As she processes grief, her voice and powers come back to her. The world represents human perception, while her voice and her powers represent how we interact with the world. Eg, as we grieve our perception is diminished, and our ability to handle/do things is also diminished.

The little cute creature that come and help you are a metaphor that it's okay to let friends in and that they can help you through your grief.

The "enemies" are the dark side of grief, the ones that tries to pull us down and makes recovery harder. So, depression, anxiety, and just "brain demons" (eh dark thoughts) in general.

[END OF SPOILERS]

There's other elements that I think also act as good metaphors, but I don't want to make the post too long.

Also, I discovered the game during a difficult time, so I could just be looking into it too much. Lol

Edit: wordsmithing

Grow Home - a 3D platformer about growing plants into space; story-light, but very chill and fun to play

I was amazed playing through Little Inferno for the first time, that it had such a strong anti-materialism message. Releasing as a launch title for a new console seemed an incredibly balsy move :-)

Cyan, their company, has been producing new titles, Obduction was quite good.

Your character is in danger but you don't shoot or kill, at least not excessively.

With that said, this thread has been a treasure trove for me because my friend group often defaults to co-op FPS games so it’ll be nice to have some alternatives to mix things up a bit.

[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedesign/comments/tmlmp8/what_are... [1] https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35411526-Wholesome-Ga...

Some other things that comes to my mind are the Katamary Damacy series (must play!) and Wattam by Keita Takahashi.

Limbo and Inside might also fit your definition. They're dark but non violent.

Sackboy, Tearaway and Little big planet do have you defeat some baddies but they're also avoidable for the most part.

While it does take place in a war zone, you play from the perspective of the civilians that are trapped within a besieged city and struggle to survive. Violence here is incredibly dangerous for survival, and should be avoided at all costs.

* Papers please

You play as a border control employee that must validate that all people crossing the border have the correct documentation. Due to the nature of the environment there will be some guns/violence involved, but it is by far not the main focus of the game. Glory to Arstotzka.

These games may not be to your liking, depending on how hard you are on the "NO gun/violence" requirement. These approach the topics from a more civilian view than other games.

Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR has done a couple video game recommendation episodes. I bet you'll find some suitable recommendations from them:

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1068592935

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/995825684/three-of-our-favori...

To The Moon (and the subsequent A Bird Story, Finding Paradise, and Imposter Factory): Wonderful series of games that focuses on narrative. Amazing soundtrack and good recurring cast of characters.

Firewatch: Beautiful game set in the wilderness with pretty much your only interactions being over the radio with your boss who you never meet face to face. Focuses on the relationship with your boss and the theme of escapism.

Heaven's Vault: Great game that focuses on exploration and discovery. It shines with the small, focused stories you'll run into on different planets while piecing together an ancient language and the mysteries of the universe.

Violence in video games, if it must be present, should be a like a garnish: in vanishingly small quantities and hyper-realistic.

The fantasy (as in ludicrous, not swords and sorcery) violence of modern gaming is just a skin on underlying game mechanics. The imagery, sound, and themes of ultra-violence are not really necessary.

It is ultimately laziness on the part of studios; understandable, though, since the violence sells. Still, I hope studios take note of this thread. There is a thirst out there for non-violent games. And studios hold an awful lot of power in what they contribute to the culture these days.

If you emulate - Super Mario Galaxy had “pointer mode” for an assist player.