Costume Quest and Costume Quest 2 would be something you could play together. The player character is the twin of your choice, a girl or a boy, on a mission to save their sibling. You would have to read it to her and probably solve the puzzles, but she would be able to do the fights once you got going since it is turn based. It’s very kid friendly.
Looking for games with strong female leads for my daughter (even just to watch as I play). Came across this link, but they're a bit old. Any suggestions from the community?
Submitted 1 year ago by 2tone@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
https://gameranx.com/features/id/228820/article/15-best-games-to-play-today-with-female-leads/
Comments
asclepias@lemmy.world 1 year ago
1couchpotato@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I played little big planet on ps5 with my daughter. There are female costumes and such for the characters. She really enjoyed it.
BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 1 year ago
Mirrors edge is fun to watch with a badass woman, with mild violence
GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I second this. The violence is to be avoided! The mc is terrible with guns, intentionally. I tried a few times to fight, as it’s an option, but it was always worse than parkour-ing around.
Sacha@lemmy.world 1 year ago
My first thought was Never Alone
It is a puzzle platform adventure and the main character is a little girl probably around your daughter’s age who befriends an arctic fox. It’s an educational game about the Iñupiat people and their culture.
I dont know if there’s any scary scenes but since the main character is a child and the main focus of the game is to be educational, I doubt there will be anything too inappropriate. There will probably be things that she won’t understand but that’s just about everything- she’s 5.
Crackhappy@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I think it could be a little too scary for a 5 year old, but it’s definitely a great game for like an 8 year old.
Sacha@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In your opinion what would be too scary? I tend to have higher thresholds and limits than most people to what I call appropriate so I am curious.
MinisterOfNoms@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
I was coming here to say the same thing - it’s a fun sidescroller and I don’t recall anything too scary other than a chase scene (which isn’t gory at all). The educational bits are videos of the group’s elders telling their traditional stories and way of life which she might still find interesting.
james1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
While stuff like Tomb Raider is the quintessential example, for a five year old you would probably be better with something more colourful and fun, even if you are the one playing it.
With that in mind my first thought was A Hat in Time although I’ve not played it through to verify end to end appropriateness.
You could also try Mirror’s Edge because bright colours and dynamic movement, I don’t remember it being that violent but maybe on second thoughts consider the safety aspect of introducing a child to the concept of jumping between buildings and maybe I’m talking myself out of this.
Celeste is colourful and fun and honestly at that age I don’t know that she would pick up that much on the heavier aspects of the story which are allegories for anxiety/depression/gender dysphoria. A five year old is basically going to see it as a story with an evil twin I think.
I haven’t played Child of Light but that might be appropriate?
The main character in Crypt of the Necrodancer is a girl called Cadence, although that is one you would really have to enjoy to make it worth it imo. I’m mostly thinking rhythm and bright colours are child friendly again to be honest, but you still have to play what is basically a roguelike mixed with a rhythm game and if that’s not your jam it will be a waste of money.
You can always play a game with selectable skins too, like Spelunky 2 has a few characters you could pick between which all play the same but has a variety of designs you can play as.
Drewelite@lemmynsfw.com 1 year ago
Definitely Child of Light. But a little boring to watch probably. (Turn based combat)
magic_lobster_party@kbin.social 1 year ago
A Hat in Time. It’s like those classic platformers for N64.
Venat0r@lemmy.world 1 year ago
- A hat in time: others mentioned already but I think it’s worth mentioning twice 😁
- Stadew Valley
- Trine (1/3 protagonists female)
- Frogun
- Say No! More
- going under
- a short hike (I don’t remember the player character gender, I think it’s androgenous?)
Some violence:
- mirrors edge
- Remember Me
Kappei@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A short hike’s MC is Claire, clearly identified as a girl. My kids love the game, it can be played at your own pace and has a lot more to find than what you can see at first glance
popemichael@lemmy.sdf.org 1 year ago
Terraria has a bunch of options for gender PLUS it’s the best game ever made.
ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s an older game but Beyond Good and Evil is a classic.
lowleveldata@programming.dev 1 year ago
Metroid dread
taiyang@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I don’t have a game to add, but raising a daughter myself I’m taking notes on all these wonderful suggestions. (Actually I’ll second the people who suggested The Hat in Time, hat kid is a character worth emulating lol)
Omegamanthethird@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Give Donut County a try.
eramseth@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A short hike
randombullet@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Play Stardew Valley with her
Leilys@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
I’ll split it into games your daughter could play, and some that could be fun to watch and get her to interact with. This is coming from someone who was playing Pinball 3D in preschool, so your mileage when bringing up a gaming child may vary.
One thing I haven’t seen here is casual games. The less deep stuff that can still provide a lot of entertainment for kids that may just be starting to get a hang of things like computer mice and keyboard controls.
Alice Greenfingers (1 and 2) is a casual farm game featuring the titular character starting her own farm and selling the produce. No keyboard controls, just mouse controls and it was a pretty great introduction for me as a kid to finer motor movements.
The Diner Dash series is also a pretty good one to start. They have some variations, I know there’s a detective game under the franchise that you could get input from your daughter on as you go through to encourage interaction.
There’s the FATE (the WildTangent one, not the anime one) games, where it was one of the first games I remember that let me create my own female character. It’s a diablo ripoff with much simpler mechanics. Gameplay can be repetitive but it’s still a very fun, mouse-heavy game I still go back to. You can also choose between a cat and dog pet, and feed them special fish you find to turn them into awesome creatures like flaming unicorns!! (I’m sorry, I really love this game) i it’s certainly playable with not much reading skill and therefore should be okay for a child, even if there’s your standard combat violence.
For games that are fun to watch, I remember playing a Hello Kitty game for the PS2. There’s still elements like hitting things, but it’s overall a much cuter aesthetic.
There’s also a PS2 Avatar: The Last Airbender video game that’s based on the show (highly recommended watch even for kids), so you could relive the show you’ve just watched by playing the game with them. It’s 2 player.
Crash Bandicoot Warped - while you play often as Crash, in the latest game I think it’s possible to play everything as his sister Coco, who was already the only choice for some stages in the original game. Violence is mild, and was also one of my early games growing up. Fun to watch and play for kids.
I think there’s a game called Infinity Nikki (PS4, PS5, PC, Android) that’s a dress up platformer game. New outfits unlock different skills. The only issue is I’ve never played it, and it seems like microtransactions may inevitably come into play. Take caution. It’s a crazy pretty game, though…
The Marvelous Miss Take (PC, and some consoles iirc) is a stealth game about a young woman trying to pull off several art heists. It features a female main character and is generally quite fun.
Hope this helps :)
I wish you guys all the fun!
Godric@lemmy.world 1 year ago
As someone who began playing video games around that age, I recommend Pokémon! She can pick her gendered avatar, then pick her favptite team of cute and/or cool creatures, and I’ll swear up and down that my desire to embrace and understand that entirely text-based world of Pokémon nurtured my reading abilitiy far more than school ever did at that age.
Pokémon! It’s like crack, but for reading, and also suitable for five year olds!
Leilys@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
Man, I remember laying my hands on Pokémon Blue before I could even read most of the words there. My uncle had bought it for my cousin brother who was 4 years younger than me, lol.
The older Pokémon games are a linear enough experience that literacy helps, but isn’t required since as a child they’ll likely explore everything anyway and will eventually trigger the right flags to allow for progress. I played like that up till RSE.
zik@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Horizon: Zero Dawn would be an excellent choice.
Venat0r@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Might be a bit violent for a 5 yr old? It’s rated PEGI 16 .
zik@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s not especially violent but there are times when the protagonist kills bad guys.
inspired@kbin.social 1 year ago
Some of these might be a little more like 8 than 5 because they have storybook-scary but still mentioning for you to have a look and decide.
Lost Words - Beyond the Page
Unpacking
Epistory - Typing Chronicles
One Step from Eden
Wargroove
TsioqueTechnically not female lead but kinda close and definitely age-appropriate:
Chicory - From creators on Wandersong + Celeste. Not positive your character is canonically female but let's just call it very plausible and you are filling in for the titular character who is called "she".
Donut County (technically the male racoon is the main character but the only human and next-most important character is female)
Journey (likely canonically no specific gender but great game, no dialog and could easily interpret as female if you choose)Not what you asked for but maybe consider:
Beglitched - No human characters other than the player, puzzle game with pink and purple hacker aesthetic.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Androgynous animals and humans pilot a wacky ship in 4 player co-op lots of hearts.Pxtl@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
I obviously haven’t played it yet since it’s not out yet, but I kickstarted “Girl Genius: Adventures in Castle Heterodyne” which is based on the Girl Genius comics. The comics are a bit violent and cheesecakey but the game looks like a more cartooney take on the story.
The “Girl Genius” setting is like a fantastical take on 19th-century Europe if it were run entirely by mad scientists - basically taking the Steampunk concept into more fantasy direction. The plot of the game: Agatha is a mad scientist with a heart of gold but she’s also the lost last heir to the evil and depraved Heterodyne Family. To prove her claim to her birthright and save the city of Mechanicsburg she has to get the badly-damaged and utterly crazed AI-powered Castle Heterodyne under control.
The game is a puzzle-platformer.
soliloquy@startrek.website 1 year ago
Slime Rancher is a good one. It’s bright, fun, has adorable critters and plenty to do and expore. There’s a sequel too but I’m not sure if it’s released yet or not
linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I looked through most the comments and didn’t see it, but Gris. Beautiful pastel color palette and a mount story about finding oneself / gaining your voice back. Very existential but I’m a passive way. I’d like to think of it as a Metroidvania, as you have powers to gain that open up new areas, but there’s little to no actual fighting.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Gris was so good
zecg@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This wasn’t mentioned and it’s ideal: …steampowered.com/…/Alba_A_Wildlife_Adventure/
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Ahh yes! I played this briefly a while back. Will revisit
Vordus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
Ooh, can second this suggestion. An utterly charming little explore-em-up.
Cabeza2000@lemmy.world 1 year ago
How old is your daughter? This is important to know which games can be recommended and which games can’t.
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Post edited
dangblingus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Celeste. It’s tough as nails, but it’s so rewarding and the story is…gah!
BraininaBowl@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure You play as a young (7-ish years old?) girl exploring a Mediterranean island, taking pictures of cute animals and saving a nature reserve. Very child-appropriate and a joy to play. Highly recommended!
HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Freedom planet series
La mulana 2 (though it has some adult jokes)
Undertale (frisk is deliberately gender neutral to be imprintable)
Touhou Luna Nights (the original touhou games too, though the translated dialogue doesn’t always make sense).
lebigz@feddit.de 1 year ago
Undertale is absolutely not age appropriate… It deals with extreme psychological trauma and horror and starts out super scary
IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 1 year ago
Breath of the Wild with the Linkle mod
Andvari@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Life is strange, not appropriate for a 5 yr old.
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Someone else posted a Wind Waker mod. Can’t believe there’s one for BOTW too. How awesome
dandroid@dandroid.app 1 year ago
Even without mods, while the protagonist is male, in almost all Legend of Zelda games, Zelda is a badass. In Wind Waker she’s the leader of a gang of good-natured pirates that are all twice her size. The pirates all respect the shit out of her because she’s such a badass, and that’s why they follow her. IIRC, you and Zelda fight the last boss together.
In BotW, unfortunately you don’t get to see her being a badass directly. It’s only implied. But she’s fighting the main villain for 100 years, protecting her kingdom from evil and buying you time to recover from your last fight with him.
In Ocarina of Time, Zelda is a badass ninja warrior that saves Link multiple times.
I like how Zelda games usually start out with the plot of, “I need to protect the princess” and in almost every one, you learn that she’s a badass that doesn’t need protecting.
Zelda usually doesn’t get much screentime, so I’m not sure these are the best games for your purposes - without mods anyway. But Zelda is very rarely actually the damsel in distress that female video game critics often claim her to be. Maybe in a couple of games that came out in the 80s or early 90s, but she hasn’t been that way in a long time.
Tetra@kbin.social 1 year ago
A Hat in Time
dog@suppo.fi 1 year ago
Risk of Rain 2? If I recall right, most characters are female or ambiguous. Noita is another flawless gem.
Are games where gender isn’t explicitly defined okay?
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
My preference here is definitely where it’s an aspect of the story
Crazazy@feddit.nl 1 year ago
I know 5 year old me would have a little trouble sleeping from some of the sounds (example when you pick up an orb) coming from that game, never mind the occasional worm or kummitus jumpscare
SgtAStrawberry@lemmy.world 1 year ago
If you have a switch New super Mario bros U deluxe and Super Mario 3D World, both let you play as Peach and Toadette and you can do local co-op so you and her can play together.