Best Nintendo Switch games for young kids
- jan
- 08
Here are a few of the best Nintendo Switch games for young kids. As long as they are old enough to manipulate a controller safely and understand how to operate the Switch, these games will be fun and safe for them.
★ Featured favorite
Pokemon Quest
Pokemon Quest's biggest perk is its price: it's free! You can download it onto the Switch and let your kid enjoy exploring a blocky world full of Pokemon friends. Though the Pokemon do "battle" one another, there's nothing violent about it, and it's a great way to introduce young kids to the world of Pokemon in a simple, repetitive, easy-to-understand manner. An Auto mode is extremely helpful for those kids who are still a bit young to use more complex controls and just want to feel like they're doing something. All the dialogue is friendly and sweet, and there are no online interactions that will harm their gaming experience. This is a great one even for very young kids, as you can just hand it to them and let them watch the Pokemon run around. I do recommend ensuring you don't have a credit card saved to the Switch beforehand, though, as the game does include microtransactions you don't want your kid to accidentally trigger.
Cutting Through the Clutter
Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together!
Snipperclips is a cute puzzle game that requires you to cut paper shapes into new shapes to accomplish certain tasks, such as fitting within a certain size space or accomplishing a task related to movement and positioning. The game can be played alone or with up to four total people, which makes it a great game to let your kid enjoy and then join them for later on. Though some of the puzzles, later on, might get a bit tricky for very young kids, most will be able to follow what the game wants from them and enjoy finding new ways to snip and clip the paper friends into the right shapes. Plus, Snipperclips is a great game to work on problem-solving skills with your kids!
Drive Into The Sunset
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
So many adults have fond memories of bonding with siblings over Mario Kart...though that bonding often took the form of a lot of yelling about spiny shells! You don't need to own a retro console to give that same experience to your kids, as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is just as crazy fun as the original, but with far more kid-friendly controls. Motion steering can be an improved way for younger children to try and drive the karts, and a special steering assist mode can help those who still haven't mastered the controls yet stay on the road with the more experienced players. Plus, though Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has an online mode, unless you set them up with the voice chat app all the interactions are limited to a set of friendly phrases, so there's no chance they'll run into bad content online.
Catch Em All For Free
Pokemon Quest
Pokemon Quest's biggest perk is its price: it's free! You can download it onto the Switch and let your kid enjoy exploring a blocky world full of Pokemon friends. Though the Pokemon do "battle" one another, there's nothing violent about it, and it's a great way to introduce young kids to the world of Pokemon in a simple, repetitive, easy-to-understand manner. An Auto mode is extremely helpful for those kids who are still a bit young to use more complex controls and just want to feel like they're doing something. All the dialogue is friendly and sweet, and there are no online interactions that will harm their gaming experience. This is a great one even for very young kids, as you can just hand it to them and let them watch the Pokemon run around. I do recommend ensuring you don't have a credit card saved to the Switch beforehand, though, as the game does include microtransactions you don't want your kid to accidentally trigger.
Call It A Draw
Crayola Scoot
Crayola Scoot can be a bit of a drag if you were looking for a more complex, colorful take on something like a Tony Hawk game, but for its intended kid audience, it's perfect. Players can scooter around various tracks and challenges while spraying different Crayola color of paint on the ground, perform tricks, and customize characters with gear they win by improving their scooting more and more. With limited sets of challenges, clear goals, lots of customizability, and an extremely kid-friendly set of characters and objectives, Crayola Scoot is a perfect way to introduce young kids to skating games in a low-pressure environment.
Save Or Destroy Metropolis
Lego DC Super Villains
If you're looking for a solid game for a young kid, essentially any Lego game will probably do the trick. Even the games based on darker properties, such as those in the Marvel universe, are transformed into kid-friendly and fun adventures when Lego gets its hands on the game. Lego DC Super Villains is the most recent of these creations, so it's likely the one your kid is eyeballing and the one with the most updated mechanics and content. Players create a custom supervillain and join other famous Marvel faces on an adventure throughout Metropolis. They'll gain new skills, build new Lego creation, and may end up accidentally saving the city!
Really, you can't go wrong with Lego. Pick up Super Villains, and if your kid enjoys its simple, low-stakes adventure, chase down the rest of the Lego games for a similarly fun and polished experience.
Ready For Adventure!
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Captain Toad is a charming, sweet, and challenging puzzle game for every age, and young children can enjoy it too. Captain Toad explores clever 3D diorama-like levels, walking around while the player rotates the camera and tries to guide him to the goal, collecting gems and coins along the way. Part of Captain Toad's charm is that it's very easy to reach the end of each level, but challenging to find all the collectibles, so it appeals to a wide range of ages and skill sets.
Captain Toad is sweet and friendly, as is his friend Toadette, and there are plenty of levels and puzzles to keep a young kid occupied for a very long time. This is also a great game to play with your child by using the game's co-op mode to point out possible hidden areas and help guide them through levels!
Do your young kids have games they love to play? Let us know!