Family-Friendly PC Games

Overview

Like any other form of entertainment, video games are made with specific audiences in mind. This sometimes means that a game is designed to be played by mature or adult audience, complete with content that is very inappropriate for children. To help make it a little easier to find games that the entire family can enjoy, I've put together this list of family-friendly titles.

Simply click on a game's title to view the full review.

Games in this List

0 - B C D - F G - J K - M N - R S T - Z

Neverball

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Sports
Platforms:
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This game is completely free!
This open source game had you try to roll a ball through various challenging levels. However, instead of controlling the ball directly, you tilt the entire level to make the ball roll in the desired direction.

Brief thoughts: Potential issues with motion sickness aside, there is nothing of concern in this game.

Neverputt

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Sports
Platforms:
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This game is completely free!
Neverputt is a simple open source minigolf game. It's decent enough, but it's not very polished. In fact, the lack of features and limited options make this feel like an afterthought rather than a bonafide game.

Brief thoughts: One of the benefits of no-frills games like this is that there's nothing to worry about.

Nightshift Code

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Hidden Object
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One night while Mike was doing his rounds as a museum's security guard, he spots someone trying to steal an artifact on display. When he went to arrest the thief, she offered a compelling counter proposal: the papyrus she was trying to steal held a clue to his missing father's whereabouts, and if they work together, they'd find his father and the treasure he'd hidden away. Intrigued, Mike decides to take her up on this offer, and they begin a journey around the world.

Brief thoughts: The story itself is told via comics. In these segments, the heroes sometimes scuffle with the villains, though this never results in anything more than the occasional bruise or scratch.

Nightsky

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Physics Puzzle / Platformer
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Nightsky is a physics based game that revolves around rolling an unusual orb through a series of levels, all of which are filled with platforms of some sort. While you can roll the orb around, there isn't a "jump" button -- the "trick" to solving the levels involves figuring out alternative ways of climbing over things.

Brief thoughts: There's nothing offensive to be found in this dreamy little game - it's just too simple.

Nyxquest: Kindred Spirits

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Platformer
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You've probably heard about Icarus, the man who fashioned a pair of wings for himself. In this version of the story, he found and fell in love with Nyx, a winged woman who lived high in the clouds. But their happy life was ruined when a column of fire came from the sun, scorching the Earth and melting Icarus' wings. Distraught, Nyx left her cloud city to find her love, but when she reached the ground it was already barren and burning. Now alone in a broken world, she is the only one that can stand in the way of Helios destroying the Earth.

Brief thoughts: This game is based around Greek mythology and its deities, though the latter take such a passive role that they've been reduced to just giving Nyx powerups.

N++

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Platformer
Platforms:
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Take control of a stick figure ninja as you collect as much gold as you can while rushing through sets of deadly, obstacle filled levels in this momentum-driven platformer.

Brief thoughts: Whenever your ninja is killed by an obstacle or hazard, it pops into many small pieces that continue to fly about. Thanks to the game's minimalistic style, this is hardly graphic, so this a pretty clean title.

Osmos

ESRB Rating:	E - Everyone
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Other (Puzzle?)
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In this game, you control a cell floating in a translucent substrate. While your goal is to have this cell consume things smaller than itself, it can only move about by ejecting a little bit of its mass behind it. Slow and steady wins the race on this one!

Brief thoughts: This is a simple game where bigger cells slurp up smaller cells until one of them is the biggest of them all. Calling this violent feels like a stretch.

PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+

ESRB Rating:	E - Everyone
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Arcade
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This isn't the classic Pac Man game. Instead of wandering about, clearing a maze of dots, this game is about racing through a maze as fast as you can. Trails of dots appear to lead the way, while ghosts follow behind Pac Man in a dangerous conga line. One wrong turn can end your game, so stay alert and move quickly!

Brief thoughts: Even though this isn't as calm as the original game, there's still nothing major to worry about beyond Pac-Man and the ghosts eating each other.

Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it's Dark Outside

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Point and Click Adventure
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Like any little boy, Sam is scared of being alone in the dark. Deciding that he needs to face his fear, he changes into his superhero alter-ego and journeys into the Land of Darkness to confront the evil that lurks there.

Brief thoughts: This game was intended to be played by young children, so no offensive material was included. Even the villain is defeated without a fight.

Passage 4

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Puzzle
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In this puzzle game, you create "passages" between sides of the playfield by placing tiles on the grid. This can actually be somewhat difficult: in order to place a tile, it needs to match the color or design of its neighbors.

Brief thoughts: Aside from the annoying buzzer sound that plays when you make a mistake, there's a tileset based on the zodiac. However, you have full control over which tileset is used, so if this bothers you, select another one.

Peggle Deluxe

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Puzzle
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Peggle isn't exactly a puzzle game, nor an action game; it's something in-between. The basic premise is that you fire a marble out of a cannon in an attempt to get the marble to bounce off of as many red colored pegs and bricks as possible. When everything red has been cleared from the board, you've beaten the level. As you play, the various Peggle Masters -- a loose collection of talking animals and fantasy creatures that love the game -- will be accompanying you and lend you special abilities when they can.

Brief thoughts: Although the Peggle Masters are a mixed group of magical creatures - including a dragon, a unicorn and a talking flower - and there are occasional references to new age mysticism, this is still a very clean game with few problems.

Peggle Nights

ESRB Rating:	E - Everyone
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Puzzle
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Peggle Nights is essentially a set of new levels for Peggle that was released as a stand-alone game. All of your favorite Peggle Masters are back, and this time, we're exploring their dreams rather than learning new ways to clear the peg boards.

Brief thoughts: This is essentially another set of Peggle levels packaged as a stand-alone game. As such, the only issues are some minor fantasy elements, which don't amount to much.

Pixel Puzzles: Japan

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Puzzle
Platforms:
Fun-O-Meter:

This game is completely free!
This is a jigsaw puzzle game themed around mediation and Japan. All of the provided puzzles depict beautiful scenes from throughout land of the Rising Sun, while the puzzle pieces themselves float quietly in a large koi pond that surrounds the play area. Just be sure to avoid picking up the koi swimming along with the pieces; it's not real fond of being pulled out of the water.

Brief thoughts: There really isn't anything too concerning about this game. At most, there are some mild references to Zen and Enlightenment. The player can also choose to be a little mean to the koi that lives in the pond, but that's entirely optional.

Plague Inc: Evolved

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Strategy / Board Game
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Can you annihilate the World? This is a game of strategy; creating a potent disease takes effort and careful attention to detail. One mistake and you'll be racing against humanity's efforts to cure your precious little plague.

Brief thoughts: While your main goal is to wipe out humanity, this is essentially a board game about capturing territory.

Pretty Good Mahjongg

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Board game / Mahjongg
Platforms:
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A free demo is available
If you can't get enough Mahjongg, then perhaps this collection of Mahjongg games will satiate your appetite! With over three hundred unique layouts and several additional ways to play with Mahjongg tiles, there's a lot to be seen here!

Brief thoughts: Mahjongg, even when played in some of the unique ways this game offers, doesn't contain anything worth worrying about. There aren't even questionable sets available for this version!

Pretty Good Solitaire

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Card Game
Platforms:
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A free demo is available
Do you like solitaire? Really like solitaire? Then this is likely the collection you need, as it has over 1,000 different solitaire card games available for your enjoyment, and there's even a tool you can use to make your own custom games!

Brief thoughts: The only thing that could be considered offensive about this collection are the names of certain games. For example, "Canfield" is also known as "Demon", which may sound bad. But, as these are all just variants of solitaire, there's nothing to really worry about.

Probably Archery

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Other
Platforms:
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This is a gimmicky game from era that gave us Surgeon Simulator and QWOP - it's about overcoming an impossible control scheme rather than accomplishing anything.

Brief thoughts: There isn't really anything objectionable here, so there's nothing worth worrying about.

Puyo-Puyo Tetris

ESRB Rating:	E10 - Everyone (Ages 10 and up)
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Puzzle
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Take a cast of silly cartoon characters, an epic tale that determines the fate of two worlds, and two of the world's most popular puzzle games and mix them all together. The result is Puyo Puyo Tetris, a fun and silly game that just about everyone can enjoy.

Brief thoughts: During the story segments, players will encounter and "battle" a large cast of characters, some of whom have magical abilities or appear to be "demonic". However, none of them are actually evil; like everyone else in this game, they're really just overdramatic and goofy.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

ESRB Rating:	E10 - Everyone (Ages 10 and up)
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Match 3 / RPG
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Puzzle Quest mixes Match 3 puzzle solving with RPG style gameplay to create an epic adventure featuring a young hero who must rise up to defeat the evil Lord Bane and his undead army!

Brief thoughts: Most of the problems with this game revolve around concepts discussed in the story, which can get into dark topics from time to time.

Race the Sun

ESRB Rating:	E - Everyone
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Endless Runner
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In this simple game, your only goal is to fly a solar powered craft as far as you can. Of course, there's just one thing that'll make this difficult: the sun is setting!

Brief thoughts: This game is pretty clean, though it does feature explosions caused by bombs and the player's vehicle slamming into obstacles.

Raft

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 10 and up
Genre:	Survival / Crafting
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Lost in a seemingly endless ocean, players must find a way to use floating rubbish to build a floating home for themselves while they search for answers to what happened to the population.

Brief thoughts: Although players will need to fight hostile wildlife, there's nothing too serious to be found in this game.

Raptor: Call of the Shadows (1994)

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 10 and up
Genre:	Shoot 'em Up
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Back in the day, this was easily one of the best shoot 'em up games available for home computers. It's still a classic game in the genre, even though it's been eclipsed by newer games.

Brief thoughts: Like most shoot 'em ups, players spend their time shooting things or blowing them up. Usually this isn't much of an issue, as none of the enemies appear to have pilots, but there are a few situations where you can spot a body among the wreckage.

Roboblitz

ESRB Rating:	E10 - Everyone (Ages 10 and up)
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	3D Platformer
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When enemy NOADs attack a space station, it's up to the repair robot Blitz to repair the damage and repel the invaders. All six of the station's systems are down, and in order to fix them, you'll need to complete various physics-based challenges.

Brief thoughts: There's some moral ambiguity as to whether or not destroying the enemy robots should be considered as killing a "living" thing, though the amount of bugs will probably bother you more.

Robo Miner

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Other
Platforms:
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Robo Miner is a simple game about drilling deep into the earth in search of hidden diamonds. The tricky part is that your robot isn't protected from falls, explosions, or cave ins - all of which are commonplace deep underground!

Brief thoughts: The little robots you control can be damaged or destroyed in a number of ways, but this doesn't seem to bother them unless they fall from a great height - which is something that would scare anybody.

ROBO OH

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Fighting
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In this NES-styled tournament fighting game, you play as one of six giant robots and battle your opponents in a bid to become the King of Robots!

Brief thoughts: Remember Rock'em Sock'em robots? That's basically what you have here: giant robots punch, kick, and fling large sushi rolls at each other in a tournament setting.

Roguelight

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 6 and up
Genre:	Platformer
Platforms:
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This game is completely free!
This game's name is a pun on the Roguelike genre, and it also hints at the game's premise: In this game, light is very rare, making every light source you have very valuable. Eventually, you'll run out of light and fall victim to traps or monsters down below. The main goal is to see how far you can get before that happens.

Brief thoughts: There are some spooky creatures in the darkness, but ultimately I don't think there's anything to be too concerned about.

Rogue Legacy

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 10 and up
Genre:	Platformer / Roguelike
Platforms:
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Rogue Legacy is all about procedurally generated adventures. You select a character from one of three knights, and then have them explore a magical castle in hopes of finding treasure and the means of restoring the family name. But death is also permanent; once a knight falls, they will be gone for good. Their money will be passed to the next of kin, who must use it to ensure that future generations will have a better shot at the conquering the castle.

Brief thoughts: The biggest issue with this game is that you may wind up playing as a gay character. This trait has little effect on the gameplay (the only thing it does is change the location of some powerups), so it can easily be overlooked, but some Christians may not be comfortable playing a game where this can happen.

Romance of Rome

ESRB Rating:	E - Everyone
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Hidden Object
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Marcus was traveling to Rome in search of adventure -- and almost got more than he bargained for, as the adventure found him! Some dastardly criminal has stolen the Imperial Relics and threatened to take over the Roman Empire. Finding himself mixed up in the plot, Marcus travels around Rome, locating lost items and helping citizens in need.

Brief thoughts: Most of the issues with this game comes from the fact that it's based around ancient Rome and its culture. For example, there are some references to magic or mystical objects, and Marcus' status in Rome is determined by what he owns.

However, this is still a very clean game that feels like a playable fairy tale, so I doubt many Christians will take issue with it.

The Room

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Ages 10 and up
Genre:	Puzzle / Room Escape
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During his research into alchemy, a man known only as A.S. believed he was on the verge of some great discovery. But, fearing that lesser minds would misuse his work, he took pains to hide it within a magical device. Now that you've inherited his mysterious box, can you unlock its secrets and follow in his footsteps?

Brief thoughts: There are some references to magic and hints that things have not quite gone according to plan, but overall, there's nothing too worrying in this game - the real issues don't start showing up until the sequel.

The Room Three

ESRB Rating:	NR - Not Rated
My Rating:	Everyone
Genre:	Puzzle / Horror
Platforms:
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So far, you've been on two great adventures in search of A.S. and the secrets of the Null, and as a result, you've caught the attention of a man calling himself the Craftsman. Whether or not his motives are purely scientific remains to be seen...

Brief thoughts: Almost everything in this installment of the Room series is explained by super science, not magic, but there's still a small hint that something otherworldly is lurking nearby.