My son was just triple-diagnosed with Pneumonia, Flu A, and an ear infection. He’s going to be on the couch a while. Any game recommendations for a kid that can’t read super well and that he can play solo.
I’m working at the same time so I need one that hopefully would require minimal guidance from a parent.
He likes TMNT Shredder’s Revenge, Mario Kart, Bluey, and Smash Bros. Animal Crossing, Pokémon, and Zelda are fun to play together, but required too much reading for him to play solo.
He primarily plays on the Switch but I also have a PS5.
Thanks! And wash those hands and make sure to get a flu shot. Can’t even imagine how much worse it would have been without one.
UPDATE: Thank you all so much for the recs! We watched all the trailers and he picked Kirby for now-we’re playing the demo and he’s really liking it.
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My daughter's first game was Yoshi Crafted World. She managed to complete it by herself, but at 5 years old I would expect he asks guidance from time to time.
Seconding this - Yoshi was my girls first game
A Lego game? You could also try Yoshi or Kirby.
Minecraft on creative mode? Can’t die. Do whatever you want.
Hope he feels better, that sounds terrible.
Kirby
Yep, Star Allies. Forgotten land would be too advanced at that age but Star Allies shows you where to go and it's easy to hop on for co op.
I can tell many people here don’t have kids lmao
Also, probably over estimating what their own abilities were at 5 years old
I've been listening to Geoff Gerstman's podcast forever and he often talks about his 4-year-old's adventures in learning how to game and that kid has been playing the new Katamari games, Goat simulator, and is starting to get a hang of dual stick games with camera control.
So I don't think most of these recommendations are very far off the mark.
yeah, thats a unicorn kid. Also sounds like some of the other unicorn kids I know that sleep through the night, nap on schedule, are angels, aren’t picky with their food. LmAOOOOoooOOOOO i'm tired.
God this comment cuts deep right now with a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old
🫠4 year old and 2 year old here. We gots to just hold on
2 and 1 here....i can't wait to be able to sleep again
Holy shit that’s like having twins I can’t even imagine
Just hold on! My almost 7 year old beat Age of Calamity and can make crazy stuff in Minecraft solo
Wishing your son a speedy recovery and that your family doesn’t get it!
The Paw Patrol games are great. It’s narrated and if you need help, it even says things like “oh we need Chase for this mission. Click this button on the right to change to Chase.” My 3.5 year old can figure it out independently (when she wants to lol).
So far we’ve played three and there’s a 2D side scroller one, a 3D one, and an open world one.
Princess Peach Showtime and Super Mario 3D World are the two games where my daughter, who couldn't read yet, finally left me in peace 😝
Untitled Goose Game
Lego game. Jurassic world or incredibles were my son’s favorite. I like lego dc villains. Or a paw patrol game if he likes them
When my son was five we played Little Inferno on the Switch and he loved it. Hope he feels better.
Marvel cosmic invasion is fun
Minecraft could be good
My 5 yr old plays in in creative and can go for a long time, granted his older sibling and watching YouTubers taught him a lot .
Island saver. Free, simple, fun, educational.
My 5 year old loves Lego city undercover. He’s also a big fan of Astro bot on ps5
Luigi mansion, or any of the Mario games!
Poor kid! I hope he rests up.
MMPR: Rita's Rewind Sonic Crossworlds
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. Mario 3D World or Mario Odyssey.
Yoshi's Crafted World
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Idk how this is on switch but My Sims Cozy Bundle I played all the my sims games when I was a kid on Wii and it wasn't hard to figure out but like I said idk how it is on switch so may or may not be a good fit.
Return to Dream Land kicked my butt when I was like 7 or 8. I'm not sure if a 5 yr old could handle it
I think it depends on the kid some are really good at video games at a young age and some not until they are a bit older
The Bluey game is a blast and just got a content update with new playable characters. It’s like playing through episodes of the show and also collecting/unlocking things. Hope he feels better soon!
Untitled goose game maybe? It has to do lists that you might need to read but they're not super important (for the fun factor anyway)
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That's a tough question since most quality games with legs have at least some reading to explain the basics of the game or the objectives or missions.
2d Mario is maybe simple enough, New Super Mario Bros U, or maybe Mario 3D World (still structured like a 2d mario). Splatoon 3's online Turf War mode (exclusively an online mode, requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscirption to access online) is a simple premise, it's a shooter and your team battles to have most ground area covered with your team's ink color. I think the game will make you play a little bit of single player before you can access Turf War online.
CastNChill
Mario Kart can be good, turn on the feature that stops you from falling off the map. Auto accelerate also means he doesn’t have to worry about holding A and can just focus on steering. Might be a bit disorientating with an ear infection though so maybe one to break up with slower games!
Minecraft creative mode is nice and chill and he can just explore and play with no objectives. You can turn on invincibility so he doesn’t have to worry about monsters.
Yoshi and Kirby games are much easier than Mario but he might need some help to get through the menus and figure out the controls before getting stuck in.
I’ve not personally played them but licensed games for his age group like Bluey, Paw Patrol, PJ masks should be navigable by him though not sure if they’re built with the idea of parental support so maybe watch some videos first.
When it comes to playing together, Lego games Sonic Mania, Super Mario Bros and Pikmin 4 have a nice and easy coop mode where you can progress the level and they have some kind of smaller, helper role (sometimes also invincible) where they have much easier controls!
Grapple dog invincible mode
Captain toad
A Short Hike
Little Gator Game
All of the Kirby’s are good for this age group- my sons favorite was forgotten land which he played when he was 5 just fine, based on the other games you listed i think he can handle it. Plus it’s coop so if he sucks you can always be Kirby and he can be waddle Dee which is nice or opposite i do the harder parts (bosses) as waddle Dee as the end of the game is a bit hard for kids. The other ones are moreso 2D and easier for little ones (star allies and return to dream land).
If you have switch online you could also bust out SNES and play Yoshis island or Kirby’s superstar good options for kids too.
Monster hunter rise Start them while theyre young, plenty of content
Or if you want something with longevity, Minecraft. If you want something fun to play with others (if he gets visitors often), boomerang fu is pretty good (easy to learn, very fun)
You can also find angry birds epic by looking online , if you get the all stars mod.
Hope he gets better soon!
Came to recommend kirby but I see its already done lol
Captain Toad! And you can also play it co-op with him throughout the entire game.
New Super Lucky's Tale
good luck. My kid and I just had flu A as well. Cough will last for 2 weeks. sorry
See if you can find Bluey’s quest for the golden pen! Its a super easy game!
Super mario 3
Stray
Kirby the forgotten land
Minecraft, any Mario platformer
Me and my kid completed Super Mario Bros Wonder when he was 4 (he can choose one of the characters that doesn’t take damage from enemies) as well as Yoshi’s crafted world.
The Plucky Squire.
Perfect for 5 year olds and a really cool concept all around. It’s one of my son’s favorite games. You play characters in an actual children’s book that are able to escape the book and enter the real world. Very old school Zelda like. Does a lot of things that will make you smile. On both switch and PS5.
DARK SOULS
A short hike?
Anything Kirby. Forgotten Lands ids a lot of fun but you really can’t go wrong.
Super Mario Odyssey
Streets of Rage 4
spyro reignited trilogy!! its on sale rn too!! sending well wishes
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 or 3+4, would be good.
They’re remakes of the good old days. Two per game, on switch AND ps5.
Not much reading (aside from reading goal objectives), or he can even just free-skate.
I saw you also mentioned Animal Crossing, don’t forget there’s the 3.0 update 1/15/26 - MORE CONTENT! :>
Mine craft is good if he knows how to read somewhat however Minecraft has a talking narrative that gets annoying but reads over whatever he hovers over help my son a lot and he can barley read
If you have NSO, Panel de Pon / Pokemon Puzzle League might be really fun.
MegaMan
Stardew Valley
Pokemon
Did you pick up LEGO Horizons Adventure last month when it was free on PS+?
The people who made TMNT shedder's revenge recently released a game called Absolum. It's a side scrolling beat em up with really nice hand drawn graphics that look like a cartoon. It can be tough, but in the options they have an assist mode that can make the game as hard or easy as you desire. It also has co-op if you ever want to play too.
LEGO, Yoshi, and maybe Minecraft Dungeons.
Hope he gets better soon.
Yoku’s Island Express! You’re a dung beetle that rolls around a ball and delivers mail. It’s a platformer/pinball game. Cute story, easy enough to play, you honestly don’t even need to read the story line if you don’t want to. It also feels like it’s meant to be played on the switch in handheld, and easy enough to pick up and put down between power naps.
Haven’t played but I’ve heard Astrobot on ps5 is great
Minecraft dungeons is fun. And you guys can play together
Smash brothers would be a great one too. Kirby.
Stardew Valley.
Super Mario Odyssee.
BALL x PIT is the answer
Stardew Valley
[deleted]
For a five year old? 👀
Hollow Knight would probably be too confusing without reading and Celeste too difficult
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
God I haven't thought about Trauma Center in Years. Probably because of the trauma I got from it
Zelda Breathe of the Wild, once you are past the initial tutorial, basically requires no reading if he just explores. Lego Marvel Superheroes, Lego City Undercover, any Paw Patrol game
Have you ever met a 5 year old?
Only my own 5 year old who played 250 hours of Tears of the Kingdom with me when he was 3, a lot of those hours playing on his own while I cooked or cleaned
If he wants a nice chill game to play I’d recommend dragon quest. Specifically 11 if he hasn’t played any of them. Dragon quest are comfort games with beautiful worlds, music and charming characters.
RPGs require a lot of reading and are probably kind of deep for a 5 year old. (Great game though!)
Not that you’re not wrong but some of us also played more complex games at that age than others and I guess don’t think twice about it. To each their own.
For a 5 year old?
I’d say animal crossing, pretty easy to play and follow along no combat or real task kind of a play at your own pace
All reading tho.
Not too much, i mean she could still do what is needed without reading anything they say.. but maybe not.. just my suggestion 😊
Yeah I guess that’s fair. You can just wander around if nothing else :-)
And I’m sure if needed op could help with the reading parts to get him started and know what to do while playing and then he really wouldn’t need much help playing, building, and all that i think it’s a great game. Also with all that being said i wish OP son all the best and hope he recovers quickly !
Stardew Valley
Wayyy too hard for a 5 year old and probably quite boring if you can’t read
Oops. Forgot the reading part 😮💨