With every kid out there having already devoured Minecraft, and with the recent collapse of the Disney Infinity series, parents may be on the hunt for new games to keep the little ones occupied.
Here we're rounding up all the best games for kids that hit the PS4 in 2017, focusing on games with plenty of puzzle-solving elements and vibrant graphics.
We know your kids want the latest thing, and they probably already have Rayman and Little Big Planet, so today we'll be looking exclusively at games actually released this year instead of rehashing big names from previous holiday seasons.
Don't see the game you're looking for here? Check out our other best games lists here:
World to the West
- Price: $19.99
- Rating: N/A
- Buy it on: Amazon
World to the West is an action-puzzle title draped in adorably cutesy graphics and boasts a Wild Wwest theme to the soundtrack that will remind gamer parents of the original Wild Arms.
There are four different characters to choose from, offering different skills as your child figures out how to overcome puzzles, defeat enemies, and reach new areas. While there is some combat and violence, it's all very tame and not graphic at all.
LocoRoco Remastered
- Price: $19.99
- Rating: 5/5
- Buy it on: Amazon
LocoRoco Remastered, an update to the colorful classic originally released in 2006, will have your kids exploring a joyful land as an extremely cute rolling blob who has to morph to fit through the landscape.
The kid-focused music is cute in the extreme, and the gameplay is actually really solid, so parents will have fun trying it out as well if they are fans of platforming titles.
Yooka-Laylee
- Price: $19.99
- Rating: 4/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
A whole lot of gamers who are now parents themselves grew up on series like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Ratchet and Clank, so a great cheer went up among those '90s kids when Yooka-Laylee was announced, passing the action-platformer torch to a new generation of children.
Featuring members of the team involved with Banjo-Kazooie, this updated version of the 3D platformer has everything your children (or even you!) could want from a buddy-duo action adventure game.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Price: $39.99
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
This classic series is remembered fondly by all PS1 fans for a reason, and now the next generation can experience the games we cherished as kids ourselves in a newly revamped version.
The N. Sane Trilogy is an extremely faithful adaptation of the earlier games, just with better visuals and a less frustrating save system. If you want your kids to experience a bit of gaming history on the more modern PS4 console, be sure to pick this one up.
Sonic Forces
- Price: $39.99
- Rating: 4/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
Sega consoles may not have survived the onslaught of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft devices, but they did spawn everybody's favorite hedgehog and his robot-creating nemesis.
At this point, everyone pretty much knows what to expect from a fast-paced Sonic game, as the characters explore levels at top speed, collect rings, and figure out how to defeat bosses.
Sonic Forces does go for a bit of a different tone than you may recall from your own childhood, however, with a darker storyline sort of more in line with big-budget Michael Bay summer action movies, so be warned of that ahead of time for the little ones.
Mages Of Mystralia
- Price: $19.99
- Rating: 5/5
- Buy It On: Playstation Store
For the fantasy-loving family, Mages Of Mystralia focuses on a young girl who discovers she has magic powers and features a story written by Ed Greenwood of Forgotten Realms fame.
The gameplay is somewhere between an action RPG and an old-school adventure game, as you craft new spells while figuring out how to solve puzzles, and the vibrant animated art style is sure to please the little ones.
Deformers
- Price: $29.99
- Rating: 3/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
A multiplayer entry, Deformers offers up loads of silly arena fun somewhere between Rocket League and a 3D version of Agar.io. The kids will choose from characters such as fat hamsters, pugs, cupcakes, sharks, cows, pigs, and many more, each with plenty of extra, silly items like whip cream topping hats to blingy gold chains.
Loot Rascals
- Price: $14.99
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Buy It On: Playstation Store
It's not often you see Rogue-like games aimed at the younger crowd, but that's what you get with the randomly generated levels and interesting card loot system from Loot Rascals.
Some of the characters and locations are exceedingly odd in their designs, but if you weren't scared off by anything in Katamari Damacy, you should be good to go with Loot Rascals.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
- Price: $59.99
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
While the unbearable wait for Kingdom Hearts 3 drags on, there's still time to get your kids into the earlier games, with several releases hitting the PS4 this year.
Besides the remastered editions Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 coming to the Playstation store, there's the absolute mouthful that is Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (whew, say that five times fast).
In addition to remastered gameplay and a three hour new segment, this entry comes with a full movie digging into the past history of the series.
Lego Worlds
- Price: $29.99
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
This is the classic Lego experience finally translated over to consoles. Helping to fill the void lost by the world creation mechanics of Disney Infinity, with Lego Worlds you can pretty much build or do anything you imagine -- from modern day racecar tracks to medieval fantasy castles with dragons -- making it perfect for little kids seeking a creative outlet.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
- Price: $59.99
- Rating: 4/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
Much like Call Of Duty or any of the yearly sports titles for the adults, you can pretty reliably set your clock to the regular release of new Lego console games every single year.
2017 was a pretty big year for Lego titles, and not just the open-world creation games like Lego Worlds. As Christmas approaches, Marvel Super Heroes 2 returns to the Marvel well, letting your kids play as Rocket, Hulk, Thor, Dr. Strange, and many more.
If the Marvel universe isn't your favorite, don't forget the Ninjaga Movie got its own game for the PS4 earlier this year, along with Lego City Undercover, which features similar gameplay but follows the story of undercover cop Chase McCain.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Telltale Series
- Price: $19.99
- Rating: 3.5/5
- Buy It On: Amazon
This one may be more for the older kids, as it does feature some PG-13 style adult situations and humor, but if your spawn are fans of the Marvel movies, they'll be equally at home with Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.
With so much of the game focused on the animation and storytelling, with only minimal gameplay interaction in the Telltale formula, it has the added benefit of keeping little eyes glued to the screen like a regular TV show.
We covered a lot of ground in terms of gameplay, story, and style in these 12 entries, but there are still plenty more PS4 games to look out for to keep your kids entertained.
If you go back to previous years, there are classics like Unravel and Minecraft to explore, and coming up soon, we'll have more adorable kid-focused gameplay with the crowdfunded Knights And Bikes.
What did you think of our 2017 PS4 kid's game picks, and what games did we miss that you would recommend parents pick up this holiday season?
Published: Nov 13, 2017 02:26 pm