Finding decent family-friendly games is straightforward for owners of Nintendo consoles, but those who own a PlayStation 5 may find it’s becoming increasingly difficult to entertain their little ones. This is because there’s a larger risk of exposure to something that might not be appropriate for your kids because of its content, or it’s filled with predatory microtransactions. Even though it’s not impossible to see a bunch of suitable options, you may discover that finding the diamonds in the rough is far harder.
So, if you are struggling to find the next big PS5 game for your kids that will entertain them for hours, and maybe even get you playing alongside them, here are our top picks, with suggestions ranging from easy to learn platformers to brain-teasing puzzle games. All of them are suitable games for everyone, but they’re also just fun in general, meaning that you might also enjoy playing them!
Astro Bot
- Release Date: September 6, 2024
- Developer: Team Asobi
- Genre: Platformer
Astro’s Playroom comes with every PlayStation 5 and is a great way to introduce your little ones to the console itself. Its sequel, Astro Bot, the winner of many Game of the Year awards in 2024, is just as whimsical and expands on the formula with more powers and plenty of hidden collectible video game-themed Cameo Bots. These aren’t just Sony-owned characters, either, as they reference all sorts of games that appear on the PlayStation platform across its three-decade history.
But even if it’s just you that’s getting a kick out of the unlockable Cameo Bots, the core experience of Astro Bot is what sets it apart from many other platformer games on the system. Its tight controls make exploring its huge levels, each filled with powers that use every possible feature of the PS5 controller. There are also plenty of secrets and puzzles to keep your family’s mind engaged, as well as the massive bosses for them to overcome.
Astro Bot is an absolute joy. If there’s only one game that you can justify getting, then you can’t really go wrong with this one, especially if the family had a good time with Astro’s Playroom. Just don’t get too salty when they complete the tough-as-nails challenge levels that you’ve yet to beat. It probably means they’ve had so much practice that they’re not doing their homework!
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Release Date: June 11, 2021
- Developer: Insomniac Games
- Genre: Platformer
While Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is technically the ninth game in the main series, you don’t need to have played any of the previous eight to enjoy the PS5 debut of our favorite Lombax and robot team. Clank reveals during a victory parade in the duo’s honor that he has repaired a device capable of opening portals to alternative dimensions, with Ratchet intending to use it to find other Lombaxes at some point. However, when long-term adversary, Dr. Nefarious, attacks the party, Ratchet inadvertently fires off the device, creating portals to another dimension, with all three getting caught up in the mix. You’ll also meet Rivet, a female Lombax resistance fighter, and play as both during the course of the game’s level-based campaign.
What sets Rift Apart from many other platformers at the time is how it handles its dimension-hopping gimmick. By pulling rifts toward you, you can seamlessly transition from where you were into an entirely new area, so if the place you’re in has lots of enemies firing at you, if there’s a rift to somewhere else, you can just hop in, and you’ll avoid a needless firefight.
However, taking on enemies is where the bread and butter of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart lies, and much like the rest of the series, you also have an imaginative arsenal available to you. Some have punchy-sounding names for more conventional weapons, like the Enforcer for a shotgun, which you can control how many barrels it fires based on how far down you push the R2 trigger. There are also weirder gadgets like the Topiary Sprinkler, which deploys a turret that turns enemies into neatly cut shrubberies for a short spell. You can upgrade what they do by collecting bolts, so the aforementioned Topiary Sprinkler gains the ability to do damage over time.
One side note: if your family enjoys the latest in the Ratchet & Clank series, you can also play the 2016 remake and the PSP spinoff ‘Size Matters’ natively on your PS5. However, for the rest of the series, your best bet is to find a used PlayStation 3 and buy the HD Trilogy, alongside Deadlocked, Tools of Destruction, A Crack In Time, and Into The Nexus. There are other games in the series, but many of these are spinoffs that don’t continue the main story.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Release Date: November 20, 2020
- Developer: Sumo Digital
- Genre: Platformer
Another in-house Sony game worth buying if you have kids is Sackboy: A Big Adventure, a spinoff from the LittleBigPlanet series. When a villainous jester named Vex, voiced by Richard E. Grant, invades the Craftverse, abducting the Sackpeople and forcing them to build his latest invention, it’s up to our burlap hero to save the day by collecting Dreamers–orbs filled with pure imagination. Along the way, he also meets the friendly Scarlet (Dawn French), who guides him on his quest.
It’s more of a traditional platform game that you can play alone or with up to three friends, filled with unlockable costumes and other trinkets hidden away through shortcuts and hidden nooks. You’ll also find bubbles to increase your score at the end of the level, with the player getting the best total being declared the winner and the recipient of additional bells that act as the in-game currency. Some levels introduce gimmicks–like time trials and co-op-only– to really keep you on your toes, but otherwise it’s quite an endearing platform adventure. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a launch game that’s showing its age, but it’s still worth it if you’re looking for family-friendly fun.
Minecraft
- Release Date: November 18, 2011
- Developer: Mojang Games
- Genre: Survival
Minecraft is a juggernaut, spanning several games, a film, and toy lines. Chances are that your child has heard of it in some way. There’s a good reason for that: it’s a family-friendly survival game where discovering new biomes in the randomly generated world filled with zombies, isolated villages, and tons of caves. Since its debut back in 2011, the list of Minecraft mobs has gotten so large that even those who played the alpha version might not have known what a Chicken Jockey was when they saw the film.
The thing is, the survival mode is just one way to play Minecraft. Creativity is encouraged for a child’s personal development, so having them make stuff with blocks or showing them how tools interact with the world around them can make it a learning experience. They can create giant statues dedicated to their favorite cartoon characters, brew some dyes to change the color of their armor, or make contraptions to farm slime blocks.
To that end, there are plenty of Minecraft guides here on GameSpot to help you. These range from Minecraft multiplayer and ensuring your little ones are safely only playing with their friends, explaining the core basics of mining, how to use Minecraft flint to help travel to The Nether, and reaching The End. Of course, there are also many Minecraft cheats you can enter if you need to stop items from dropping on death or remove status effects at a pinch.
Overcooked: All You Can Eat
- Release Date: November 10, 2020
- Developer: Ghost Town Games
- Genre: Simulation
Overcooked: All You Can Eat is a bumper pack of culinary chaos. Featuring levels from both Overcooked games, as well as several bonus levels from different versions and even some never-before-seen exclusives. You and your fellow station chefs must work together in increasingly anarchic levels to create some delicious delicacies for waiting patrons. The number of dishes made to perfection determines your team’s overall score.
Even at the risk of disrupting family unity over who didn’t boil the stock or accidentally trashing a perfectly delicious lasagne instead of serving it, we highly recommend playing Overcooked: All You Can Eat together, especially if there are four of you in number. The levels are just silly enough that you’ll laugh off any misfortune as part of the fun.
So why buy this over the separate numbered games, which are generally on sale for cheaper than this bundle? That’s because there are features you can only find in this collection, such as online multiplayer across all platforms and both 4K and 60fps support. If you don’t already own any version of Overcooked and wish to play with others online, this is the version for you.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
- Release Date: September 25, 2025
- Developer: Sonic Team
- Genre: Racing
Despite the trend of Xbox games now appearing on Sony consoles, it’s unfathomable that Nintendo would ever do the same. Mario Kart on a PlayStation is a pipe dream, but Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds ticks a lot of the same boxes, and for some might even be the superior kart racer of 2025. It features a similar track-shifting mechanic that changes up races significantly throughout each of the cups, but uses seamless portals rather than asking players to commute to the next track for a single lap.
Playing single-player pits racers against a rival who will do everything in their power to knock you off the top spot. This keeps races more competitive while you learn the ropes. Honestly, though, it’s in the multiplayer mode where Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds shines the most, either via local split-screen or online multiplayer modes across different consoles via crossplay. You can also customize karts with unlockable parts, boosts, and more to gain the advantage before setting foot on the track.
With many of Sonic’s friends available from the get-go, and DLC racers from Nickelodeon-owned cartoons SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Avatar: The Last Airbender already announced, alongside Sega-owned characters, Minecraft avatars, and Mega Man robots, you’ll all have at least one favorite to zip across the track with. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a particularly decent choice if you’re strapped for time but still want to play a game with your kids.
Lego Party
- Release Date: September 30, 2025
- Developer: SMG Studio
- Genre: Party
It’s not just Mario Kart that other companies have tried to make their own version of, as Lego Party is the answer to the plumber’s minigame and board game hybrid. This silly party game asks its players to collect the most gold bricks (as opposed to stars) as they hop around the board. Each level takes inspiration from conventional Lego sets, including Pirates, Space, and Ninjago, all complete with obstacles appropriate to that setting. Roll the dice to hop along many space types, including those that reward you with studs to turn in for bricks, those that affect the board, and those that initiate battle minigames against a rival.
Once everyone has taken their turn, it’s time for a minigame, which has each player compete in free-for-all or team battles to earn the most studs. This range wildly, from riding motorbikes across dunes without falling off, to zipping across a mine using ninja ropes or balancing on a beam with an ever-decreasing length. Whoever has the most gold bricks at the end of the allocated number of rounds is the winner.
You gain XP for each mode you play, with additional XP rewarded if you play against friends and family, and that’s required to unlock more characters for future games. It might not be one you play for more than one game at a time, but for a couple of hours at the weekend, it might be ideal for whittling away time if the weather outside isn’t looking all that pleasant.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Release Date: April 5, 2022
- Developer: TT Games
- Genre: Action-Adventure
Speaking of Lego, you should absolutely take a look at Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Spanning across all three film trilogies, you and a friend or family member can experience every moment with cheeky gags along the way. The Skywalker Saga now also has a third-person perspective instead of the overly zoomed-out one from the Lego games of yesteryear, meaning that firing blasters requires aiming better than your average Stormtrooper.
You can still build contraptions to solve puzzles to reveal hidden rooms, as well as farm studs to assemble bricks that, in turn, unlock new characters to play as in Free Mode versions of every mission. With a wide number of different character types that you can change on the fly, each is required to open specific doors and chests. Yes, this does mean a lot of repetition, but you can always drop in and out at any time, only playing in co-op if your child needs a helping hand with a puzzle. That said, we do have a Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga beginner’s guide if you all need a push in the right direction.
As a side note regarding DLC, even though there are a lot of character packs, none of them are essential unless you really like any of the characters from Rogue One, Solo, or any of the Star Wars TV shows from recent years. The three trilogies have more than enough Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga characters for you to unlock, with some hidden behind The Skywalker Saga cheat codes.
Tetris Effect: Connected
- Release Date: November 9, 2018
- Developer: Monstars, Resonair, Stage Games
- Genre: Puzzle
Tetris Effect: Connected is the best version of the classic puzzle game since the Game Boy original, and it’s largely down to its presentation. Produced by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, whose synesthesia-style works include Rez, Lumines, and Child of Eden, this visually and audially stunning work should be experienced firsthand, as each of the 30 stages syncs the beat of the music and special effects with how well you’re doing. To help, there’s a new mechanic that briefly stops time, allowing the otherwise impossible feat of more than four lines being cleared at any given time.
Once you’ve finished the Journey, you can continue playing via the Effect Modes. Here, you’ll find classic favorites like Marathon, where you play until your Tetriminos reach the top of the play area, as well as a wide range of relaxing modes to experience the music, or focus modes that give you timed challenges. There’s also the Adventurous set of modes that change the game entirely. A good example is Mystery, which introduces random mechanics for a short time, such as giant pieces or restricting the ability to hold a piece for later. This is also where you find the competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes.
With so many different ways to play, it’ll be a hard one to put down once you get into the swing of things. Once your kids are a bit older, there’s also support for the PSVR headsets, allowing you to experience the luminous lights and synthesized sounds in virtual reality. The best bit is that if you already own the PS4 version, you can upgrade to the new version for a fraction of the price, which improves the frame rate and resolution, as well as provides enhanced controller feedback for a more immersive experience.
Lumines Arise
- Release Date: November 11, 2025
- Developer: Enhance, Monstars Inc.
- Genre: Puzzle
While Tetris may have more universal appeal as far as puzzle games go, Lumines Arise is also a worthy addition to your PS5 library. For those unfamiliar with Lumines’ core gameplay loop, it’s a similar piece-stacking puzzler, but instead of creating multiple horizontal lines, a vertical one known as the Timeline runs across the screen. If it touches a piece that is connected to three or more of the same type in a cluster, it’ll clear it away, dropping any pieces above it to create more combos ready for the next pass. The Burst mechanic, which temporarily halts the scoring of the Timeline and shunts the non-scoring blocks upward when you make a square, acts as a bit of a crutch in perilous moments for newcomers or can maximize your score in the hands of skilled players. While conceptually simple to understand, thanks to only having combinations of 2×2 blocks with two different color configurations, it’s hard to master when it’s optimal to drop a block to make a match.
Much like Tetris Effect, the main appeal of Lumines Arise is in the presentation of lights and sounds. It again has a campaign-like Journey mode where players experience each chapter in a continuous sequence, all while maintaining the same play field across acts. There’s also a multiplayer Burst Battle mode where competitors battle it out in a best-of-three rounds to make combos and clear garbage pieces sent over by their rivals. You also have time attack leaderboards, mission modes, and weekly events to keep you coming back long after the Journey mode is done. It’s a stunning showcase of Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s vision and those with PSVR headsets and older kids will be in for a spectacular sensory treat.
The Plucky Squire
- Release Date: September 17, 2024
- Developer: All Possible Futures
- Genre: Action-Adventure
Somewhat overshadowed by Astro Bot at the time of release was The Plucky Squire, but this is also a very special game that’s well worth your time. You are Jot, a lad with a sword who constantly defeats the evil wizard Humgrump’s evil schemes; that is, until Humgrump discovers a tome that reveals to him that they’re all characters in a children’s book. Using his newfound magic to kick out Jot, it’s up to our… ahem… plucky hero to find a way to stop him from abusing the fourth wall once and for all.
Using a mixture of 2D and 3D graphics, The Plucky Squire primarily takes elements from The Legend of Zelda, but frequently has you jumping from page to page, finding ways around seemingly impossible obstacles, and discovering items to bring back from the real world to assist you with puzzles. You also have the power to change words around, manipulating verbs and nouns to change whatever needs altering to continue onward. The Plucky Squire is so visually vibrant and conceptually compelling that it will be a hard game to put down until the story comes to a satisfying end.
PowerWash Simulator 2
- Release Date: October 23, 2025
- Developer: FuturLab
- Genre: Simulation
Who knew that tidying up could be fun? PowerWash Simulator 2 is the follow-up to the breakout cleaning simulator, where the aim is to scrub clean every nook and cranny of a house, vehicle, or other novelty structures that need your high-pressure suds the most. In the sequel, each job can have multiple layers that reveal themselves as you clean one part of it, such as a pop-up restroom springing out from under the ground, and then opening its door to reveal the grim interior once you’ve finished sprucing up the outer layer.
However, what makes PowerWash Simulator 2 stand apart from the first is that you can now customize the dirt highlight color and duration, making it far less tedious to see what needs going over with a fine-tooth comb. It also simplifies the process of applying soap and gives you more tools to scale taller buildings, which would have made cleaning under the slide in the helter-skelter in the first game a far easier task. It’s a relaxing game where it’s easy to accept one more job, thanks to you setting the pace. If only motivating kids to clean their rooms in real life were as simple as giving them a pressure washer and telling them to get on with it.
