Windows/ Steam games for 6 year old

January 23, 2024 5:58 AM

I'm trying to teach my 6 year old a little bit how to use a "real" computer and handle a mouse and keyboard. I am looking for some games I could play with her. At the moment we play Botanicula, which is great, it has cute critters, a simple story and easy puzzles which I look up before playing so she doesn't get frustrated and the game keeps flowing. I like that the sections are solvable in between 10-30 minutes which is about the amount of time I want to sit in front of the PC with her. Any other games we could try? Needn't be overly educational, they can just be fun. When I tried to google an answer I got lots of old games for which I could find no downloadable versions. And it has to have an option for german language or be without words like Botanicula (and the other games from Amanita, I think I also have the Samorost games which we could try next)
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

Response by poster: I also just remembered the game Scribblenauts, but I don't recall if it was suitable for a 6 year old. I guess minecraft would be a little to complex for her.
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon at 6:01 AM on January 23

Best answer: Little Mouse's Encyclopedia is very sweet and pretty. Calm and comfortable, lots of good real-world info and fun, more about exploring and learning, not a lot of "game" there.

Gcompris is a free/open source suite of educational games that my 6yo likes. Tons of stuff from Checkers to logic puzzles to basic reading and math content.

Bridge Constructor is fun, the levels will get hard at some point but at the start it's nice and laid back (so many "kids" games are waaaay too high-enery for me).

Sproggiwood is an excellent "baby's first roguelike" game. Cute and relatively non-violent, short levels, will definitely get hard (I got this one for me too).

Sideways: Pixelorama is a nice pixel art tool. Also free and open source, you can download or run in a browser. My kiddo had a great time making patterns and then implementing them as Perler beads, so if that's an interest this is a great way to build mouse and app navigation skills.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:17 AM on January 23 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I really liked Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet which is a funny puzzle-based adventure game with a girl heroine. It’s got a good narrative to keep up interest, slightly tricky but never hard puzzles that encourage lateral thinking, and some good jokes. I don’t think it’s specifically geared to kids but it’s appropriate in terms of difficulty level and to the best of my memory content. Steam says it has a German voice track but not German subtitles.
posted by babelfish at 6:23 AM on January 23

Best answer: My kids started on Minecraft about that age. Put it in Creative (invulnerable, infinite access to materials) and Peaceful (no monsters) mode for infinite virtual Lego building. My kids learned on a controller which might be easier than mouse+keyboard for little hands.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:06 AM on January 23

Best answer: Machinarium is made by the same company as Botanicula and is utterly charming. Puzzles would be a little more challenging but there is a great in-game hint feature (that's its own mini-game!)
posted by Twicketface at 7:38 AM on January 23

Best answer: I learned about it from here - Boy and his Blob was adorable. We used it on the WII but steam has it now. Puzzle solving game with a boy and, well, his blob.
posted by beccaj at 8:08 AM on January 23

Best answer: My kid likes Tadpole Tales-A tiny 2D Hand-drawn "Clean 'Em Up" game about a tadpole cleaning rivers and fighting pollution.

It's pretty simplistic, and tough to beat, but she doesn't tire of it. Best of all? It's free.
posted by bindr at 11:27 AM on January 23

Best answer: Crayon physics is neat. Also if they are literate, or semi literate, you could consider baba is you as a collaborative effort
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:12 PM on January 23

Best answer: My kids took to the keyboard and mouse with Minecraft creative mode amazingly fast, starting at age 6.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 2:19 PM on January 23

Best answer: Pikuniku is colorful, utterly charming, somewhat subversive, and has German language support.

It's a platform game, but the controls are mostly quite forgiving; my memory is that there were only a couple of spots that required much precision.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:42 PM on January 23 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Nthing minecraft in creative/peaceful for that age range. Especially because you can teach them to use the console; being able to type literally gives you magic powers in that game.

If they like trains, Tracks - The Train Set Game is an infinite Brio set.
posted by phooky at 4:12 AM on January 24

Best answer: Lil Gator? Maybe to advanced?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:33 PM on January 24

Best answer: Another vote for Minecraft in creative mode! My kids started at the age of 5 & 6 and it's been great fun. It's been a huge motivator for reading as well.
I'd lost the knack for free-form playing so I found creative mode intimidating, but my kids enjoy building structures & sculptures and seeing what different blocks & creatures do.
posted by Baethan at 9:42 PM on January 24

Best answer: Frog Detective trilogy. The gameplay is very simple, just walk around and question characters until they ask for items or give you items. It's fun to do voices for the characters, and the writing makes me giggle (though I can't vouch for the German translation).
posted by WhackyparseThis at 3:19 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]