Looking for switch games that make you think
Ideally, I'd like a game that would be good for logical thinking and appropriate for an 8 year old for a few years? Any ideas?
Ideally, I'd like a game that would be good for logical thinking and appropriate for an 8 year old for a few years? Any ideas?
Baba is you is really Great!
However, I don't know, if the reading comprehension is good enough at that age for this.
I have lots of people play the tutorial as it's definitely among the most unique games out there.
It's not really reading comprehension, since the grammar and syntax is game-specific. Learning that something "is push" is its own learning curve.
idk if an 8 year old would be able to beat it, I’m too dumb for some of the harder parts lol
I was about to say ToTK. Some of the shrines are really good physics puzzles incorporating simple machines like levers and pulleys which can be applicable outside of the game as well.
It's also just one of the best games ever made.
Some people say it's too hard for children, but damn did they not have a SNES as kids?
Portal and Portal 2 are now on the switch, not sure how age-appropriate those would be for an 8 year old tho
Second this. My son loved these when he was that age, and still does. Portal 2 is maybe pushing it in terms of suitability, but not too bad. I generally stick to age ratings as a rule. Portal 1 plus the extra levels definitely.
Portal 2 is absolutely worth throwing at an eight year old based entirely on how cute it would be to hear him running around the house quoting something about combustible lemons, and can you imagine a child's reaction to "How are you holding up? because I'M A POTATO."?
My 7yo has been playing BotW for a few years now and is playing TotK now. He generally does fine with them, granted I have to do the bosses/ harder puzzles for him lol.
Was going to suggest this it's great although I imagine some of the puzzles will get very hard a group of 8 year olds
Tunic is so good!!! I would have been obsessed if I had a game like that at age 8 instead of Donkey Kong 64 (which I still love to this day, of course)
Not sure what you mean by "for a few years" but my friend's 9 year old loved Tangle Tower. Great art, voice acting, detective story and puzzles that are the right amount of challenging!
Just to give and answer I haven't seen: I know they recently released a remastered version of Advanced Wars. Not so much logical thinking, but turn based strategy is a puzzle in its own way. And I loved those games when I was around 8-10 years old!
It'll depend on the kind of puzzles they're in to (if they're in to puzzles at all), but the Picross S series is brilliant. Despite all the great games on the Switch, mine is pretty much a Picross machine that happens to be able to play other games.
Initially I missed the text body of the post, and thought "SMT: III Nocturne" is a pretty good game with moral dilemmas and whatnot. Lots of fodder for thinking.
That might not be very appropriate for an eight year old though.
A few years? As In you expect them to play this game for a few years?
I'm not sure what exactly you are asking for, the kinds of games I think of, for 'logical thinking' are to complicated to be engaging for 8 year Olds in my experience of 4 children. They like watching me or their older siblings play them, but when their turn comes around, they would much rather play a 2d platformer or 3d Mario or Kirby game, than something like astroneer.
Pokemon requires you to understand type matching, so like water beats fire but fire beats grass type of thing, and there's plenty of numbers to get familiar with.
When I was a kid and played pokemon, I had no clue about type matching. I just loaded up on xp on my first pokemon and called it a day.
Oh totally same. If you want a challenge where type matching actually matters, I’ve been recommended a particular crystal mod which makes the game way harder. I forget what its called though.
Toki Tori 2 is a metroidvania that doesn't give you movement upgrades, but instead gates your ability to navigate with knowledge (here's how you interact with this thing in the map to overcome this challenge). The graphics are cutesy, but it is a great game.
Definitely the right answer for a 8yo.
I love Baba is you but even as a 40yo I struggle a lot sometimes.
Slay the Spire: an amazing rogue lite deck builder. Similar to games like magic the gathering, but instead of going in with a deck, you get to add a card after each fight (or skip this, which is often the best choice).
It requires :
It might be slightly too hard for an 8 yo though.
Alternatively, consider Wingspan. I play the physical game with my 8yo with no issue. It's a score optimization game with beautiful illustrations of birds.
Baba is You: A deceptively simple word logic puzzle game that crucially allows the player to skip the puzzles they get stuck on.
Slay the Spire: A deck-building roguelike that on the surface level needs basic addition and subtraction, but has a ton of room for skill evolution and expression because you build a new deck every time you play. Does require a fair amount of reading, about the same as a pokemon game.
Tunic: A cute exploration zelda-lite game where you learn game mechanics by filling in a pictures-only "manual".
Superliminal: A trippy but visually stunning 3D first person puzzle game all about messing with depth perception. ::: spoiler Superliminal narrative spoilers Narration gets a little meta towards the end, but nothing inappropriate. There is a part with red paint implied to be blood. :::
VVVVVV: More action-oriented, but a cerebral platformer that has a lot of lateral-thinking puzzles.
Portal: Simply one of the best puzzle games of all time. An eight-year-old might not enjoy solving Test Chamber 17, though - I sure didn't when I was 15 when this game came out.
Scribblenauts (franchise): Cutesy little puzzles where you can spawn in "anything" to help you solve them. Lots of creative solutions to the puzzles here, even if your 8-year-old might figure out that a lot of them can be solved with a jetpack and a magnet.
I linked Steam pages instead of Switch eShop pages because they have more useful reviews and such, but all of these games are available on Switch.