this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024
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Another year or two...
Problem is that Nintendo for all their faults still make GREAT games for kids. And if adult pc gamers think they have it bad they should have a look at the predatory shitshow that is tablet games for the 5 and under market... its properly fucking ridiculous. At least Nintendo has the common decency to give me an amazing and full game for its eyewatering prices.
the indie space still has a ton of stuff. you lose the benefit of always having accessibility features and easy ui navigation depending on the game (although a ton of indie games have better modding and accessibility support than a lot of high budget games as of recently, just in case they come to be interested), but you still get to see a ton of different stuff.
most of these without coming close to Nintendo's approach to fan works, so i'd say you're not going to lose much if you know the right places.
if you want games for Android, Mitch is a third-party access to itch.io, a game store where you can by the game and get the game straight into a zip file or what-have-you. no DRM, no questions asked. about half the games i mentioned are in there without the predatory behavior most of the time.
How many of those games are suitable for kids 5 and under really..?
i'd probably pick MiniMetro and simple rythm games like ADOFAI or Rythm Doctor to begin with, simple shapes and an obvious thing to learn to do.
MineTest (has android ver.) and StuntRally are pretty close to reach if you're willing to be patient and teach them to explore an open space on their own or of their own (one is basically a sandbox engine like Garry's Mod, the other has a map editor alongside the several open maps). takes a while to understand the UI of each but it's possible to use.
Celeste is notoriously difficult regardless of age, as a platformer about climbing a mountain, but i'm sure they can grasp it (no pun intended).
non-game programs are also an option. i remember having my mom teach me to use MSPowerPoint which made me break and build a ton of things later on by the time i was 7, it was a mess, but i made that mess :3
try an art program like Pencil2D, Krita or InkScape, maybe something unrelated like LibreOffice Impress or KDE Marble, or a music program like MilkyTracker (has android ver.) and take your time to teach them to make a tune or a flipbook or navigate a map, i'm sure they'll have fun with something like it too.