In order to select the best video game consoles for kids, we researched and analyzed dozens of gaming systems on the market. We also relied on our personal experience with the consoles and sought expert insights from Margaret Moser, game designer and assistant professor of the practice of cinematic arts at the University of Southern California, and Anthony Bean, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist with video game expertise. Here are the best video game systems for kids. Games for the PS5 can be purchased digitally or as hard copies. There are many well-loved PS5-exclusive games, adding to the allure of the system. Many of those exclusive games are better suited for older players, but part of what makes the PS5 so great is that its extensive library means your child can easily adjust the games they play as they age, making it a good long-term investment. Some games available for younger players include Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Overcooked! All You Can Eat, and Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. The PS5 is backwards compatible with Playstation 4 (PS4) games, too. That means if your child previously owned a PS4, many of the games they played on their PS4 will also run on the PS5. The biggest issue with the PS5 is that it’s typically difficult to find in stock, even nearly two years after its release—which, while unfortunate, speaks to its enduring popularity. You should also keep in mind that this is quite a large system, measuring 15.35 inches by 4.09 inches by 10.23 inches. Price at time of publication: $696 Parental controls can be easily set up and accessed through the Xbox Family Settings app, and games for the Xbox Series X can be purchased digitally or as hard copies. The Xbox Series X’s main downfall is that it lacks as many system-exclusive titles as the PS5. However, it still has great game options for kids, such as sports games like Rocket League, classic platformer games like Sonic Mania Plus, and simulation strategy games like Overcooked! All You Can Eat. You will also have the convenient option of subscribing to Xbox Game Pass, which grants you access to a large library of games. There is a subscription fee, but it allows your child to try out a bunch of different titles under that one monthly fee, rather than requiring you to buy each title individually. This is especially handy for gamers who are new and trying to discover what types of games they like.  Price at time of publication: $499 Just like the Series X, the Series S is backwards compatible with original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games. You still have the option to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass and gain access to a bunch of different titles. You also still have easy access to parental controls through the Xbox Family Settings app, through which you can easily do things like restrict your child’s spending and monitor their online friends’ list. In terms of design, this is a wonderfully compact and lightweight system, measuring only 2.6 inches by 5.94 inches by 10.82 inches and weighing 4.25 pounds. So while this is not designed to be portable in the same way as a handheld device, it’s still manageable to pack this system up and bring it elsewhere if your family goes on a trip or your child wants to take the console to a friend’s house.  Price at time of publication: $289 Games for the Switch are available as downloads and game cards, and the library includes options designed to teach young kids how to code and design games, such as Game Builder Garage and Super Mario Maker 2, role-playing games like Pokemon Diamond and Shining Pearl and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and strategy-based games like Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Overall, the system’s user-friendly design, upgraded screen, and expansive library that can cater to different age ranges and gaming skill levels makes the Nintendo Switch OLED Model our favorite system for families to share and use together. Price at time of publication: $350 On the more technical side of things, the tablet has a 7-inch screen and a 1024x600 screen resolution. The tablet is sturdily built, with a protective bumper and shatter-proof screen, so you don’t have to worry about minor drops and accidents. The tablet has a built-in kickstand that lets it sit stably on a surface as your child plays, and it comes with a stylus to play and practice writing skills. With this tablet, you also get a three-month free trial of LeapFrog Academy, which is LeapFrog’s interactive game program designed for children who are 3 to 6 years old. As a bonus, the tablet is available in green or pink, and its home screen is customizable, so your child can add things like stickers and animations to it to make the tablet really feel like it’s their own device. Price at time of publication: $140 The controller’s ergonomic design makes it comfortable and easy to hold, even over a long period of time. One end of the controller connects to your phone’s charging port, but don’t worry—you won’t lose your ability to charge your phone as you play since the device allows for pass-through charging. Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack, which means you will have to rely on the device’s speaker ports or Bluetooth headphones, which can sometimes lead to audio lag while gaming. You can use the Razer Kishi V2 to play certain games from the app store, but it’s also cloud gaming-compatible. Cloud gaming refers to games that are streamed rather than downloaded or purchased as hard copies. For instance, this means the Razer Kishi V2 can work with PC and Xbox games your child streams to their phone. Price at time of publication: $99 Five of the seven included games are part of the Starter Kit: Tangrams, in which your child will have to arrange tangram pieces to match on-screen images; Words, which teaches kids how to spell and has both a single-player and multiplayer mode; Newton, a problem-solving game in which your child will use pen and paper to guide on-screen balls; Masterpiece, which turns photos into on-screen outlines your child copies and draws; and Numbers, in which your child can learn different math skills. There are also two other multiplayer games to be played with family and friends. The first is Math Buzz, in which you create teams of up to four players and solve equations to complete a task. The second is Lettertopia, in which teams traverse a board together by spelling out words. Since all the games are intended to teach your child some type of STEAM skill and blend physical, real-life actions with digital fun, this kit is our favorite system for learning.  Price at time of publication: $140 With the Switch Lite, you still get to choose games from the same large Nintendo game library and purchase games as either digital or physical copies. You can play fan-favorite RPG games, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, platform games like Super Mario Odyssey, brain teaser games like Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, and even photography adventure games like New Pokemon Snap. An unfortunate way this Switch differs from other Switch models is the lack of vibration feedback when you play a game. On the plus side, up to eight different Switch Lite systems can link up together via a wireless connection to play games together, so it’s just as great for multiplayer gameplay as it is for single-player. The device is also available in five different colors—blue, coral, gray, turquoise, and yellow—which give it a bit of a personal touch since your child can pick their favorite color for the device. Price at time of publication: $200 The Nintendo Switch is compatible with great, innovative games that incorporate physical movement into gameplay, namely Nintendo Switch Sports and Ring Fit Adventure. Nintendo Switch Sports is available as both a digital and physical edition and lets you play virtual versions of soccer, volleyball, bowling, tennis, badminton, and swordplay. Your Joy-Cons come to act as rackets, wooden swords, or an extension of your wrist as you swing, hit, and perform all types of actions you would do if you were playing these sports in real life. The physical copy comes with a Leg Strap accessory, which lets you attach the Joy-Con to your leg, so the Switch will register your kicking movements when you play soccer. You can play this game online with people from around the world, but you can also play on the same system with family and friends. Ring Fit Adventure is an exercise game, and it comes with Nintendo’s Ring-Con and Leg Strap, which help translate your off-screen movements, such as jogging, squats, and yoga poses, into on-screen gameplay. There’s an Adventure mode too, where your exercise movements help you defeat enemies. Price at time of publication: $300 Most PC gamers will recommend that you build your own custom PC, but if you don’t feel like going through the added steps of picking out your own individual pieces and putting them together, this is one of the best pre-built PCs you can buy. The main qualm gamers have had with pre-built PCs is that some models can be difficult to upgrade. As the years pass, sometimes newer games that are released require a computer with more power or better graphics processing units (GPU) to run properly, so the ability to order a new piece when necessary and replace it in the PC is important since it spares you from having to drop money on a whole new unit. It’s easy to access this model’s interior, and it’s possible to upgrade the GPU if or when that should prove necessary. Keep in mind, this is only a PC, and you will need to buy equipment such as a mouse, keyboard, and monitor to complete the gaming setup or rely on equipment you already own. Price at time of publication: $2,100 With iPads, you will be downloading games from the Apple App Store, which is packed with kid-friendly titles across a range of genres. There are platformer games like Monument Valley, minigame apps like Sago Mini Friends, puzzle games like Inbento, endless runner games like Alto’s Adventure, open-ended play games like LEGO Duplo World, educational coding games like Kodable, and many more. Please note, if you would like a stylus for your child to use with their games, you will, unfortunately, have to purchase the 1st Generation Apple Pencil separately. You might also want to consider investing in a screen protector and a strong case if you buy this iPad to protect it against damage from accidental drops, bangs, or crashes since it’s a pricey piece of equipment.  Price at time of publication: $329 Gaming laptops are essentially portable PCs, just typically with less power behind them. This means, just like with PCs, the games your child plays on a gaming laptop will likely be downloadable through online platforms like Steam. Some kid-friendly titles available include Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, which is an open-world wildlife adventure game, as well as Among Us, which we consider to be one of the best video games for kids. Also, just like with PCs, you will need to set parental controls through the online game platforms your child uses. You can also rely on Internet-based parental controls since online gaming will require you to connect the laptop to a Wi-Fi network. Please note, you may also want to invest in a mouse for a smoother gaming experience, as well as a privacy shutter since one is not incorporated into this laptop’s design.  Price at time of publication: $1,300

What to Look for in a Game System for Kids

Parental controls

Parental controls allow you to manage the content your kids have access to and help you keep them safe in the digital realm. When it comes to managing screen time, some systems allow you to limit how long your child can play games, set times for when the system can or can’t be used, or keep track of how much time your child spends playing games. Other popular controls include limiting access to certain games, restricting in-game interactions and communication with other players, and monitoring your child’s friends list.  A parental control option that both our experts listed as being very important is the ability to limit your child’s access to real-money purchases. While there are some free-to-play games on the market, there are plenty of downloadable games that cost money, as well as many others that allow you to make in-game purchases. You want to make sure the system you are looking for gives you some way to prevent your child from making these purchases without your permission, such as by requiring a password or sending you notifications on your phone to approve purchases. 

Features

Backwards compatibility is one of the most important features you want to consider if you have a little gamer at home. Backwards compatibility refers to the ability of a new model of a video game system to run games that were made and played on previous models of that system. For instance, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are backwards compatible, meaning if your child owned an original Xbox, Xbox 360, or Xbox One and built up their video game collection for one of those older models, they won’t need to completely rebuild their game library, since the Xbox Series X and S can run certain titles made and played on those older systems. The PlayStation 5 is also backwards compatible and can run many of the games played on the PlayStation 4. Two other features worth looking into are 4K compatibility and app support. Many games now can be played in a 4K resolution, but you will need a video game system that supports it to experience that level of image quality. 4K resolution brings crisper, more-detailed images, which ultimately allow for a more immersive and visually satisfying gaming experience. Some video game systems are capable of doing more than just running video games—they can also support streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify, allowing you to use your game system as an all-in-one entertainment hub for your family.

Durability and build

According to Professor Moser, “durability and the total number of parts” are important considerations when it comes to video game systems for kids. The fewer parts a game system has, the easier the setup and upkeep. Durability is an important factor since children are inevitably going to have accidents and may drop, knock over, or spill things, so you want to make sure you’re investing in a system that’s sturdily built.  In regard to the durability of gaming systems, Professor Moser notes that “most consoles and controllers are engineered to be pretty bulletproof out of the box, but after-market controllers are either cheap and likely to break, or expensive.” This is important to keep in mind since you will probably need to buy more controllers than the typical system comes with if your child is looking to play multiplayer games with friends and family. With game systems your child is likely to be taking on the go, such as handheld devices, tablets, and gaming laptops, you will want to make sure that you also invest in a strong, rugged case that prevents damage in case of an accident or drop. 

Game library

Before purchasing a console, you should research the types of games available on that gaming system. While many games are available across a variety of platforms, this is not the case for all of them, and certain games are exclusive to certain systems. For instance, if you know your child is really hoping to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land or Yoshi’s Crafted World, you wouldn’t want to buy them the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X since these games are only available on the Nintendo Switch. More generally, you should also make sure that there are a good number of games available on the systems you are looking to buy that you would be comfortable with your child playing. Dr. Bean also recommends investigating which types of games a system has to offer and suggests looking into whether the system has games you can play with your child.

Why Trust Verywell Family

Sarah Toscano is a freelance writer who specializes in all things related to tech, pop culture, and gaming. She grew up playing video games with her family and has been gaming since the GameCube and Game Boy Advance days in the early 2000s. She has hands-on experience using many of the video game systems on this roundup, and she spends most of her free time playing video games on her PC or Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch also has a straightforward, minimalistic, and fast interface that leaves little room for complications and makes it easy to access your games. Furthermore, both the classic and OLED models of the Nintendo Switch can be played as a handheld device or on your TV, making them easy in terms of gaming flexibility since you don’t have to be home to continue playing your game of choice. The AAP also stresses the importance of personalized strategies for media monitoring, noting that parents and guardians should “take into account each child’s age, health, personality, and developmental stage” when setting boundaries and granting freedoms for a child’s media use.