Being a parent of children interested in RPGs can be a challenge. There are more role-playing adventures available now than ever before. What was a niche genre during my childhood is now fully mainstream.
The challenge lies in discerning which popular RPG titles are appropriate for kids today. Many of the most popular and critically acclaimed titles carry a Mature ESRB rating, and contain significant amounts of content geared for adults. Anything from nudity, to extreme violence, to strong language, or other mature themes.
This guide aims to educate parents about some alternatives to popular RPGs that may be too mature for children. I know from experience that kids often desire to play games that are popular, regardless of their rating or content. Hopefully, this list can help parents provide better choices that are similar to many Mature RPGs, but are still fantastic games in their own right.
Minecraft Dungeons
Alternative to: Diablo IV, Path of Exile
Similarities: loot-driven, hack and slash, multiplayer
The Diablo series has been polarizing in recent years. Questionable decisions, like the release of Diablo Immortal and controversies at developer Blizzard, have contributed to the negative discourse surrounding the series. Still, Diablo IV remains quite popular in the action RPG realm. Its most relevant counterpart is Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile. PoE follows a free-to-play model and offers a more hardcore experience for those looking for more in their ARPGs.
However, both games are very dark and come with a hefty dose of blood, gore, and horror elements. For an aging heavy metal fan such as myself, that’s great. For kids, not so much. So what is an acceptable alternative for kids looking for a Diablo or Path of Exile experience? My best recommendation is Minecraft Dungeons. Minecraft remains immensely popular amongst all ages, and Dungeons takes the Minecraft universe and gives it an isometric, loot-driven coat of paint. As a parent with little knowledge of the Minecraft universe aside from the movie, I had a great time playing Minecraft Dungeons with my youngest daughter. The systems are simpler than Diablo IV, and various difficulties give players options for different challenge levels.
Finally, for kids looking for a more classic isometric RPG closer in tone to Diablo, there is a similar series that is easily accessible. The Fate series was recently released in a remastered package titled Fate ReAwakened. The remastered collection includes four original Fate games, complete with full controller support.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Alternative to: Elden Ring
Similarities: open world, exploration, challenging enemies
Souls-likes continue to grow in popularity. Look no further than the recent Summer Game Fest to find a plethora of upcoming games looking to enter the space. While the brutal difficulty isn’t for me (or for most kids), it is hard to ignore all the offerings available. The success of Elden Ring has brought the genre further into the mainstream.
While Elden Ring may be beyond the level of difficulty for most kids, many young gamers also don’t need to play games that are overly simple or laughably easy. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild offers the perfect blend of an innocent tone and adaptive challenges. Like Elden Ring, BotW provides a fully open world where players have the true freedom to go wherever they like. At the same time, players will quickly learn that wandering too far without being prepared will result in frequent death. Many other gameplay elements are shared between the two critically acclaimed titles including crafting, real-time action-based combat, challenging boss battles, and discoverable secrets. Modern Zelda is a perfect gateway to more challenging titles.
Sunderfolk
Alternative to: Baldur’s Gate 3
Similarities: tactical combat, story-driven, tabletop roots
One of the more surprising developments in recent years is the explosion in popularity of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs. What was once a niche segment of gaming culture hit the mainstream, thanks in part to web series like Critical Role and Dimension 20. Consequently, the rising interest in tabletop role play led to a huge interest in video game adaptations of tabletop systems. None more successful and well-done than Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3.Â
BG3 does an incredible job of taking rules, settings, and characters from the D&D universe and incorporating them in video game form. While the game won countless awards (including many from us!) and is revered for its storytelling and mechanics, it is far from suitable for young audiences. If parents don’t have the time to create their own age-appropriate homebrew campaign, there is an acceptable virtual alternative.
Sunderfolk is a unique game that balances a video game with many facets of tabletop interactions that make those RPGs so fun. The game focuses on what makes tabletop sessions so engaging, namely, through multi-player interaction. In Sunderfolk, players can use their phones as controllers, much like how modern Dungeons & Dragons utilizes apps like D&D Beyond for dice rolls and character tracking. Players can choose from several anthropomorphic animal heroes with different classes and roles. Multiple difficulty settings make the game accessible to players of all ages and levels of RPG experience as well. Sunderfolk can be the ideal game for a family game night or party, without all the work involved in setting up a physical board game or pen-and-paper RPG.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Alternative to: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Similarities: open world, action combat, big monsters
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most well-known and renowned RPGs of the last decade. The game has been ported to nearly every modern platform, and it remains a standard to which other modern games are compared to. However, for many of the same reasons as Baldur’s Gate 3 (mature themes, graphic violence, nudity, etc.) Geralt of Rivia’s story is not aimed at younger players.
There are other fantastic games that compete with The Witcher 3 in quality while operating within the confines of content more suitable for kids or teens. My best recommendation for a Witcher 3 alternative is Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn. Horizon does carry a Teen ESRB rating and tackles some complex themes, so it might not be ideal for kids aged in the single digits. For older adolescents and teens though, protagonist Aloy’s journey through a post-post-apocalyptic landscape is an absolute masterpiece. Replace the brooding, grizzled Geralt with a strong young female lead, and the various European fantasy-inspired beasts with robotic dinosaurs, and you have Horizon. As a fan of both games, I prefer Horizon to The Witcher in many ways.
Rune Factory 4 Special
Alternative to: Persona 5 Royal
Similarities: social sim, dungeon exploration, JRPG
Of all the games I included in this list, Persona 5 was the most difficult to identify a close, kid-friendly alternative. I considered several candidates including various Pokémon games, classic turn-based RPGs like EarthBound, and other games set in alternate versions of Japanese cities like Tokyo Xanadu.
However, none of those felt quite right for different reasons. In fact, I have come to realize it is quite the challenge to find a true kid-friendly counterpart to the Persona series. I finally arrived at Rune Factory 4 Special. Though combat in Rune Factory 4 is not turn-based like in Persona, it has many of the social sim elements that make Persona 5 addictive outside of dungeons. In many ways, Rune Factory takes the core of a farming sim and throws in a decent amount of JRPG flair. Think of it as a more well-rounded version of Harvest Moon.
Much like Persona 5, there is always something to work towards in Rune Factory, and it features a great balance of combat, time management, and relationship building. It takes relationships further than Persona’s social link system by allowing players to eventually get married and even have a child. Parents need not worry, though, as the game only has mild suggestive themes. Rune Factory 4 Special may not be a perfect facsimile of Persona 5, but it has enough similar elements to serve as a less mature alternative.
