There’s always something to be said for having fun with the family on PS4 without having to leave your house. Unlike sports or other outside activities that can be weather-dependent, video games can be enjoyed regardless of what’s going on outside your walls.
With that in mind, we’ve conjured up our list of the best PS4 games for families to help you keep the kids from climbing the walls. We’ve got tons of variety for you, with platformers, racing games, and fighting games to keep things interesting. So grab your DualShock, and let’s get this party started.
BEST PS4 GAMES FOR FAMILIES: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 | Monopoly Plus | Knowledge is Power | Cake Bash | Knack II| That’s You! | Sackboy: A Big Adventure | Sonic Mania | LittleBigPlanet 3 | Fortnite | Gang Beasts | Tricky Towers | Unravel Two | Everybody’s Golf | Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes | Quiplash | Minecraft | Rocket League | Rayman Legends | Overcooked! 2
20. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
Developer: Traveller’s Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros Entertainment Interactive
Age Rating: 7+
Players: 1-4
Lego games have always been a sweet spot for players of all ages. Their cute aesthetic and simple play styles make them attractive for a younger audience, while their playful humor and tons of playable characters are engaging for older players.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 has all of the above and more. With unique abilities and playstyles for each character and tons of great MCU locations to swing, soar, and fight your way through, this one will allow everyone to feel like a hero.
19. Monopoly Plus
Developer: Ubisoft Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-6
We’re all going to end up playing the game of capitalism at some point in our lives, so you might as well get the kids started young. Cynicism aside, Monopoly has been a staple of the board game world for generations, and its timeless nature makes it a natural choice for family game night.
Monopoly Plus keeps things moving for you as you vie to outwit and bankrupt your family, and sore losers can’t even flip the board over when they inevitably bomb out, meaning no setup or cleanup either way.
18. Knowledge is Power
Developer: Wish Studio
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Age Rating: 13+
Players: 2-6
Quiz and trivia games are another staple of family game night, and Knowledge is Power brings that experience to your PS4. Using smartphones or tablets as controllers, you battle it out for supremacy in multiple-choice and linked content questions as the player with the fastest finger wins.
Though older players may need to flub a round or two to keep things competitive, the categories are youth-friendly enough that even teens have a solid chance of coming out on top.
17. Cake Bash
Developer: High Tea Frog
Publisher: Coatsink Games
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
Party games are always a great fit for family get-togethers, and Cake Bash is no exception. Setting players as tasty desserts attempting to become the most delectable of all, Cake Bash sees you competing in over a dozen increasingly absurd mini-games to earn points to spend on decorations.
It’s just the madcap absurdity of it all that makes the game worth your while. A cupcake smashing a candy cane or lollipop over a muffin’s head like a wrestler with a steel chair is just the kind of silly fun most people can get behind.
16. Knack II
Developer: Japan Studio
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Age Rating: 10+
Players: 1-2
Though the original Knack is often maligned as a failure, Knack II earned much greater acclaim than its forebear. Introducing teleporters to make the game less tedious, Knack II streamlined its formula for the sequel and made it easier for players of different skill levels to learn and play.
With vastly improved mechanics and new moves to utilize along the way, Knack II is a staunch improvement on its forebear.The accessibility options and 2-player couch-co-op are the cherries on top, making Knack II’s platforming action all the more compelling for a family setting.
15. That’s You!
Developer: Wish Studios
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Age Rating: 13+
Players: 2-6
That’s You! has a unique conceit as far as party games go, with no correct answers to its many questions. Players simply form a consensus based on which solution they prefer, and that determines the number of points and the focus of the game from there.
Played through an app on your phone, this one can keep a group of friends laughing and snapping pictures on their devices all night long. With all manner of wacky filter effects and other picture altering tricks for your selfies, That’s You! will also allow you to see your friends in ways that you never imagined before.
14. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
LittleBigPlanet’s brave star finally got his own spin-off, and it’s quite a shift from the LBP series. Allowing 1-4 players to explore Craftworld together via 3D platforming, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is more a test of your skill than your creativity.
With many new moves and techniques to learn and utilize, Sackboy: A Big Adventure will challenge series veterans and newbies with its vast new world of stages and collectibles.
13. Sonic Mania
Developer: Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, Headcannon
Publisher: Sega
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
After many years of disappointing Sonic titles, Sega reinvigorated the franchise with the help of some superfans along the way. Sonic Mania is a throwback to what made Sonic a Genesis classic in the first place, with clever level design and a pile of fan service thrown in for good measure.
The competition mode allows 4 players to speed through its many levels, while the co-operative mode lets 2 players go through the entire game together, just like in good ol’ Sonic 2.
12. LittleBigPlanet 3
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
The LittleBigPlanet series has been letting folks exercise their creativity for ages. With its quirky narration and fun sense of humor, the series is as charming as it is fun. LittleBigPlanet 3 is the series’ zenith, offering more to do and more to design than ever.
Whether in its prebuilt campaign levels or your own custom jobs, LittleBigPlanet 3 allows 4 players to run, jump and stumble their way through for a total blast of a co-op experience.
11. Fortnite
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Epic Games
Age Rating: 13+
Players: 1-2
Sometimes the best way to bond with your kids is to get into what they love. Fortnite, the insanely popular battle royale game from Epic, tasks players to battle it out for supremacy while building their hideouts to survive.
Though it takes a smidge of finagling to get split-screen working, the effort is worth it if your kid is into the game. If you’re up to the task of being trash-talked by kids half your age, then dive on in and give ‘em what for in Fortnite.
10. Gang Beasts
Developer: Boneloaf, Coatsink
Publisher: Double Fine, Skybound Games, Boneloaf
Age Rating: 7+
Players: 1-4
There’s nothing like beating the stuffing out of your pals. It isn’t just the therapeutic release of years of resentment, though; it’s downright fun, too. Gang Beasts offers siblings and parents exactly that release in its floppy, silly beat-em-up.
However, even once you’re down, you’re not necessarily out. Gang Beasts is a game full of come-from-behind victories and upsets, so even the less skilled among you will be able to make a pretty solid showing.
9. Tricky Towers
Developer: Weirdbeard
Publisher: Weirdbeard
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
After all of these years, the impact of Tetris is still being felt in valiant successors like Tricky Towers. Though Tricky Towers’ conceit may be noticeably similar it has a lot more to offer than just being a Tetris clone.
Players must stack their falling blocks into a tower that sways and shakes with each new addition. Further, you can mess with your opponents’ towers using dark magic to rattle their cages and ruin their concentration. This feature creates a fun bit of back and forth that pushes Tricky Towers beyond the constraints of simple competitive puzzle matches.
8. Unravel Two
Developer: Coldwood Interactive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-2
The charming platformer Unravel becomes a two-player experience in the ingenious Unravel Two. With each player controlling a Yarny of their own, puzzle and level challenges are ramped up, forcing you to work together to solve them. Though you may find yourself hanging from a thread occasionally, at least you’ll have a pal for backup.
Though it may not offer enough controller slots to keep everyone entertained, Unravel Two is so endearing and lovable that those left in the spectator seats will hardly mind not being able to play themselves.
7. Everybody’s Golf
Developer: Claphanz, Japan Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-8
Though some of you may be more familiar with the name Hot Shots Golf, Sony’s fantastic golf series has been entertaining players for generations now. The latest iteration of the series from 2017 offers online play and the handy ability to rip around the course in a golf cart.
Even better, you and up to 7 of your friends and family can play a round of golf at once, meaning even bigger families won’t have to swap controllers or wait for their turns to play Everybody’s Golf.
6. Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
Developer: Steel Crate Games
Publisher: Steel Crate Games
Age Rating: 10+
Players: 1-2
Steel Crate’s bomb-defusing party game is as fun as it is frantic and frenetic. Setting one player as the bomb defuser and the other with the bomb’s specifications, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes gains almost all of its cache from its sheer spectacle.
Though Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes only allows two players at a time, like classic board games Taboo and Pictionary, the tension and hilarity make every round infectious enough to keep everyone in the room entertained.
5. Quiplash
Developer: Jackbox Games
Publisher: Jackbox Games
Age Rating: 12+
Players: 3-8
As time and social constraints continue to change, a game like Quiplash, which can be played entirely online through multiple devices, becomes increasingly valuable to have. Sort of like a virtual round of Cards Against Humanity, Quiplash has two randomly selected players come up with a quip for the game’s prompt before asking the other players to vote on which is funnier.
Like with some of the other games on this list, even if everyone isn’t always “player” per se, everyone is still having fun in Quiplash, and that’s sort of the point, isn’t it?
4. Minecraft
Developer: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
Age Rating: 7+
Players: 1-4
As mentioned previously, sometimes the best way to connect with your kids is to play what they like. With that in mind, Minecraft can be a great way to bond with your family while having some creative fun along the way.
Though there’s a bit of a learning curve at first, the game is simple enough in its building and combat mechanics that everyone can figure it out pretty quickly. Even better, since the game is only constrained to the limits of your imagination, the sky’s the limit for what you and your family can create along the way.
3. Rocket League
Developer: Psyonix
Publisher: Psyonix
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-8
Not only is Rocket League one of the most beloved multiplayer games of its generation, it’s also completely free. Hop in a rocket-powered car with up to 7 members of your friends and family and blast soccer balls across a giant arena in one of the wackiest games ever created.
With physics-based silliness that can lead to endless hours of entertainment, Rocket League is apt to live as long a life as the sport that inspired, meaning you’ll be launching balls with your well-timed rocket boosts for ages to come.
2. Rayman Legends
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
The ultimate party platformer, Rayman Legends, is filled with stages that are as wildly challenging as they are fun. With gorgeous animation and fantastic character design, Legends is also wonderful to look at for family members who may not be up to the task of playing.
Finally, with a simple side mini-game included and daily and weekly challenges that are being routinely updated today, Rayman Legends is an endlessly playable romp that will keep you going for ages.
1. Overcooked! 2
Developer: Team17, Ghost Town Games
Publisher: Team17
Age Rating: All ages
Players: 1-4
Building on the framework that made the original Overcooked! such a blast, Overcooked! 2 amps things up with new interactive levels, restaurant themes, costumes, and recipes. The levels are crazier than ever too, meaning you’ll really have to communicate if you want to keep those tips coming in.
The original Overcooked! was such a perfect party game for families to begin with but Overcooked! 2 antes the kitchen-running insanity to such absurd new degrees as to be the ultimate fun factor when it comes to family game night.
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