15 Best Educational Games Your Kids Will Love

Best Educational Games for Kids

Trying to find educational games that are actually fun can be daunting. However, these 15 games not only are fun to play, but will teach your kids a variety of skills.

1. Snipperclips – Cut It Out, Together!

In Snipperclips, you’ll team up with friends and family to overcome puzzling obstacles. You’ll do so by cutting Snip (or his buddy Clip) into a variety of useful shapes. Players will need to asses the challenge that each level presents and then use their imagination to design the right tool for the job.

This party game full of problem-solving fun is available for the Nintendo Switch, and can be enjoyed by up to 4 players at once with local multiplayer gameplay.

2. DragonBox Math Apps – Best Educational Games

If you own a smartphone and are looking to make studying math less painful for your youngster (and yourself), then you should check out the collection of apps made by DragonBox. This educational game developer designs products that “create a new, deeper learning experience” by improving child engagement.

Younger mathematicians below the age of 5 can try out apps that introduce them to the concept of counting and basic addition/subtraction. For children 9 and up, DragonBox has apps that make algebra (and even Euclidian geometry) fun! Head to their website to learn more.

3. Learn Japanese to Survive! Trilogy

If your child is into video games, it’s likely that many of those games were made by Japanese developers. Further their interest by introducing them to the beautiful yet notoriously difficult language of Japanese! Why is it so difficult? Well for starters, there are three alphabets! That’s where the Learn “Japanese to Survive!” games come in.

Each game in the trilogy tackles one of the three major components of the Japanese language (kanji, hiragana, and katakana) while playing out as a fun RPG adventure. This enjoyable introductory Japanese course is available to play on PC.

4. Civilization VI

The Civilization games have been around since 1991. Each new edition challenges players to build and maintain a… civilization that can survive from the dawn of time to the modern era.

Civilization VI, like the games before it, is a “turn-based” strategy game. This means that the game plays out like a board game, and players need to think cautiously, logically, and many moves ahead. As kids learn about crucial historical figures, events, and civilizations from around the world, they’ll also learn to concoct lofty strategies that can out-smart some of the most famous world leaders.

Civilization VI is available for Mac, PC, Linux, iOS, and Nintendo Switch.

5. Minecraft – Best Educational Games

We’re sure you’ve heard of Minecraft and know how insanely popular it is both with kids and adults. Well, all that fame is entirely deserved.

As the description on the game’s official site puts it: “Minecraft is a game about placing blocks and going on adventures”. The simplicity of Minecraft opens the door for an endless amount of creativity, ingenuity, and experimentation. The game allows you to build anything from wonderous structures complete with working doors, traps, and electricity, to basic dirt huts that’ll keep you safe through the Creeper-filled night.

Minecraft is available on just about everything: PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch (and probably something else we’re forgetting)

6. Scribblenauts Mega Pack

Your kids won’t be able to make it through each level of Scribblenauts’ fun-filled puzzles without writing, drawing, and using their imagination to problem-solve. All of these elements are required for the hundreds of challenges they’ll face in this cute, charming, and (most importantly) educational world.

The Scribblenauts Mega Pack (which includes multiple games) is available on Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

7. Nintendo Labo

Nintendo is known for pushing the boundaries of home consoles and they’ve done it yet again with this modification for the Nintendo Switch. These DIY cardboard construction kits allow players to construct tangible objects that can be used to interact with the virtual world on their game console.

Like LEGO sets, there are tons of Nintendo Labo kits that can be purchased, each with their own unique design and function. If you own a Switch, Nintendo Labo is definitely worth looking into.

8. Never Alone

In Never Alone, players follow a powerful heroine through a deep and detailed story that weaves the culture of the Inupiaq people into exciting action-adventure gameplay. Kids can play alone, or with a friend in local co-op, to solve unique puzzles along a journey to save the main character’s home. Ultimately, Never Alone is a story that teaches perseverance– even when it may seem that all hope is lost.

Never Alone is available on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Android, iOS, and Wii U.

9. Rollercoaster Tycoon

Simulation titles like Rollercoaster Tycoon are great video games for teaching economic management skills in a fun and exciting way. In the Rollercoaster Tycoon games, kids can exercise their creativity by constructing the craziest, scariest rollercoasters imaginable– but then they also need to get people to ride it.

No one’s going to ride a rollercoaster that ends in a disastrous pileup, and no one’s going to to go to an amusement park that doesn’t have running water. All of the functions of both the rollercoaster and the park itself are up to the player to manage in Rollercoaster Tycoon. It’s a tough job!

Check out the latest version of Rollercoaster Tycoon on Nintendo Switch, or some of the other versions on PC, PS4, iOS and Android.

10. Tynker: Coding Games for Kids – Best Educational Games

Knowing how to code in various programming languages is an increasingly valuable skill, but it’s can be hard to get into due to the steep learning curve. Thankfully, video games can help! According to the developer, “Tynker is the number one kids coding platform”. This is probably because it allows kids to play games while learning how to code them!

Young coders will first start with “visual code blocks that represent real programming concepts”, and then progress to popular languages like Python and JavaScript.

If you have internet and a computer — which you probably do if you’re reading this — then your child can start learning to code with Tynker.

11. Kerbal Space Program

While the “Kerbals” might look cute and silly, Kerbal Space Program is hardcore rocket science. And actually, those Kerbals are incredibly brave, because they may end up in a few fiery explosions as kids (and adults!) attempt to send them to space.

Kerbal Space Program puts you in complete control of everything required to get your Kerbals exploring the cosmos– from research and development of new tech, to constructing, piloting, and landing your spacecraft (hopefully in space).

Your budding rocket scientist or physicist can try out Kerbal Space Program on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U.

12. Rocksmith

Learning to read and write is important and all… but how about learning to ROCK?? With Rocksmith, your kids can plug their guitar (or bass) straight into the computer or console, and straight into a virtual course that adapts to their skill level.

According to developer Ubisoft, Rocksmith is “the fastest way to learn guitar”. Plus, you can save yourself the cost of a real guitar instructor when your kid decides to take up drums after a few weeks!

Plug into Rocksmith on PC, Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360.

13. Jackbox Party Pack Games

For older kids, the Jackbox Party Pack games are a great way to encourage educational family interaction. This long-running trivia series is known for both its comedic value as well as its tricky questions.

The cool thing about the new Jackbox games is that you don’t need any controllers to play– you just need smartphones and/or tablets. The more players, the better! 1 to 100 players can compete in a variety of trivia-based game modes– some including drawing, and all of them including the potential for learning and laughing.

Check out the Jackbox Party Pack games on PC, Mac, Linux, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android (select systems), and Apple TV

14. The Talos Principle

Also for older kids, The Talos Principle offers a puzzle game focusing on philosophical science fiction that plays in first-person perspective. In the game, you awaken in a strange world surrounded by ancient ruins riddled with complex puzzles. Do you blindly follow the path set before you? Or, do you dare to question your purpose in this mysterious world? Either way, your kid will learn something from their existential dilemma (or lack thereof).

Give The Talos Principle a try on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One, Android, or iOS.

15. World of Goo – Best Educational Games

World of Goo is an imaginative, inventive, and clever puzzle adventure game that also requires its players to be the same. The game is simple: you need to solve physics-based obstacles by constructing crazy contraptions out of globs of goo.

The thing is, the possibilities are endless, and there’s more than one way to solve each puzzle. Kids will have to learn to use patience, logic, and ingenuity to get past each level.

World of Goo is available on Wii, PC, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.