Ooo ooo I’ve got one.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It’s like a Pixar souls like adventure game. Lots of foresty magic, very beautiful, and challenging enough to give you a run for your money while she laughs at your many failures.
It’s a good game.
Looking for games with strong female leads for my daughter (even just to watch as I play). Came across this link, but they're a bit old. Any suggestions from the community?
Submitted 1 year ago by 2tone@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
https://gameranx.com/features/id/228820/article/15-best-games-to-play-today-with-female-leads/
Comments
Clarke311@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I scrolled until I gave up shame on all of you. Play Portal, solve puzzles, there is multiplayer songs and cake.
Squids@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
Idk if this counts as it’s not visually obvious, but Amaterasu from Ōkami is a fun female protangonist, on account of her being straight up Amaterasu Ōmikami, the sun goddess (and all around top dog) from Japanese mythology. Graceful and elegant and also she’s a big ol’ wolf who does doggy things, which I imagine would delight a 5 year old.
The game’s artstyle is really stylised and pretty, the story is based on Japanese mythology and legends which I’d think would also interest a kid, it’s kinda zelda-like with puzzles and whatnot, and there’s a dedicated woof button. It came out way back in 2006 but at the same time it’s been remastered pretty recently (it’s in capcom’s summer steam sale if you’re going down that route) so you’ve got some choice about which route to go down trying to find it. Try and stick to European versions if you can because apparently the American localisations removed most of the mentions of the fact that Ammy is a girl which imo is a really weird choice because like, that’s a whole ass mythological figure?
Crackhappy@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Honestly, Spiritfarer would be perfect. You can play local co-op, it’s quite easy. You will understand what’s going on but your daughter will just think it’s cute. One of you can play as a cat. It’s absolutely gorgeous and a very poignant story.
My partner and I have played it all the way through 3 times now.
NakariLexfortaine@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I love Spiritfarer, would normally agree without a second thought, but in this case, I’d definitely say be quietly prepared to answer some questions about death.
It does excellently to handle its themes in beautiful ways, but kids can be more aware than we give them credit for, even if they don’t fully grasp a concept.
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I played this one with my older son a few years back and I think this would be a great option for her. As the cat, you can really just loaf about
Zerfallen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Sayonara Wild Hearts Celeste Sable Night in the Woods (female, but also an anthropomorphosised cat) Assassin’s Creed: Origins
raltoid@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You’d recommened AC: Origins for a five year old?
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 year ago
Plus it’s AC Odyssey where you can play as a woman. And yeah, I played her as a walking clap clinic. Not really a kids game.
hill@kbin.social 1 year ago
Going by a few of these recommendations I don't think many read the part where they said she's 5!
Zerfallen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Probably you’re right. I basically forgot about the assassinating part of that game and just remember the dialogue and exploration of the game world.
SandLight@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Seconding Sable.
I recommend that one too everyone though.
PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Haven’t played that particular Shantae game, but I found the series off putting to play in front of my kids due to the high amount of fan service. Seems like not what op might not be going for here.
Zerfallen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I get what you mean, but i don’t recall anything i would consider too inappropriate for kids. More just tongue in cheek. But i expect the OP will look into each of the games listed and make their own call based on the trailers etc.
ArcticFox@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Technically I think the Celeste character is supposed to be trans, not female.
solivine@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
That’s the same thing, they’re a woman
NakariLexfortaine@lemm.ee 1 year ago
That’s a part of why Celeste, and Madeline as a character, now has a strong place to some trans gamers. She climbed the fucking mountain. She looked at her self doubt, her fear, the person in the mirror telling her she could never do it, never be that person, and did it. She overcame it.
Madeline is a woman, and writing her character off as “trans, not female” is writing off the impact that story has had for people climbing their own mountains.
ParanoidPizzas@aussie.zone 1 year ago
Satisfactory. She’s fearless She conquers a planet She’s an engineer
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This one’s been on my list. Didn’t realise it’s a female protagonist
Havald@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Don’t think the gener is specified anywhere so it could be either. Anyways, amazing game.
JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You can only tell by seeing the player model but the devs have confirmed it. Not a whole lot of dialog or story so hard to tell.
Game does get pretty complicated quick and I’m not sure a 5yr old could pull it off solo, might be fun for her to watch you though
Midnitte@kbin.social 1 year ago
Plus, it's coop!
Brandicus@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A hat in time is a wonderful mario style game with a young female protagonist.
fsxylo@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Man that game was such a breath of fresh air when it came out. I wish I could play it for the first time again.
DarkThoughts@kbin.social 1 year ago
I have to recommend CrossCode, since it is so damn underrated.
It's a beautifully 2D / sprite based 16bit / SNES era inspired RPG with a fast paced action combat system and puzzle filled dungeons, as well as big boss fights. Although the trailers do not do it justice imo. It contains one of my favorite protagonists, which is sort of mute, which is also part of the story and cause of some hilarious but also sad moments. Pretty wholesome friendship based storytelling for the most part, although it does contain one suicide towards the end, which gets a little darker too. It's not graphic though and will topically probably fly over her head anyway. The spoiler free premise is that you play in sort of a MMORPG, which is located physically on another planet where they build something akin to a Westworld theme park out of something similar to nanobots, in which you control your avatar remotely made out of the same material. It has tons of accessibility options to adjust the difficulty too, in case something isn't quite your cup of tea.
svellere@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Seconding this. It’s a masterpiece. If she’s 5, I don’t think she’d really pay too much attention to the dialogue anyway.
uniqueid198x@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
Honestly, yes. This game is so good that it inspired my girlfriend to take up game development, which shes been doing for two years now
havokdj@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I never got to play the whole game but the HTML5 demo was outstanding!
DarkThoughts@kbin.social 1 year ago
Good point actually. I completely forgot that it had one, even though that's what made me buy the early access back then too. Makes it easy for OP to check the game out. At least in regards to some very basic gameplay.
Dukeofdummies@kbin.social 1 year ago
wandersong is a super simple game that she might be able to play. You play a pacifist bard who just is naive, friendly to a fault. The bard is a male, but the villain, supporting cast, it's quite diverse with some strong females cast in. It's got a pretty good story and a lot of sesame street level lessons on life in there too. Even starts a conversation on what strength truly is. Totally something you should look at.
Slime rancher is another super chill, might actually be able to play herself, game where you do play as a female protaganist, but much lighter on plot than wandersong. You basically farm cute adorable slimes and it's genuinely pretty addictive and super relaxing after a shitty day.
Mirror's Edge you play as a female protagonist. Plot might be a bit steep for her.
If you haven't played through portal 1 or 2 yet, I bet it could be fun. Glados is silly, Chell (who you play but doesn't talk) is female and she can help you with the puzzles a bit.
IanTwenty@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A Short Hike. Lead character is called Claire. No combat, no death, no resets. Just exploring, puzzles and story.
iamnotdave@lemmy.world 1 year ago
But deals with family medical issues and a mother daughter coming to terms with one of them being extremely sick.
Squirrel@thelemmy.club 1 year ago
It does, but that doesn’t have a significant impact on the general tone of the game.
Zerfallen@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I also want to throw in Ori and the Blind Forest. I don’t know the gender of Ori for sure, but it’s a little animal.
It’s a beautiful game, with great gameplay, animation, music, story, and I think it would be fun to watch someone else play.
Sharpiemarker@feddit.de 1 year ago
Eventually she should play Horizon Zero Dawn 😁
sic_1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Came here to say this. HZD got me sceptical at first but the more the story unraveled the more everything made sense. Great main character, great story, great ethics.
Tiefa@lemmy.world 1 year ago
HZD And Forbidden West really push forward the idea that you are playing as a strong woman and the graphics are so good she seems like a real person. Probably not play as but a young girl watching those games being played would be a great role model.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 year ago
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has you play at least half the game as a lady Lombax.
Stardew Valley. They might find that a bit dull though.
Endling if you want to see your child in floods of tears.
Probably be a few years before you can play It Takes Two together. I think my niece is 8 or so, and she played that with her mum. Also tried with her dad, but was less successful because he doesn’t listen.
ShortFuse@lemmy.world 1 year ago
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe has Toadette and Peachette.
Super Mario 3D World has Peach / Cat Peach.
My daughter beat them both at 5 years old. There’s also Mario Kart 8 which also has Peach. You may be noticing a theme here.
There’s also the Lego games where you get to choose your character and she always picks the girls.
Miitopia is great because you create your own characters. She makes the entire team girls.
My Friend Peppa is kinda entertaining, but she didn’t really care for it all that much.
Grangle1@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Just propping this post up, because poster actually remembers the kid is only 5 years old.
alienanimals@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Mirror’s Edge
havokdj@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Great choice!
Portal is another one, horizon zero dawn is another great one as well. Possibly resident evil 2 with Claire if OP feels comfortable letting her play that at her age.
kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 year ago
That game made me sick/dizzy.
nabladabla@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
Mario Bros 2 and choose Peach on every level
kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Super Princess Peach is also a good option.
zippoz@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wonderful game.
aquinteros@lemmy.world 1 year ago
yeah! recommended my little girl loves kena
BudgieMania@kbin.social 1 year ago
Check out En Garde, it releases on the 16th. Swaggy protag, the fighting is comedy based and sanitized, and it looks like it'll be a blast.
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This looks fun. Wishlisted
JowlesMcGee@kbin.social 1 year ago
I'm surprised I hadn't heard of that! I'll have to check it out when it comes out next week.
BudgieMania@kbin.social 1 year ago
There are too many great games in the Indie/AA space, so something will always fall through the cracks, unfortunately! The only thing we can do about it is to try to spread the word about what seems cool
theragu40@lemmy.world 1 year ago
My daughter just turned 6!
She loves watching, in no particular order:
Horizon Zero Dawn (when I let her) Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart (rivet is a strong female co-lead) Bugsnax (lots of characters of various genders) Tears of the Kingdom (Zelda is her favorite) Metroid (she’s watched Prime Remastered and Dread and loves that Samus is a girl) Mario Kart 8 (so she can be peach or Rosalina) Kena Bridge of Spirits
She also likes playing Pokemon and Drawn to Life now that she can read.
Wolfwood1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Hmm, some games with a strong female lead that I’ve played:
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A hat in time. Lovely 3D platformer
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Subnautica: Below Zero. Sequel to the original Subnautica but enjoyable without having played the first one. Loved both games.
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Gris
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Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
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Kena: Bridge of Spirits
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River City Girls: Pixel art beat 'em up
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Horizon Zero Dawn
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The latest Tomb Raider trilogy
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Portal and Portal 2
kmkz_ninja@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s a five year old, and Lara gets graphically, violently killed in the Tomb Raider games.
Wolfwood1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Yeah, you’re right. I had kind of forgotten about that part lol.
Even if you manage not to die in any of the horrific ways it’s still pretty violent.
EhList@lemmy.world 1 year ago
The girl is five years old. Subnautica is a bad call IMO if you want her to sleep again
Wolfwood1@lemmy.world 1 year ago
There are more things to do than finishing the whole game the way it was intended, not every biome has a monster that can kill you.
You can swim with the pengwings, play with the sea monkeys, build a giant base in the starting area while playing in creative mode…, there might even be mods that completely disable the need to surface for air or make every creature passive so you can swim mwext to them in peace.
TheBlue22@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Hellblade and lara croft for a 5 year old???
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magic_lobster_party@kbin.social 1 year ago
Shovel Knight allows you to gender swap all major characters.
Midnitte@kbin.social 1 year ago
What about ROM hacks with Zelda replacing link?
kamiheku@sopuli.xyz 1 year ago
Tomb Raider might not be too bad
You know I don’t entirely agree
Midnitte@kbin.social 1 year ago
Ah that's fair (it's been awhile since I've played it), maybe wait a few years. 😅
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This is amazing!!
explodIng_lIme@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Transistor comes to mind. There’s comic violence so take that into account but the story really is awesome. I finished it over Christmas a few years ago and has stuck with me. It’s from the studio who went on to make Hades.
batmaniam@lemmy.world 1 year ago
@2tone, Spiritfarer (thunderlotusgames.com/spiritfarer/) is pretty dang good and visually would be awesome for a younger kid. Visually it’s probably some of the best to watch. Just be aware it’s thematically about death. It’s very sweet and wholesome, but you might get some heavier questions about it. There’s a lot of stuff that might go over her head but will gut punch you. Could be a great way to have those conversations but, you know, sometimes it’s a long day.
On the other end of the spectrum, overwatch is free to play and the roster is crazy diverse. That’s actually the game where it “clicked” how important that was for me. Games in a rough spot, but there’s still fun to be had time to time.
Katana314@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Spiritfarer is probably the one piece of media to make me most afraid of death.
It’s a story with a truly evil and heartless antagonist, who never gets any kind of retaliation or comeuppance - because he’s a primal force that will exist for all time and cannot be stopped.
Crackhappy@lemmy.world 1 year ago
That… Is an absolutely wild take on this game, yet I can see how you could go there.
bouh@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I liked horizon zero dawn a lot. It’s mild violence, but mostly with mech dinosaurs.
N0ll@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Beyond good and evil seems like a good title with all the antropomorphic characters and isn’t too violent. I think the political themes will be lost on a 5 year old however
notun@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Beyond Good & Evil should be amazing. Strong female lead, animal characters and photography.
SgtAStrawberry@lemmy.world 1 year ago
If you have a switch New super Mario bros U deluxe and Super Mario 3D World, both let you play as Peach and Toadette and you can do local co-op so you and her can play together.
ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s an older game but Beyond Good and Evil is a classic.
Contramuffin@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Portal! Chell may be silent, but it’s directly stated that she got as far as she had due to sheer tenacity and resourcefulness
Also, Silksong, if you’re willing to wait for its release in 2377 AD
2tone@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Great suggestions, but Spelunky 2??? I love my daughter, but I also don’t hate myself ;)
Annoyed_Crabby@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Hat in Time is perfect for this.
Also to add: Aquaria, quite old but it’s kinda nice. EDF if you willing to play as Wing Diver only. Iconoclast if you’re into metroidvania. Metroid Prime remaster if you have a switch. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is pretty nice. Transistor but i don’t really dig it, maybe you’ll like it. Orc Must Die 2 if you only play as Sorcerer. La Mulana 2 if you wanna torture yourself and confuse your daughter 😂
JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Slime rancher is a fantastic suggestion for a little girl. Great game, female MC, cute little animals and overall graphic style.
I loved it as a relaxing post work game even as a 30yr old man
paultimate14@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Shocked I had to scroll so far for A Hat in Time. Seems pretty much perfect for this.