Looking for Baby-friendly Games: Any suggestions for Multiplayer and Single Player Games with 30 Minute gameplay intervals on PC/Switch/PlayStation? What are your top recommendations for my friend with a newborn? #NewbornGames #ParentGaming #PCGaming #SwitchGames #PlayStationGames
Do you have any ideas on games that can be played in short intervals, suitable for a parent with a newborn?
My friend was seeking suggestions on this topic, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s help each other out!
Literally any single player game that has a pause function.
Virtually zero multiplayer games.
Anything turn based.
Deckbuilders like Slay the Spire, Monster Train, Balatro, Inscryption.
RPGs like Baldurs Gate 3, Wasteland 3.
Strategy games like Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Wargroove.
Outside of turn-based games, you could look for games that let you pause in multiplayer (Streets of Rage 4), games that have drop-in/drop-out (Deep Rock Galactic), or games that *generally* don’t matter if you have to step away for a few minutes (Sea of Thieves).
Aside from single player, get either a Steam Deck or a Switch. That’s the answer. He needs a machine that he can use anywhere and sleep any time.
Single player games like Vampire Survivors are perfect for this.
For multi-player, Street Fighter 6.
Battletech and Total War Warhammer 3 and decent tactical games that are turned based. Can save and walk away from them easily.
As the father of a 2 year old in pretty much the same boat — JRPG’s. Turn based combat, nothing time-sensitive, frequent save opportunities, pretty widely available on handheld.
If your buddy doesn’t have a steamdeck, tell him it’s worth every penny. I basically never got the chance to really be on my PC when my daughter was a baby because I was spending every waking moment in the living room with my wife and kid. I was playing only on my Switch and phone for a while, and then my steamdeck was a game changer.
Playstation and Switch both have sleep mode so literally any single player game.
Anything steam deck or switch. As a new dad myself, the sleep function and the portability are the most important features.
Balatro
Vampire survivors
I was in this exact situation twice and learned to love rogue likes, especially any that let you pause your run. But still, even something like Hades was perfect for those quick hits of gaming dopamine.
If he wants some multiplayer options too, short round games like COD, Halo, rocket league, etc would be fine. He could play a round or 2 before having to step away and then come back to play a few more later
Dicefolk, civ, Final Fantasy X
Slay the spire.
Hades
Diablo 2
Something he can play on his phone between barfs/sh1tstorms/feeds – Polytopia worked for me.
Slay the Spire
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom
Horizon Chase Turbo
BG3 the main reason I love this game so much is because I can walk away and do things for my three children. I wish there were more turn based games out there for me.
Dishonored 1 and 2
Hitman 1 and 2 (new ones, afaik)
I have a baby and started playing planet coaster for this reason. It’s really fun if you ever played roller coaster tycoon. Plus it is free if you have PlayStation essential.
I always recommend Hades to all my friends with time constraints. Amazing game in its own right but the best is that it saves state after each room clear. Rooms can be cleared in under a minute in a lot of cases later on. Starting out it might be slightly longer but short nonetheless.
Along the same line, Dead Cell has save state no matter where you are I think. I’ve never tried it in boss fights but it works everywhere else.
Slay the Spire as well
Stardew Valley, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Borderlands 2. Virtually no multi-player as nobody is gonna want to play with the guy who has to get up every 20 mins for the BB, with all due respect. Tell him congrats from the folks of the web.
Dad here.
Simulators like Factorio or Cities Skylines are good for this.
Most single player games will be fine but JRPG’s with a ton of dialogue will not work with a newborn.
As far as multiplayer games go, anything with 12-15 minute matches will work (Halo, COD, etc.)
RuneScape
Steamdeck. You can pause and standby the console and then pick it up whenever you get the chance.
Get him addicted to runescape, it’s the ultimate “sneak 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there” game.
Minecraft
Pokemon Unite is simpler LoL and has exactly 10 minutes long matches
X-Com 2. Make sure to get expansion.
I’ve been doing that with tomb raider remastered
Civilization 6
Advance wars 1+2 on switch. Turn based combat
Monster Hunter Rise. When playing solo, you can pause. The expansion introduces NPC helpers to make it feel like you’re playing in a group, but you can also just play with others.
Hades works well in 15 to forty minute chunks. You die and restart a lot, and when you get good, most runs are under thirty minutes.
Mine was born around the release of Hogwarts Legacy. Kept my iPad/Controller charged and the PC running 24/7 so I could steam link into a paused game at any moment.
Hours played made it look like I was no-lifing the game tho.
Any turn based game. Any single player game with pause.
You can leave consoles paused for days if you want. I know the Xbox can save the game state and resume whenever.