Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2025: All Nominees
Family categories often offer the most inclusive moments of The Game Awards, and the best family game 2025 lineup reflects how much joy and connection these experiences can bring.
Family games create space for all age groups to play together, blending cooperation, creativity, simple controls, and safe content into something everyone can enjoy.
This year’s category highlights six nominees that offer accessible fun and memorable shared moments for parents, kids, and casual players alike. The nominees include:
- Donkey Kong Bananza – The game builds on classic platforming with clear objectives and simple controls, making it easy for younger players to join in.
- LEGO Party – This title focuses on fast, pick-up-and-play minigames that fit family gatherings and quick sessions.
- LEGO Voyagers – Families can enjoy an adventure built around exploration, creative problem-solving, and gentle puzzles that encourage cooperation rather than competition.
- Mario Kart World – The game introduces familiar racing fun with updated tracks, clearer assists, and strong accessibility settings for younger or less experienced players.
- Sonic Racing CrossWorlds – This racer blends speed and colorful visuals with approachable controls, making it easy for kids to join while still offering depth for older players.
- Split Fiction – The game focuses on cooperative storytelling and puzzle-solving, encouraging families to communicate and work together.
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Which Games Were Nominated for Best Family Game in 2025?
The best family game 2025 nominees cover a wide range of accessible, easy-to-learn experiences that suit mixed-age groups and give families simple ways to play together.
Let’s look at all of these incredible games in more detail.
1. Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza offers a warm and accessible platforming experience that fits perfectly within the best family nominees 2025 lineup. The game keeps the action simple with clear controls, gentle difficulty, and bright environments that help younger players stay engaged without feeling overwhelmed.
Focus on pairing a younger player with an adult during tricky platform sections so you can share boosts and collect hidden items more efficiently.
Each level encourages cooperation, giving families chances to solve light puzzles together or share collectibles that reward teamwork rather than competition.
The humor stays friendly, the pacing remains steady, and the animations add a layer of charm that appeals to both kids and adults. With its mix of exploration and shared tasks, the game offers strong replay value for families who enjoy creative challenges they can complete side by side.
2. LEGO Party
LEGO Party focuses on fast, lighthearted fun that families of all ages can jump into together, making it a natural fit within the family games GOTY 2025 conversation. The game builds its appeal around easy minigames, bright animations, and simple controls that help younger players feel confident from the start.
Rotate minigames often and enable assist prompts to help younger players stay engaged and competitive during faster challenges.
Each activity keeps the pace lively without becoming overwhelming, and the humor stays clean and playful to suit mixed-age groups. Families can enjoy short rounds for quick sessions or longer playtimes with a rotating set of challenges that boost replay value.
With local and online support, intuitive menus, and helpful prompts for new players, the game creates a warm space for cooperative and competitive moments that feel accessible to everyone.
3. LEGO Voyagers
LEGO Voyagers offers a calm and imaginative adventure built around cooperation, exploration, and creative problem-solving, making it one of the standout entries among the top co-op games out there.
The game encourages families to move through colorful worlds at their own pace while solving gentle puzzles that never feel punishing for younger players. Its clear objectives and friendly tutorials help everyone stay involved, and the flexible difficulty options make mixed-age sessions easy to manage.
Split tasks during exploration – one player gathers resources while the other solves puzzles – to progress smoothly through each world.
The charm comes from working together rather than competing, and the variety of missions keeps the experience fresh without overwhelming newcomers. With its bright art style and welcoming tone, LEGO Voyagers creates a shared journey that feels rewarding for both kids and adults.
4. Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World brings energetic racing to families in a way that feels welcoming for every skill level, supported by strong accessibility options and smart assist features that help new players stay on track. Even if it doesn’t win the award, it’s truly one of the best family games on the Nintendo Switch.
The game blends familiar kart mechanics with fresh courses, clearer UI elements, and a smoother learning curve that lets kids join without frustration.
Turn on smart steering and auto-accelerate for newer players so the whole family can stay in the race without constant resets.
Its mix of local and online modes gives families different ways to play together, whether they want friendly competition or team-based racing that encourages cooperation. Cross-platform support also makes it easier for groups with different devices to join the same lobby.
With its bright presentation, steady pacing, and focus on shared fun, Mario Kart World continues the series’ tradition of offering a family-friendly multiplayer experience.
5. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds brings fast, colorful racing to families while keeping the experience welcoming for all ages, thanks to approachable controls and clear assist settings that help younger players stay confident during each race.
The game mixes cooperative team mechanics with classic arcade racing, giving families the choice to compete or work together through shared boosts and coordinated strategies.
Use team boosts strategically by staying close to teammates, which keeps everyone’s speed high even if skill levels vary.
Its bright visuals, upbeat pacing, and simple tutorials make it easy for new players to learn the basics without pressure, while still offering enough depth to keep older players engaged. With cross-play, flexible modes, and a family-safe presentation, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds stands out as a fun and accessible option within the best family game nominees game awards 2025 category.
6. Split Fiction
Split Fiction offers a gentle, story-driven adventure that invites families to collaborate through simple puzzles and shared decision-making, creating an experience that values teamwork over competition. The game’s soft art style and slow, steady pacing help younger players stay comfortable while older players enjoy the narrative layers that unfold through cooperative choices.
Let younger players handle dialogue choices while older players manage puzzle steps, creating a balanced cooperative flow for the story.
Its mechanics stay clear and intuitive, allowing everyone to participate equally without frustration, and the built-in prompts guide families through each chapter at a natural rhythm. With its warm tone, safe themes, and accessible structure, Split Fiction fits naturally into the lineup as a calm, creative experience designed for shared play.
What Makes a Family Game Award-Worthy?
We all know that Game of the Year nominees need to deliver an unforgettable blend of innovation, polished gameplay, strong artistic direction, and emotional impact.
Family games, however, are judged through a different lens. Instead of intensity or sweeping emotional depth, the focus shifts toward:
- Accessibility & ease of play – Simple controls and a gentle learning curve help younger players feel confident while allowing adults to join without confusion.
- Multiplayer, co-op, or local play support – Shared modes let families play together on the same screen or online, creating natural and memorable group experiences.
- Safe, age-appropriate content – Friendly themes, clean humor, and non-violent design make sure that parents and children can enjoy the game comfortably.
- Replayability & variety – Multiple modes, creative tools, and varied activities keep sessions fresh, making the game fun to revisit over time.
- Positive social or creative engagement – Cooperative goals, light challenges, and creative tasks encourage teamwork and communication rather than high-pressure competition.
An award-worthy family game encourages cooperation, invites players of all ages, and balances simplicity with enough depth to keep everyone engaged.
How To Vote in The Game Awards 2025?
Voting for all nominees at The Game Awards 2025 is done through the official website or the event’s mobile app, where users can log in and submit choices across all categories, including the
Fans simply select their preferred titles, confirm their ballot, and return at any time during the voting window to adjust their picks before the final deadline.
The process remains straightforward, with clear instructions and a secure system that counts each verified vote toward the final fan percentage in the overall results.
My Overall Verdict on the Best Family Game Nominees at The Game Awards 2025
This year’s lineup shows how wide and creative the family category has become, with each nominee offering something distinct for mixed-age groups.
While each title stands out in its own way, LEGO Voyagers feels the most complete for families who want gentle exploration, teamwork, and welcoming design without pressure.
Still, all six nominees succeed in offering warm, accessible experiences that families can enjoy together.
