UPDATE: Kirby and the Forgotten Land won Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2022!
Since 2014,The Game Awardsceremonies have been putting a spotlight on video games as a medium and celebrating the best titles of a given year. While The Game Awards is a big event on the gaming calendar due to the major reveals that are associated with the show, the main purpose of the ceremony is to praise the outstanding achievements of a given year. Already, it looks likeElden RingandGod of War: Ragnarokare going to be battlingit out for many awards at The Game Awards 2022.
However, neither of these games cater to a family audience.God of War: Ragnarokdoes feature a father and son relationship, but some titles allow the whole family to get involved, regardless of the platform or genre they belong to. The Best Family category looks to celebrate those releases atThe Game Awardsthis year, and withKirby and the Forgotten Land, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga,Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Nintendo Switch Sports,andSplatoon 3all being nominated, the competition looks to be stiff.
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Kirby and the Forgotten Land
The first mainline platform game in the series with full 3D gameplay,Kirby and the Forgotten Landbuilds on the traditional experience longtime fans of the franchise would expect, adding in two new copy abilities in the form of Drill and Ranger. Alongside going from level to level and saving more Waddle Dees, players can also unlock new minigames by building up the size of Waddle Dee Town. The game proved to be incredibly popular, breaking theKirbyfranchise sales recordrecently.
Kirby and the ForgottenLandcan be completed as a solo adventure, or a friend can join in throughout the game, playing as a Waddle Dee. The game isn’t necessarily tied to its co-op functionality, but a lot of Nintendo platformers only benefit from the possibility of a friend joining in on the adventure. With fans seeing it as a good sign for thefuture of theKirbyfranchise, it makes sense why it is on the list for Best Family game.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
LEGO Star Warsis a name that will send a lot of gamers back to a nostalgic time when all they cared about was getting True Jedi on every level and finding as many Minikits as possible. Returning to the cartoonish, stylistic gameplay often associated with theLEGOgames, and allowing players to run through all nine majorStar Warsmovies was bound to be a formula for success, as proven by thesales figures forLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
As withKirby and the Forgotten Land, co-op isn’t required to beatLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, but it is enhanced by having a friend to play alongside with. Utilizing the manycharacters available inLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a pair of players can easily accomplish all they need to beat every level, and then through unlocking more heroes and villains fromStar Warsthey can go back and grab every collectible.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Crossing overSuper Mariowith the Raving Rabbids known for appearing in some laterRaymangames seemed somewhat of a strange idea at first, but whenMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battlereleased in 2017, fans were pleasantly surprised to see the game doing well, which meant that there were some high expectations for its sequel,Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. Marking a major improvement from its predecessor,Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopereceived strong review scoresupon its release.
The gameplay remains similar toKingdom Battle, but the scope has been expanded, with Mario now having to go out into the galaxy to rescue the Sparks scattered throughout it. There are alreadyDLC expansions forMario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopein the works, with one bringing Rayman into the game. Despite the success of the turn-based strategy and adventure game, it only features single-player modes at the time of writing, meaning the whole family can’t sit down and enjoyMario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopetogether.
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Nintendo Switch Sports
Nintendo fans often request that the company makes more games in iconic franchises or sequels to titles that proved to be outstanding successes. Earlier in 2022, Nintendo released its long-awaitedreturn to sports titles withNintendo Switch Sports. Including some classics fromWii SportsandWii Sports Resortsuch as Tennis, Bowling, and Chambara while also adding some new game modes such as Volleyball and Badminton,Nintendo Switch Sportshas a lot for players to dig into.
Just as it was with theWii Sportsgames,Nintendo Switch Sportsprovides fun for the whole family with simple motion controls making use of the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers. With new game modes, such asGolf, on the way toNintendo Switch Sportsin future updates, it seems Nintendo is hoping to make its latest foray into sports gaming last for a while.
Splatoon 3
Combining vibrant and cartoonish visuals with tight gameplay mechanics, the third entry in theSplatoonfranchise has proven to be incredibly popular in the months since it released. With plenty of classic features from the previous games and new weapons for gamers to use in multiplayer,Splatoon 3immediately became a big hit in Japan, becoming the best-selling game of 2022 in the country in a matter of weeks.
The hype hasn’t died down much followingSplatoon 3’srelease either, as consistent updates have brought extra balance to multiplayer as well as giving fans reasons to hop back online. Themost recent Splatfest inSplatoon 3, for example, which tied the game toPokemon ScarletandViolet, gave players a bunch of new content to enjoy and split them between the types of the games' starter Pokemon.
Final Prediction
While all of these games are looked on fondly by fans and critics, there is one title that fits the definition of a family game better than any other on the list of nominees, and it isNintendo Switch Sports. Creating an equal playing field by having each sport played through simple motion controls,Nintendo Switch Sportsallows the whole family to gather arounda console in a way that is fairly rare to see in modern gaming.
The title might not be as defining asWii SportsorWii Sports Resort, but it marks a strong return to Nintendo for sports games, and hopefully with more game modes being added in future updates,Nintendo Switch Sportscan only improve over time.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaalso has a similar sense of nostalgia to it, and could feasibly take the award as well, but in terms of getting the whole family into gaming,Nintendo Switch Sportsstands out.
