Video games for under-7s: a gentle, well-set-up first level

What a first game needs to offer a four-to-six-year-old

At this age, a good game is one your child can enjoy without being able to read, without needing fast reflexes, and without being punished hard for mistakes. Bright colours and a famous character are not enough on their own. Watch your child for ten minutes: if they spend more time stuck than playing, the game is probably a year or two early, whatever the box says.

The PEGI label tells you about content, not difficulty. On pegi.info, PEGI 3 means the game should not contain sounds or pictures likely to frighten young children, any violence is very mild and in a comical or childlike setting, and there is no bad language. PEGI 7 allows scenes or sounds that may frighten younger children, plus mild, non-realistic violence.

Every game in the PEGI database has a short consumer advice note explaining why it got its rating. Two minutes reading it before you buy is the single most useful habit you can build. More on how the system works in our guide to age ratings explained.

Why the sofa beats the bedroom for early gaming

Young children get the most out of games when someone is playing with them. A grown-up or older sibling can read out instructions, take over a tricky jump and, just as importantly, notice when a child is getting tired or cross. Games built for two players side by side make this easy.

Keeping the console in a shared room also keeps gaming part of family life rather than something that happens behind a closed door. It makes the end of a session easier to manage, because you are already there.

Handheld play, for example on a Nintendo Switch, is still worth keeping in sight at this age. Portable consoles are easy to carry off to a bedroom, so agree where they get played from the start.

Good starting games for under 7s

Each rating below was checked against the PEGI database or the UK app stores. A good starting point is not the whole story: the Parent Check on each full guide shows what to switch on or off.

Mario Kart World

PEGI 3Nintendo Switch 2 (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, also PEGI 3, on the original Switch)

A racing game where items such as shells and banana peels slow other racers down. PEGI notes there is no visible harm. Races are short, so it suits the "three races then bath" style of session.

Keep an eye on: Online races need Nintendo Switch Online, and GameChat for under-16s only works once a parent has set it up in the parental controls app. Read our full guide

Switches to flip before your child first presses Start

Every major console has free parental controls. They take about twenty minutes to set up and are far easier to put in place before a child is used to playing without them.

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

• Use the free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app. Set a Play Time Limit and choose the Young Child preset under Restricted Features.
• Spending is set separately: sign in to your Nintendo Account, open Family Group, choose your child and tick Spending Restrictions.
• Controls apply to the whole console, not to each user, so set them for the youngest player.

Xbox

• Add your child with their real date of birth, then use the Xbox Family Settings app to set Content restrictions and switch Multiplayer off for now.
• Ask to buy is on by default for child accounts. Leave it on.

PlayStation

• In Family Management, pick the Child preset, then set Playtime Settings.
• The Monthly Spending Limit starts at 0. Change the console restriction passcode from the default 0000 so the settings stay as you left them.

Step-by-step walkthroughs live on our pages for Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation.

Online play, chat and paid extras: leave them off for now

An under-7 doesn't need online play to enjoy a game. Racing a parent or building a world together is more than enough. Online features are usually something you can leave switched off at console level until there is a real reason to turn them on.

On Nintendo Switch 2, voice and video GameChat is only available to under-16s once a parent has set it up in the parental controls app, and only with friends the parent approves. That is a sensible default to keep.

Look out for the In-game purchases descriptor on a PEGI label. It means real money can buy something inside the game, from extra outfits to new levels. Since June 2026, PEGI also adds a text descriptor when a game sells Paid random items, where you don't know what you are getting before you pay. Games with these submitted since then are rated PEGI 16 or above, so you should not meet them at PEGI 3. Our page on in-game spending explains the rest.

Ending a session without tears (most of the time)

Most arguments about games happen at the moment a game stops, not during play. A predictable routine helps far more than a strict number of minutes.

1. Agree the session before it starts: "three races" or "until the end of this level" is easier for a young child to follow than a time.
2. Give a heads-up a few minutes before the end, and again at the last race or level.
3. Let them finish the thing they're in the middle of. Stopping mid-level feels unfair to a child and often leads to protest.
4. Have the next activity ready, such as a snack, bath or story, so the console isn't competing with nothing.

The Nintendo app can back you up. When the Play Time Limit is reached it can show a notification, or you can choose Suspend Software so the console goes to sleep straight away. Many families start with the gentler option. For more ideas, see screen time and routines.

Little conversations that set up good habits

Children this young don't need a lecture about online safety, but a few simple family rules, said often, will stay with them as they grow into more connected games.

• "If anything on the screen scares or worries you, come and get me." Then make sure you react calmly when they do.
• "Buttons that ask for money are grown-up buttons." This works even when spending is already locked.
• "We don't type our real name or school into games."
• "Losing a race is part of the fun." Racing and party games are a low-stakes way to practise losing gracefully, and that includes you.