Many parents are concerned that children are spending a lot of time playing video games. They believe that games are “stupefying” for children and, even worse, instill in them cruelty and violence.
But video games are different. There are many games that can teach a child useful skills, help develop intellectual abilities, instill the right ethical ideals and a sense of beauty.
Just download any games from this list to your child’s phone and be sure that he is not only having fun, but also with benefit. Mobile games are especially good because they are more accessible and can be taken with you wherever you go.
1. Lumosity
Lumosity is a unique brain training app. According to the developers, they work with about 40 top scientists which help them put into practice the most relevant information regarding the development of intelligence. At the moment, you will find in the game about 25 exciting and challenging game tasks, each of which is focused on improving the functioning of your brain. The gameplay adapts to the individual gaming success of each user, which helps to adhere to the optimal level of difficulty. This collection of puzzle games is perfect for both kids and adults.
- Rating: 4,4
- Developer: Lumos Labs, Inc.
- Downloads: 10 000 000+
2. Monument Valley
In Monument Valley, you control Princess Ida, who must find a way out of a fairy maze and regain her crown. In the labyrinth, you will find whimsical architecture, optical illusions and impossible geometric shapes. At the same time, you need to solve various puzzles and try to outwit the evil ravens who want to prevent you.
- Rating: 4.8
- Developer: ustwo games
- Downloads: 1 000 000+
3. Monument Valley 2
In Monument Valley 2 you have to play as a mother and daughter, who must meet in the middle of a bizarre maze. Thus, the mother decided to teach her daughter independence, skills in solving non-standard problems and show the magic of geometry. Both of these games are very beautiful and quite challenging, they will teach your child to think logically, and at the same time contribute to the development of aesthetic taste.
- Rating: 4.8
- Developer: ustwo games
- Downloads: 1 000 000+
4. CHUCHEL
CHUCHEL is a point-and-click style quest in which you will help a funny creature named Scarecrow to go through a lot of obstacles and solve a series of interesting tasks in order to get a cherry stolen from him by a giant. He is accompanied by the pink hedgehog Kekel, who is both his friend and rival (he can both help and hinder your character). Over 30 different levels, watch a lot of original humorous scenes and get to the cherry first, no matter what. For the successful completion of tasks, it is important to carefully explore the locations and collect useful items.
- Rating: 4,3
- Developer: Amanita Design
- Downloads: 100 000+
5. Machinarium
Czech indie point-and-click game developed by the same studio as CHUCHEL. Only if in the above-named game the plot was funny and uncomplicated, then in Machinarium the plot is more touching and dramatic. In short, your main robot hero must overcome the evil gang that has captured the city, rescue the mayor and rescue the kidnapped girlfriend. The game has very charming grayscale graphics and atmospheric soundtracks.
- Rating: 4.6
- Developer: Amanita Design
- Downloads: 500 000+
6. Star Walk Kids
The Star Walk Kids app is able to tell children about such a complex science as astronomy in a fun and accessible way. Your child will finally receive both clear and detailed answers to questions of interest, such as “why is the sun hot?” and “is there life on Mars?” Here you will find educational videos about space, voiced by professional actors, and various game levels that will help you master the knowledge of stars, planets, satellites, constellations, and everything related to space step by step. There is also a colorful space atlas specially designed for children.
- Rating: 4.3
- Developer: Vito Technology
- Downloads: 1 000 000+
7. Roblox
Roblox is not a standalone game, but rather a whole game system that allows a child to create his own unique world. Roblox already has tens of millions of player-created worlds, many of which are mini-games of different genres. Many of the most popular mini-games in Roblox are based on existing video games with the mechanics of shooters, racing, simulations, etc. Also here you can find mini-worlds dedicated to working in a pizzeria, fashion shows, jailbreak, bird flight, etc. Thus, each child here can be both a player exploring many ready-made worlds and a game creator.
- Rating: 4.4
- Developer: Roblox Corporation
- Downloads: 100 000 000+
8. Minecraft
Probably, your child already knows about Minecraft, and may already be playing it. After all, this is the best-selling video game (other than Tetris) in the last 10 years. Minecraft is famous for its infinite cube world, which is procedurally generated (meaning each of your worlds is unique). All trees, stones, earth, and other objects can be broken into blocks, from which you can then create anything: from a pretty house to a luxurious castle, a football stadium, a moon park, a working computer, and anything that your fantasy will allow. Such features contribute to the development of creativity and spatial thinking in the child, so that Minecraft is even used by some school teachers as part of the educational process.
- Rating: 4.6
- Developer: Mojang
- Downloads: 10 000 000+
9. Realmcraft
Realmcraft is almost indistinguishable from Minecraft in features and graphics, but unlike Minecraft, it is completely free to download. Here you will see the same endless cube world with dozens of different possibilities that will not let you get bored: you can extract resources, build anything from blocks, create useful items from scratch, tame cute cube animals, grow plants, and much more. It is also important that this free Minecraft game allows you to invite friends to the game to build houses and castles together. There is a game chat where kids can exchange game secrets and just chat. In addition, you can compete with other players in real time in mini-games such as egg wars, bed wars and snow fights.
- Rating: 4.6
- Developer: Mojang
- Downloads: 10 000 000+
10. Math Academy and Word Academy
Both of these games are great for preparing children for school and helping elementary school students to learn. In Word Academy, the player must guess the letters in words, at first the game is very easy, but gradually there are more words, and the words themselves become longer. There are a limited number of hints in the game. In Math Academy, you will find many thematic plates in which you need to remove the chips in the correct order.
- Rating: 4.6
- Developer: Mojang
- Downloads: 10 000 000+
11. Human Resource Machine
Human Resource Machine is a really challenging puzzle that will teach your child the basics of programming. This is an office simulator in which you have to program your robot worker to correctly perform the tasks assigned by the boss. There are two conveyors in your office building: the “input” pipeline and the “output” pipeline. Your task will be to transfer items from the first to the second conveyor, while the conditions for completing this task will be very different. Several dozen intense levels await you, during which you need to use the commands provided by the game so that the conditions are met. Then you run the program and your character begins to do the job: if you did everything right, go to the next task, and if not, then look for an error.
- Rating: 4.6
- Developer: Tomorrow Corporation
- Downloads: 50 000+