Best Family Games Like Jak and Daxter

The best family games like Jak and Daxter are Ratchet and Clank, Sly Cooper and Banjo-Kazooie. Below are 8, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to family costs you.

Why Family Is a Good Answer for Jak and Daxter

Filtering to family means the game has to work for a child and an adult at the same table without either of them being bored. That is a much harder design problem than a difficulty slider.

What you get: Something you can put in front of anyone. The best family games make the skill gap not matter rather than pretending it is not there.

What made Jak and Daxter worth playing in the first place is covered on the full list. This page is the family part of that answer, and only the family part.

8 Family Games Like Jak and Daxter

  1. 1. Ratchet and Clank

    The other Insomniac/Naughty Dog PS2 platformer, weapon-focused rather than movement-focused.

  2. 2. Sly Cooper

    The third pillar of the PS2 platformer trio — stealth and heist structure.

  3. 3. Banjo-Kazooie

    The collectathon done at its best, if that was the part you liked.

  4. 4. Psychonauts

    Platforming built around genuinely inventive level concepts and writing.

  5. 5. A Hat in Time

    A modern collectathon that understands what made these games move well.

  6. 6. Super Mario Odyssey

    The high-water mark for movement in a 3D platformer.

  7. 7. Ape Escape

    PS1's best 3D platformer, built around the dual-stick gadget system.

  8. 8. Astro Bot

    The most joyful modern platformer, and the closest thing to Jak 1's polish.

What This Filter Leaves Out

Edge. Family games rarely go anywhere uncomfortable, and a few of them are too generous to hold an experienced player for long alone.

Specifically, these are strong answers for Jak and Daxter that are not family games, so they are not on this page:

  • Sunset Overdrive — If you preferred Jak II — open world, traversal-led combat, same irreverence.

The full list is on games like Jak and Daxter — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best family game like Jak and Daxter?

Ratchet and Clank. The other Insomniac/Naughty Dog PS2 platformer, weapon-focused rather than movement-focused.

Are all of these on the PlayStation 2?

No. Jak and Daxter released on the PlayStation 2, but a recommendation is only useful if you can play it, so the picks above span platforms and eras. What they share is the genre and the reason.

How do I check a game is suitable?

Age ratings cover content but not difficulty or frustration, which is what actually ruins a family session. Five minutes of unedited play footage tells you more than any rating.

Competitive or co-operative?

With mixed ages, co-operative usually wins. The competitive ones that work are the ones where being in last place is still entertaining.

How are these chosen?

By hand. Each pick was written for the full Jak and Daxter list first, on what the game actually does, and this page is the part of that list that is family — never a genre tag lookup, which is how "best racing games like Super Mario 64" used to be a page on this site.

Other Angles on Jak and Daxter

More Family Games Recommendations

Or read the family guide for where to start in the genre generally.