Best Family Games Like LittleBigPlanet

The best family games like LittleBigPlanet are Tearaway, Yoshi's Woolly World and Super Mario Maker 2. Below are 7, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to family costs you.

Why Family Is a Good Answer for LittleBigPlanet

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 LittleBigPlanet 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.

7 Family Games Like LittleBigPlanet

  1. 1. Tearaway

    Media Molecule again, and the papercraft world is the closest thing to LBP's handmade look.

  2. 2. Yoshi's Woolly World

    The other great yarn-and-fabric platformer, and much kinder to newcomers.

  3. 3. Super Mario Maker 2

    If the level editor was the point, this is the sharpest version of that idea.

  4. 4. Kirby's Epic Yarn

    Same tactile crafted aesthetic, built for playing with someone who does not play games.

  5. 5. Rayman Legends

    The best-feeling 2D co-op platformer of that generation, with the same four-player chaos.

  6. 6. Unravel Two

    Yarn, physics and a two-player rope you both hang off.

  7. 7. Astro Bot

    The current PlayStation mascot platformer, if you want LBP's charm with tight controls.

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 LittleBigPlanet that are not family games, so they are not on this page:

  • Dreams — By the same studio, and the creation tools went from level editor to a whole game engine.
  • Human Fall Flat — For the floaty physics comedy, which is half of why LBP is funny.

The full list is on games like LittleBigPlanet — 9 picks, no genre filter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best family game like LittleBigPlanet?

Tearaway. Media Molecule again, and the papercraft world is the closest thing to LBP's handmade look.

Are all of these on the PlayStation 3?

No. LittleBigPlanet released on the PlayStation 3, 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 LittleBigPlanet 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 LittleBigPlanet

More Family Games Recommendations

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