Best Family Games Like Ratchet and Clank

The best family games like Ratchet and Clank are Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Astro Bot and Sly Cooper. Below are 5, each with the reason it is here — and, at the end, what filtering to family costs you.

Why Family Is a Good Answer for Ratchet and Clank

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 Ratchet and Clank 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.

5 Family Games Like Ratchet and Clank

  1. 1. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

    The best-looking and best-feeling entry, and the weapons are the star.

  2. 2. Astro Bot

    The current best 3D platformer, and full of one-off gadgets.

  3. 3. Sly Cooper

    The third of the PS2 trio, if you want stealth instead of guns.

  4. 4. Psychonauts 2

    Powers as a toolkit in a platformer, with better writing.

  5. 5. Kao the Kangaroo

    A straightforward modern mascot platformer if you want more of the shape.

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 Ratchet and Clank that are not family games, so they are not on this page:

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best family game like Ratchet and Clank?

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. The best-looking and best-feeling entry, and the weapons are the star.

Are all of these on the PlayStation 2?

No. Ratchet and Clank 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 Ratchet and Clank 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 Ratchet and Clank

More Family Games Recommendations

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