Looking for games with strong female leads for my daughter (even just to watch as I play). Came across this link, but they're a bit age-inappropriate. Any suggestions from the community? - eviltoast

Edit: Daughter is only 5 so she’s unlikely to play much but she watches me and as long as it’s not too violent, it should be fine

  • Contramuffin@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Portal! Chell may be silent, but it’s directly stated that she got as far as she had due to sheer tenacity and resourcefulness

    Also, Silksong, if you’re willing to wait for its release in 2377 AD

    Edit: here’s some more (these are all fairly family-friendly):

    *Celeste

    *Crypt of the NecroDancer

    *Spelunky 2

    *A Hat in Time

    *Slime Rancher

    *Webbed

    • 2tone@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Great suggestions, but Spelunky 2??? I love my daughter, but I also don’t hate myself ;)

      • Annoyed_Crabby@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Hat in Time is perfect for this.

        Also to add: Aquaria, quite old but it’s kinda nice. EDF if you willing to play as Wing Diver only. Iconoclast if you’re into metroidvania. Metroid Prime remaster if you have a switch. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is pretty nice. Transistor but i don’t really dig it, maybe you’ll like it. Orc Must Die 2 if you only play as Sorcerer. La Mulana 2 if you wanna torture yourself and confuse your daughter 😂

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Slime rancher is a fantastic suggestion for a little girl. Great game, female MC, cute little animals and overall graphic style.

      I loved it as a relaxing post work game even as a 30yr old man

  • Fecundpossum@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Ooo ooo I’ve got one.

    Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It’s like a Pixar souls like adventure game. Lots of foresty magic, very beautiful, and challenging enough to give you a run for your money while she laughs at your many failures.

    It’s a good game.

  • Clarke @lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I scrolled until I gave up shame on all of you. Play Portal, solve puzzles, there is multiplayer songs and cake.

    • torvusbogpod@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      IDK man I’m a grown adult and I died 2,000 times before completing the game. I know I’m not the best player ever but giving it to a 5yo may lead to problems

      • JakenVeina@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It has a variety of assist-mode options. My 8-year-old plays it and enjoys it, and actually can play with no assist most kf the time now.

    • reddithalation@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      very very good game, it does get pretty challenging at some points though, idk if a 5 yr old would like it

      • Taako_Tuesday@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Yeah I’m in my 20s and I found even the first few levels too hard. Granted, I’m a total noob when it comes to platformers, but I think the game would be immediately frustrating for a 5 year old

    • SuiHoThen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      And to add, the game can be extremely difficult but it can be customized to play very easily, even for a 5 year old. The colors are bright, there’s some slightly scary parts but I’m sure you could play those with her!

      Very wholesome message and no killing involved, just some strawberry farming!

    • JakenVeina@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Seconding because my 8-year-old plays and loves it, due tobthe fact that it has assist-mode options. He now plays without assist mode at all, and is pretty freaking good at it.

  • Squids@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Idk if this counts as it’s not visually obvious, but Amaterasu from Ōkami is a fun female protangonist, on account of her being straight up Amaterasu Ōmikami, the sun goddess (and all around top dog) from Japanese mythology. Graceful and elegant and also she’s a big ol’ wolf who does doggy things, which I imagine would delight a 5 year old.

    The game’s artstyle is really stylised and pretty, the story is based on Japanese mythology and legends which I’d think would also interest a kid, it’s kinda zelda-like with puzzles and whatnot, and there’s a dedicated woof button. It came out way back in 2006 but at the same time it’s been remastered pretty recently (it’s in capcom’s summer steam sale if you’re going down that route) so you’ve got some choice about which route to go down trying to find it. Try and stick to European versions if you can because apparently the American localisations removed most of the mentions of the fact that Ammy is a girl which imo is a really weird choice because like, that’s a whole ass mythological figure?

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Honestly, Spiritfarer would be perfect. You can play local co-op, it’s quite easy. You will understand what’s going on but your daughter will just think it’s cute. One of you can play as a cat. It’s absolutely gorgeous and a very poignant story.

    My partner and I have played it all the way through 3 times now.

    https://youtu.be/4pKJ-NuSjNE

    • Rose Thorne(She/Her)@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I love Spiritfarer, would normally agree without a second thought, but in this case, I’d definitely say be quietly prepared to answer some questions about death.

      It does excellently to handle its themes in beautiful ways, but kids can be more aware than we give them credit for, even if they don’t fully grasp a concept.

    • 2tone@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I played this one with my older son a few years back and I think this would be a great option for her. As the cat, you can really just loaf about

    • 2tone@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      This one’s been on my list. Didn’t realise it’s a female protagonist

      • Havald@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Don’t think the gener is specified anywhere so it could be either. Anyways, amazing game.

        • Deestan@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Most people miss it, because it doesn’t come up and isn’t pointed out. She just is, that’s all. I think that’s pretty amazing.

          It’s kinda obvious once you look at the model, though:

          Also, the character designer said in an interview that they decided to make the pioneer female.

      • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You can only tell by seeing the player model but the devs have confirmed it. Not a whole lot of dialog or story so hard to tell.

        Game does get pretty complicated quick and I’m not sure a 5yr old could pull it off solo, might be fun for her to watch you though

  • Zerfallen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago
    • Sayonara Wild Hearts
    • Celeste
    • Sable
    • Night in the Woods (female, but also an anthropomorphosised cat. Maybe too boring-adulty conversational for a kid to enjoy watching)
    • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssee
    • Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
    • Gris
    • Transistor
    • Ori and the Blind Forest
    • Raltoid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You’d recommened AC: Origins for a five year old?

      I don’t think the special scenes when you kill important targets would sit well with me. In one you smash someones face in repeatedly. You also play at least half the game as a male character.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Plus it’s AC Odyssey where you can play as a woman. And yeah, I played her as a walking clap clinic. Not really a kids game.

        • Zerfallen@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m sure the OP could choose if and when to engage with that totally optional side of the game. And you’re right, i meant Odyssee.

      • hill@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Going by a few of these recommendations I don’t think many read the part where they said she’s 5!

      • Zerfallen@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Oops, i meant Odyssee. But anyway probably you’re right about all the murdering. I basically forgot about the assassination part of that game and just remembered the dialogue, characters and exploration of the game world.

    • PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Haven’t played that particular Shantae game, but I found the series off putting to play in front of my kids due to the high amount of fan service. Seems like not what op might not be going for here.

      • Zerfallen@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I only played that one Shantae game. I get what you mean, but i don’t recall anything i would consider too inappropriate for kids. More just tongue in cheek. But i expect the OP will look into each of the games listed and make their own call based on the trailers etc.

    • ArcticFox@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Technically I think the Celeste character is supposed to be trans, not female.

      • Rose Thorne(She/Her)@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        That’s a part of why Celeste, and Madeline as a character, now has a strong place to some trans gamers. She climbed the fucking mountain. She looked at her self doubt, her fear, the person in the mirror telling her she could never do it, never be that person, and did it. She overcame it.

        Madeline is a woman, and writing her character off as “trans, not female” is writing off the impact that story has had for people climbing their own mountains.

    • fsxylo@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Man that game was such a breath of fresh air when it came out. I wish I could play it for the first time again.

  • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I have to recommend CrossCode, since it is so damn underrated.

    It’s a beautifully crafted 2D / sprite based 16bit / SNES era inspired RPG with a fast paced action combat system and puzzle filled dungeons, as well as big boss fights. Although the trailers do not do it justice imo. It contains one of my favorite protagonists, which is sort of mute, which is also part of the story and cause of some hilarious but also sad moments. Pretty wholesome friendship based storytelling for the most part, although it does contain one suicide towards the end, which gets a little darker too. It’s not graphic though and will topically probably fly over her head anyway. The spoiler free premise is that you play in sort of a MMORPG, which is located physically on another planet where they build something akin to a Westworld theme park out of something similar to nanobots, in which you control your avatar remotely made out of the same material. It has tons of accessibility options to adjust the difficulty too, in case something isn’t quite your cup of tea.

    • svellere@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Seconding this. It’s a masterpiece. If she’s 5, I don’t think she’d really pay too much attention to the dialogue anyway.

    • uniqueid198x@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Honestly, yes. This game is so good that it inspired my girlfriend to take up game development, which shes been doing for two years now

      • DarkThoughts@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Good point actually. I completely forgot that it had one, even though that’s what made me buy the early access back then too. Makes it easy for OP to check the game out. At least in regards to some very basic gameplay.

  • IanTwenty@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    A Short Hike. Lead character is called Claire. No combat, no death, no resets. Just exploring, puzzles and story.

    • iamnotdave@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      But deals with family medical issues and a mother daughter coming to terms with one of them being extremely sick.

  • Zerfallen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I also want to throw in Ori and the Blind Forest. I don’t know the gender of Ori for sure, but it’s a little animal.

    It’s a beautiful game, with great gameplay, animation, music, story, and I think it would be fun to watch someone else play.

  • Dukeofdummies@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    wandersong is a super simple game that she might be able to play. You play a pacifist bard who just is naive, friendly to a fault. The bard is a male, but the villain, supporting cast, it’s quite diverse with some strong females cast in. It’s got a pretty good story and a lot of sesame street level lessons on life in there too. Even starts a conversation on what strength truly is. Totally something you should look at.

    Slime rancher is another super chill, might actually be able to play herself, game where you do play as a female protaganist, but much lighter on plot than wandersong. You basically farm cute adorable slimes and it’s genuinely pretty addictive and super relaxing after a shitty day.

    Mirror’s Edge you play as a female protagonist. Plot might be a bit steep for her.

    If you haven’t played through portal 1 or 2 yet, I bet it could be fun. Glados is silly, Chell (who you play but doesn’t talk) is female and she can help you with the puzzles a bit.

    • sic_1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Came here to say this. HZD got me sceptical at first but the more the story unraveled the more everything made sense. Great main character, great story, great ethics.

      • Tiefa@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        HZD And Forbidden West really push forward the idea that you are playing as a strong woman and the graphics are so good Aloy seems like a real person. Probably not play as but a young girl watching those games being played would be a great role model.