Are you a parent who finds it hard to find time for gaming and spending time with your kids? Maybe you are fortunate enough that your kids enjoy gaming but you haven’t quite found the right game to play together. Well, there are a few studios that may be releasing a game to solve those problems. While at Pax East, we were able to see three games that fit the family friendly category while still be fun and engaging for players of all ages.
Spook-A-Boo
Spook-A-Boo is a family friendly game where you have to work together to find and capture the ghosts hiding throughout 28 levels. It may sound easy at first, but as the game play continues, challenges begin to up the difficulty. Can you ensure that no ghosts escape? How about being sure that you don’t get sucked in by a pile of money? There’s also being sure you don’t get ghostly pies thrown to the face.
Each level has a timer and the ability for teams to earn up to three stars on each level. Needless to say, while we were hands on with the game, after the first few levels those stars became harder to get. Yet, it was still a fun little romp even when we failed and became flattened by environmental hazards. There’s always next time!
Backyard Baseball
If you’re a millennial or around that age, you may remember the Backyard Sports series. In 2026, the series is back and just in time for many to share it with the next generation of gamers. This is especially true for Founder and CEO of Playground Productions, Lindsay Barnett who is bringing a childhood favorite into the new era. She shares it is the “joy of my life to bring back my favorite childhood game” in our bite sized interview with her at Pax East 2026. See her light up when talking about Backyard Baseball and who she is repping during the MLB’s opening day!
AWAYSIS
Perhaps sports isn’t quite your thing but a cute game with animals and big swords is. Well, 17-BIT has a game you may want to check out. AWAYSIS is an action RPG, light on the RPG, but heavy on the action for all ages. You can dodge, parry, and knock your friends around while taking out slimes and other enemies. The game will also come with fun other modes outside of just the action RPG where you can play soccer with your friends. 17-BIT came all the way from Kyoto to join the lineup at Pax East 2026 and show off gameplay and let players get hands on with the game.
During our time with the game we got to play with one of the designers for AWAYSIS Colin which was a fun experience. He makes the game look great and thankfully some of our gameplay look even better. He walked us through finding the invisible coins, how to parry, and helped pick me up from the brink of death quite a few times. While he continued to play with more attendees, we were able to get another bite sized Q&A session in with 17-BIT COO Raj.
Which of these family friendly games caught your attention for family game night? Let us know in the comments down below! Be sure to keep following us for more coverage from Pax East 2026 and all your gaming news.
