Survival Kids
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Survival Kids Media
Survival Kids - Reveal Trailer
Survival Kids – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch 2
Survival Kids – Announcement trailer (Nintendo Switch 2)
Critic Reviews for Survival Kids
Nintendo Switch 2 launch exclusive co-op game Survival Kids is one of the most tedious and repetitive games on the market today.
The experience is usually pretty smooth as a result, but that also means challenge is kept to a minimum. It's an experience with very few highs, but also almost no lows, and as such is perfect for playing with a young relative – or, if you prefer, to play as a relaxing low-stakes adventure by yourself.
Survival Kids is a thoroughly competent, cosy game of cooperative gathering and crafting. It's not much of a looker, and its ideas aren't mind-blowing, but it's all good stuff thanks to its robust controls and easy-to-grasp loop. I'm not sure I'd want to be stuck with it on a desert island, but it's good company for several happy hours with a friend – especially a less experienced gamer. If you plan to get shipwrecked with a little one and giggle your way through it, go ahead and add a point to the score.
While 'Survival' part of the title is clearly wrong, the 'Kids' bit is on the money. Survival Kids is a good option if you're looking for a chill game with a less-experienced partner or your kid when they get home from school. It's a colourful, amusing but altogether simple game that gets pretty samey if you're looking for even a semblance of challenge.
Survival Kids doesn't take any big risks in its kid-friendly approach to survival games. Yes, it is technically kid-friendly in mood and scope, but that's also underselling the maturity and capability of children playing games. Its level-based approach doesn't evoke a sense of wonder and exciting exploration that its counterparts are known and beloved for. Its tasks are monotonous and very quickly become repetitive, almost as if they're not trusting you to understand the same thing they're teaching and showing you every few minutes. With only nine levels, but with rough pacing in those missions, it's an experience that somehow passes you by in a flash, but also feels like a slog. There's fun to be had if you're with friends in the silly and chaotic gameplay moments, also working together as a refined, well-oiled survival production machine. Still, at the end of the day, Survival Kids isn't all that much of a successful return, remaining hardly a splash in the ocean.
The challenges are more basic than those found in Paw Patrol games, the replay value is virtually nonexistent, and the core concept feels more rough than many indie titles made with minimal resources and no major publisher backing. This isn’t the Survival Kids revival fans deserved, and it’s unlikely to attract new players to a franchise that deserved so much better.
Your enjoyment of Survival Kids is going to be heavily dependent on your appreciation of difficulty in games. If you want something breezy or you're playing alongside someone who lacks the patience for a typical survival game, then what you'll find is fine for those wanting to get some satisfaction without putting in a ton of effort. However, if you're expecting a game that builds upon the lineage of the series, prepare to be disappointed because those elements have been drastically toned down, leaving you with a very casual experience that lacks any challenge. Unless you've got young kids playing alongside you, this is a title you may want to pass on unless it is marked down.
Survival Kids has the potential to be a gateway for both of my kids, who are still early in their gaming journeys, to more advanced and challenging puzzle, action, and co-op video games. In-game achievements, various fruits, veggies, and fish, and more than two dozen hidden glyphs provide reason to revisit stages over and above earning more stars (which you'll need to unlock some of the end-game content). While veteran players will almost certainly derive more multiplayer enjoyment from Switch 2 launch titles like Split Fiction or Fast Fusion, Survival Kids provides fun for the whole family, and it plays that role to a T.
