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Get Children Painting

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Video games often create spaces like beautiful paintings. Designers and artists spend years crafting worlds that invite us to interact with realistic or stylised brushstrokes. The games in this list let the play take part in that painting process.

Some of the games here, like Okami or Concrete Genie, use painting as a way to solve puzzles to progress through the game. Other games in the list, like Splatoon, De Blob or Chicory, use painting as a way to interact with the game world itself. Then there are games like The Unfinished Swan, that use painting as a way of revealing what is in front of you, giving the impression of limited faculties. Finally, there are games like Ete or Dordogne, that use painting in the game to express emotion.

Unlike the world of real painting, in video games, anyone can create a masterpiece. The game Sloppy Forgeries, uses this idea as its main mechanic. You are presented with a classic painting and given a limited time to race other players to recreate it. In amongst the frantic silliness is something lovely. The usual barriers to creativity fall, as we all get stuck in and have a go. Another notable game is If Found where you are erasing your drawings and paintings in a powerful way that aligns with a narrative of rediscovered identity.

This list includes 42 games from the last 17 years, with 783 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to paint your game world.

List Details

PEGI Ratings: PEGI 3 to PEGI 12
ESRB Ratings: ESRB EVERYONE to ESRB TEEN
Australian Ratings: G to M
Genres: Action, Adventure, Battle, Brain Game, Collecting, Communication, Creative, Fighting, Narrative, Physically Active, Platform, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Race, Rhythm, Role-Play, Sequencing, Shooting, Simulation, Strategy and Traversal
Total Likes: 783

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Flower

Release Date: 12/02/2009

Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4 and iOS

Skill Rating: 5+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, Open World and Weather

Flower is a traversal collecting game where you control the breeze blowing across fields of grass and blow petals into other flowers to make them bloom. Flower is simple and single-purpose in evoking the feeling of the wind. What starts as an awkward...

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Release Date: 10/06/2021, updated in 2021

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Hand-Made

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is an adventure where you play an everyday dog thrust into the role of wielding a magic brush. The world starts black and white but you colour it in with your paintbrush to solve puzzles and help your animal friends. It looks...

Dordogne

Release Date: 13/06/2023

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Hand-Made

Dordogne is a narrative adventure where you play as Mimi, a 32-year-old woman who returns to the house of her recently deceased grandmother. You explore the house and area to find letters and puzzles that bring back memories of the past.

Tearaway Unfolded

Release Date: 22/11/2013, updated in 2015

Out Now: PS Vita and PS4

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Hand-Made

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That's You!

Release Date: 04/07/2017

Out Now: PS4

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

That's You! is a family quiz game played on the PlayStation using Android or iOS phones/tablets as controllers. The game displays a challenge on the main TV screen that each player tries to complete on the device in their hand.

The Unfinished Swan

Release Date: 16/10/2012

Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4 and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

The Unfinished Swan invites you to explore a world by splashing paint on it. The tactile experience leads you into a fairy tale about an unfinished painting that leads a child back to his parent. It stands out for the unusual revealing of a world you...

Ete

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC

Components: 3D First-Person and Hand-Made

Ete (été, which means summer) is a gentle adventure where you discover memories by exploring with your camera, music and paint. The screen starts almost entirely blank, and as you move around and interact you create vivid colourful memories.

Splatoon 3

Release Date: 21/07/2017, updated in 2022

Out Now: Switch

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person and Cartoon

Splatoon on the Wii U, Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 on the Switch are games where you shoot ink rather than bullets in this deeply skilled combat game. As well as taking out opponents, teams work together to cover the arena with their colour of ink. This...

Gris

Release Date: 06/10/2019

Out Now: Android, Apple TV, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox X|S and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Gris is a platform game where you guide a young girl through a crumbling world. Through beautiful metaphoric landscapes and soaring music, the game touches on emotions of loss and longing but doesn’t resolve to a firm narrative. Although not hugely...

Empty

Release Date: 25/09/2020

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, Web and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

Empty is a minimalist puzzle game that teaches the value of simplicity in life. You rotate and interact with different vignettes to line up items with the same background colour. As you do this they disappear and the scene slowly empties.

My Friend Peppa Pig

Release Date: 22/10/2021

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon and Day and Night

My Friend Peppa Pig is a narrative role-play game. It recreates the TV show Peppa Pig and features a few of the voice actors from the programme. Unlike the show, you are in the cartoon, controlling a character you create. You play with Peppa and her...

Scribble It

Release Date: 20/10/2020

Out Now: Mac and PC

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Scribble It is a digital take on the classic board game Pictionary. You take turns drawing a word as the other players try to be the first one to guess it. The benefit is that you don't have to be in the same place to play. Also, there's the added...

Okami

Release Date: 20/04/2006, updated in 2017

Out Now: DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person, Day and Night, Hand-Made and Open World

Okami (Okamiden on Nintendo DS) is an unusual action-adventure. Combat is via interactions that are achieved with brush strokes rather than weapons. It has a unique visual style that invites you to inhabit its painted world with brushstrokes of your...

If Found

Release Date: 19/05/2020

Out Now: Android, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

If Found is an interactive narrative game about searching for connection. You touch the screen to rub out and erase text and drawings. Set on December 31^st 1993 in the crumbling ruins of a mansion on Achill Island, you play Kasio as she destroys her diary.

Eastshade

Release Date: 14/08/2019

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person, Day and Night and Open World

Eastshade is a slow exploration game in a world you explore by walking around. Here, though, you play as a painter of landscapes rather than typical hero. Your mission is to paint your deceased mother’s favourite sights, but it's the world and its...

Concrete Genie

Release Date: 20/08/2019

Out Now: PS4

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person

Concrete Genie is a running and jumping game about a young boy, who is isolated and bullied, in this exploration platform game with a twist. Using motion controls and buttons you can draw beautiful graffiti on the buildings, which come to life. These...

Behind the Frame

Release Date: 25/08/2021, updated in 2022

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Behind the Frame is a narrative adventure where you click and interact with different scenes to help a young woman become an artist. You explore the different locations to uncover and work on the different paintings. It's a combination of escape room...

Dreams

Dreams (Dreams)

Release Date: 14/10/2019

Out Now: PS4

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 3D First-Person

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Colour With Crayons

Colour With Crayons (Dreams)

Release Date: 27/07/2019, updated in 2020

Out Now: PS4 and PS5

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Hand-Made

Colour with Crayons is a running and jumping game. You are a crayon in a world made from art supplies. Find the required number of transparent boxes and colour them in to progress. It's an unusual premise extended by the optional hunt for cones to...

Please, Touch The Artwork

Release Date: 26/01/2022

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Grid

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Release Date: 12/08/2018

Out Now: Amazon Fire, Android and iOS

Skill Rating: 2+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Cartoon

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Draw a Stickman: Epic 3

Draw a Stickman: Epic 3 (Series)

Release Date: 03/12/2013, updated in 2022

Out Now: Android, PC, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox One and iOS

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On, Hand-Made and Open World

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Ink

PEGI 3 Video Game Age Rating for Ink in UK and Europe

Ink

Release Date: 05/08/2015

Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Ink is a running (sliding) and jumping game where you see the platforms you are jumping on by splashing them with ink. You control a little white square that, along with splashing colour everywhere, can jump on enemies and climb walls.

Inks

Release Date: 04/05/2016, updated in 2021

Out Now: Mac, iOS and iPhone, iPad

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Inks is a messy pinball game that combines puzzle with platforming. It's like a traditional game of pinball, however you are aiming to splash the ball through each coloured area rather than rack up high scores.

The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature

Release Date: 30/10/2019

Out Now: Android, Mac, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and iOS

Components: 2D Overhead

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Tint

Release Date: 13/09/2019

Out Now: Apple TV, Mac and iOS

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Tint is a puzzle game you solve by painting. You mix watercolours to match the colour of the origami. The aesthetic and the low-pressure puzzles make for a soothing experience. There are no timers, no countdowns, no points and certainly no rush,...

Sloppy Forgeries

Release Date: 26/04/2018

Out Now: PC

Components: 2D Side-On

Sloppy Forgeries is a painting game where you race an opponent at copying a famous art piece as quickly and accurately as possible. You win by having the largest percentage of paint in the correct areas. The game randomly selects a painting to copy and...

Colors!

Release Date: 05/04/2012, updated in 2020

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, Android, PS Vita, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 6+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Colors! is a painting game for handheld gaming devices. It introduces concepts of creating digital art in an easy and accessible way. You take on challenges to draw pictures and can share them with others online. You can also play back your drawings to...

Weaving Tides

Release Date: 27/05/2021

Out Now: Mac, PC and Switch

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

Weaving Tides is a puzzle game set in a magical woven world. You ride a carpet dragon that both transports you and weaves fabric into the world to help you advance.

Art Academy

Release Date: 25/12/2009, updated in 2016

Out Now: 3DS and 2DS, DS and Wii U

Components: 2D Side-On

Art Academy is a creative painting game for Nintendo systems, that leads children through step-by-step art lessons. An in-game tutor teaches you to develop basic art skills and techniques. Along with the lessons, there's a free paint mode with all the...

Moonbreaker

Release Date: 29/09/2022

Out Now: Mac and PC

Skill Rating: 12+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

Moonbreaker is a strategy game that plays like a physical tabletop game. Using hand-painted figures you fight opponents in tactical turn-based battles in a new universe created by bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. It has the detailed painting,...

De Blob 2

De Blob 2 (Series)

Release Date: 26/09/2008, updated in 2011

Out Now: DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One and iOS

Components: 3D Third-Person and Cartoon

De Blob 2 is a platform-puzzle game where you explore cartoon-style urban landscapes to recolour the city. You play a sponge-like creature that can collect coloured paint and take it to different locations to turn the buildings and landscape features to...

Boo!

PEGI 3 Video Game Age Rating for Boo in UK and Europe

Boo!

Release Date: 23/10/2017

Out Now: Android, Web and iOS

Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Cartoon

Boo! is a Halloween-themed puzzle game where you decorate pumpkins using cauldrons of coloured paint. The twist is that to create each design, you need to cover up different parts of the pumpkin using an assortment of items. The challenge is to apply...

Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved

Release Date: 15/10/2014

Out Now: Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Components: 2D Side-On

Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved is an Xbox Kinect camera dancing game using your whole body. Its narrative follows Disney’s Fantasia film as you take a musical journey to earn your sorcerer’s hat. Sweeping your arms to trigger the orchestra, pointing...

Illustrated

Release Date: 11/01/2023

Out Now: Apple TV, Mac and iOS

Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On and Hand-Made

Illustrated is a puzzle game where you discover the stories behind each picture by solving jigsaw and word puzzles. You play by placing puzzle pieces but each picture is paired with another puzzle about the artist's story behind their work.

Nour: Play With Your Food

Release Date: 12/09/2023

Out Now: Mac, PC and PS5

Skill Rating: 4+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person

Nour: Play With Your Food is an experimental music game where you create different dishes and plates of food. Unusually, the focus is on sound rather than just visuals. As you add ingredients and food elements they each add sounds.

Ten People Ten Colors

Release Date: 09/09/2019

Out Now: Android and iOS

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Components: 2D Side-On

Ten People Ten Colors is a puzzle game where you help walking figures get to the exit. It's unusual because you can only control the level's background colour. Using the colour wheel you can match the background to foreground elements, which makes them...

Child of Eden

Release Date: 17/06/2011, updated in 2011

Out Now: PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Components: 3D First-Person

Child of Eden is a dance and motion game that uses the Xbox Kinect camera. You use your body to shoot and move. Rather than fruit, however, here it’s beautiful firework-style visuals and music that are the challenge.

Inked

Release Date: 26/04/2018, updated in 2023

Out Now: Android, PC, PS4, Switch and iOS

Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds

Components: 2D Overhead and Hand-Made

Inked is a puzzle game where you play a sketched hero venturing into the world of ink and paper, from the perspective of the artist who drew you. With simple controls, you traverse platforms and ramps and solve a range of hand-drawn puzzles with...

Ruffy and the Riverside

Release Date: Coming soon

Coming Soon: PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Components: 3D Third-Person and Open World

Ruffy and the Riverside is an action-adventure game set in the hand-drawn world of Riverside. You run, jump and explore the world with one big twist: you can swap any material to help you get where you need to go. This copy-and-paste novelty is a big...

Curated lists:
Game genre:
Style of Play:
Components:

How long to play:
User-generated content:	No
Accessibility features:	Yes

Controls
Gamepad:
Mouse And Keyboard:
Touchscreen:
Motion:	Motion Aiming Motion Pointing Motion Tilting Motion Gesture Motion Camera
Remap Controls:
Button Combinations:	Holding Down Buttons Optional Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional No Simultaneous Buttons
Controller Vibration:
Sensitivity:

Getting Started
Onboarding Before Play:
Assistance Getting Starting:	Tutorials Practice Area View Control Mapping Assistance With Controls Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Adjust Speed No Jump Scares
Assistance For Progressing:	Guaranteed Progress With God Mode Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints Assisted Progress With Boosts Assisted Progress With Hints Assisted Recall for Characters Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue Save Progress Anytime

Reading
Reading Level:
Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text High Contrast Text
Subtitles:
Captions:
Voice Acted:

Navigation
Clarity:
Head-Up Display:
Menu Navigation:

Visual
Contrast:
Interactive Elements:
Visual Distractions:
Audio Cues for Visual Events:
Narration for Visual Elements:
	Motion Sickness Friendly
Colour Options:
Play Without Sight:
Violence:

Audio
	Balance Audio Levels
Audio Events:
	Play Without Hearing

Communication
Player-to-Player Online Communication:
Online Communication Assistance:

Difficulty
Difficulty Options:	Simple and Full Version No Memorisation Advantage No Hidden Information No Deceit Advantage No Colour Advantage No Mathematics Advantage No Weighing Decisions

Getting Started
Assistance Getting Started:	Clear Manual Electronic Version of Manual Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers Getting Started Video Digital Version Reference Aid
Assistance Progressing:	Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change) Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Low Impact Catch Up Rule

Reading
Reading Level:
Necessary Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required) Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required) High Contrast Text (Or no text required) QR Code For Text (Or no text required) Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required) Information Orientation Clear Icons

Physical
Pieces:	Components are Distinguishable by Touch Components are Replaceable No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice) No Tiny Pieces No Paper Money No Sprawl
Cards:	Large Card Size Standard Card Shape Limited Hand Management No Excessive Card Shuffling No Right-Handed Advantage
Placement:	No Unbound Placement Player Components Not Shared No Fiddly Placement Easily Verbalised Actions

Visual
Printed Visibility:	Colour Blind Friendly Design Double-Coding Colour High Contrast Colours
Component Identifiability:	Outline Key Elements No Busy Backgrounds Easily Verbalised Game State No Close Inspection Disadvantage Playable Without Sight

Audio
Communication:	Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals) No Pressured Reveals No Pressured Communication Playable Without Hearing

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