Survival Kids

Survival Kids is better than I ever expected it would be, and it’s brought me an enormous amount of laughs as my friends and I stumbled through surviving on and escaping a tropical island. It’s held back somewhat by its limiting puzzle design, but when it all clicks and you’re laughing it up with friends and family, it’s hard to pay much attention to the few flaws it has.

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.

The world needs more simple, fun games. In Survival Kids, young players can learn problem solving, whether solo or with friends, and learn to puzzle their way through a variety of ever-more-complex terrains. While older players will find the lack of challenge grating, there’s ample fun in letting go, and indulging in light-hearted exploration.

So, would I recommend Survival Kids on the Switch 2? Yes, but only if you plan on playing the entire game with friends. The solo experience here just isn't enjoyable, and it highlights the game's issues that are negated while having fun as a team. I hope groups of friends take a chance on this game and play it through, as it can be very fun. Younger players may enjoy it too as their first steps into the survival genre, but for those who don't play online, you would be better off playing the original on NSO.

Survival Kids is a charming co-op romp where players work together to escape island after island. Colourful, gentle and not at all punishing. It's an ideal adventure for a wide range of players, young and old. Survival Kids is a wholesome party tale that can whisk away friends/family for an afternoon of fun on these remote islands.

Survival Kids is a game intended for younger children, and in this respect it proves to be very suitable, offering clear, simple mechanics that evolve and increase over the course of the game. In this sense, the work done on the survival genre, broken down and reassembled into its basic parts, is interesting. It turns out to be equally true, however, that beyond novice players, for anyone else Survival Kids can be an intriguing pastime in small doses, only to tire in the long run.

Survival Kids is a fun if somewhat simple co-op game that you can only play on the Switch 2, and is well worth a go especially for younger gamers.

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 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.

A light-hearted experience, primarily aimed at younger players, that slips a bit too quickly into repetition.

Survival Kids is a simple co-op game made for younger players, but it’s not the big return many fans were expecting. It’s more fun when played with friends, which helps make the experience better. Still, older or longtime players probably won’t get much out of it beyond a few fun afternoons but (only) if played with others.

What Survival Kids really lacks are two things: one is depth, the only thing that could push you to replay the levels or find new ways to complete the missions (but you just have to do the same things over and over again to escape from the islands, and these things most of the time must always be done with the same sequence). The second is danger: real danger, which provides that minimum of tension that can really give meaning to the "survival" present in the title. Too much simplicity is not necessarily a good thing, especially if it is not compensated by a wealth of situations and alternative possibilities to reach the goal of escaping from the island.

Survival Kids is exactly what it sounds like: a game for kids. It's not reinventing the co-op gaming, but it sails along smoothly thanks to its co-op design and low-stress puzzles. It's definitely best with a buddy or two, especially one who won't lose it when you "accidentally" toss logs off a cliff. A few clunky design choices and some repetitive bits keep it from hitting a higher score, but as a family-friendly adventure, it totally nails its target. You probably won't remember the plot, but you might just crack up thinking about the fifth time your raft went belly-up.

Stranded Kids doesn’t have a lot of longevity built into this compact collection of islands for players who focus on completing the challenges instead of noodling about.

Survival Kids is an interesting take on a popular genre, one meant for a much younger audience. At the same time, kids have been growing up on Minecraft for over a decade, so Survival Kids may not be giving the gaming youth enough credit. There are some neat ideas here, but ultimately the experience is a little too shallow for exciting play, regardless of how old you are. And retro gaming enthusiasts who may have been excited for an actual, new Survival Kids are going to walk away immediately.

Survival Kids on the Nintendo Switch 2 is a charming yet highly simplified co-op adventure aimed squarely at young children, offering basic problem-solving and guided exploration that may leave older fans of the original series feeling underwhelmed.

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 is a beginner-friendly co-op survival game that lacks the personality needed to leave a lasting impression. Still, with ample platforming puzzles and seamless GameChat integration, it does provide a playful backdrop for catching up with friends.

Survival Kids is a fun but imperfect introduction to the survival genre, clearly aimed at a younger audience. Its simple story, accessible controls, and gentle pacing make it charming, especially with its colorful world and unique Whurtle concept. However, the basic gameplay, limited variety, and odd character design may not hold older players’ attention for long. Great for kids and families, but older gamers might want to pass—or save it for a laid-back afternoon.

Hardly groundbreaking, but Survival Kids makes for a breezy co-op island adventure game that's only recommended if you have friends and family to play with together in the same room. But with Marcus Brigstocke's narration and an in-house Unity team based in the UK, it's nice to see the Switch 2 launch line-up has some British sensibilities just like Switch 1 had with Snipperclips.

A smooth and simple survival-lite experience, Survival Kids does what it sets out to do well whether you're playing alone or with others. It's just a shame that what it sets out to do isn't always as ambitious as it could be.

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.

A dull and frustrating co-op puzzle game, that has little chance of entertaining a younger audience and is too simplistic and repetitive for adult gamers.

Survival Kids feels really generic on the Switch 2, and it features none of the personality of the Lost in Blue series. I think I might have enjoyed it more had it not been burdened by that pedigree. Had Konami and Unity released this as, say, “Treasure Kids: Search for Harmony Stones,” I think I’d maybe appreciated it more. I’d go in understanding it is a new IP made for kids who like the idea of survival games or puzzle adventures, but might not be ready for titles with greater challenges and in-game consequences. But here, we go in expecting a certain type of storytelling and adventure, then wind up with a repetitious, uncomplicated routine.

As a longtime fan of the series, I feel compelled to find redeeming qualities in this release, but as a critic, I can’t recommend it. 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.