Who Needs Adults? Here Are 5 Games That Let You Save the Day as a Kid

Pokemon Series

The Pokemon franchise includes some of the quintessential RPGs in which you play as a kid. Pokemon games have a few constants, the child protagonists leave home at the age of ten, get a starter Pokemon, and embark on their journey.

Pokemon trainers leave home as kids, making the games and anime more relatable to their younger target audience. Defeating powerful trainers, gym leaders, and the elite four is all the more satisfying when your character is younger than them and has not long begun their adventure in comparison.

Mastery of Pokemon, not physical or magical strength, is what this world values and children can be just as powerful as adults in these games.

The regions of Kanto, Hoenn, Johto, Alola and such feel much more expansive from the perspective of a ten-year-old – and although protagonists have no dialogue to communicate such feelings, there is still a great sense of wonder when wandering the fairytale-like world.

Pokemon Sword and Shield will unsurprisingly also feature child protagonists, and the highly anticipated next Pokemon games got a new gameplay trailer recently.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

In the complicated timeline of the Legend of Zelda, Link often appears as a child. One of the greatest Legend of Zelda games, Ocarina of Time, starts off with little Link waking up to the incessant cries of Navi.

Some Legend of Zelda games such as Ocarina of Time are more focused on Link becoming more powerful, so the game has a transition from child to adult to showcase this growth visibly.

Although games like Breath of the Wild start Link out as an older teen, his character development isn’t a big part of the game.

For example, Breath of the Wild is more focused on the stories of the champions and Link regaining his memory, whereas Ocarina of Time is more about Link being a powerful hero – thus it is useful to explore the world as a presumed powerless kid first to experience this increase in power.

After finding the Master Sword, Link’s spirit is sealed for seven years, seeing him age in the process. Shiek even tells him he now looks like the Hero of Time after aging. When heading back out into Kakariko Village, and then fighting enemies, Link also looks more capable and ready to fight what follows.

The time spent playing as a kid in Ocarina of time is helpful for narrative reasons, child Link is younger and therefore expected to be less knowledgeable and more flawed – meaning there’s more room for Link’s character development over this span of time, a change he must face to continue his journey.

A Plague Tale: Innocence

A Plague Tale: Innocence‘s protagonist, Amicia, acts pretty grown-up for her age thanks to the spreading plague in France. While avoiding the disturbing hordes of rats, Amicia takes on a motherly role for her younger brother Hugo, despite her age.

Amicia investigates alchemy and the like in the hope of curing Hugo of a terrible illness while keeping herself and her friends alive.

Using her trusty sling and an increasing amount of alchemic recipes, Amicia must use light to deter rats and clear a path for herself, Hugo, and other allies along the way. Rats aren’t all the two children have to worry about, as Hugo is sought after by the English army and the inquisition.

Innocence is a main theme in the game, hence the title, and this theme is communicated through Amicia and Hugo’s position as children. The two innocent children are juxtaposed with the vile plague and the evil motives of the villain.

The Inquisition hunting down Hugo despite him being a five-year-old with good intentions is simply unfair, making the world Hugo is forced to journey through much harsher and the narrative much sadder.

The perspective of children helps give a more true representation of the harshness of the real plague – but obviously, changes are made for this for the game’s fictional universe and disturbing plot.

Later gameplay as Hugo offers a unique perspective when he must crawl past enemies with no weapons or defense mechanism. Hugo’s vulnerability means stealth is the only option, taking away previous crutches such as the sling and giving a truer experience of being a helpless child sought after by much stronger adults.

It’s easy to sympathize with the kids who are alone without the guidance of a parent or other adult, and their strength and likability in such dark times makes you root for them.

Earthbound

Ten years after the events of Mother, Ness embarks on another sci-fi adventure. In Onett, Ness and his neighbor Pokey investigate a meteorite crash when searching for Pokey’s younger brother, Picky.

Things are never the same after they meet Buzz Buzz who comes back in time to warn Ness of evil Giygas’ intentions.

Ness is another child protagonist who beats all the odds, fighting against Giygas’ army who harness the power of PSI – a kind of psychic ability. He may not speak like the playable kids in Pokémon, but his courage is commendable for a young boy facing the unknown and he’s memorable even as a silent hero.

Earthbound’s colorful sprites envoke a feeling of nostalgia and even if you didn’t play the games when you were younger, there’s something homely about a kid on a big adventure in this gorgeous yet dangerous world.

A child protagonist adds to the unique feeling of Earthbound.  Games like Pokémon can come close to this but are more friendly for actual kids playing.

Ness’s age in the story is also important. If Ness was older, just like in Pokemon titles, there would be less of a focus on the power difference between the alien creatures and a young boy who’s expected to be helpless. The enemies would also be less intimidating to an adult protagonist, making for a less intriguing story.

The Walking Dead: Season 2

Clementine is definitely up there with the more resilient and badass kids in gaming, especially when she’s looking out for number one in The Walking Dead: Season 2. As a kid, Clementine is often underestimated by her foes, making victory much sweeter.

After losing Omid and Christa (the last remaining survivors of her group) at the beginning of the season, Clementine is alone to fight off the undead and anyone who might try to harm her. Using the lessons taught to her by Lee in the previous season, Clementine helps another group who’ve been struggling to survive.

The sequel to Telltale’s action-adventure visual novel keeps the same point-and-click gameplay of its predecessor, often tasking players to find objects in the environment and partake in quick-time events. Clementine must react quickly both in decision making and in picking up weapons/attacking.

Clementine has a constant need to talk characters out of doing something stupid (i.e. something which would endanger the group) or talk them into doing something necessary (such as leave another character behind). Her fast thinking in such scenarios – if the player executes a situation well – is especially impressive for a young girl who’s somehow managing to survive this horrible infested world.

Inside

Not much is known about Inside’s child protagonist, but they certainly follow one of the most interesting and disturbing adventures on this list. In Inside, the vulnerable player’s only option most of the time is to run, jump, and interact with objects to move forward.

The child’s height, as shown above, makes everything else in the environment seem huge. This is also true when humans are encountered as they tower over the boy. His vulnerability adds a lot to the suspense in every minute of gameplay.

Out-running and avoiding threats are the top priority here, but it’s unclear why until much later in the game after time spent watching the helpless boy avoid danger.

This curiosity the player has is what drives the story of Inside, and especially as to why an innocent child is involved in such gruesome events.

Bully

Bully follows the journey of 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins at the unforgiving boarding school Bullworth Academy. After his mom dumps him at school to embark on her honeymoon, Jimmy finds himself rejected by his peers, the prefects, even the staff and principal Dr. Crabblesnitch.

Appropriately, pretty much everyone in the school is a bully at first – even the nerds pick on Jimmy while he’s at the bottom of the food chain. Jimmy is a kid who’s shunned before he’s even said anything, and ironically, he fights just about everyone in his mission for peace in his temporary home.

Players are also free to explore the outside world such as the town and nearby carnival, but it turns out the adults are just as unwelcoming.

Most teenagers can relate to the feeling of exclusion in a new school, and many, like Jimmy, come to realize the outside world can be the same way.

Jimmy’s priority is climbing the school ranks, bypassing groups of nerds, greasers, preppies, jocks, and bullies. School-life and age are what differentiate Bully from similar titles, as Jimmy must (at some point) attend classes and participate in the minigames for each subject.

There are few games like Bully in which the school setting and open-world are combined, although standard gameplay is similar to that of Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and other Rockstar titles.

Small changes are made to accompany the setting. In Bully, bikes, skateboards, scooters, and go-karts replace cars and horses – a unique idea that separates this from other games of the same kind.