I came here intending to post in the “Games my young kids can actually play” thread and noticed this dedicated thread.
My 6-year-old is loving this game. It is a simple platformer and he’s playing on the offered Easy mode, but I’m super impressed by how gently and thoroughly the game has ramped up its complexity. He struggled to engage with Mario Odyssey’s more abstract sandbox design and modal inputs. But in Kirby he is demolishing Soulslike bosses by comparing equipment movesets and power tradeoffs, scouring levels for optional goals, and completing challenge courses for equipment upgrade materials. All of which was introduced a tiny step at a time. Plus, there is zero time pressure in levels (outside of short, retryable challenge sequences) and a co-op mode made for a parent to assist as a generic sidekick while Kirby gets to remain the star of the show.
I was very skeptical of this game’s longevity based on the first level and janky animation. But it has a ton of creativity, only gets better looking as it progresses, and is genuinely fun to scour for secrets. I don’t know whether the non-easy-mode gets interesting for grown up players, but this is pretty incredible as a teaching game for kids.
Also, it’s a straight-up (spoilers) Lovecraftian horror game. Not mythos-lite, but a literal death-cult awakening an Old One to end the world and send them off to the land of dreams.