Outright Games has built a name for itself by bringing popular family entertainment properties to consoles and PC, with a particular focus on games that can be enjoyed by younger players and their families. The publisher’s upcoming lineup continues that approach, and during Gamescom we saw three very different takes on familiar brands. Sesame Street: Friends & Fun, The Cat in the Hat: Rainy Day Mayhem and Hasbro Games Junior Collection all aim at the family market, but each does so in its own way, ranging from open-ended exploration to chaotic party games and digital versions of classic board games.
Sesame Street: Friends & Fun – A colorful Sesame Street adventure that combines exploration, quests, minigames and local co-op.
The Cat in the Hat: Rainy Day Mayhem – A chaotic multiplayer party game that turns Dr. Seuss’ mischievous world into a collection of minigames and challenges.
Hasbro Games Junior Collection – Three iconic junior board games brought together in one family-friendly digital collection.
Of the three, Sesame Street: Friends & Fun perhaps stands out most simply because it is great to see such an iconic children’s property receive a new video game. Players create their own character and explore a Sesame Street neighbourhood filled with familiar faces, including Elmo, Abby, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and the Count. There are plenty of activities to discover along the way, from helping out with gardening and cooking to tackling puzzles, photography quests and other community tasks. A personal home can be decorated with rewards, new areas and minigames can be unlocked, while Tango acts as a friendly companion throughout the adventure. The game can also be played in local co-op, giving families another reason to explore Sesame Street together.
From what we saw, the combination of exploration and simple activities seems well suited to the target audience, while the sheer amount of Sesame Street material on offer should give younger players plenty to discover. There is something particularly appealing about being able to wander around a familiar location and interact with its characters rather than simply moving from one minigame to the next. One thing to keep in mind for audiences outside the United States is that the game draws on the original US version of Sesame Street. That means some children may encounter characters or versions of characters that are less familiar to them than the ones they know from their own local adaptations. Even so, seeing such a recognisable children’s IP return to games is a welcome sight, particularly when the emphasis is on exploration, creativity and playing together.
The Cat in the Hat: Rainy Day Mayhem takes a very different approach. Rather than building a larger adventure around the Dr. Seuss property, Outright Games turns its inherent chaos into a party game for up to four players. The cast includes Sally, Johnny, Thing 1, Thing 2 and Little Cat, alongside the Cat in the Hat and Fish. Players can choose between two main modes: Find the Cat, which has players searching through 14 rooms of the house, and a selection of 18 minigames involving activities such as chasing penguins and decorating cakes. Different difficulty levels and challenges of varying lengths are intended to make the game approachable for younger players while still providing enough variety for repeated play.
A party game feels like a particularly natural fit for The Cat in the Hat, considering how much the source material revolves around unpredictable antics and escalating chaos. The emphasis on quick challenges and multiplayer competition should make this one easy to pick up during a family gaming session, while the simple controls are clearly designed to keep the focus on the fun rather than complicated mechanics. The inclusion of the original story in narrated form is also a nice extra, giving the game a connection to the classic book beyond simply borrowing its characters and visual identity. Whether the minigames can sustain interest over the longer term remains to be seen, but as a lightweight party experience, the concept certainly makes sense.
Finally, Hasbro Games Junior Collection brings three hugely recognisable board games together in a package aimed squarely at family game nights. Monopoly Jr., Clue Jr. and The Game of Life Jr. each receive their own digital interpretation, with simplified rules designed to make the games easy to learn and quicker to play. Players can tackle the games alone or compete locally with up to four people on a single console, while customisable avatars and unlockable cosmetic rewards add a layer of progression between matches. Monopoly Jr. focuses on buying locations and collecting money, Clue Jr. turns players into young detectives looking for clues and The Game of Life Jr. uses its familiar spinner-and-board format to guide players towards collecting stars.
It is always nice to see another collection of Hasbro games make its way to consoles. Previous Hasbro compilations, including those released during the PlayStation 3 era, proved that there is plenty of potential in translating these traditional games into digital form, and it will be interesting to see how the junior versions work as a dedicated collection. The games themselves are so iconic that their appeal extends well beyond children, too. Monopoly, Clue and The Game of Life are household names, and the familiar concepts could make this a collection that even parents and grandparents are tempted to join in with during the holiday season. The junior rules should make the games more accessible to younger players, while local multiplayer ensures that this isn’t simply a collection designed to be played alone.
Taken together, these three games show Outright Games continuing to target different sides of the family market without relying on exactly the same formula for every licensed property. Sesame Street: Friends & Fun offers a more exploratory experience, The Cat in the Hat: Rainy Day Mayhem embraces the chaos of multiplayer party gaming, and Hasbro Games Junior Collection takes a more traditional route by digitising three familiar board games. With releases spread across October and November, all three could find an audience as families look for games that can be enjoyed together, rather than simply played alongside one another.