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Calm PC games for autistic kids

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Many of the calmest games we’ve rated are also on PC, and PC versions often add extras like keyboard-only controls or more graphics settings that can help with motion sickness. Everything here comes from games we’ve rated. Each point links to a game page where every score shows its source, and where no source exists, we say so. To see every rated game on PC, use the PC filter in the game finder.

Quick answer

• Calmest to start with: A Short Hike, Chicory: A Colorful Tale (after a few settings), Bluey: The Videogame, and Minecraft in Creative mode on Peaceful.
• Calm with a little setup: Slime Rancher 2, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Stardew Valley, Untitled Goose Game, Paleo Pines and Donut County.
• Fun, but more pressure: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Sonic Superstars, Human: Fall Flat, and Rocket League played offline.
• For older kids, or needs careful setup: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (rated T), LEGO Fortnite, and Roblox.
• Still a lot unknown: Disney Dreamlight Valley.

The calmest picks

A Short Hike (ESRB: E)

A small, gentle exploring game. It’s listed with no flashes and no jump scares, it’s low pressure, and it saves any time. Reading is minimal, with large, clear text. There’s a little screen shake at the mountain top, and a pixel-size option meant to help with motion sickness. On PC it can be played with just the keyboard. It takes about 1 to 3 hours. We haven’t found a source on sudden sounds yet.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale (ESRB: E10+)

A painting adventure with excellent settings: turn off Flashing Effects and Screenshake, pick the Readable font, and turn Content Warnings on. If losing is hard, set Player Health to Can’t Fall and turn on the boss-skip option. It saves any time. On PC it can be played with mouse and keys. There’s no voice acting, so there’s a lot of reading, and the story touches on themes like depression.

Bluey: The Videogame (ESRB: E)

One of the calmest games we’ve rated: listed with no flashes and no jump scares, your child can’t fail and lose progress, and it saves any time. A few mini-games have optional timed jumps. We haven’t found a source on sudden sounds yet.

Minecraft, Creative mode on Peaceful (ESRB: E10+)

Choose Creative and Peaceful when making a world. There are no hostile mobs and no damage, and it saves any time. Survival mode adds enemies, darkness and sudden sounds. Public online servers can mean strangers, so playing alone offline is the calmest option.

Calm with a little setup

Slime Rancher 2 (ESRB: E10+)

Low-pressure farming and exploring that autosaves every couple of minutes. Set Tarr and Feral to Disabled at the start. It’s played in first person, and on PC the developer suggests several fixes for motion sickness: turn off Camera Bob, try a different field of view, raise the frame-rate limit, and lower mouse sensitivity. Flashing and sounds are still unknown.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure (ESRB: E)

A gentle platformer with very little reading. Turn on Infinite Lives from the world map. The colourful, busy levels could be a lot of sensory information for some kids. Common Sense Media found slowdown and stuttering on PC that can make you misjudge jumps, so it’s worth a test on your computer first. The timed Knitted Knight Trials are much harder than the main levels.

Stardew Valley (ESRB: E10+)

A cozy farming game with low pressure overall. Untick Show Flash Effects in Options > Graphics. Seizure caution: a player with epilepsy reported bomb flashes in the mines, and it isn’t confirmed that this setting turns them off. On PC only, a community mod called “A Less Flashy Stardew” can remove more animations (see our no-flashing guide). It only saves when you go to bed.

Untitled Goose Game (ESRB: E)

Easy on the senses: no screen shake, motion-sickness friendly, and simple reading. The puzzles are hard with no difficulty setting, and being chased by villagers adds tension.

Paleo Pines (ESRB: E)

A gentle dinosaur ranch game with no violence and a slower-day setting. Wild dinos can run off while your child befriends them, and you can only save at the house.

Donut County (ESRB: E)

Very gentle, with no timers and almost nothing to fail, but thinly sourced. Flashing, sounds and camera motion are unknown.

Fun, but with more pressure

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (ESRB: E10+)

You never lose progress when you fall, and you can turn on Automatic Health Recovery and Fall Recovery and turn off motion blur and camera shake. On PC it can be played with keyboard alone or mouse and keys. Battles are loud and busy, though. Seizure caution: some areas you must visit to finish the story have flashing that can’t be turned off. Level progress only saves when the level is finished (10 to 15 minutes).

Sonic Superstars (ESRB: E)

No lives, no game over and no reading. But it’s fast, the boss fights are hard, and reviewers found almost no accessibility or difficulty settings. Flashing, sounds and screen motion are unknown.

Human: Fall Flat (ESRB: E)

No flashes, no timers and no reading, but the wobbly physics controls can be frustrating. Set online lobbies to Private.

Rocket League (ESRB: E)

Offline in Exhibition you can slow the game down, enlarge the ball, turn Demolish off and set the match length to Unlimited. On PC a second player can co-pilot, and it can be played with keyboard alone. Online means 5-minute timed matches, real opponents, and chat.

For older kids, or needs careful setup

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (ESRB: T)

Rated T for violence, blood and some language, so it’s for older kids. Its settings are excellent: turn off Camera Shake, lower Motion Blur, and consider QTE Auto Complete and Chase Assist. Web-swinging is fast, and flashing is unknown.

LEGO Fortnite (ESRB: E10+)

A Cozy or Sandbox world is fairly gentle: you respawn, hunger and temperature are off, enemies are easy (or off in Sandbox), and it saves any time. It lives inside Fortnite, though, whose Battle Royale is a T-rated, 100-player shooter, so set Epic’s Parental Controls first (see below).

Roblox

Millions of player-made games, so flashing, sounds and difficulty change from one to the next. Common Sense Media says inappropriate content and some chat can still get through even with Roblox’s strictest settings. Set up a linked parent account and preview games together.

Still a lot unknown

Disney Dreamlight Valley (ESRB: E)

Most sensory items are still unknown. It has in-game purchases and online play, so check those settings first.

PC settings that help

On PC, the game’s own settings matter most. Look for options like flashing, screen shake, motion blur, field of view and camera bob in each game. Steam has some help of its own:

• Steam accessibility settings: the Steam desktop app has an Accessibility menu with High Contrast, Reduced Motion and UI Scale (added in Steam’s September 2025 update, per GamingOnLinux’s copy of the changelog). In Big Picture Mode and on SteamOS, Reduce Motion turns off animations and page transitions, and there’s a Color Filter and a Screen Reader (PC Gamer). Reduce Motion and High Contrast are Steam settings; each game still has its own motion and flashing options. PC Gamer says the Color Filter applies to games as well.
• Check accessibility before you buy: the Steam store now highlights the accessibility features games report (PC Gamer).

PC parental controls

• Steam Families: create a Steam Family (up to five members) and add your child as a Child. Adults can allow only chosen games, restrict the Steam Store, community and friends chat, set hourly or daily playtime limits, and approve or deny requests for extra time or purchases (Steam Families guide; details as reported by GamesIndustry.biz).
• Windows and Xbox app games: if your child’s Microsoft account is in your family group, content and screen-time limits from the Xbox Family Settings app can apply on Windows PCs. Turn on “Use one schedule for all devices” in your Microsoft family settings (Xbox).
• Epic Games Store, Fortnite and Rocket League: Epic’s Parental Controls let you set the highest age rating for new Epic Store games, limit voice and text chat, require a PIN for purchases and friend requests, set a Fortnite island age limit, and set daily Fortnite time limits (Epic Parental Controls).
• Roblox: link a parent account in Roblox’s own settings to manage content, chat, spending and screen time (Common Sense Media’s Roblox controls guide).

Tips that help with any game

• Play the first 10 minutes yourself, or together, before your child plays alone.
• Turn the volume down first, and check each game’s graphics menu for motion blur, screen shake and flashing options.
• Pick games that save any time if stopping is hard, and use playtime limits if they help.
• Keep online play and chat off at first.

Want the full detail? Every game page shows each score, the reason and the source. See how we rate, or browse every rated PC game.