The Game Awards has revealed all the nominees for each of the 29 categories for The Game Awards 2025 (the Player’s Voice award has not opened for voting yet).
Since we are a family gaming website, we’re going to break down all the games in the Best Family category.
Here are the nominees for Best Family Game of 2025:
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Lego Party!
- Lego Voyagers
- Mario Kart World
- Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
- Split Fiction
Nintendo typically dominates this category. But this year the big N only has two nominations, with Switch 2 exclusives Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World.
Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the biggest surprises of the year. It launched with relatively quiet fanfare over the Summer as the first new Donkey Kong game since the Wii U’s Tropical Freeze a decade ago (and DK’s first 3D platforming outing since the 90s!). Bananza uses large, sandbox-like levels with destructible environments, power-ups, and collectibles.
Bananza also has a clever form of two-player co-op, with another player acting as DK’s young companion (and particularly great for younger kids).
Donkey Kong Bananza is the second best-selling game on Switch 2, but the best-selling game goes to Mario Kart World, thanks to the Switch 2 bundle.
The Mario Kart series needs no introduction. World shakes up the formula by introducing a fully open world map that players can explore in single player free roam, in addition to multiplayer racing modes. Mario Kart World emphasizes racing to and from multiple courses over doing laps in the same course, with mostly positive results.
It’s easy to forget about Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, a more than competent follow-up to Team Sonic Racing. In a year with a brand new Mario Kart entry, Sonic and friends managed to hold their own thanks to the fun and frantic CrossWorld feature, where racers portal into other courses in the middle of a race.
Although there are two Lego game nominees, they were developed and published by entirely different studios.
Lego Party is unashamed of being a Mario Party clone, and it’s also a lot of fun. Up to four players customize their minifigure and embark on a themed map, moving around a board, competing in minigames, and trying to earn Gold Stars, er, Bricks. The minigames are well-designed and many make clever use of building or destroying blocks, and we love the fully voiced announcer pair who bring each match to life.
Lego Voyagers is a two-player co-op game from the developers of Lego Builder’s Journey. Players play as cute little 1×1 brick pieces, instead of minifigures. By rolling, jumping, and attaching themselves to other Lego pieces, the players can solve puzzles and reach their destinations. It’s a charming, all-ages co-op adventure that focuses on pure gameplay over storytelling.
Finally, there’s Split Fiction. Hazelight Studios continues to perfect the co-op only platforming genre, with a cinematic story, excellent voice acting, and innovative cooperative gameplay. Somehow Split Fiction even exceeds It Takes Two — Hazelight’s previous co-op game which won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021. We’re still shocked that Split Fiction wasn’t even nominated this year. Does that mean it’s a shoe-in for winning other categories?
Judging purely by critical reception, the Best Family category would come down to Donkey Kong vs Split Fiction. Both games boast an average MetaCritic score of 91, making them among the best overall reviewed games of the year (why wasn’t Split Fiction nominated for GotY again!?).
Despite my personal adoration of Split Fiction, when it comes to Best Family game, I predict Donkey Kong Bananza should win.
The kart racers are nice, but not particularly amazing. Lego Party is a fun Mario Party clone, but not the least bit innovative, and Lego Voyagers may be a bit too minimalist.
Split Fiction is a fabulous game and will absolutely win Best Multiplayer. But as the first 3D Donkey Kong Game in over 20 years, Bananza does a lot of really fun things, including that clever two-player co-op feature that’s perfect for family gaming.
The Game Awards 2025 will stream live from Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7:30p Eastern/4:30p Pacific.
