Buying guide
Pokémon games for kids, by age
By Lenn Hodes · founder — every cartridge tested by hand
A child wants a Pokémon game, and there are dozens of them across seven consoles. Most parents ask us two things: is it suitable, and will they actually manage it. The first is easy — every Pokémon game is rated PEGI 3 or 7, and the table further down lists them all. The second is the real question, and it comes down to reading. Below: the right pick per age, the full list of age ratings, and which console fits small hands.
The short answer
Under five: cards, or PokéPark on the Wii with a parent. Five: New Pokémon Snap — photographs, no battles. Six: Let’s Go, Pikachu! as the first real adventure, read together, or Rumble on a 2DS. From seven, once they read fluently: Sword & Shield, the 3DS games, or the PEGI 3 DS classics on the cheapest console we sell. From nine: Scarlet & Violet or Legends: Arceus.
Tested Pokémon games for children in stock
Switch, 3DS and Wii — every copy play-tested on real hardware, save included, and listed exactly as it is, loose or boxed.
Pokemon Y
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Rumble World
Personally tested · Good condition
Super Pokemon Rumble
Personally tested · Good condition
Detective Pikachu
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Sword
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon X
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Rumble World
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Ultra Moon
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Ultra Sun
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Omega Ruby
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Sun
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Moon
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Silver Version (3DS eShop box)
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Y
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Ultra Moon
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon X
Personally tested · Good condition
Super Pokemon Rumble
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Sun
Personally tested · Good condition
Pokemon Moon
Personally tested · Good condition
The three thresholds that actually decide it
Reading. Every main Pokémon game is driven by text: dialogue, menus, move names, item descriptions. A child who reads fluently — in English, on the cartridges we sell — disappears into a Pokémon game for weeks; a child who does not yet read needs a parent on the sofa or a game that does not ask for it (Snap, Rumble, PokéPark).
PEGI. The rating is per game, not per console. Every main Pokémon game on the Game Boy Advance and the DS is PEGI 3; every main game from X and Y onwards is PEGI 7, which in PEGI’s own words means content that may be mildly frightening to very young children and very mild, non-realistic contests. In practice: creatures faint and get up again. Nothing in any Pokémon game is scary or bloody.
Console. A cartridge only runs on its own console, and for a young child the console matters as much as the game — see the last section. The 3DS eShop closed on 27 March 2023, so for the 3DS and DS games a cartridge is the only way in.
The right Pokémon game per age
Ages are a guide, not a rule — a seven-year-old who reads well can take anything on this list, and a nine-year-old who does not will be happier with Snap.
| Age | Pick | Platform | PEGI | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–4 | Pokémon cards, or PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure with a parent | Wii | 3 | No reading needed. Cards are looked at, swapped and sorted; PokéPark is a park of minigames a small child can steer while you read the odd line. |
| 5 | New Pokémon Snap | Nintendo Switch | 3 | You ride a track and take photographs. No battles, nothing to lose, and a parent can read the missions aloud — the child does the rest. |
| 6 | Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Let’s Go, Eevee! | Nintendo Switch | 7 | The gentlest main game: catching is a throw, the pace is slow and a second player can join with a second Joy-Con to help. Expect to read the first hours together. |
| 6 | Pokémon Rumble World or Super Pokémon Rumble | Nintendo 3DS / 2DS | 7 | Toy Pokémon bashing into each other — no turns, no type chart, almost no text. The lightest Pokémon games there are. |
| 7–8 | Sword / Shield; or X / Y, Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire, Sun / Moon | Nintendo Switch / 3DS | 7 | A full adventure that explains itself as it goes. This is the age where reading fluently in English turns a Pokémon game from frustrating into absorbing. |
| 7–8 | Diamond / Pearl / Platinum, HeartGold / SoulSilver, Black / White | Nintendo DS (plays on a 2DS and 3DS too) | 3 | The DS classics are rated 3, cost far less than a Switch game and play on the cheapest console we sell. They are text-heavy, so a fluent reader is the condition. |
| 9–10 | Scarlet / Violet, Legends: Arceus, Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl | Nintendo Switch | 7 | Open worlds and more freedom, which asks for planning and patience. Good for a child who already knows what a type chart is. |
| 9–10 | Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, or Pokémon Conquest | Nintendo DS | 3 | A story to disappear into, or a real strategy game on a grid. Both rated 3, both for readers. |
| 11+ | Anything — including Emerald, FireRed and the Game Boy originals | Game Boy Advance / Game Boy | 3 / none | Old enough for the retro side: a save battery on the Game Boy games, a clock battery on the GBA ones, and cartridges in one language. A parent should read the listing with them. |
Three that work before a child can read
New Pokémon Snap (Switch, PEGI 3) puts the child in a cart on a fixed track with a camera: point, shoot, and the Pokémon behave like animals. There is no way to lose, and the missions are short enough to read aloud. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure (PEGI 3) is a park of minigames — racing, chasing, hide-and-seek — played as Pikachu; its sequel is rated 7. Pokémon Rumble World and Super Pokémon Rumble (3DS, PEGI 7) are wind-up toy Pokémon bashing into each other in small arenas: one attack button, no turns, no type chart, almost no text. The full list of games outside the main series is on all Pokémon spin-off games.
Let’s Go: the first real adventure
Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! retell the very first Pokémon game for the Switch, with the sharp edges filed off: wild Pokémon are visible in the grass instead of jumping you, catching is a throw of the Joy-Con rather than a battle, and your partner rides along with you the whole way. A second player can join at any moment with a second Joy-Con and help in battles and catches — which is exactly how a six-year-old gets through the first hours. The two versions differ only in the partner and a handful of Pokémon. Both are on all Pokémon Switch games.
From seven: the full adventures
Once a child reads fluently, the whole series opens up, and the sensible order is by console rather than by year. On the Switch, Sword and Shield are the friendliest full adventure: open areas, clear guidance, a story that keeps moving. Scarlet and Violet and Legends: Arceus give an open world and more freedom — better at nine or ten, when planning a route and managing a team stops being a chore. On the 3DS or 2DS, X and Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and Sun and Moon are the same kind of adventure at a lower price; every one of them is on all Pokémon 3DS games.
And then the DS classics: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black and White. All rated PEGI 3, all playable on a 2DS or 3DS as well as a DS, and the cheapest way into a real Pokémon adventure. They are also the most text-heavy — a child who reads English fluently will love them; one who does not will stall in the first town. The list with what to check on a used cartridge is all Pokémon DS games.
Every Pokémon game and its PEGI rating
Checked against pegi.info on 16 September 2026. Games released before PEGI existed (April 2003) carry no rating on the cartridge; their later Virtual Console re-releases do.
| Game | Platform | PEGI |
|---|---|---|
| Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Let’s Go, Eevee! | Switch | 7 |
| Sword / Shield | Switch | 7 |
| Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl | Switch | 7 |
| Legends: Arceus | Switch | 7 |
| Scarlet / Violet | Switch | 7 |
| Legends: Z-A | Switch / Switch 2 | 7 |
| New Pokémon Snap | Switch | 3 |
| Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX | Switch | 7 |
| Pokkén Tournament DX | Switch | 7 |
| Detective Pikachu Returns | Switch | 7 |
| X / Y | 3DS | 7 |
| Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire | 3DS | 7 |
| Sun / Moon, Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon | 3DS | 7 |
| Super Mystery Dungeon | 3DS | 7 |
| Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity | 3DS | 3 |
| Rumble World, Super Pokémon Rumble | 3DS | 7 |
| Detective Pikachu | 3DS | 3 |
| Art Academy | 3DS | 3 |
| Red / Blue / Yellow (Virtual Console re-release) | 3DS | 12 |
| Diamond / Pearl / Platinum | DS | 3 |
| HeartGold / SoulSilver | DS | 3 |
| Black / White, Black 2 / White 2 | DS | 3 |
| Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Explorers of Time / Darkness / Sky | DS | 3 |
| Ranger, Ranger: Shadows of Almia, Ranger: Guardian Signs | DS | 3 |
| Conquest, Dash, Link!, Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure | DS | 3 |
| Ruby / Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed / LeafGreen | Game Boy Advance | 3 |
| Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire | Game Boy Advance | 3 |
| Colosseum, XD: Gale of Darkness, Box, Channel | GameCube | 3 |
| Battle Revolution | Wii | 7 |
| PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure | Wii | 3 |
| PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond | Wii | 7 |
| Pokkén Tournament | Wii U | 7 |
| Red / Blue / Yellow, Gold / Silver / Crystal, Pinball, Trading Card Game | Game Boy / Color | none — before PEGI (2003) |
| Stadium, Stadium 2, Snap, Puzzle League | Nintendo 64 | none — before PEGI (2003) |
The one surprise in that table is Red, Blue and Yellow at PEGI 12: that is the 2016 Virtual Console re-release, and the descriptor is Gambling — the Game Corner has slot machines. The 1999 cartridges are the same game without a rating.
Is the game in my child’s language?
Our cartridges are the English editions unless the listing says otherwise. On the Switch, the 3DS and the DS games from Black and White onwards, the cartridge itself carries English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and asks which one when a new game starts. The older DS games (Diamond to SoulSilver), the GBA games and the Game Boy games are one language per cartridge — ours are English. Every product page states the language under the specifications, so you know before you order. Dutch has never been an option in any Pokémon game, on any console.
Which console for a child
Under seven: a 2DS. One solid piece with no hinge to snap, it plays the entire DS and 3DS library in 2D, and Nintendo itself advises against the 3D effect for children under seven — so the 2DS is not the budget option here, it is the right one. The New 2DS XL is the same idea with a bigger screen and a hinge.
From seven: a Switch Lite or a Switch. The Lite is one piece with no detachable Joy-Cons to lose and plays every Switch Pokémon game; the regular Switch adds the television and the second Joy-Con that makes Let’s Go a two-player game. Nintendo’s parental controls app sets play time and a bedtime on either.
What still works online: the DS Wi-Fi service ended in 2014 and the 3DS online service in April 2024 — trading and battling over the internet are gone on those, but nothing in the single-player games depends on them. The Switch games need a paid online subscription only for online play, never for the adventure itself. Consoles we have tested are on Nintendo consoles.
Why a cartridge, for a child
No account, no download, no storage to manage: cartridge in, play. A cartridge can be lent to a cousin, played again in five years, and wrapped as a present — a download code cannot. Second-hand it also costs a fraction of new, which matters when a six-year-old’s taste changes by Christmas. Every copy we sell has been booted, saved and reloaded on real hardware, and the listing says exactly what is included: loose cartridge or boxed with the manual.
Every copy tested before it is listed
Booting, saving, reloading, label, contacts — checked on real hardware. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked to all 27 EU countries. Originals only; if something ever turns out not to be genuine, you get your money back.
Browse tested Pokémon gamesQuestions parents ask us
From what age can a child play Pokémon?
Around five with help, around seven on their own. The games are rated PEGI 3 (DS, GBA) or PEGI 7 (3DS, Switch), so nothing in them is frightening or violent; the real threshold is reading, because every main Pokémon game is driven by text. New Pokémon Snap and PokéPark work earlier because they barely need reading.
What is the best first Pokémon game for a child?
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Let’s Go, Eevee! on the Switch — the catching is a simple throw, the pace is slow, and a second player can join to help. If the child does not read yet, New Pokémon Snap first: photographs instead of battles, and nothing to lose.
Is Pokémon OK for a 6-year-old?
Yes. PEGI 7 on the Switch games means content that may be mildly frightening to very young children and cartoon-style contests — in practice, creatures fainting and getting up again. At six the question is not the content but the reading: plan to read the first hours together, or start with Let’s Go, Rumble or Snap.
Which Pokémon games are PEGI 3?
Every main game before X and Y: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black, White and their sequels on the DS, and Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen on the GBA. Also New Pokémon Snap, Detective Pikachu (3DS), Art Academy, Gates to Infinity, the DS Mystery Dungeon and Ranger games, Conquest, the GameCube games and PokéPark Wii. Every main game from X and Y onwards is PEGI 7.
Why is Pokémon Red rated PEGI 12?
That rating is for the 3DS Virtual Console re-release of Red, Blue and Yellow from 2016, and the descriptor is Gambling: the Game Corner has slot machines the player bets on. The original 1999 Game Boy cartridges predate PEGI and carry no rating at all. The content is identical, so treat the 12 as a note about the slot machines, not about anything else in the game.
Does my child need to be able to read to play Pokémon?
For the main games, yes — dialogue, menus, move names and item descriptions are all text, and in English on the cartridges we sell. Games that work without reading: New Pokémon Snap, PokéPark, the Rumble games and Pinball. Let’s Go sits in between: a parent reads the first hours, then most children manage.
Which console should I buy for a child: a Switch Lite or a 2DS?
For a child under seven, a 2DS: one solid piece with no hinge, it plays the whole DS and 3DS library in 2D, and Nintendo itself advises against the 3D effect under seven. For an older child the Switch Lite is the sensible Switch: one piece, no loose Joy-Cons to lose, and it plays every Switch Pokémon game.
Do you ship outside the Netherlands?
We ship to all 27 EU countries with track & trace. Parcels leave from the Netherlands, there are no customs charges within the EU, and your country’s exact rate appears at checkout before you pay.
PEGI ratings from pegi.info, 16 September 2026; check the label on the box of the exact edition you buy. The full series in order is on all Pokémon games in order. Deze gids in het Nederlands.