Stumbled onto this while looking for simple platformers to play with my kid. This is a metroidvania of sorts. You play a bird who can only cheep and stomp. Player has to work out little puzzles in the environment using those abilities. This leads to more complex puzzles involving failure states and order of operation. Quick restart is available to reset at the beginning of the puzzle. Had a lot more fun with it than I expected. Nonviolent and doesn't require any reading if either of those matter. Demo available at that link.
This is an amazing logic puzzle game. Easy enough for a 6yo to start. Difficult enough that you'll both be working together on later puzzles. All around fun. Really good if you want to introduce simple logic without too many variables. Also has a quick reset. Also nonviolent but there is a small amount of reading.
- Old Mario games: Super Mario World/Mario 64
I didn't play these growing up. Thought they'd be good examples of older game design to introduce my kid too and it gave me an opportunity to play through them. Mario 64 in particular blew me away. The game is so well designed that most 3yo can play it. The levels are well constrained and the objectives are clear. Even if the player can't read text prompts. Offers a great amount of explorative problem solving and is just fun to goof around.
Found this while searching for more age appropriate GTA-clones. Something you can run or drive around in and just have fun. This is exactly that and ended up being way more. There is a bit of cartoon fighting in it, but beyond that it is nonviolent. Some puzzles, some story, lots of secrets. All around great game for a kid to just run around in. And as with most lego games, it has full drop-in/drop-out co-op. We've now played through and 100% this game twice.
Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Let me know if you have any questions.
Btw, be careful about TuxMaths. When I introduced this game to my nephew he was horrified that the penguins are killed if he is unable to solve the equations :)
Clouds & Sheep 2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/439800/Clouds__Sheep_2/
Journey of a Roach https://store.steampowered.com/app/255300/Journey_of_a_Roach...
ENCODYA https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137450/ENCODYA/
Aurora: A Child's Journey https://store.steampowered.com/app/1438440/Aurora_A_Childs_J...
Hunt for Junk https://store.steampowered.com/app/1973040/Hunt_for_Junk/
Iris.Fall https://store.steampowered.com/app/907470/IrisFall/