There’s no doubt that making kid-friendly content for a gaming system is a bit of a risk. You’re obviously going to alienate a large portion of the install base who won’t be interested, and at the same time making something “for kids” is a difficult target since these days they can vary wildly when it comes to where they are on the gaming skill ladder. 

Panic at the Mansion feels like it is skewing more to the younger end of the spectrum, focusing on friendly characters, cuteness like a bunch of puppies, and random silliness like talking utensils and more. There’s no doubt that its light fantasy setting should make it safe for any age to play and enjoy, and its generally polite and friendly attitude overall should be great for reinforcing positive behavior for the kids playing, so that’s always a plus. The mixture of light adventure, relatively simple puzzles, and a variety of mini games also do a solid job of keeping the experience from getting stale too quickly, which is also a smart touch.

In terms of what doesn’t work so well there are some issues though, and I’d say in my mind that starts with the controls which can feel a bit iffy at times with a controller. In terms of the design it feels more like it was intended to be played on a PC with a mouse (Switch 2 mouse control support would be nice) or a touchscreen as the controls take some getting used to, and I could see kids needing a little help or direction in spots. While the pretty basic art style is well-suited to walking around and chatting with the other characters, I’m also not convinced it works well for sections like an arcade-style shooter you’ll get to play. 

In the name of some variety I still do applaud the developers for making an effort to put something out in the eShop that’s made for a more neglected segment of the gaming audience. It should meet the approval of most parents, it’s mild enough that no kids should be scared or intimidated by it, and on the whole it skews to being pretty simple. I’m not quite sure what age groups it is suited for, since different kids may be on very different pages in terms of their exposure and skill these days, but overall I’d say it should work for most earlier Elementary-aged gamers out there.