While Nintendo systems have traditionally been known for their family-friendly games, and the Switch was specifically designed out of the box for multiplayer gaming, within the indie space those two concepts haven’t always come together much for parents playing co-op with their kids. Sure, there’s a multitude of party games for many players, whether co-op or competitive, and also more focused two-player co-op titles, but when it comes to family-friendly two-player fare the options have been more limited. The JerryMaya Detective Agency may not be able to single-handedly turn that fact around, but it does indeed make for a great adventure to enjoy with your kids.

With its storybook-style characters and artwork, brother and sister pair, and pretty simple style there’s no doubt the game has approachability on its side. Granted, brand new gamers would probably need some help to get started, either in-game or through some support from someone watching along, but between the overall simplicity and a mixture of both on-screen and audio cues for direction, it’s obvious that care has been put into making this friendly to people of any skill level. 

In terms of play, your focus will mostly move between two phases, one that’s more like a point-and-click adventure and another which relies more on co-op puzzling. You’ll typically get a call that will send you off for a new case, take the bus across town to talk to someone, and then do some exploring for some item or helpful details. You’ll then periodically go into some other area though that will require some teamwork, typically requiring someone to stand on a trigger, move some boxes into place, or some other relatively simple task, allowing the other person to move on or get access to a key item. Once you’ve then got what you need the focus will be on solving your case, which is handled visually in a pretty accessible way.

Perfectly playable solo, since you’re able to move between siblings with the press of a button, but geared well enough to periodically play together, this feels like a great option for beginning gamers. If they’re able to get the hang of things quickly they could probably begin to tackle some things on their own, but if need be a parent could help out either in-game or with some guidance on the side to help them overcome any particular obstacle. Of course, everyone is different, so some aspects may be easier or tougher for some than others, but this appears to try to take a balanced approach, putting on some modest platforming and puzzle-solving demands and not pushing the challenge too far overall. For experienced gamers it would likely be a slog, but for the target audience it’s nice to see something like that offered up that’s both well-intentioned and well-made.