TL;DR: Yes, narrative-heavy video games absolutely count as reading. While scrolling TikTok is "brain rot," playing a text-heavy RPG can involve more vocabulary and reading comprehension than a standard middle-grade novel. If your kid is playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Stardew Valley, they aren't just "staring at a screen"—they’re navigating complex plots and thousands of lines of dialogue.
Quick Links to "Playable Books":
- Ages 7-10: Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokemon Scarlet/Violet
- Ages 10-13: Undertale, The Wild Robot (Book) for a cross-media bridge.
- Ages 14+: Hades, Baldur's Gate 3 (Heavy reading, but M-rated).
We’ve all been there. You walk into the living room, see your kid hunched over a controller for the third hour, and feel that familiar pang of "parental guilt." You think: If only they would pick up a book. If only they were reading Percy Jackson instead of fighting digital monsters.
But here’s the reality that might lower your blood pressure: if they’re playing the right kind of game, they are reading. In fact, they might be reading more words per hour than they would in a standard chapter book, and they’re doing it with a level of engagement that a traditional novel can’t always match.
The debate isn't actually "Gaming vs. Reading." It’s "Passive Consumption vs. Active Literacy."
Let’s talk numbers for a second. A typical middle-grade novel—think Diary of a Wimpy Kid—clocks in at around 20,000 words. A "beefy" YA novel like The Hunger Games is about 100,000 words.
Now look at the games:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has roughly 100,000 words of dialogue and quest text.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons features over 1 million words of unique dialogue between villagers.
- Genshin Impact (while controversial for its gacha mechanics) has a script that rivals the length of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.
When your kid is playing an RPG (Role-Playing Game), they aren't just clicking buttons. They are reading character motivations, deciphering quest instructions, managing inventories, and engaging with lore. If they don't read, they don't progress. That is functional literacy in its purest form.
In a book, the story happens to the reader. In a game, the story happens because of the reader. This is what we call "Agency."
When a kid reads dialogue in Undertale, they have to make choices based on what they’ve read. If they misread a character’s intent, there are consequences in the game world. This requires a higher level of reading comprehension than simply scanning a page. They are analyzing tone, spotting subtext, and making decisions.
It’s the difference between watching a tour of a museum and being handed the keys to the museum and told to find the exit.
We have to be honest here: not all gaming is "reading."
If your kid is playing Roblox "obby" (obstacle course) games or mindlessly clicking through [Subway Surfers](https://screenwiseapp.com/media/subway-surfers-game, they aren't gaining literacy skills. That’s the "Skibidi Toilet" end of the spectrum—purely dopamine-driven, low-narrative content.
As intentional parents, our job isn't to ban the screen, but to steer them toward High-Value Narrative Gaming.
Stardew Valley (Ages 8+)
This isn't just a farming sim. It’s a masterclass in community building and character arcs. Every villager has a backstory that is revealed through thousands of lines of text. Your kid is learning about empathy, resource management, and social dynamics—all through reading.
Hollow Knight (Ages 10+)
This is "environmental storytelling." While there is less direct dialogue, the "reading" happens through item descriptions and world-building. It’s like reading a complex gothic mystery where you have to piece the clues together yourself.
Minecraft (Ages 7+)
Wait, Minecraft? Yes. While the base game is visual, most kids who are "into" Minecraft are spending a huge amount of time on Minecraft Wikis or reading in-game chat and command blocks. They are learning technical literacy—how to follow complex, multi-step instructions to build something.
Ask our chatbot for more games that feel like interactive books
If you’re still worried that they aren't smelling enough old paper, use their gaming habits as a bridge. We don't have to fight the interest; we can pivot it.
- Graphic Novels: If they love the visual storytelling of games, move them toward Wings of Fire (Graphic Novel) or Amulet.
- Lore Books: Most major games have physical "Lore" or "Art of" books. A kid who won't touch a biography might spend hours devouring the official Minecraft Encyclopedia.
- Choose Your Own Adventure: The "interactivity" of games is what makes them addictive. Try introducing modern "Choose Your Own Adventure" style books to show them that paper can be interactive too.
- Elementary (Ages 6-10): Focus on games with "vocalized" text (where the game speaks the lines but also shows them on screen). This helps with word recognition. Pokemon is the gold standard here. You literally cannot play the game without reading the moves and the dialogue.
- Middle School (Ages 11-13): This is the prime age for "Narrative Adventures." Games like Outer Wilds (which is basically a giant physics and reading puzzle) or The Legend of Zelda are perfect.
- High School (Ages 14+): They can handle complex themes. Hades uses Greek mythology to tell a story about family trauma and perseverance. It’s basically a playable version of The Odyssey.
The next time you see "Press A to Continue" on the TV screen, don't just see a distraction. Look at the words.
Is the vocabulary challenging? Is the story making them think? Are they having to solve a problem based on information they just read?
If the answer is yes, then they are reading. They’re just doing it in a format that speaks their language. In 2026, being "literate" means being able to navigate text across all platforms—from a physical book to a digital terminal in a sci-fi RPG.
We need to stop treating books as "vegetables" and games as "candy." There are plenty of "candy" books (looking at you, generic ghost-written celebrity memoirs) and plenty of "vegetable" games that challenge the brain and expand the vocabulary.
If your kid is engaged, learning new words, and following a complex narrative, it counts.
Next Steps:
- Sit with them: For 15 minutes, watch them play. Read the dialogue out loud together. Ask them, "Wait, why did that character say that?"
- Check the "Reading Level": If they’re playing a game like Genshin Impact, look at the dialogue. You’ll be surprised to find words like "clandestine," "arbitrary," and "manifestation."
- Validate their "Reading": Tell them, "I noticed you had to read a lot of instructions to finish that quest. That was a lot of text!" It changes their own perception of themselves from "gamer" to "reader."
Learn more about how to balance screen time with traditional reading