{"id":1114453,"date":"2026-01-30T05:51:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=518337"},"modified":"2026-01-30T05:51:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:51:23","slug":"lets-talk-about-cousin-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/lets-talk-about-cousin-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s talk about Cousin Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image composition: Polygon | Source images: Getty Images, Polygon\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lets-talk-about-cousin-games.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">I have a name for the forgotten, forgettable, off-brand, off-axis games of our youth. I call them: Cousin Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The best way to get in the Cousin Game mindset is to imagine being dropped off in a house that smells different from how you think a house is supposed to smell and you go into a room with a guy who&#8217;s like a weird version of you, and he\u2019s playing Nintendo \u2014 which you understand \u2014 but when you look at the screen, it\u2019s like\u2026 <em>What is that<\/em>?\u2026 <em>What the hell is that?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">(It\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobygames.com\/game\/9145\/iggys-reckin-balls\/\">Iggy\u2019s Wreckin\u2019 Balls<\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">A Cousin Game is a game you don\u2019t own, and don\u2019t necessarily want to own. But \u201cCousin Game\u201d is not a euphemism for \u201cbad game.\u201d There are lots of bad games that are not cousin games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Here\u2019s a quick list of Cousin Games:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Army Men: Sarge\u2019s Heroes<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Uniracers<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Rise of the Robots<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Iggy\u2019s Wreckin\u2019 Balls<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Operation Winback<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Coliseum: Road to Freedom<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Spy Hunter<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Loaded<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>187 Ride or Die<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Bug!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Cousin Games aren\u2019t \u201cnormie\u201d games. <em>Madden<\/em> is not a Cousin Game. It is just a game your cousin plays. This is true for most sports games, but not always true in extreme sports and motorsport.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><em>Tony Hawk\u2019s Pro Skater<\/em> is not a Cousin Game, but <em>Tony Hawk\u2019s Underground 2<\/em> is. <em>AirBlade<\/em> is a Cousin Game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">A game with Spider-Man in it has a 75 percent chance of being a Cousin Game. Eighty percent for Wolverine. Ninety percent for Taz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">In general, licensed tie-in games have a higher chance of being Cousin Games.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@polygon\/video\/7466165917072870687\" data-video-id=\"7466165917072870687\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\">\n<section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@polygon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@polygon?refer=embed\">@polygon<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>For me? It was Pajama San and Freddy Fish. <a title=\"gaming\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/gaming?refer=embed\">#gaming<\/a> <a title=\"gamingontiktok\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/gamingontiktok?refer=embed\">#gamingontiktok<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c original sound - Polygon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7466165865478638367?refer=embed\">\u266c original sound &#8211; Polygon<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">First and third-party mascot games are rarely Cousin Games, but there are many exceptions in the Sonic franchise. First-party Nintendo games are <em>never<\/em> Cousin Games. Except for <em>Geist<\/em>, which is definitely a Cousin Game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">PC games can be Cousin Games, but are far more likely to be Uncle Games, which we don\u2019t have time to get into.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The Cousin Game is defined by a mystery. How did <em>this<\/em> game come to be in this wrong-smelling house? Was it a gift from a parent, plucked arbitrarily from a Babbage\u2019s shelf? Or did your cousin <em>believe<\/em> in <em>BattleTanx 2<\/em>? Do they still think of it fondly today? Is it as sweet and familiar in their memory as it is strange in yours?<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">And if you see any of the games mentioned here and said, \u201cthat\u2019s not a Cousin Game,\u201d you may have to consider the troubling possibility that <em>you<\/em> are the cousin. Help is available.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/videos\/518337\/cousin-games\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a name for the forgotten, forgettable, off-brand, off-axis games of our youth. I call them: Cousin Games. The best way to get in the Cousin Game mindset is to imagine being dropped off in a house that smells different from how you think a house is supposed to smell and you go into a room with a guy who&#8217;s like a weird version of you, and he\u2019s playing Nintendo \u2014 which you understand \u2014 but when you look at the screen, it\u2019s like\u2026 What is that?\u2026 What the hell is that? (It\u2019s Iggy\u2019s Wreckin\u2019 Balls.) A Cousin Game is a game you don\u2019t own, and don\u2019t necessarily want to own. But \u201cCousin Game\u201d is not a euphemism for \u201cbad game.\u201d There are lots&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/lets-talk-about-cousin-games\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1114454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Let\u2019s talk about Cousin Games | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have a name for the forgotten, forgettable, off-brand, off-axis games of our youth. I call them: Cousin Games. 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