If you were delighted, amused, and otherwise enraptured by the Barbie movie and you left the theater thinking, “Now I want to play a Barbie video game!” your pink-tinted enthusiasm likely turned gloomy gray when you logged onto your console to search up a tie-in title. Even though the iconic character is everywhere else in the pop culture-verse this summer, she’s largely MIA from video games.
“There used to be dozens of Barbie games,” writer Nikole Zivalich, a video game industry veteran and longtime Barbie fan, told me. “You could be secret agent Barbie. Or horse ranch Barbie. You could be fashion designer Barbie, or super model Barbie. You had so many Barbie options!” And indeed, Barbie has a surprisingly rich gaming history, particularly on PC. (There’s even a Game Developer Barbie doll!)
But the last console Barbie game, Barbie & Her Sisters: Puppy Rescue, came out in 2013. Since then, gamers have been stuck with Available on Mobile Barbie. But a lack of “official” AAA Barbie titles doesn’t mean you can’t find games with that Barbie feel, so I asked Zivalich to recommend the best games for Barbie fans, both new and old.
The Sims 4 (and the rest of the Sims series)
“The best, most evolved version of a Barbie series already exists: The Sims,” Zivalich said.
The first game in the life-simulation franchise came out in 2000, and since then, three full sequels have been released, along with dozens and dozens of upgrades and content packs, all of which bring players closer to the perfect, “playing with little people” fun of Barbies.
“In the first Sims game, I had 30 Barbies, one Ken, and one Aladdin. That was my family,” Zivalich said. “The Sims 2 came out when I was a teenager, and my Barbie Dream House became my Sims Dream House. That game was all about the clothes though. It was Napster times, and you could download so many outfits, characters, and mods for free.”
You can’t get them for free anymore, but The Sims 4 features all the fashion and building choices you could ever need to create your own personal Barbieland, and the addition of goals means you can guide your Barbies, Kens, and even Allans toward the lifestyles and professions of your choice—just like Astrophysicist Barbie, Flight Attendant Barbie, and UNICEF Ambassador Barbie dolls. Read IGN review.
Barbie Fashion Designer
If you’re in the mood to muck around with getting an old-school game working, Barbie Fashion Designer is the best Barbie game ever, at least according to Zivalich. Released in 1996, the PC and Mac title was the first commercially successful video game aimed exclusively at girls. It lets you design clothes and put together outfits, then watch Barbie model them on your computer screen. That’s pretty cool, but it also lets you print out your doll clothes on special fabric-paper so your actual Barbie can wear the clothes you made.
“You’re creating clothes and you’re playing with clothes, and that’s so much of what Barbie is,” Zivalich said.
Forza Horizon 5
Barbie owns the hottest car in the history of toys, the Dream Car, that iconic pink 1956 corvette convertible. If you want to ride around in Barbie’s sweet whip, you can download it in Forza Horizon 5. You can also tool around in the objectively less cool custom painted 2022 GMC Hummer EV from the movie, if you’re more of a Ken. Read the IGN review.
Buy it digital ($44.95)| Buy a physical copy ($44.99)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2021)
The first Animal Crossing came out in the US in 2002, and since then, five other games have been released for various Nintendo systems. They’re all excellent, and perfect for getting that sandbox style of play that resembles playing Barbies. Plus, the stylized, cute Animal Crossing visuals will appeal to anyone who appreciates Barbie’s always excellent design.
“Barbie play to me is open,” Zivalich said. “It’s ‘here’s what you have to play with; now play however you want.’ Like Animal Crossing.” Read the IGN review.
Buy it digital ($59.99)| Buy a physical copy ($50.89)
Barbie Horse Adventure: Riding Camp (2008)
Little girls being obsessed with both horses and Barbie is a bit of a cliche, but only because it’s so often true. The Barbie Horse Adventure series on PC and Wii offered horses, clothing, a stories, more horses, and more clothing. It’s geared toward younger girls, so don’t expect Red Dead Redemption 2 in pink or anything, but Horse Adventure: Riding Camp is a solid game with challenging-(but not impossible races) and imaginative Barbie style. Read the IGN review.
Buy a physical copy ($32.99)
Barbie: Secret Agent
Released in 2002 for Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance, Barbie: Secret Agent finds the title character lost in a netherworld of international intrigue. The action game takes Barbie from New York to Tokyo and beyond on a quest for a stolen invisibility suit.
“Barbie Secret Agent is so great,” Zivalich said. “Because you’re fully Barbie, but you’re fully a secret agent too. Like in one part you’re chasing someone down this slide—it’s a fun slide, but it’s also a serious slide, because you’re a secret agent.” Read the IGN review.
Buy a physical copy ($34.95)
Baldur’s Gate 2
On a surface level, the Baldur’s Gate games bear little resemblance to Barbie. None of the complex fantasy titles set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe feature Malibu dream houses or pink Corvettes. But on a more essential level, Baldur’s Gate (and most other RPGs) are Barbie as hell.
Barbie can be whatever she wants, even a sword-wielding warrior. “You’re role-playing and living your dreams,” Zivalich explains.”You’re traveling all over, and accumulating outfits and accessories—what’s more Barbie than that?” Read the IGN review.
Buy a physical copy ($21.71)
