My son plays the the milder shooters - Fortnite and Overwatch - but he also adores Rocket League and wishes his friends would play. He also likes Scrap Mechanic, but that may be young for teens (my son is 12). On the Switch he likes Zelda, and if you have a PS the big thing this year is Spider-Man.

Xbox Fortnite (third-person) and Rocket League. Also a little Overwatch, which may be first person (not sure) but isn’t very realistic. His peers play other games that we don’t allow - Rainbow something, GTA, etc.

We also drew the line at realistic 1st person shooter games. However, medieval settings, hunting down monsters with arrows, magic, and swords, and finding loot was acceptable. Path of Exile is a free online Role Playing Game that my whole family has played together (me hubby and 3 teen boys). It's viewpoint is above the characters and the shooting/whacking/magicking things is not "realistic". Lots of character options. Lots of loot & skill strategies. You can play alone or cooperatively. Long game with maps that regenerate so you can replay areas. The storyline is dark, but it is a fantasy RPG. My hubby and two of the boys have played it a lot over the past few years.

https://www.pathofexile.com/game

My DS always liked the Civilization games - I think there's a Switch version

My DS (14) plays Rocket League (cars playing soccer) when he’s not playing Fortnite. Some of his friends play it, but all of them play Fortnite. He usually teams up with players from around the country to play Rocket League as he’s better than most of his friends, but it’s a pretty popular and established game. He plays it on PC (mainly) but also Xbox. I’m pretty sure it can be played on PS4 too.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate on the Switch

My DS who is into history and stratey plays a lot of Crusader Kings.

FIFA

I was going to recommend sports video games, but that doesn't seem like an option either. Maybe a racing game?

MY 15 yo son has friends over to hang out/sleepover and does the same at friends. They play video games, eat a lot, walk up to the nearby school and shoot baskets.

My boys have a switch and they play Mario games, which are pretty much generic and acceptable - Mario Cart (car racing) Mario Odyssey, etc. One in middle school and one in high school

The title says it all -- what games (on which system) does your HS male teen like to play? I get that HS boys bond by playing video games. I don't love it, wish they could do something else together, but I have come to terms with it.

BUT, because of my personal life experiences w/ gun violence, I will not permit first person shooter games in my home, especially those with war settings. I don't want this thread to become a debate about whether my decision is right or wrong. My personal experiences are such that I will never be OK with this.

SO, are there any games out there that boys like to play that are NOT 1st person shooter games. I recognize that there are other considerations -- human v. non-human characters, realistic v. cartoon, real graphic consequences v. not, etc. I'd prefer to find games that boys like to play that don't involve shooting, but I'm open to some compromises (like cartoon or non-realistic might be better than realistic/graphic).

Complicated by the fact that DS is not huge into football, baseball, basketball, etc. We have some of those, they don't get a lot of play.

If not games, what else do guys do when they go over to each other's houses? Or are they really too old at this age to hang out at another house?