Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

Aliens in the Attic

By Harold Goldberg, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Movie-based game has mildly humorous mayhem.

Game Nintendo DS , Nintendo Wii , PlayStation 2 , Windows 2009
Aliens in the Attic Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Aliens in the Attic Game: Screenshot #1
  • Aliens in the Attic Game: Screenshot #2
  • Aliens in the Attic Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What’s It About?

Once again, the aliens are coming. In ALIENS IN THE ATTIC, the video game based on the movie of the same name, the Pearson family heads to Michigan and a seemingly terrific vacation house. But the house is occupied by aliens, crusty, gremlin-sized curmudgeons who want to, you guessed it, take over the world. In this platformer, you'll play as four aliens trying to get the Sizematron to work so they can grow as big as the humans they seek to dominate.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1 ):

With one to four players, you play through 15 levels based on the movie's plot, sometimes filled with mildly humorous mayhem. The game suffers from being short, something not uncommon with movie-based games from smaller publishers. Also, in the Wii version, pressing the ‘A' button twice to jump high doesn't always work. And the game's difficulty ramps up too quickly.

Although the camera and graphics are nicely tuned, the fact that the double jump doesn't work well is frustrating. Depending on which alien you choose, you can stun a human, use sharp fingernails to slash, create grenades, or use your teeth. When playing on the Wii, shaking the Wii remote lets you pull off these attacks quickly. Overall, though, Aliens in the Attic has spotty gameplay. Try it before you buy it to make sure it's for you.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether you wanted to play this game because you saw the movie, because of marketing related to the movie, or because you just like alien games?

  • Did you find the controls to be weak or just right?

Game Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate