Besides the already mentioned Boom Blox and Super Mario Galaxy, my 5 year old boy likes (in order of which he spends most time on):
- Barnyard (nice storyline, lots of little games, collecting stuff, sandbox style)
- Excite Truck (great racing game with amazing speed sensation and bizarre stunts)
- Pokemon (the game is not that great, but he loves Pokemon)
- Bee Movie (simple games within the Bee Movie theme. He loved the movie)
- Chicken Little (nice first person shooter type game for kids)
- Lego Batman or Lego Star Wars (which we play together).
- Cars (Driving around collecting stuff and playing little race games)
He also plays Mario Kart now and then, but he gets upset by the randomness of the game. So he switches back to Excite Truck.
He's 5 though, so maybe Bee Movie, Pokemon and Cars are more for smaller kids like him. I think the rest is good (if not better) for older kids.
He loved Ratatouille too, but he couldn't play that on his own. I had to play it for him and he would watch. I'd bet a 10 year old could play this game just fine though.
I just got him Samba de Amigo. For now he's loving that to death too. Not sure yet how long he will keep on playing that though. I personally don't like that game at all (rather play Raving rabbids for a similar but better party game).