ABOUT TWICE A MONTH the Davis family microwaves a bag of popcorn and sprawls around a large flat-screen TV for the night. But they don’t stream Netflix. They fire up a Nintendo Wii U and play “Mario Kart,” the gravity-defying racing game.

“It’s not just pressing buttons,” said Gary Davis, 53, of Webster, N.Y. “There’s a lot of joking going on.” Despite the fact that “Mario Kart” involves neither senseless slaughter nor barbaric hedonism, his sons are into it. “It’s cool to see my parents interested in things I’m interested in also,” said Will, 14.

How can some popular videogames teach life lessons and help families bond? WSJ's Sarah Needleman and Kathy and Will Davis join Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero to discuss. Photo: Getty

Videogames have long been vilified for being too violent or turning children into comatose couch potatoes. But these days, parents who grew up playing classic titles like “Super Mario Bros.” and “Frogger” are realizing that videogames don’t necessarily have to drive a wedge between generations. They can turn an uncool parent into someone a kid can tolerate for more than an hour, and maybe even bond with.

Considerably less traumatic for parents than chaperoning a Miley Cyrus concert, intergenerational gaming is also more common than you might expect. Nearly three out of five parents with game-playing children said they join in at least once a week, according to a 2015 survey of more than 4,000 U.S. households commissioned by the Entertainment Software Association. And there are more options for families than ever, including less-costly machines such as the new Apple TV announced Wednesday.

“I’m not a soccer mom. I’m a gaming mom,” said Judy Dumontet, a film writer and director in Los Angeles. Although her twin 9-year-old sons, Daniel and David, are into sports, they’re more skilled on the digital field, she said. “This is where they can shine.”

This past summer, her husband, Gilbert Dumontet, 44, spent Tuesday nights cheering the boys on at a “Minecraft” tournament, which torpedoes the popular puzzle game’s lonely-nerd-in-a-basement image by turning it into a team sport. In a local movie theater filled with other laptop-toting tweens, Daniel and David collaborated with others to create the most original dinosaur, pirate ship and other 3-D objects. “There was a competitive spirit that came out of them that I had not seen,” said Mr. Dumontet, an entertainment executive.

It was also an opportunity to impart lessons more commonly taught on the basketball court or football field. When the boys got angry because they deemed the judging unfair, Mr. Dumontet told them to focus on their own performance and how they can improve for the next competition.

“Many games not only teach academic subjects like math and science but also important life skills, like working toward a goal and persisting even after failure,” said Yalda T. Uhls, a child psychologist who studies how media affects children. (Minecraft, for example, is all about geometry.) According to Dr. Uhls, those lessons are reinforced when a parent is on hand to encourage children who might be having trouble beating a tricky level. “If you’re in there with them or just watching, you can teach your kids critical thinking,” said Dr. Uhls.

Kids aren’t the only ones getting schooled, though. As they play, parents are talking to their children about everything from what happened at school that day to more serious topics, like sexuality and bullying.

Adam and Heather Przystas of Webster, Mass., attribute their close relationship with their 12-year-old daughter, Laurana, in large part to their regular games of “Monster Strike” and “Skylanders.” Recently, they learned that Laurana wants to be a robotics engineer and is into bands like the Foo Fighters and Smash Mouth. “We definitely bond while we do it,” said Mr. Przystas.

Making connections like this is no fluke, according to Jane McGonigal, whose recent book “Superbetter” (Penguin Press, 2015) explores the science behind gaming. Research shows that playing videogames with others prompts each person’s brain to mirror the others’, creating an emotional and physiological connection, she said.

“Every time you play a videogame with someone in the same room, your breathing rates will start to sync up, your heart rates will start beating at the same pulse and your facial expressions and body language will mirror each other,” said Ms. McGonigal. “It means your brains are working in exactly the same way.”

All of which boosts trust and empathy, she said—even if players are adversaries—because videogames require players to quickly anticipate what their opponents or teammates are going to do next. “You’re making decisions in a matter of seconds, so it’s a very intense experience,” Ms. McGonigal said. “You’re constantly trying to get into the other player’s head.”

To be sure, even in the most gamer-friendly of households, parents still butt heads with their children over questions such as what games are appropriate, when they can play and for how long. Most parents set basic rules (homework and chores must be done before touching a controller) and look to ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. (An “E” rating indicates that a game is appropriate for all ages; “M” titles contain “mature content”—blood, gore, sexual situations.) Parents also use gaming to talk about the potential dangers of communicating with strangers online.

“ Less traumatic for parents than chaperoning a Miley Cyrus concert, intergenerational gaming is increasingly more common. ”

Adrian and Michael Pastore, both 44, of Westfield, N.J., have covered this ground with their 10-year-old son Gabriel. The fifth-grader said he knows to ignore “jerks” in game chat rooms or on YouTube (where he likes to comment on videos of—what else?—people playing videogames).

Though Gabriel plays with his parents from time to time, he admitted he prefers competing with his peers. “My friends know what to do,” he said, whereas his mom and dad still have a lot to learn before they catch up to him. “I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon,” he added.

That the playing field is far from level might be the biggest hurdle. Mr. Davis, for example, is at a distinct disadvantage. He remembers playing “Pong” for the first time at a local electronics store but didn’t have a console growing up. When playing with his family today, the boys “beat me terribly,” he said. “It’s not always fun to play with experts.”

Corrections & Amplifications

The Entertainment Software Association was incorrectly referred to as the Electronic Software Association in an earlier version of this article.