Game Recommendations for Spouse With No Experience

[RH | 4,903]

14 hours ago, NEET.dreams said:

Your wife is a girl right? Have her play some Barbie games. Duh. 

Those were the only games my wife played as a kid.  After getting a good report card a time or two, she was allowed to rent a SNES and got that one Barbie game.  I think that's the main reason she didn't like games when we first started dating.  Her experience suuuuuucked.

[Tabonga | 2,317]

Maybe one of the Sokoban games  such as Boxxle, Boxy Boy or Shove it.   She can go at her own pace and the games are pretty basic in the mechanics yet will offer some challenge once you get past the introductory levels.

[GPX | 1,369]

First question to ask:

”do you want to play video games?”

If the answer is “no”, then no need to waste time thinking of a game for her to try. 

Second question should then be:

”what type of game would you like to try?”

————

I think the trick is to pick a game that a beginner would like to try ie. decent graphics with simple controls. Something that anyone would be ok to want to try it out, regardless of whether it’s the wife, your mate, or your first child.

I personally have 2 good examples in my wife and my sister:

- wife generally doesn’t like playing games, but at a party she really got into Wii Sports.

- sister generally doesn’t like playing games, but I bought her DS as a present along with Mario Kart DS, and she loved it. To the point that I can’t even beat her on it! 

 

[T-Pac | 7,539]

I remember when I was brand-new to gaming, I enjoyed playing Mario Kart on Gamecube with my friend because he could steer the cart as player 1, and I just rode along and used items as player 2. It was great because I got to experience the game without worrying about driving the cart right away. That might be a good way to ease your spouse into gaming without overwhelming her with controls and mechanics.

-CasualCart

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

I struggled with this as well, my girlfriend is a working professional and never played any games growing up. She has expressed an interest in sharing my interests so we decided to work together in finding games we would both like and we found a few you may want to try. She really liked these:

- All Lego games, they're actually really good. We finsiehd all of them on the PlayStation 2, Wii and Switch.

- Unravel Two, one of the best games I've ever played.

- Luigi's Mansion 3 (playing now)

- All Super Mario Bros. games on the Wii and Switch.

- Overcooked!

[Deadeye | 1,596]

If she has tried games before and you have feedback about what she doesn't like, that would help.

My wife doesn't like the stress of enemies on screen, she says it gives her anxiety.  I tried varies games.  Puzzle games or ones where you take turns worked for her.  She also likes Mario Kart 8, which boggles my mind based on the above criteria. 

[TDIRunner | 2,735]

Not only does my wife not like video games, but she hates the fact that I collect and own so many games.  

With that said, while she probably wouldn't want to admit it, she had found several video games that she has enjoyed.  Most of these games fall under the "motion sensor" games or the "dancing" games.  She was a pretty big fan of the Wii back when it was new.  She enjoyed any of the simple motion games like Wii Sports, but her favorites were always the Dance Dance Revolution games, or anything similar.

The biggest surprise for me, however, was how much see enjoyed the demo disc of the PlayStation VR.  I forget the name of the game, but there was a game that sent hoards of monsters built out of blocks that you had to shoot.  She probably spent a few hours playing that game and really enjoyed it.  

That's about all I can recommend.  I've pretty much given up on ever getting her to enjoy games outside of those.  

[Scrobins | 1,725]

As several people have alluded, consider games that are intuitive with their controls. Mario Party games really bang you over the head with how to play their mini games. Also Wario Ware is a great one that is simple, but also fast-paced and ridiculously fun.

If she has limited prior experience or none at all, you could still ask what video games she remembers seeing others play. Games etched in her memory might be games she wants to play to tap into her own nostalgia. My girlfriend doesn't have much gaming experience, but she had distinct memories of House of the Dead and seeing her brothers play it in the arcade.

Sometimes you also just have to experiment; my girlfriend saw me playing Sonic 2 one day and at some point later asked what it was because it looked fun.

[JamesRobot | 5,800]

Just download Candy Crush or some crap on her phone.

[fox | 1,667]

It's a Romantic Comedy.  Babes love those!

[Estil | 1,264]

My wife loves hearts, so she thinks it's really cute and very sweet whenever I play Zelda games or something where I find or win (in a mini-game or boss battle) her heart  

[Estil | 1,264]

On 4/7/2020 at 10:22 AM, Gloves said:

People who grew up not playing video games aren't going to enjoy the NES as their first foray into gaming, generally speaking. 

I agree; the SNES is probably the best starter console.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I appreciate the general comments about not pushing her or getting frustrated. I also appreciated not trying to get her to like games if she just really isn’t interested. We have really only tried what I mentioned in the first post. She really has no preference other than not wanting to feel overwhelmed.

I would say that she will never likely be into gaming, but I’m looking to play with her in a way that she might have fun.

I think I have an idea of where to start. I’m going to try Wii Sports because I think she’ll like the casual but energetic experience. 1-2 Switch might be a good idea too. I think Mario Kart might be too hard. I do think playing games where she can be active and lighthearted would appeal to her.

[RudeGravity | 2]

Kirby Super Star on SNES

[GPX | 1,369]

17 hours ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

Thank you all for the suggestions. I appreciate the general comments about not pushing her or getting frustrated. I also appreciated not trying to get her to like games if she just really isn’t interested. We have really only tried what I mentioned in the first post. She really has no preference other than not wanting to feel overwhelmed.

I would say that she will never likely be into gaming, but I’m looking to play with her in a way that she might have fun.

I think I have an idea of where to start. I’m going to try Wii Sports because I think she’ll like the casual but energetic experience. 1-2 Switch might be a good idea too. I think Mario Kart might be too hard. I do think playing games where she can be active and lighthearted would appeal to her.

Good summary of the general consensus!

Remember the ultimate aim is for you to bond with her, and that it should bring natural smiles/laughter. It isn’t about her being the person you always wished for in a gaming partner. You’ve already got your mates for that.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Have you thought about something less gameplay driven, like a visual novel, a point and click adventure, a walking simulator, or something really text heavy? Maybe:

• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Journey
• House of Fata Morgana
• Phoenix Wright
• Grim Fandango

Edited April 11, 2020 by Philosoraptor

[CMR | 519]

Keep it simple.

Tetris

Dr. Mario

Contra

[Link | 2,709]

Mrs Link likes:

Bust a Move (played on MAME with arcade stick)

Pac Man (mobile or arcade... although on the latter she would mainly prefer to watch me)

Pac Sam (discontinued)

That one hidden object crime scene game I got for a cheap tablet I bought to test drive Android

Wii Sports

Wii Fit

Angry Birds

 

Mrs Link does not like:

vintage consoles / traditional controllers

Mario Party

Wario Ware (I thought she would, because she was really into mobile game Dumb Ways to Die when it came out... but I think touchscreen works better for her in figuring out what to do in the allotted few seconds)

[Estil | 1,264]

2 hours ago, CMR said:

Keep it simple.

Tetris

Dr. Mario

Tetris!  Dr Mario!  Tetris!  Dr Mario!  How do you choose???  Is there anyway to settle this debate?

 

[DreamCuPS | 18]

Based on a personal experience, id recommend Freeway (Atari 2600). It's a pretty straightforward game you can master in no time. I tried to play Final Fight with her (my then girlfriend, who was very green regarding games), but after not much long, she asked "... Cant we go back to the chicken's one??". If youre not into the 2600, I think there's an upgraded Freeway homebrew around, Im just sorry I don't remember where i saw that.

It also comes down to the profile of the player. Some people are good with dexterity stuff, while others with puzzles. I could cite Don Doko Don, Arkanoid or Galaga for the former case, and Flipull or Puzzle Fighter for the later one. But you can take all these as just references, there are several simpler clones for some of these games. 

Anyway, Id try games with basic mechanics for a start, that make use of only one or two action buttons, and very important: with low difficult levels. Good luck, and have fun you two. 

Edited April 16, 2020 by DreamCuPS

[LostLevel83 | 85]

On 4/7/2020 at 10:22 AM, Gloves said:

People who grew up not playing video games aren't going to enjoy the NES as their first foray into gaming, generally speaking. 

My wife never really enjoyed the older stuff, though she did have a ps2 that she didn't play all that much before I came along. We used to play a lot of Soul Calibur 2 together, and she liked watching me play God of War. Chicks dig stories and characters. She loves Overwatch because there's a whole sore behind it and every character has an interesting backstory; conversely she's totally not into military shooters like cod. You 

This is well said. My wife is younger than me and doesn’t have the background of 8-bit and 16-bit games that I do.

We’ve had a lot of fun playing through games like Tomb Raider and Horizon: Zero Dawn on PS4. She mostly plays the games and I occasionally chime in to help solve puzzles of offer strategy in boss fights. We both get enjoyment out of it for sure.

[Estil | 1,264]

OP, you said your wife has "no experience"?  Then be sure she starts out staying close to the starting point and whup some easy enemies like Slimes or Goblins and get herself up to Level 4-5 before she goes much further.  Trust me, that's important.

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

Yes, she has no experience except for the few things we’ve tried. She is definitely intimidates by even the simpler games.

[Californication | 1,477]

My gf plays Contra, Tengen Tetris, Dr. Mario, SMB1, Lode Runner, and Battle City. 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Californication

[Boosted52405 | 178]

I 2nd Animal Crossing and Overcooked.  The latter can be an absolute blast for co-op play, I'd suggest she play the beginner levels which are really easy and she'll either love it or hate it.  AC is just straight relaxing and if she's creative, she may reallllllly like it.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Boosted52405