What games do you recommend for my girlfriend?

My girlfriend has never really gamed. But she’s now forced to move less than she would like to (health problem) and she’s getting bored. I was thinking of introducing her to a game or two that we could play together. She’s not the real action game type, and seeing as she has no experience with controller/mouse and keyboard I was thinking starting simple.

I can’t think of anything else than Factorio, as she likes organizing/keeping track of stuff.

Would you recommend against that or have anything better in mind? Let me know!

Zachariah,
@Zachariah@lemmy.world avatar

Portal

toiletobserver,

This was a triumph

janus2,
@janus2@lemmy.zip avatar

I second Portal. Technically it’s a “first person puzzle platformer” but it’s just so its own thing that it hardly feels like a video game.

My mom who hadn’t touched any video games since 80s arcade machines absolutely loved Portal

dirtySourdough,

Here are a few I didn’t see already. I’ve played these all on switch.

Untitled Goose Game - casual and goofy 1/2 player puzzle game

Far Lone Sails - casual 1 player puzzle adventure game

Figment - light action adventure platformer one player game

hitmyspot,

If she would like to get in to more action games, one with a strong story, like the last of us could be a pathway, played on easy/story mode.

Id also second casual games as a pathway to more involved games. Overcooked is white hectic and introduced a few gaming mechanics from others. It’s essentially crafting against a timer. To progress, she’ll need to get better at controls, but the learning curve is gradual enough that she’ll.have fun.

Rayman (legends?), I play coop with my kid. He dies often ,but it’s not an issue as you only lose progress when you both die.

pantyhosewimp,

Half the heavy hitters in Elder Scrolls Online are house wives because it’s a game where you get more power just for putting time into it. Also the collecting of pretty outfits.

Brewchin,

Came here to say the same.

ESO, Guild Wars 2 - or even Final Fantasy XIV, Genshin Impact or WarFrame - will provide an interesting world, lore, objectives, opportunities for group and co-op play (or PvP if that’s her thing; she might not know it yet).

Girl+noob doesn’t have to mean farming/building games. Unless, again, she realises it’s her thing.

And outfit fashion is the True End Game™️ for so many online games. Warframe calls it FashionFrame. 😄

chameleon,
@chameleon@kbin.social avatar

I don't think Factorio is suitable for a first-time gamer. The way the inventory, hotbar and the map work aren't immediately obvious if you've never played a game. If you do try, at least turn biters off. The time pressure that's added by having to set up defense would be difficult enough to handle, but offensive combat is quite the struggle if you're still trying to learn basic gaming controls. You'd be dealing with things like swapping hotbars to one with grenades & stuff, control schemes changing the moment you get into a vehicle and weird targeting quirks. And by the time you get to trains or advanced oil cracking quite a lot of people tend to drop off the game in general.

I'd start with something like Minecraft on peaceful difficulty, then give easy or normal a try after a couple of hours if that goes well. Peaceful leaves time to learn all the basic controls and is fun enough to run around in by itself, and you're not going to get blasted by a creeper that fell behind you.

Maalus,

It’s funny how people overestimate what a person that never gamed can do. OP, Factorio is constant precise clicking with an unintuitive UI if you haven’t played any games. So is Satisfactory and similar others.

Start with things casual gamers play. There is a reason Sims is so popular. If you want to later (muuuch later) introduce her into the FPS genre - Portal 2. It has very little controls to remember, and very rarely is there any action that needs to require dexterity in aiming. Also, Valve invisible tutorials are awesome for new gamers.

cottonmon, (edited )
@cottonmon@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, I played It Takes Two with my gf last week and she had trouble with the most basic jumps because she couldn’t use the keyboard and mouse at the same time. It might be easier with the controller, but moving a character and the camera at the same time is surprisingly hard to learn for beginners.

The best recommendations here are the games with extremely simple controls. I think Vampire Survivors was a good pick since you only need to use the keyboard for most of the time. Adventure games was another good recommendation since it should only require the mouse.

Honytawk,

Yeah, I’d also recommend more casual games.

Good that she likes organizing, but Factorio is way over the head of any non-gamer. Doubt it would keep her entertained for long. Its only great if you like micromanaging and meticulously playing around with game mechanics. Which usually only happens after being exposed to gaming long enough.

It Takes Two is much better for a beginner since it isn’t a punishing game.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is an other great couple game.

We were Here if both of you like puzzles.

Dark_Arc,
@Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg avatar

Yeah, I played It Takes Two with my gf last week and she had trouble with the most basic jumps because she couldn’t use the keyboard and mouse at the same time.

This is probably a stupid question … but it was an actual mouse right? Like we wasn’t using a touchpad?

So many OSes default to the touchpad being disabled while typing and that causes big issues for WASD keyboard and mouse games.

cottonmon,
@cottonmon@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, she was using a mouse

Dark_Arc,
@Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg avatar

Okay, totally fair just checking for my own curiosity 🙂

Kraiden,

House flipper, The Sims, Planet Zoo/Planet coaster, Two Point Hospital/Campus, or anything in the creative management genre. Stardew Valley is good, and in the same vein, Graveyard Keeper.

If you have a Switch, Animal Crossing

If she likes Factorio, try Terra Nil maybe?

Also, there's always minecraft in peaceful mode?

AlwaysNowNeverNotMe,
@AlwaysNowNeverNotMe@kbin.social avatar

Rimworld. It's like the sims, but with war crimes.

RatherLemming,

One more recommendation I haven’t seen here - Dave the Diver. A cosy blend of underwater exploration, collecting, and selling sushi!

Kolrami,

It Takes Two was really popular. I’ve only heard good things.

janus2,
@janus2@lemmy.zip avatar

I, a casual PC gamer, played it with a hardcore console gamer, and it was very fun overall

But BOY were there some shooter sections that absolutely dismembered me with my WASD-brain 💀

slazer2au,

We were here series. Coop puzzle game

Any of the overcooked style games like tools up.

Maybe some raft coop.

Donjuanme,

If you’re a fan of 80s-90s action movies check out “broforce”. There are some multiplayer "single stick shooters"out there that are quite fun, vampire survivors comes to mind. Don’t starve together is a great multiplayer experience. Others have said stardew valley, and I agree with them, if single player is desired check out animal crossing. Satisfactory is the 3-D version of factorio, with fewer resources constraints and less enemy aggression, Dyson sphere program is factorio tuned the opposite way. Rimworld and dwarf fortress are both highly recommended "run your own city, but in a passive manner"games

Dvixen,
@Dvixen@lemmy.world avatar

Satisfactory. Lots to organize and build. A bit of a learning curve if you want to get complex, but if you want to keep things simple it’s really doable.

No Man’s Sky. Space exploration, building, and all round reason to goof about for hours. (Free to play this weekend on all platforms.)

Both games have a great community.

Aremel,

Phogs is a game where you a control a dog-dog (Remember Cat-Dog from Nickelodeon? That, but double dog) through a series of themed worlds solving puzzles. The themes are things puppies are interested in (eating, sleeping, and playing). The game is meant to be played co-op, but I believe it can be played alone.

Zahille7,

Any “cozy” game. Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, others like those.

One that I personally really like, that sort of blends different aspects of AC and SV, is Paleo Pines. You have a ranch that you little by little clear out, fix up, and decorate; all with the help of adorable dinosaur friends. There’s actually a surprising number of species and map space in the game, and the vibe and aesthetic are ridiculously cute. I will say it’s slightly more laid back than SV as there are no real timers for the different quests and such, and there are fewer characters to keep track of/befriend.

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