What games do you recommend for my girlfriend?
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!
Stardew valley is 2D so fewer controls to learn than a 3D game. It also has a cute art style.
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.
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.
Ok so the answer is Stardew Valley. There are some other decent answers in here but trust me on this, it’s Stardew Valley for her first one.
Games that I played with my wife that wr thoroughly enjoyed
--------COOP-------- -Unravel two. Great cute platformer where it doesn't matter if one player isn't that great at platformers. A mpving stoey with beautiful graphics and fun coop.
It Takes Two A platforming game with a great story. Good feels all around
-Stardew Valley Many people already suggested this. It's amazing. Super addictive, great coop, but can be played singleplayer as well if you're not around
- Trine series Another great platformer series. Difficulty can easily be adjusted (by allowing lifting boxes with people on it with wizard). And can also be played solo.
Escape Simulator Great escape room game with many small escaperooms that take about 10 to 15 minutes each to solve. Solo and coop.
-Overcooked Great hectic coop game. I find this game quite hectic and exhausting to play for a long time, but my wife couldn't get enough of it. Even when she was tired. Best to play coop, can be played solo.
-------SINGLEPLAYER------- My wife enjoyed management style games a lot, where you had no time pressure of any sorts.
- Strange Horticulture Puzzle game where you try to find the right plants by deductions. No time pressure, very relaxing. Only single player, although you could play it together.
Planet Zoo Probably the best zoo management game out there. Wife was addicted to it for months
Planet Coaster Same as above, but with theme parks
Cities Skylines (first one) Great city planner
Hope this helps!
Portal and Portal 2 are excellent "introduction to gaming," games. Memorable, fun, funny, and most importantly the entire game teaches you the skills needed for a large percentage of other games.
Factorio, Satisfactory, and Dyson Sphere Program are all good factory building games.
Terraria and Minecraft can be surprisingly engaging with multiplayer.
Stardew Valley, therapy the game.
So I am a baby gamer. My husband is a big gamer and has been trying to get me into it for years but his games are intimidating on a level he doesn't understand because a lot of the interfaces are hard if you didn't grow up with them. And I don't like a lot of scary battles or waves of enemies. I just wanna explore and at the beginning platforming was freaking hard as I just wasn't precise enough with jumps.
If it's in budget, I would recommend the switch as I've found a ton of games I've gelled with and have grown with me a bit. Get a pro controller and that was super easy to get used to, WADS controller have a learning curve I've never personally mastered. Hubby also has a steam deck I've stolen on occasion but I like the cute and cozy games in switch. The steam store is great but overwhelming too..
Current games I'm playing, unpacking, Stardew and Disney dream light valley (I'm not even a huge Disney fan but I am over 200 hours in on this sucker). I have played animal crossing, Gris, costume quest, monkey island, and Luigi mansion (that one was a challenge for me). I have Veneba, coral island, short hike, little to the left and ooblets on my want to play list.
I would also say that YouTube has helped me find games. If you look up cozy games, I find a ton of reviews and let's plays that kinda help me get a better idea on if I'd be interested or if it's kinda in my play style before I waste my money. I do have a limited gaming budget so, I like to be sure before I spend.. Nothing is more discouraging then dropping money on a stinker game that you can't get the hang of. Granted watching reviews and playthroughs is kinda becoming it's own hobby.
Stardew Valley. It’s a cozy farm sim with lots to dig into if you want to at your own pace (it is not uncommon to play the wiki open) The same save file can be used for single player or multiplayer
(local or online).It Takes Two would be my introduction for a partner who doesn't game very much. Co-op, easy to play, fun in a really low stakes way with a great story. I had tons of fun with the game playing with an ex.
Raft is another I played with an ex that was a lot of fun. It's a very chill co-op survival game where you build up your boat.
Minecraft? you could build atuff together
Take a look at "Lovers in a dangerous spacetime". It's a cute, fun coop game with fairly simple controls. And I'm pretty sure it was developed with non-gamer partners in mind.
If she loves organisation, "A Little to the Left" and "Unpacking" are cute.
Stardew Valley is being mentioned a lot and with good reason, there are a lot of elements to that game and you can choose which activities you like most - farming, mining, fighting monsters, foraging, interacting with villagers.
From there you can get a really good idea of what other games could be even better. For example if she loves the social side of Stardew Valley a Japanese Social Sim game might be fun too.
Stardew Valley
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Or maybe just Minecraft
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This is a cliche, but a lot of women I know play the Sims. Your girlfriend might like it as well.
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Wilmot's Warehouse is a cool game about organizing a warehouse.
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I played a lot of Terraria with my sister. It's 2D, so she did not get motion sickness. There's a lot of costumes we could collect. (This was probably our favourite part of the game.)
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Not a fan myself, but my wife quite enjoyed getting into Life is Strange.
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.
she likes organizing/keeping track of stuff.
Stardew Valley.
It Takes Two is a great coop game for causal gamers and it’s romantic too
Unpacking
I'm really surprised I haven't seen them mentioned here (and apologies if someone did suggest it and I missed it!).
The Monkey Island games. Super simple controls, as most of it is point and click. Not expensive to get into, so no big loss if it ends up not being her thing. They are silly and clever, and reward the player for being silly and clever. They are puzzle games that require some attention to detail and curiosity to solve, but there isn't any "fail" condition. You just don't progress if you can't solve the puzzle. It doesn't assume any prior game knowledge or habits; a lot of games will expect the player to be familiar with certain controls or tropes commonly used in games, but Monkey Island is more similar to a "choose your own adventure" style story.
A Hat in Time is a somewhat easy platformer IMO. It’s super cute and a low-stress game.
If the only reason that you’re avoiding action games is that she may not be good at the controls, you can consider action games that have good low difficulty modes. Deep Rock Galactic has good lower difficulty modes in my opinion, and it is fun to play with others.
IIRC Dusk has a really slow paced low difficulty mode as well. Projectile based attacks move super slow. I’m not sure what she’ll be into as far as genre goes, but action games may be approachable if you pick the right ones.
One more recommendation I haven't seen here - Dave the Diver. A cosy blend of underwater exploration, collecting, and selling sushi!
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?
For puzzles, absolutely unpacking, also have seen similar friends put time into that remodel game that escapes me right now. House Fixer maybe?
It is more action, but I have had success during covid with family who was trapped at home by introducing them to Mass Effect (on story mode, the easiest setting). The story is so engrossing through the three games that they overlooked the action. If she likes big stories, I would suggest that. On keyboard and mouse it's not the most confusing game either, pretty simple.
If you were thinking Factorio but want to do it together, check out Satisfactory. It's a 1st person version of it that supports multiplayer, and you could set up a dedicated server. (I'm biased though, I have over 2000 hours in it and I am a mod of !satisfactory@lemmy.world). Satisfactory is definitely less intimidating than factorio for newbies to the factory building environment, and there's a creative factor in there too.
I've also had luck with people giving them portal. Portal is a great game to introduce them to not anction gameplay but helps them learn movement controls. Honestly out of the three I suggested maybe portal first and go from there. Would introduce movement, a weapon, and the second has a pretty strong story.
For anything else, what are her interests, what does she do for a living? Maybe we can put forward some more.
I haven't tried it yet, but A Little to the Left looks like a fun organizing game. It was just added to Game Pass if you have that. I also see my daughter playing Power Washer Simulator sometimes, which I haven't tried, but it looks like it could be satisfying to play.
I'm a big fan of Don't Nod games (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why) for atmospheric storytelling. Life is Strange: True Colors is from Deck Nine games, but falls in the same category. Detroit: Become Human is also kind of similar, but it occasionally throws in sections where you have to quickly react with button pushing that I don't enjoy. One thing I find interesting about all of these is that you can play them more than once with different choices to get different paths, but so far I haven't replayed any of them because I felt like the path I took was meaningful and I don't want to change my story yet.
An MMO could be a good way to go. My wife isn't really into gaming, but we played WoW together on and off for years. I haven't played them much, but if I were to recommend one to start with now I'd probably check out Final Fantasy 14 or Elder Scrolls Online.
I played Minecraft with my gf before but she didn't really enjoy it. The only game I've seen her play a lot of is Civ 6.
This time on Minecraft I started a server with some friends and she's having a blast. She made a cute little house and she has built a "girl-cave" where she and her friend shares cake. It's so wholesome.
In case you she's new you could probably play a LAN world on peaceful. That's what I did back when I started.
When first starting out, I think relaxed games that help a player get used to left and right directions (side-scrolling or platform) and timing on the controls is a good start. Then evolve into camera and movement based controls.
My suggestions are starting with these:
My Brother Rabbit
The Between Gardens
Dawn (may have some camera control, but this is the most relaxing game I've played for that)
Then move on to these:
La Rana
The Room Series
Aim Labs or any shooting game that has tutorials/ practice mode (for FPS practice)
These games are found on steam. Note, most of these are casual/puzzle based.
I don't have much experience with co-op, so can't help you there. But I do like the suggestions so far based on reviews.
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.
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.
sorry i don't know enough about multiplayer or local multiplayer games although if you're looking for a Co-op game i would recommend It Takes Two. it's simple but has its own charm. beware it's a third person game and has some shooting sections in it but it's beginner friendly enough.
i think city builders and management/tycoon games would be great for these situations cause if you like them there's no upper limit on playtime. cities skyline and RollerCoaster Tycoon are both great. if you're looking for something like factorio satisfactory could also work.
of course adventure games or puzzle games are also a great fit since most of them tend to have simple controls but great story and humor and hard puzzles that can keep you busy while solving them is satisfying. i've made a post recently on this community asking for people's recommendations so definitely check that out.
there's also this lovely little game called Townscaper. it's really simple you just add or remove blocks on a non-rectangular grid on a sea and the game tries to generate a pleasant looking town. it might sound lackluster on paper but it's fun and you can get some hours out of it developing your town and discovering the town style rules (there is also some hidden structures that can pop up discovering those is also fun).
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
I'm in a similar situation with my partner; she does game, but only shitty repetitive predatory mobile puzzle games. I got her Stardew to try and she absolutely hated it. I have, however, had some limited success with puzzle RPGs like Ticket to Earth.
My SO doesn't like gaming as well, but we play Bejuweled 3 together. It is not multiplayer but we take turns everytime it's game over. It's very relaxing and addictive and kills time pretty quick.
The Bloons tower defense games are pretty fun and have co-op, you can take it slow and the upgrade system has a lot of fun little upgrades to manage.
No experience with games? Has she watched you play games, did she have favourites from those? Are there certain IPs she likes that would help?
My sister is now a casual gamer. The games that got her into it are Kingdom Hearts just via Disney branding and Uncharted (which she liked watching people play due to the Nathan Drake) which slid her to her favourite series Tomb Raider.
I recommend going that route instead of trying to find some weird fit since if she likes Harry Potter for example one of the best solutions regardless of the time you put in will be Hogwarts Legacy.
Baldur's Gate 3.
My wife wanted to check out gaming and tried many of the games mentioned here. Only two landed in any real way. Unpacking and animal crossing. Neither need you to really understand how to game very much. Unpacking especially. If you know how to move elements on a desktop, you can fully play unpacking. She filled each save file on it and adores it.
Dark Picture games with it being coop and story driven so easier for new comers to get into with less reflexes being involved.
Minecraft, stardew, factorio or satisfactory are good ideas. Fortnite's lego mode. Dragonquest Builders 2.
For stuck inside though and I've been there nothing beats those big open world games. Maybe Cyberpunk or BG3 or Yazuka or Fallout or Elder Scrolls are my personal faves but anything where you get to be the boss of the world like those are so fun when you can't roam or socialize much.
Wilmot's Warehouse!
It's an organizing game & you're a little guy! (:
Mine loves Cook Serve Delicious and Stardew Valley. Also Starbound and Terraria.
My wife loves House Flipper. It's very much about organising, it sounds like it would fit well for her.
Turned based on pausable stuff can reduce stress by allowing for thoughtfulness, and even single player games can be done together through strategizing, while also not requiring the 2nd person if they aren't available. To that end, I'm going to recommend Slay the Spire, Dicey Dungeons or Broken Age. Then probably some kind of tactical game, Darkest Dungeon, Loop Hero or Shadowrun. After that, maybe some kind of management game, Cities: Skylines, SimCity, Stardew Valley, Humankind or Against the Storm. If you want to go deeper, Crusader Kings, Dyson Sphere Program or Wartales.
Real-time games that require using multiple sticks/buttons/aiming+moving at once are inherently more difficult to start without the muscle memory, so I'd look to build that up with games that have simpler controls starting with Vampire Survivors or Brotato. Then I'd probably do some kind of non-shooter first or third person game, thinking of Escape Academy, Firewatch or Superliminal, Amnesia (maybe). Then a combat first/third person game Assassin's Creed, Battlefield (Campaign), Mass Effect. Then maybe something that's got combat plus extra stuff, Atomic Heart, Deep Rock Galactic, Dead Space (maybe), Doom, Prey, Wo Long, Remnant. After that is really PvP stuff.
If you just want more readably accessible stuff, A Short Hike, Disneyland Adventures, Peggle, Plants vs Zombies, Bejeweled, The Walking Dead from Telltale (maybe).
I also pulled every game on this list off of Xbox Game Pass, so that might be a good way to try a bunch of different games for cheaper.
Factorio works, but it would probably help to give a guided to tour the store and genres, to figure out what she would like.
If she has really no exposure at all, playing just factorio is limiting yourself to eating one flavor of ice cream.
Play some old classics like Mario, they are a lot fo fun to play together! I'd say she'd be better off with a controller, K+M is tricky to get used to when you have never used it to game before.
Phogs
My girlfriend likes jrpg games.. I think you could try thoses... There are plenty. Final fantasy etc. Can play with an emulator.
Otherwise she loves Tetris! Playing against her is a ton of fun.
Doki Doki litterature club (visual novels that is kind of funny, I played it with my girlfriend)
Spyro the Dragon (my sister just play this and the Sims lol)
Maybe Timberborn once she's slightly more familiar with keyboard controls? It's a cute city builder type game with beavers and the big thing with that is building dams and redirecting water, but it's still in early release and I don't think it does an amazing job of explaining its mechanics, but at the moment it still has a fairly straightforward resource management and supply chain mechanic.
When covid had everyone working from home and avoiding social contact, I started my gaming journey with Firewatch and The Long Dark, and Factorio. All are excellent. Alien Isolation and The Forest came later.
btw there's a big Stardew update planned for this year, might be worth waiting before starting a new game
Haven. You can play alone or with 2 people, it's very relaxing and I don't know any other game like it. It has a story and 2 endings.
It Takes Two is a 2 player game where you really have to attune to each other, though it's not really difficult. It's a good fun game to play together.
Me and my wife love playing a game called "Out of Space" it's essentially a procedurally generated clean the house game. It has Overcooked vibes but it's a lot more chill.
Factorio might be a bit heavy for someone who hasn't played anything, but the peaceful mode might be interesting for just building. Also depending on what else she likes Cities Skylines, Rimworld, Stellaris or Parkitect are all very management focused.
If you give us more info on what she likes we might be able to give better suggestions.
LocoRoco
It's the only game I've got my wife to play that she enjoyed. It's cute with simple controls. But there's enough there to keep her entertained for awhile.
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.
Terraria!! Easy to understand mechanics, building, controller support or mouse and keyboard and can be run on anything
Visual novels are an option.
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
Xonotic, minecraft
Stray is an awesome game that’s easy to learn, fun, and really beautiful. Makes for a great starter game
We were here series. Coop puzzle game
Any of the overcooked style games like tools up.
Maybe some raft coop.
Hummm easy games. I think it depends of their tastes and what they like to do.
I can think of a few games which might be fun, but perhaps she should watch some lets plays to see if it peaks her interest.
Lil Guardsman is a fun game my SO showed me recently.
Stardew Vally
Potion/crafting games are something else, Potionomics might be fun.
Oh point and clicks might be fun too, but I can think of anything outside of Grim Fandango or Monkey Island
Animal Crossing is always relaxing
My SO and I played Persona 5 together too, I played the game while she was my navigatior who made conversation choices.
Rimworld. It's like the sims, but with war crimes.
i played civ 6 with a non-gamer partner and it was pretty fun
If you think she might like a 3D platformer that's also one of the best ever licensed property videogames, give SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom a try. The original was the first videogame I think I ever finished, and I thought the remastered version from a few years ago is very well made.
Also this game is how I got my girlfriend to start playing videogames
League of Legends
Take a look at Apico pixel game all about beekeeping (is more akin to Stardew in how much the is to do however). Fantastic game