A Good Game for an Absolute Beginner?

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

I'm gonna go with Portal 2. You can play alone or with a friend, there's a nice, slow difficulty curve, and it has a good story with memorable characters and unique setting. Just about anything you would want in an intro to games.


EDIT: Wait, fuck all that. Lego Star Wars. It's DEFINITELY Lego Star Wars.

 

[TrevHead]

forget my last post

I recommend Child of Eden and Rez HD

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Errr, Pokemon... it's a good starting point

 

[irmasterlol]

People are saying Portal, but I can say from experience. NOT PORTAL. The very act of moving a character in a game is difficult for a newcomer. Adding puzzles is a quick way to overwhelm them. They're having to think pretty hard just to avoid getting stuck in the corner. I thought Portal would get my girlfriend into gaming, but she refused to go past the fourth test chamber on the grounds that it was "too stressful." She didn't even notice the quick wit and black humor because she was too busy panicking. As it turned out Zelda OoT and MM were the trick to getting her on board.

Keep it simple.

Get some iOS games to get her used to the idea of interacting with a world through controls. Then maybe some 2D platformers to get used to the idea of moving a character through space. Then you can move on to 3D games. The most important thing is not to introduce too many elements at once when it's someone like your mother who's wary of the medium.

Or if you want, she could come over to my house and play with my Wii for a while, if you know what I mean.

 

[Death Carr]

Well, I got my Mum into gaming with the Professor Layton games for the DS.
They're simple, fun, and my Mum loves puzzles so it was perfect for her, she's now finished all of them and even bought the movie that they made from the series.

 

[Ninjat_126]

Try Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

I tried to introduce my mother to Dark Souls... I think she liked it! And she only died once! Mind you, this was the Undead Asylum first level/tutorial.

My suggestions? Try Adventure Quest or Dragonfable, they're free to play, fairly simple with more depth if you get into it, and pretty much aimed at kids. You can kill most of the early enemies by just spamming the 'Attack' button.

A fighting game is also a good choice, button mashing can get you through weaker AI no trouble, but mastering mechanics can take a while.

Finally, platformers. Try any of the Mario platformers, Spyro the Dragon or possibly the Fancy Pants Adventures series, which you can play free online.


EDIT: World of Goo, anyone familiar with physics and gravity can play it. Also, I've heard Pokemon is good, though I'm afraid I've never played a Pokemon game before.

My current plan is to introduce my parents to Resident Evil 4, as provided by the Playstation Store. They're both Doom alumni, and Resi4 doesn't use the dual analogue stick control system.

 

[LetalisK]

Stick with simple iOS games, if she has an iPhone. Word with Friends, Drawesome, things like that.

 

[Aphantas]

The biggest problem will be finding the right genre for her. You can give her a simple game but she may not connect with it if she does not like the aesthetics or genre. I would suggest that you look at what kinds or books and movies she likes before recommending a game to her.

That being said my mum got into gaming through Rock n' Roll Racing (SNES) and Diablo. So maybe try unrealistic racers or loot crawlers?

 

[EHKOS]

I started out on Crash Bandicoot. Very first game when I was growing up. Although I would start with 2 or 3....the first one gets balls hard later on.

 

[Furioso]

You can get Banjo Kazooie on xbox live, try that. The game is brilliant on its own, and I used to play while my Mom watched, alllllll the way back when the game was new, and she still remembers the game to this day.

 

[him over there]

You can get Banjo Kazooie on xbox live, try that. The game is brilliant on its own, and I used to play while my Mom watched, alllllll the way back when the game was new, and she still remembers the game to this day.

Not to diss on BK, I think the game is great, but isn't it a tad difficult for a first timer?

 

[Khazidhea]

I've always thought that Prince of Persia (2008) would make a good starter game. It's non-punishing when you fail, a bit repetitious to help learn the controls, and it's colourful with two semi-engaging chacters. Played on Xbox, so not sure what it's like on pc.

 

[Phisi]

portal 2 co-op, you can help her get through the puzzles and once she is confident with the controls get her to play portal and portal 2. After that I'll branch out into more FPS with easy controls, something like Dead Island where you can play together and it is still quite simple.

 

[Costia]

Plants vs zombies
easy controls, lots of fun
sometimes even challenging

edit:
oh, and angry birds. same reasons

 

[Smeatza]

If you have a PS3, LittleBigPlanet.
It's simple and more importantly, charming.
Any mother would love it.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

L.A. Noire is interesting and relatively simple. If you get stuck on an action sequence you can skip it and your A.I. partner can do most of the driving.

Heavy Rain is good if you have a ps3 as all the actions are signposted and it has a hefty focus on story.

Fahrenheit is like heavy rain only slightly more complex in some areas.

Flower or Journey could work to if you have a ps3 as there simple and relaxing but oddly compelling and would make a good jumping of point.

Or maybe just a good old fighter like the new MK which is simple, intuitive and is as easy or as hard as you want plus its got 2 player to help you ease her into it. (No I'm not being paid to say that)

 

[MasochisticAvenger]

Maybe gaming just isn't her thing. Also, I'm not a smoker myself but I am around a lot of people who smoke at my work. Trust me, there isn't a lot that's going to distract them from wanting a cigarette.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Dynasty Warriors

Don't like it myself, but it could be tons of fun for her.

'Bout time she learns to fear the name Lu Bu.