Games for Beginners

[144_v1legacy]

Wind Waker. I say this out of a replica of this exact experience - the girlfriend-getting-into-games scenario. She loved WW. Not only is it very good, it's a good introduction to a variety of elements used in other games, and the visual style of Toon Link has strong girlfriend-appeal, without being offensively cutesy. And even if you don't have a Wii U, the GC version's graphics still hold up really well (but if you have a Wii U and an HDTV, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to get WWHD).

p.s., my favorite LP I've seen (and one of the only ones that in my opinion isn't narrated by a moron) is called Stephen & Mal: Twilight Princess, which you might want to watch some of for tips on how to be a good boyfriend spectator. It'll make a big difference as to whether or not she enjoys any video game if the person she's with is annoying, rude, absent, unhelpful, too helpful, etc.

 

[Brown Cap]

Hey there Escapists,

My girlfriend is curious about getting into gaming. A lot of the stuff I play (RTS and survival horror) might a bit of a dive into the deep end. What's a good title to introduce someone to video games? What are your experiences on the matter?

I have recently had a similar encounter!
I feel these games could work for simplicity and fun!
- Portal
- Team Fortress 2
- Animal Crossing
- Slender?
- Skyrim (to a point)

 

[And Man]

Extra Credits did a video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXQuannq308

Stating which consoles you own would be pretty helpful. I wanna recommend Portal, but I've heard stories of newcomers having a lot of trouble with it, and I feel that she'd be able to appreciate it more once she has a better understanding of the medium. If you have a Wii or a Wii U, I think that Super Mario Galaxy could be a great game to start with. I think a Turn-Based Strategy or Strategy RPG could work well too, like something Disgaea-esque, since she'd have time to think and wouldn't need to make decisions on the fly. Although the abundance of stats that can be typical to those games could be overwhelming or confusing. Or maybe a hack 'n slash or beat 'em up, perhaps Dynasty Warriors? Maybe Mass Effect? Personally, I feel that an open world game like any of the Elder Scrolls games would be a pretty poor starting point; I think they would give too much agency and just end up overwhelming a new player. And I'd stay away from anything overly complicated like Civilization. And I'd suggest staying away from co-op games too, for reasons mentioned in the video.

Honestly, this is a fairly tough question to answer without knowing the person.

Call of Duty is an easy one if you want to get the person into that genre.

Thats not even a game......Its garbage....

CoD is a fine game, and it's a much better suggestion than the games you recommended. You recommended games that are mostly great, but a lot of them are awful games for someone new to video games to start out with i.e. Planescape, Civ, Deus Ex, Spec Ops.

 

[Eddie the head]

I knew a guy form work that had a similar thing going on. He used the Lego games. There simple and fun. So yeah that's my suggestion.

 

[GonzoGamer]

For PC, I too would recommend Portal and Sims but I would also recommend Fallout 3 (if you think she'd want to explore a very elaborate world) or New Vegas (if she'd want to navigate a very elaborate story). For a lot of people the barrier to entry is honing the fast twitch reflexes and Fallout helps you out a lot with the VATS thing, giving you time to breathe, think, and assess how many are attacking you with what...even when you run out of action points.
By the same token, GTA's autoaim (when it isn't messing you up), can help in the same way, but it doesn't freeze time. And if you like the Sims, it's got that same paper doll diversion.
Another good one for the console is Katamari. The ps2 had been my first console since maybe the Genesis and Katamari helped me get used to the gamepad design and using dual analog sticks. Also it just uses those two sticks for the gameplay, you don't have to keep track of the dozen or so buttons.

 

[XSTALKERX]

Oh a very easy game that's very friendly for beginners is this little game called Dark Souls. It's not a very well known game. It's a very straight forward game, not subtle at all, the game explains every thing for you and generally it's a very easy game. I died only like 2 times on my first play through, and when you die the game is so forgiving, doesn't punish you at all.

 

[blackdwarf]

although I am not a huge fan, I do agree that portal is great game for new players. Mainly because it doesn't stress the player to finish a puzzle. there is no timer and you are being given the time to solve a room. I think this a great start, because the player can control its own pace of completing the game. Sure, You can be stuck for hours on a puzzle, but the game doesn't really make a point about it.

Something open ended like Skyrim would also help, because she can pretty much do whats she wants. And if there are some aspect she really likes (fighting/magic/lore/quests/whatever) you can suggest games which focus more on those aspects.

Best is if she can try more genres so she can say later on what stuff she likes and whats she dislikes.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Something by Nintendo if you have the hardware. Simple to learn, easy to master.
I think the important thing when introducing someone to gaming is to present an experience that instantly rewards you. Something that quickly and effectively gives you a taste of what everything else is going to be like.

 

[Mudokon]

Hey there Escapists,

My girlfriend is curious about getting into gaming. A lot of the stuff I play (RTS and survival horror) might a bit of a dive into the deep end. What's a good title to introduce someone to video games? What are your experiences on the matter?

What platforms are available to your girlfriend ? we can give more acurate answers if we know.

you can ask her if she experienced any game in the past and she liked it, for example my girlfriend said that she once played crash team racing and she liked it so i introduced her Mario kart, she loved it, she is quite a pro right now and she is a real challenge when we play together, she also likes donkey kong country returns and we finished it in co op mode then she saw me playing tekken and she liked it we play together several fighting games like tatsunoko vs capcom and smash bros, then she stepped into games like l.a noire and massefect too but anyway i think the best thing to do is to introduce her to many games from different genres and let her decide what she likes the most and one advice, never let her win on purpose because there is a chance that she will get loose and never hone her skills to the maximum, you can let her catch her breath but as she becomes better and better never let her win untill she is able to do so.

 

[Evonisia]

Nintendo platformers are good for it. If you lack a Nintendo console, go for Rayman Origins/Legends. Really easy to learn but has a great difficulty curve and getting all the lums is a great challenge. The LEGO games are also good for this as they're simple to learn, hard to collect all the studs. Portal and Portal 2 as well, because they've great stories on top of their puzzle gameplay.

Then ease her into the other genres slowly.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I say it depends on the story of the game. Does she like a simple story like in a platformer like Portal 1 and 2? Or does the story from Assassins Creed or Skyrim take her fancy? I would say an rpg would be good as she could invent her own character. Though the amount of time to invest in the game is alot.

I say give her the options, and then the choice.

 

[Ratty]

^This is good advice. Also it depends largely on her interests. If she's interested in RPGs I'd say Chrono Trigger would be great to start with. Excellent story, graphics and music and the combat is menu based but still active. So it's not quite as twitch-reflex intensive.

 

[omega 616]

I'd go with portal ... kind of hard to die, funny narrative and more or less essential gaming skills are gained from it, FPS is one of the most common genres and mastering the movement will help for future games.

I guess PC would be better but controller could work.

 

[Doom972]

When I introduced my girlfriend to gaming, I started with games that only require the mouse. We played a few adventure games (such as Kyrandia and Monkey Island), on-rail shooters (mostly House of the Dead), and some casual games (She really got into Plants Vs Zombies). Later on, we moved on to games with more xomplex controls, but we kept it 2D for a while (We played a lot of Worms Armageddon). Eventually, I introduced her to Portal, which is a great game to help someone get used to 3D environments without enemies gunning them down.

It took a few years, but she now plays video games with me and on her own. We play Team Fortress 2 together sometimes, and have played through several co-op games.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Fable is a good bet. Impossible to die and you can win just by button mashing but it's fun. And I've noticed women gamers I know love Fable games.

 

[Harpalyce]

Hm. Speaking as somebody who's a bit of a noob in her own right, and just dragged my Mom back into gaming, I'd say step one might be to buy a used 3DS for her.[footnote]Often if you don't mind gambling on whether a thing works simply because it's been turned in without power cord and nobody knows, shopgoodwill.com is a good place to look. It's largely confused volunteers not knowing much about how these things cost. I got my mom a 3ds in perfect shape, with case, for around 50 dollars - I just had to take that chance and have some faith that it was a sturdy little workhorse and would charge up just fine.[/footnote]

The 3DS has a lot of games that I think are great introductions to gaming. They might seem a bit 'kiddie' or 'non-hardcore' but you may have to work your way up to things that are more complicated. Try Animal Crossing and Pokemon X/Y to start out with. AC is pretty easy and very relaxing, and Pokemon X/Y is one of those games that is very forgiving but actually does have some complexity you can sit and think about.

Your girlfriend may be a little hesitant because she's looked at what you play and gone "oh jeez that's fuckin scary", so these games will kinda show her the lighter, fluffier side of things as well, lol.

When she's hooked via the 3DS, think about PC games. If you can find a server to play on together, Minecraft is a great game, especially if she says something along the lines of "I love Animal Crossing, I just wish I could build whatever I wanted". That'll introduce her a little more towards survival and combat, and most of all, it's something you can do together. You might want to go ahead of her just a tad and build up a little bit - not a whole huge fortress, but enough that as soon as she hits minecraft, you can hand her some stone tools (instead of useless wooden ones) and you can huddle together in a little hut while avoiding all the zombies outside when night comes hahaha

Also look at games you can play cooperatively with her, too. If she wants to try FPSeyness, what about Warframe? It's not that complicated, it's extremely satisfying "I'm a motherfucking ninja in space flippystabbyshootyWAHEY" gameplay, it's free to play, and it's something where you guys can competitively play together. Soloing is totally possible in the game so she isn't beholden to you being there, and she can always dip her toes into matchmaking too. Also it's free-to-play so, you know, not like you're losing any money or anything.

The other game you could play cooperatively with her might be a MOBA like LoL, but that might involve bringing in another person or setting up custom games where it's you + a bot vs. all bots. This is going off my experience playing with people I like in LoL, I just plain don't like matchmaking because I know I'm a noob. I'm also a noob with anxiety disorders but I digress

Most importantly, though... ask her what she wants to play!

Maybe something's already caught her eye. Be there to give help when she asks for it, but don't spoil it for her (as hard as this totally is in some games). Make sure she knows the controls, give her access to your gaming stuff if she wants to try a game on your ps3 or something, and hey, take the advantage to totally sprawl out on the floor behind her and be her living armchair and get some good cuddles in while you enjoy watching her discover and enjoy what you like too!

 

[FPLOON]

Portal could be a good option to get used to a controller and it's not too long either. But knowing for what system you will be using would be useful information.

Seeing lots of recommendations for Portal. While it feels like a good choice being funny, well-written and non-violent, I'm not so sure. If you are not used to first person perspective Portal gets very confusing fast. Also if you are confused, the puzzles can act as a brick wall.

I would concur to a point... I mean, when I played Portal for the first time, I never liked first-person games anything nor the drive to do anything that required to solve a[ny] puzzle in first person... But, somehow, Portal found a way to make me, at least, respect both genres instead of just brushing them off right away...

OT: Well, Nintendo has Pikmin and other IPs worthy of a curious person of the gaming kind... Then, use those games as a spring-board into other games of their respected genre on other platforms, for example...

Other than that, I personally recommend anything that stars Rayman (no Rabbids needed, mind you...) and the LEGO games...
Also, Child of Eden...

 

[TrevHead]

Single player FPS like Bioshock are quite easy, maybe Co-op Borderlands once she has mastered the basics. Relic make good entry level RTS imo.

If she like's puzzler's then Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Is a hybrid of Chess, puzzle and JRPG. Lumines is a good puzzler for noobs imo.

Play some Jamestown Co-op with her, even if she sucks you can pick up items to get her back in the game.

Castle Crashers / Streets of Rage 2 co-op might be simple button mashy fun too

2nd Child of Eden, IIRC there is even a casual tourist mode where you can't die

 

[Arkley]

Basics: Rayman Legends or Origins. They're incredibly bright, vibrant, beautiful to look at and listen to, the characters are funny and endearing, and have a kind of infectious enthusiasm to them. The gameplay starts out simple and gradually becomes more demanding. In Legends, you can hop back and forth between worlds/levels at will, pretty much allowing you to tailor the difficulty curve to your partner and create variety at will. Then, when you're ready for it, you can challenge the toughest levels, which will give even the twitchiest hands a run for their money. Finally and most importantly, both games have co-op. They're the perfect starting games.

Intermediate: Portal is probably the best introduction to twin-stick/KB&M controls you could hope for. It doesn't depend on reaction speed until later in the game and is a great way to learn more complex controls in an environment that feels safe to a newcomer. Keep in mind, though, that Portal is still a first-person game with challenging puzzles and a control scheme that will seem alien to someone new to gaming. Be supportive!

Other genres: RTS is a hard genre to break into. I'd say start with a turn-based strategy game first. What sort of interests does your partner have? If they're into history (or even pseudo-historical drama, like Game of Thrones and its imitators) Civ 5 will be an easy sell. Best of all, a game like Civ 5 serves to introduce complex gameplay systems without an overwhelming control scheme. Like Portal, it doesn't require reaction speed, but also like Portal, it will almost certainly be utterly overwhelming to a newcomer. If you're gonna go for it, go in together.

Oh, and don't forget games like Diablo! Simple controls on top of deeper systems. If you want a "baby's first" version, look into the DeathSpank games. They're hilarious, unique and beautiful to look at, and the loot/gear systems are a lot simpler than games like Diablo/Torchlight. They also have simplified co-op.

Good luck, friendo. Finding a shared interest with a loved one is always an awesome thing. Remember to be patient and supportive.