Getting people to play games

[max734734]

You're probably more than familiar lots of games you love, so much so that you'd probably tried getting people around you to play it. And it works, well...40% of the time, every time.

This is especially notable for games that come with reps of having toxic armies of t***s ruining the experience for newcomers, despite all sorts of effort put into those games to be as welcoming as possible.

So I'd like to ask, how do you folks get people on board the play train? And what games do it very well? Both Multiplayer and Single-player, the latter of which has a major advantage...but eh, go on guys.

 

[DoPo]

I, uh, just say "Hey, I played this game and it's cool - you can try it if you want" and let them decide if they want to or not. I might throw in a description of what the game is and why I think it's good. On the rare occasions when it's a multiplayer game I also add something like "tell me if you want to join in".

So, my incredibly cunning strategy boils down to making people aware of a game that I like. I am not really into convincing them they should play it because, at the end of the day, I don't really care that much if somebody else plays something I like or not.

 

[Saelune]

Honestly, I have no idea. I have tried, but I literally grew up playing games. A controller in my hand is natural to me. But trying to get a friend who never played games into them was...a challenged I failed. I tried to stick to simpler games that are enjoyed by kids. Minecraft was one game I tried...but its hard to imagine teaching the concept of jumping and moving forward at the same time...

Edit: Oh, you mean just people in general, not necessarily non-gamers?

Depends on what I know they like. I would not bother trying to convince a person who hates shooters to play a shooter with me.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

I mention the game to them and if they like it we play it. My gf will play pretty much any multiplayer game with me. Got lots of friends to play OW with including her too. Pretty much just as simple as having some friends and asking

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I help a lot of people with competitive 2d fighting games whenever I get the chance. The community is smaller and very tightly-knit so I like being a mentoring figure to new players while not lying to them or portraying the games in an unrealistic way just to get them to play. Even if you do it that way they'll never put in the time required to get anywhere.


I think the desired result shouldn't be a high success rate of getting people to play but rather a high retention rate of those people (however many there are) for years down the line because when that occurs they too will blossom into mentors themselves, so by just getting like a handful of people truly and meaningfully invested you set off a chain reaction of inclusion in motion that can never be achieved by any single individual.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

I don't really try to convince people to play games. The most I'll do is along the lines of:

"Played Game X recently"
"Yeah? What's that about?"
"Explanation"
"Is it any good"
"Yeah. It's worth a shot, if you want."

And that's where my efforts end. Whether or not they try a game is up to them from that point on. I won't ask about it again or do any other follow-up. Should they play it and bring it up later, I'll happily discuss it with them, but otherwise, I don't pry.

 

[max734734]

i am not so addict of video games

 

[Vicent8]

Hmmm, I am not tired~

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I don't, I can't. I play a lot of different games, old and new. While my friends are still playing the same game we played 4 years ago. I only know 1 person that plays as much as me but he's anti-social as fuck.

 

[CaitSeith]

I show them some gameplay footage from a LP or a silent walkthrough. That's how I got into lots of games myself.

 

[Yoshi178]

i tie and strap them to a couch in front of a tv and won't let them leave until they've played the game and finished it 100%. :3

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

That would require knowing other people and socializing with them.
Way too much of a hassle. I don't even play with online strangers.
Single player games is where it's at. People be people, yo!

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

Games which can be played by multiple people in the same room.
That makes gaming a social experience, something you can do in the middle of a party.
Fighting games which rely on button mashing more than skills like Tekken are good, sports games, arcade racing games like Burnout, easy to play couch multiplayer FPS games like Call of Duty, single player games with really short rounds like Trials, that kind of stuff.
Games that aren't a commitment.
Something you can pick up, play for 15 minutes and put away.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The only person I recommend games to is my girlfriend, and I only recommend the ones I think she'd like (story-heavy third-person action games), not necessarily the ones I want.