What games would get my wife into gaming?

[ThatDrunkGuy]

Borderlands of course!

 

Tip Moxxi to get her guns, and if I remember right the Bad Touch will vibrate the 2nd controller whenever you fire it. 

 

You're welcome!

[FieryFieryFire]

I would just recommend picking any game that is high quality (not littered with bugs), easy to understand, forgiving and piques her interest.

 

[dannyswfc9]

In all seriousness like others have said it takes two is a fantastic game for her to play with you. 

 

My wife isnt into video games but we used to play crash bandicoot together which she really liked. 

 

Your wife might also like life is strange series as its more story focused so its more towards film than gaming

 

[ZanFear]

Already some great responses so far, but ultimately depends on what your wife is into. Maybe something that isn’t overly complicated to control and is story focused, so games by Telltale, Quantic Dream, and Supermassive Games. Tearaway Unfolded is a real gem though. Maybe LittleBigPlanet 3 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure as well.

[OBSTINATIO]

Trine 4 or 5 in local coop! 

[DrBloodmoney]

Might be tough if she's actively scornful of games, rather than simply indifferent...

(you can't force folks to like what they don't like)...

 

...My wife isn't opposed to games, but (outside of some minor phone-game obsessions!) she tends only to either play co-op games with me, or watch games that we "play" together, but she's along for the ride, or solving the mystery with me, even though the controller is in my hands.

 

Having said that, some of the ones we've enjoyed together are:

 

 

Played in Co-Op:

 

Shatter

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Trine (the entire series - these are the ones she gets genuinely excited for!)

The Quarry

Rifftrax

Majicka 2

Little Big Planet (all games)

Sackboy's Big Adventure

Heavenly Bodies (actually, she hated it, but my sister dug it in co-op, so maybe!)

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (same - sister liked, wife disliked!)

 

 

Played "together", but with me controlling and her participating:

 

Return of the Obra Dinn

Superliminal

The Entropy Centre

Life is Strange series

Goodbye Volcano High

Viewfinder

The Garden Between

Telling Lies

Doki Doki Literature Club

Outer Wilds

Maquette

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 

South Park: The Stick of Truth

 

 

I played, but she watched:

 

Alan Wake 2

A Plague Tale (both games)

The Last of Us (both games)

Pyre

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by DrBloodmoney

[DamageDKami]

1 hour ago, proud2bNs said:

My SO liked Overcooked and Moving out a lot. In general, co-op games work best.  She absolutely didn't like It Takes Two and Stardew Valley for some reason.

This pretty much describes my g/f's preferences as well. Really liked the couch co-op of Overcooked and Moving Out. Recently started Rayman Legends and she really liked that as well, while she never played any games before she met me. Others mentioned games that match her interests: my g/f played Maneater on her account, she loves sharks, was hilarious to watch as well. 

[AvariceInc]

3 hours ago, iXanon said:

The Overcooked games are a great shout.

 

My partner couch co-op'd them with me, and we actually got quite good at it. Good enough for the completions, at least! 😁

 

Uh oooh this can be a dangerous game for the introduction to gaming. Overcooked definitely is not a good pick for eeeevery couple but it's great if you are evenly quick at it or are fine going with the speed of the slower person and not take it super serious and start blaming each other while the clock is ticking and so, or if your couple humor can tolerate the blaming.  I was just barely able to get the plat solo in OC2 but whenever I was playing co-op I was blamed all the time for not doing my tasks quick enough...   

[gazdavis11]

My wife wouldn't know how to turn a console on let alone play a game but that's fine. I acknowledge I have my interests/hobbies and she has hers and we have a good balance between what we do for ourselves and what we do as a couple or family. Most important thing is to not let your desire to play video games get in the way of family time. I tend to play my console exclusively in the evening once kids have gone to bed and my wife wants to watch some trash reality show I have no interest in.  She watches what she wants to upstairs and I have the living room TV. It works for us

[xXNanaki24Xx]

Even though alot of people recommend "It takes two", i wouldnt advise that if your GF has no experience with games whatsover.

 

I figured my wife has a hard time with camera movement with the analog sticks, what helped is INVERTING the sticks. Its closer to the movement people are used to with a smartphone.

 

Also try games without camera movement, like LittleBigPlanet and Sackboys Adventure or what my wife really enjoyed was Until Dawn and The Quarry. The latter was a bit hectic when decisions had to be fast, but she wasnt that familiar with the button placements (X, O, Square, Triangle) and sometimes would panic while looking on the screen and back to the controller and so on.

 

Animal Crossing and Mario Party are great but i dont thing they will bring her closer to gaming in general.

 

[Helyx]

7 hours ago, Matto_lsi said:

Hobby or Significant Other?

 

If they resent you for having a hobby, then the problem isn't the hobby...

[zizimonster]

A Way Out

 

...of marriage.

[colia100]

Dead space

[ArtMontef]

11 hours ago, dmsleight said:

So pretend that your wife/girlfriend hates/resents it when you play games, so you think, "if I got games she enjoyed, maybe we could enjoy gaming together, and maybe she wouldn't mind me playing as much."  What PS4/5 games might get my wife interested in playing?  E.g. if I had a switch, I'd probably get mario party and mario kart.

 

One game I was thinking of is tearway...  Any games that your woman enjoys for playstation?  Two and single player games could work.

As a woman that is also a gamer that is loaded question. She RESENTS you playing games? That's uh... Alot. I'm not gonna be armchair psychiatrist here, but I'd recommend on reflecting what you wrote. 

 

If you really want to include her in your hobby and she never held a controller in her hands don't jump into stuff like it takes two. It's a FANTASTIC game, but as gamers we often forget how intimidating getting used to a controller can be. Something chill that gives her time to get used to the controller without any pressure. Disney Dreamlight Valley, Stardew Valley. If she likes stories- Telltale games. Putting her into level based game, rhythm game or stuff like that can be frustrating and intimidating. Doesn't mean it has to, some people can pick stuff up really fast, but imagine she's already hesitant to games at all, you put controller in her hand, she doesn't know what any buttons do, and you are sitting there waiting for her to just "do it" while she feels like a stupid child.

Find something chill at first, play story game like the quarry or something (granted if she likes horror movies) and asks if she wants to watch and help you decide what to do. Or if you want her to play by herself, as I said, something very chill at first. There is a reason why Animal Crossing was so immensely popular amongst non gamer women, even tho alot of gamers scoff how that game has no goal, no gameplay and so on  It's a perfect gateway game. 

 

[Eraezr]

Until Dawn has convinced all the normies I know irl into liking gaming.

[milanbarca82]

Overcooked, Moving Out, the last Astro’s Playroom (this one got my gf to finally have an interest in gaming).

[mega-tallica]

Nintendo coop games is the way to go if you want to get your girl into gaming. Something light-hearted, fun, and that you could experience together. Something like Mario Party is a perfect gateway into gaming. 

 

I also wouldn't force her to get into gaming just because you are, that's not going to be good time for anybody. It's okay for her not to like your hobby and vice versa. It's actually quite normal from my experience to have your partner actively hate most things you like to do. But that's okay as long as you have something that you do share together, it then balances out. 

[Letenko]

When I met my better half I was straight with her and told her about my main hobby, trophies. I knew she was accepting of it as one of her first experiences with it was seeing me self-boost Far Cry 2 using the 3 consoles, one of which was an old PS3 that I had to cool off by placing a chilled beer can on top of it. After she saw that and didn't leave me, I knew I could get her to at least try it.

 

I started her off by booting up Telltale's The Walking Dead season 1 for her. She seemed to like it quite a bit as we basically went straight into Destiny 1 after.

 

Couple of years later and now she was racing to platinum Hogwart's Legacy before any of my friends. 

 

I can't guarantee a way to get your wife into gaming, but I would suggest some story heavy games, the aformentioned TWD, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Heavy Rain. Also, and I'm fully aware how this might come off, but a lot of women who aren't hardcore into gaming seem to enjoy Assassin's Creed and The Sims, so that might be sonething to try.

 

If you want something easy that you can play together then try A Way Out, It Takes Two or We Were Here.

[wolvieware]

My wife is not a gamer, however she did manage to enjoy Fall Guys, Overcooked and Mario Kart (or similar kart). More simple, cartoony party games. 

She is a big Harry Potter fan so I got Hogwarts Legacy with the intention we could play through it together. But other than watching the opening she quickly fell out of interest in a more serious title with hardcore gaming RPG elements. 
 

She did quite enjoy watching me play Life is Strange and helped with the decisions. We had a bit argument with the very final choice where she wanted one option and I wanted the other but as I had the pad I chose my option! 🤣
 

I also found games with compliacated controller schemes were a no go. I think we forget how attuned to the pads we are using them regularly, but if there’s lots of buttons she can’t find them or forgets which one is which. Another reason why Hogwarts didn’t go down well. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by wolvieware
More info

[Eblait]

Spoiler

Damn, if my girlfriend hated the fact that I am doing something I love without her... like, this relationship would be loaded with other issues.

 

Your train of thought is valid, but it can backfire as well. She may not like to play anything, with or without you, you and her both wouldn't have any fun, and you would be back to square one.

 

If you want this to work, talk to her. I mean, is it really healthy to have someone disliking something that you do for your own enjoyment? You have your own life, with interests and hobbies from way before you even met her. It doesn't matter if she resents you or not, but she has to acknowledge and respect that.

 

Now, if your gaming habits gets in the way of your relationship, that's a different matter. You'd also need to do some self reflection and maybe play a little less. Giving in is a part of any relationship. But yeah, you two need to talk about it first. And that's the end of my relationship advice.

 

My girlfriend never played video games before I met her, so she was terrible at first. Like others said, don't introduce her to games with too many mechanics. It Takes Two was one of the first games we played, but it was an exercise in patience - too much trial and error from her part, and you need to be able to explain everything without anyone getting frustrated.

 

Co-op games will be the ones you want to play, as she will probably have more fun being part of an adventure with you. My main recommendation is Rayman Legends. That was such a great game to play with my girlfriend, and we played it to completion. There's a lot of great 2D platformers out there, but very few were able to be so accessible for co-op as this one (except maybe Mario).

 

Then you have games like Overcooked and Moving Out which require some strategy and full coordination to succeed. These are great games as well; they can be frustrating at times, but the teamwork pays off.

 

Can't really comment on single player games, as my girlfriend only likes coop. But the games above are a very good starting point.

[Mr_Fluffy_Pants_]

I’m sure others have said it but definitely the Sims, I’ve known girls who don’t play any games beside those, and honestly have never met a girl who didn’t like it.

 

Honourable mentions: Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Mario Kart

[esstee11]

Fall guys.

It's silly simple and cutesy.

 

It was the only game my non-gamer ex enjoyed, and would ask me to leave it on when I went out to work. Obviously liked it a little more than they even admitted cuz managed to rack it up to be my of all time third most played game 😂🙄

[serrated-banner9]

Basically any co-op or casual game like It Takes Two or Farming sim. If they aren't into gaming then they should be relaxed as they are exploring the medium.

EDIT: Should probably put a DISCLAIMER here and say this is based on my thoughts and not my experiences

Edited December 17, 2023 by serrated-banner9
DISCALIMER warning

[Dry]

On 12/15/2023 at 5:37 PM, ThatDrunkGuy said:

Borderlands of course!

 

Tip Moxxi to get her guns, and if I remember right the Bad Touch will vibrate the 2nd controller whenever you fire it. 

 

You're welcome!

 

...Or get a massagy in Mr. Massagy.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Dry

[Remiferia]

(deleted)

Edited March 17 by Remiferia