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.
Yeah, I played It Takes Two with my gf last week and she had trouble with the most basic jumps because she couldn't use the keyboard and mouse at the same time. It might be easier with the controller, but moving a character and the camera at the same time is surprisingly hard to learn for beginners.
The best recommendations here are the games with extremely simple controls. I think Vampire Survivors was a good pick since you only need to use the keyboard for most of the time. Adventure games was another good recommendation since it should only require the mouse.
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.
Stardew Valley
My wife is still playing this, going on 4 years.
Also Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Start her on Dark Souls so that nothing she plays after will seem difficult.
I got a girlfriend a long time ago to give the game a shot. She had played stuff before- she was playing BioShock on Xbox when we met. The rats by the big drake on the bridge literally made her cry. Felt pretty bad.
(We did eventually finish the game together in co-op, but we're long since broken up for largely unrelated reasons)
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.
My partner used to be a teacher. There was a period of like a year when she would get home from work looking insanely stressed. Then she'd boot up Stardew Valley on her laptop from the couch and I could see her mood change immediately. She'd play for hours too.
At one point it was like Stardew Valley was her real life while the actual outside world was some horrible nightmare she had to wake up from.
It takes two is a fantastic experience to have with a loved one, even if inexperienced with games, it is very forgiving
The gameplay of 'It takes two' is very fun, but the characters and the story can be infuriating. If they annoy you in the trailers or in a gameplay video, be aware that their dynamic stays like that a long time - we gave up on it after a while because of it
Exactly this. It's a terrible, outdated story that essentially sells "staying together for the kids." The whole way through we were both like "ye these two need to get divorced." The book is a villain.
Eta: game play was fun though
Yep, my girlfriend and I thought the same.
"Oh, I know how to solve our problem! We make our daughter cry!"
"But how?"
"Let's brutally murder her toy elephant!"
A+ parenting right there
Oh, I assumed it was kid friendly. My soon to be 7 year old is just started Minecraft. He struggles with games so far as too complex for him, like lego Harry Potter or even hot wheels (all the ps+ kids games). I was hoping to try it takes two with him at some point. If the story is not nice, maybe that's not a great idea. Playing Rayman together was fun and forgiving as he just keeps reappearing when he dies.
If she likes organizing, let her take a peek at "unpacking". Cute artstyle, really cozy and lots of stuff to unpack and organize. Hope your girlfriend gets better soon!
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!
SIMS 3 and/or 4, Stardew Valley, Unpacking, Furnish Master, How To Bathe Your Cat
Co-Op: It Takes Two, A Way Out, Unravel Two, Vampire Survivors (also solo)
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.
Stardew Valley is a fantastic couples game
I'd recommend story-based games like The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, etc. You don't need to know anything about gaming to enjoy them, and you can both play it like a series.
Minecraft, Terreria, Stardew Valley, Overcooked, The Sims, Dark Souls.
🎵 one of these things are not like the others 🎵
Really pushing her into the deep end, sink-or-swim style. I just hope Pelican Town doesn't chew her up and spit her out too hard.
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.
There's a game called A Little to the Left that's a whole bunch of lovely organisational + sorting puzzles
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).
Portal
Return of the Obra Dinn is short but a great puzzle game for keeping track of things.
I'll second this. I finished playing it the other week.
It's a singleplayer game, but seems like it would be fun for two people to discuss all the clues together.
It Takes Two was really popular. I've only heard good things.
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.
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.
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.
Minecraft? you could build atuff together
Stardew Valley
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Or maybe just Minecraft
Not a fan myself, but my wife quite enjoyed getting into Life is Strange.
It Takes Two is a great coop game for causal gamers and it’s romantic too
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.
This is a cliche, but a lot of women I know play the Sims. Your girlfriend might like it as well.
Wilmot's Warehouse is a cool game about organizing a warehouse.
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.)
Katamari Damacy.
Switch?
AC New Horizons Cult of the Lamb My Time at Portia
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’m just gonna say Skyrim. Sandbox world.
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.
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?
One more recommendation I haven't seen here - Dave the Diver. A cosy blend of underwater exploration, collecting, and selling sushi!
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