My partner is interested in learning some of the games I play, so I’m trying to find some introductory games to get her used to the common control schemes.
Off the top of my head, it’d probably have to be games that…
- Have few inputs beyond the basics
- Are not difficult or punishing
- Are approachable mechanically (So as not to overwhelm them when they’re focus on learning basic controls)
- 2D is probably preferable, since its easier to understand and process whats happening at a glance.
- Multiplayer would probably also be a strong bonus, but also not required
The only game that particularly comes to mind is Portal, but hopefully others will have some better ideas.
Specifically Portal 2 actually. Since it was designed with console players in mind, all of the puzzles can be solved without having to shoot on the move.
The Stanley Parable, and similar “walking simulator” type games.
This is probably the best choice. There is basically no failure state, so there is no impetus to act under pressure, which is probably the biggest demotivator if someone is at that stage of learning how to play video games.
What game would you try to insist a particular control style on?
You can teach them how to play whatever game, but it’s more or less up to them to set up their control settings.
Its going to be a lot harder to play Deep Rock Galactic or Portal 2 together if she sticks with her current perfered movement method: click and drag with the mouse.
DOOM (1996)
Doom 2 is 1994, Doom 64 is 1997…
DOOM (1969)
Pineapple on Pizza is a short one shot game, it’s cutesy with a twisted ending. Uses WASD and Mouse
Minetest.
renamed to Luanti ~5 months ago!
I was gonna say portal but you already had that idea hah
The other option is start her off with dark souls and tell her it’s one of the easy games, to really test the strength of your relationship /j
Yeah, Portal really seems like the perfect choice for this
Oh and minecraft if you own that :3
That’s also pretty simple controls wise… just play on peaceful to start
Minecraft is pretty mechanically complex if you’re at the “need to learn how to move in a video game” stage
Moving around in “peaceful” should be ok as a playground for learning the controls.
I don’t think it’s that complex? I mean… most of it is just wasd + space, and the 2 mouse buttons which I’d consider to just be the basic controls for any game really, short of just walking simulators that require no mouse clicks, or VNs that require no keyboard
Mechanical complexity as in the amount of stuff to learn to “actually play” Minecraft, aside from the controls. For example, which resources are which, what crafts into what, and how to find and gather everything. Its easy enough to punch wood, but trying to figure out (and then remember) how to craft tools or farm food while also trying to remember how to position your fingers on the keyboard is a much bigger ask.
Crafting doesn’t actually require remembering anything since they added the recipe book. Also on peaceful you don’t go hungry, so no farming for food :p
I mean… I taught people how to play video games with minecraft, and it’s not that hard… the only way I see this failing is if you plan on doing nothing to help learn the game and you just want something to boot up and leave your partner to figure it out
I used to always use Minecrat for this. Sure, they can’t do everything immediately, but I put the game on peaceful and let them explore at their own pace.
I say “used to” because Luanti (formerly MineTest, an open source Minecraft Clone*) is finished and free.
(Okay, Luanti is a lot more than a Minecraft clone. But for this discussion that’s all one needs to know.)
The various valve games would probably be ideal.
Portal 2’s co-op mode perhaps.
Fortnite’s Lego mode would probably work very well. Since it’s targeted towards younger kids that are still learning how games work.
Serious Sam franchise would be fun too.
Stardew Valley.
It’s 2D, co-op, not difficult or punishing, has few inputs, and is approachable mechanically.
Some particular reasons why I’d recommend Minecraft for this:
- it’s very easy to get started, but there’s a lot of depth if you get into it
- its pretty slow-paced
- its a multiplayer game where someone of a much higher skill level and someone of a much lower skill level can play together without the noob player feeling that they are holding the advanced player back
- if you set the difficulty to peaceful it’s hard to die, and it’s impossible to fully “lose”. You can also turn on keepinventory.
- it’s a very open-ended game where you can come up with your own goals, which makes it something that everybody can find fun in their own way
- if they do get into it, it’s a good segue into a wide variety of other games. Just figure out what part of Minecraft they enjoy. You can also extend Minecraft by playing with mods.
minecraft
…any of the traditional action platformers.
Portal, Spyro etc.
My wife is really into the sims and oddly enough 'House Flipper was a really goof intro to wasd co trols in something she was interested in. She can play most anything these days.
Have a look at Razbuten’s “non-gamer” playlist on YouTube. He makes some interesting observations. Several of the games being suggested here are also used there, and prove more difficult than some would expect.
