A Good Game for an Absolute Beginner?

[yman15]

How about Civilization 5? It doesn't require expert timing and the tutorial on it is pretty good. It's a pretty laid back game.
And if you need something free try Brawl Busters. Simple in terms of both gameplay and controls. As long as she doesn't have problems with third person it should be easy enough.

 

[Isalan]

Hello! I am an avid gamer, as well as most of my family, but my mother is the only one who doesn't game. We are trying to get her into gaming to cut down on her smoking, hoping that it will distract her from the urge to smoke a cigerette.

SO, the real question is, how should we get her started? We perferably want to start with a free game with not too much action and not too many confusing controls. I do own Basion and Solar 2, which I was thinking of starting her out on. But I don't know if that would be a good place to start!!

Does anyone have any suggestions?

P.S. She played Ghost Recon 2 on the xbox, which made her hate gaming after she fell in a trench and couldn't figure out how to get out. Those controls were too confusing for her. Also, she is much better with a mouse and keyboard than a controller. So try and stick with PC games.

Portal is a good call if she's alright with mouselook and keyboard movement.

I tried my dad on Portal, but he couldn't get round the analog sticks. So a month or so later I downloaded Trials Evo for him. This bought on the famous "laughed-until-nearly-coughed-up-a-lung" incident when me, him, stepmum and uncle decided to play multiplayer with a few beers onboard.

 

[Desaari]

I'm thinking turn-based strats (eg: Total War, Civilization), so she can take as much time as she likes on her turns, or step away from the PC if necessary with no problems.

 

[Russirishican]

EDIT: Quite hard since most of my games have a fair amount of action in :/

However, I think Portal(+ Portal 2) is a fun puzzle game that is not too challenging, it's just an absolute joy to play the game(s).

Oh and ofcourse the Nintendo platformers :3

Honestly if your mother is good at puzzles start her off on Portal and Portal 2. Especially if she thinks video game are beneath her like many adults I know. They're fairly simple and GLaDOS even explains some of the more difficult mechanics. Not to mention it is a really engaging game, so she'll be too busy thinking with portals to think with nicotine.

 

[omega 616]

Hello! I am an avid gamer, as well as most of my family, but my mother is the only one who doesn't game. We are trying to get her into gaming to cut down on her smoking, hoping that it will distract her from the urge to smoke a cigerette.

SO, the real question is, how should we get her started? We perferably want to start with a free game with not too much action and not too many confusing controls. I do own Basion and Solar 2, which I was thinking of starting her out on. But I don't know if that would be a good place to start!!

Does anyone have any suggestions?

P.S. She played Ghost Recon 2 on the xbox, which made her hate gaming after she fell in a trench and couldn't figure out how to get out. Those controls were too confusing for her. Also, she is much better with a mouse and keyboard than a controller. So try and stick with PC games.

Portal 1 & 2 ... funny dialogue, pretty, unique gameplay and it gets you thinking, what better combination do you need to take your mind off the smokes?

 

[Skeggers]

Tetris. Always Tetris. Tetris is good.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Minecraft? Depends if she has a creative spark on that one.

Or maybe a point and click sort of game, if she doesn't mind violence then Diablo could be fun. If she doesn't like violence then maybe some point and click adventure games.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Hello! I am an avid gamer, as well as most of my family, but my mother is the only one who doesn't game. We are trying to get her into gaming to cut down on her smoking, hoping that it will distract her from the urge to smoke a cigerette.

SO, the real question is, how should we get her started? We perferably want to start with a free game with not too much action and not too many confusing controls. I do own Basion and Solar 2, which I was thinking of starting her out on. But I don't know if that would be a good place to start!!

Does anyone have any suggestions?

P.S. She played Ghost Recon 2 on the xbox, which made her hate gaming after she fell in a trench and couldn't figure out how to get out. Those controls were too confusing for her. Also, she is much better with a mouse and keyboard than a controller. So try and stick with PC games.

Portal 1 & 2 ... funny dialogue, pretty, unique gameplay and it gets you thinking, what better combination do you need to take your mind off the smokes?

Beer, beer and more beer.

Captcha: in the box

No you fool in a glass!

 

[Ekit]

Kirby's Epic Yarn. The controls are simple, the presentation is nice, the gameplay is varied and you can't die.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

42 All time classics (DS)

I actually bought this game for my mum a year or so ago for her birthday, she would play it non stop for about 3 months.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Plants vs. Zombies. I've played that a lot more than I ever would've imagined beforehand.

Bastion should work really well too.

Something like Bejeweled?

Sims 3?

 

[Section Crow]

i would just toss some flash games her way, with varying concepts just to spice things up a bit and keep it interesting

if your asking for a specific game, i remember a turn-based game called Monsters' Den Chronicles which was relatively simple with quite engaging gameplay (in my opinion at least), that could probably be used by a beginner.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Viva fucking Pinata.

But seriously, it's a really easy game that everyone can enjoy.
The textures, colors, and accessability make it seem like the game was ment for people on heavy hallucinagens

 

[Tomany2]

Thanks for all the support!! I didn't think I would get this much help!!! She is still very wary, im trying to talk her into portal and basion, as well as PvZ on my ipod! any more suggestions?

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

I'm gonna go with Portal 2. You can play alone or with a friend, there's a nice, slow difficulty curve, and it has a good story with memorable characters and unique setting. Just about anything you would want in an intro to games.


EDIT: Wait, fuck all that. Lego Star Wars. It's DEFINITELY Lego Star Wars.

 

[TrevHead]

forget my last post

I recommend Child of Eden and Rez HD

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Errr, Pokemon... it's a good starting point

 

[irmasterlol]

People are saying Portal, but I can say from experience. NOT PORTAL. The very act of moving a character in a game is difficult for a newcomer. Adding puzzles is a quick way to overwhelm them. They're having to think pretty hard just to avoid getting stuck in the corner. I thought Portal would get my girlfriend into gaming, but she refused to go past the fourth test chamber on the grounds that it was "too stressful." She didn't even notice the quick wit and black humor because she was too busy panicking. As it turned out Zelda OoT and MM were the trick to getting her on board.

Keep it simple.

Get some iOS games to get her used to the idea of interacting with a world through controls. Then maybe some 2D platformers to get used to the idea of moving a character through space. Then you can move on to 3D games. The most important thing is not to introduce too many elements at once when it's someone like your mother who's wary of the medium.

Or if you want, she could come over to my house and play with my Wii for a while, if you know what I mean.

 

[Death Carr]

Well, I got my Mum into gaming with the Professor Layton games for the DS.
They're simple, fun, and my Mum loves puzzles so it was perfect for her, she's now finished all of them and even bought the movie that they made from the series.

 

[Ninjat_126]

Try Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

I tried to introduce my mother to Dark Souls... I think she liked it! And she only died once! Mind you, this was the Undead Asylum first level/tutorial.

My suggestions? Try Adventure Quest or Dragonfable, they're free to play, fairly simple with more depth if you get into it, and pretty much aimed at kids. You can kill most of the early enemies by just spamming the 'Attack' button.

A fighting game is also a good choice, button mashing can get you through weaker AI no trouble, but mastering mechanics can take a while.

Finally, platformers. Try any of the Mario platformers, Spyro the Dragon or possibly the Fancy Pants Adventures series, which you can play free online.


EDIT: World of Goo, anyone familiar with physics and gravity can play it. Also, I've heard Pokemon is good, though I'm afraid I've never played a Pokemon game before.

My current plan is to introduce my parents to Resident Evil 4, as provided by the Playstation Store. They're both Doom alumni, and Resi4 doesn't use the dual analogue stick control system.