Game suggestions for a complete beginner

[Saetha]

Hello Escapist! Recently I befriended a fellow twenty-something who's never really played video games, but is willing to try them and wants me to help her. Issue is... she doesn't seem to like any of the games I'm into - stealth, RPGs, horror, even Telltale's games haven't really kept her attention. But recently, I managed to dig up a game of mine that she does enjoy - and that game is...

Viva Pinata.

Well, shit.

Issue here is, I don't know of any other games like Viva Pinata. Pikmin, I guess. Harvest Moon, maybe? And I'm not really able to get ahold of either of those games, much less give her the chance to try them.

So... what are your suggestions for similar games? Are there similar games? Can any of them be obtained for a PS4 or 360? I'm not even sure what genre you'd put Viva Pinata in, much less how it could be used to find other games. So, here I am, asking you guys.

Suggestions?

EDIT: Just to give some more details on her tastes -

- She says she likes resource management, like in Zoo Tycoon.

- She likes playing shooters.

- She wants something easy. Anything too hard will make her give up. This includes anything that... well, anything that doesn't hold your hand all the way through. The puzzles in Soma were too hard for her, for reference. The Order 1886 (What, I had it lying around!) was too hard for her.

- She doesn't seem to be very picky about the story, but she doesn't want anything that focuses too much on it. So most RPGs are out.

- She likes animals. And Sweden. Anything that features those will probably get her attention for that sole reason.

 

[Skatalite]

She might enjoy Flower and Tearaway Unfolded. I've played Flower myself, and it's a pretty relaxing, beautiful looking game. I think there's a Little Big Planet game on the PS4 as well, but that's about all I got.

 

[Musou Tensei]

Yeah she should try Tearaway Unfolded. Or do you think she would enjoy a rhythm game? Does she like Japanese music?
Or give her Ride to Hell, after seeing that sorry excuse for a game, she will appreaciate every other game

 

[Frezzato]

I've noticed that the few women I know IRL who play games, they like The Sims. That or JRPGs.

Oh right, and one girl who plays Fallout 4 on Survival mode.

 

[Fox12]

Well, I know that Fire Emblem and Kingdom Hearts got my sister into gaming, so you could try that. I'm not sure if that's up her alley, though.

I would suggest Animal Crossing, Little Big Planet, Flower, Journey, and Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition New Game +7 with a guitar hero controller.

 

[Saetha]

Added some more info to the OP, just to narrow the field a bit.

She might enjoy Flower and Tearaway Unfolded. I've played Flower myself, and it's a pretty relaxing, beautiful looking game. I think there's a Little Big Planet game on the PS4 as well, but that's about all I got.

Yeah she should try Tearaway Unfolded. Or do you think she would enjoy a rhythm game? Does she like Japanese music?
Or give her Ride to Hell, after seeing that sorry excuse for a game, she will appreaciate every other game

Tearaway Unfolded? It looks interesting, but also like a platformer. I haven't had her try a lot of platforms, but... I dunno. Maybe.

I've noticed that the few women I know IRL who play games, they like The Sims. That or JRPGs.

Oh right, and one girl who plays Fallout 4 on Survival mode.

The Sims is a good one. Maybe...

And I just added this to the OP, but I don't think she'd be very interested in JRPGs. She doesn't seem too interested in story at all.

Well, I know that Fire Emblem and Kingdom Hearts got my sister into gaming, so you could try that. I'm not sure if that's up her alley, though.

I would suggest Animal Crossing, Little Big Planet, Flower, Journey, and Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition New Game +7 with a guitar hero controller.

Oh, Animal Crossing! That's another good one. Getting a GameCube or Wii might be difficult, though.

 

[NPC009]

If she's up for some puzzle action: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes or Puzzle Quest. The original Plants vs Zombies is fun, too.

If you do happen to come across a Wii, see if you can find MySims Kingdom. No, seriously, that game is awesome. It's kinda like Animal Crossing but with a big emphasis on completing tasks by building things. My siblings and I - the youngest one being 18 at the time - actually argued about who could play next. Only reason I won was because I had to review it...

 

[Fox12]

snip

Didn't they release one on the 3ds? At the very least you could probably borrow one from a friend. It may be easier for her to play something she can pick up and put down.

If you want to play with her, then Minecraft may be a safe bet. Scribblenaughts was an absolute blast to play with friends as well. It's innocent enough to share with anybody, but its also open enough to be exploited. Me and my pals had a great time feeding babies to cannibal clowns, and giving old women ebola. Also, you can summon Cthulhu. _>

 

[Musou Tensei]

Added some more info to the OP, just to narrow the field a bit.

She might enjoy Flower and Tearaway Unfolded. I've played Flower myself, and it's a pretty relaxing, beautiful looking game. I think there's a Little Big Planet game on the PS4 as well, but that's about all I got.

Yeah she should try Tearaway Unfolded. Or do you think she would enjoy a rhythm game? Does she like Japanese music?
Or give her Ride to Hell, after seeing that sorry excuse for a game, she will appreaciate every other game

Tearaway Unfolded? It looks interesting, but also like a platformer. I haven't had her try a lot of platforms, but... I dunno. Maybe.

There should be a demo of it on PSN so she can try it out for free.

 

[Cryselle]

My advice is that if she's really really new to gaming, don't focus on genres. Favorite genres are something you develop through experience, and for a newbie then they simply won't have a varied enough exposure yet to truly say what genres they enjoy the most.

Instead, focus on specific interests. If she likes animals, would she want to play a game where she /is/ an animal? Or one where she interacts with them? Maybe plug a few interests into steam tags and see what pops up? Instead of saying "You should try this game", show her trailers for 4-5 games, and see if she responds positively to any of them? Alternately, find out why she wants to get into gaming. Is she interested because she wants to play with someone? Multiplayer is a must. Does she want something to fill short time periods? Lots of casual games can fill 10 minutes well. Knowing what attracts her to the hobby is useful in finding games that she'll enjoy.

(Also, I strongly recommend starting a new gamer off on Steam if you're familiar enough with the offerings to keep her away from the absolute crap. It's just a question of cost and availability, there are a lot of amazing console games, but you can expect some wallet shock if she decides she really really wants to play Earthbound on an SNES)

 

[necromanzer52]

Nintendo's probably a good place to start. Maybe something like super mario galaxy. It starts off really simple and gets gradually more challenging. Plus, if I recall correctly, you only have to get a certain number of stars (or whatever it was in that one) to move on to the next area, but which ones you get are entirely up to you, so if she's having trouble with one level, she can leave and try a different one.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Dont care about story? Likes games that are easy? Enjoy shooters? Well shit i can't believe no one said this yet but Destiny. Destiny is really easy ( and fun i may add) up until you hit endgame and start doing raids and hard mode stuff. As long as she plays on the regular difficulty she should have a blast.

 

[Major_Tom]

World of Goo, maybe? I showed it to a few non-gamers and they liked it. Or how about some open-world game like GTA where she can ignore the story and just mess around?

 

[Longview]

Get a Wii U

 

[hermes]

I would advice you to play Journey, Flower or Braid, because they are fairly simple in mechanics and it is nearly impossible to die. Adventure games are another option, but since she is not into story it might be tricky. If she likes shooters, the portal games might be a good idea.

If all else fails, try The Sims. I don't want to sound like an stereotype, but it is, by far, the most popular game for women around here.

 

[GhostHunter]

Gonna get some serious hate but Dark Souls. It is rather difficult but it is very good at teaching you mechanics that apply across multiple genres. Plus she could play with the bow that's kinda of like and FPS. The is story pretty minimal unless you go looking for it.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Nintendo games, especially Pokemon and Mario games, are a good place to start. I started there, and would assume a lot of others did too. The 2D Zeldas are also a good start.

Does she like fighting games? Because those are fairly easy to pick up, have a good social aspect, and can be played just for relaxation on easy difficulty levels. Tekken 3 was perhaps the defining game of my childhood despite knowing next to nothing about the real mechanics. Fighting games also have investment value when you pick a character to specialize in.

I don't know how many other strategy games have it, but Stronghold Crusader has a "Castle Builder" mode that doesn't feature story, combat or any kind of adversity whatsoever. It's just the player building more stuff, gathering resources and then... building more stuff! If she likes resource management, I think it'd be a good fit for her, building a sprawling empire out of a small castle.

Gonna get some serious hate but Dark Souls. It is rather difficult but it is very good at teaching you mechanics that apply across multiple genres. Plus she could play with the bow that's kinda of like and FPS. The is story pretty minimal unless you go looking for it.

No, no, and a thousand times no. Having a complete newcomer to video games in general play Dark Souls isn't like throwing a toddler into the deep end of a pool. It's more like throwing a toddler into a pool of sulphuric acid. Dark Souls is a gaming masterpiece, but one thing it definitely is not is good at teaching its gameplay mechanics. Aside from the most basic of basics (attacking, blocking, dodging), most of its other mechanics (weapon upgrades, magic, humanity, advanced combat maneuvres like rolling and running attacks, weight load, stats and what they do, parrying, all the other stats like weapon durability, resistances etc.) are nigh impenetrable without hours of trial and error or consulting a wiki

 

[Kotaro]

If she likes animals and resource management, maybe she should give a Harvest Moon game a try (though be aware that the most recent "Harvest Moon" game is not actually a Harvest Moon game, with the actual new one being called "Story of Seasons"--it comes down to a rights issue over the title in the West). Personally, I like the Rune Factory spinoffs more than the main Harvest Moon series, since it's pretty much fantasy Harvest Moon with dungeon crawling on the side.
Basically, I recommend having her give Rune Factory 4 a try.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

If she likes animals and resource management, maybe she should give a Harvest Moon game a try (though be aware that the most recent "Harvest Moon" game is not actually a Harvest Moon game, with the actual new one being called "Story of Seasons"--it comes down to a rights issue over the title in the West). Personally, I like the Rune Factory spinoffs more than the main Harvest Moon series, since it's pretty much fantasy Harvest Moon with dungeon crawling on the side.
Basically, I recommend having her give Rune Factory 4 a try.

Stardew Valley is new on steam. It's basically a harvest moon knock off. It looks neat.