Original Comment by: William
http://www.zang.org
I've introduced people to games who had little interest in them before. I have to agree with Lyf: games are just one of many ways to spend one's leisure time, and by no means are they the most edifying. Time spent with poetry, art, travel, exercise, writing, drawing etc.. is probably going to be more rewarding. If one enjoys them, wonderful - but there's a difference between encouraging someone to a new activity that would authentically enrich them, and simply looking for a playmate because one is lonely.
That said, the game may offer something unique - a way of understanding life as kinds of relationships, of appreciating agency, of harnessing attention in a novel way. Games are not just about other worlds - they are about the conditions of the possibility of other worlds, of what-could-have-happened, of the possibilities of a system or engine of simulation.
One piece of advice I proffer: that one simply hand over the controllers and shut up. Too many experienced gamers over-teach, explain, hector, patronize, and coach the people they think they are "encouraging" to play. This takes all the autonomy away from them, the very process of exploration and discovery that makes games appealing to begin with. Perhaps it comes from seeing the frustration of the would-be new player and feeling obliged to intervene: what is misunderstood here, then, is an understanding of the role of frustration itself in the pleasure of the game. When asked, while watching, how to solve a particular problem, I usually respond, "you'll figure it out... give it a few minutes." This change in attitude has worked - I've brought many people, with very diverse backgrounds and interests, into an appreciation of games.
