My dad's been talking to me recently that he'd like to try out some games.
He's not too great with computers in general, so I didn't know what to recommend. Maybe some of you can give me some recommendations?
Preference goes to something that's slower paced and something that isn't overly complex.
Thanks in advance!
Tetris
My first thought was racing games or anything where you can drive around. No matter how young or old somehow they just figure out how to drive around, I personally started with point and click and went then to racing games like NFS Hot pursuit 2 (the original one) and midtown madness.
The original Super Mario Bros
Demon's Souls
depending on what he wants to try i suggests he starts with older shooters like half-life 1, doom etc on easy or something and build on that
Portal and Pikmin come to mind as "beginner games". The original Roller Coaster Tycoon games are fun and easy to play too.
If he's not into complexity I imagine something like Bejeweled or Plants vs Zombies might be good. If you want slow paced I encourage looking at turn based games. If he's willing to learn some systems, he might like Civilization or XCOM. If he plays on lower difficulties he could get away with not getting intimate with the the exact nature of the systems. Maybe some Command and Conquer, top-down RPGs might be good like Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, Fallout 1/2/Tactics. Pre-reboot Simcity (classic - 4) or Cities Skylines would be good too. You could hook him up with single player shooters obviously, and he can sit on whatever comfy difficulty rather than be annihilated in multiplayer (though this goes for any game).
[QUOTE=erkor;49465623]depending on what he wants to try i suggests he starts with older shooters like half-life 1, doom etc on easy or something and build on that[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I think Half-Life 1/2 on easy would be a good recommendation.
The Ghosts N' Goblins series
What platform? PC, PS3, 360, etc?
I think Rayman Origins or Legends might be a good game.
Shovel Knight
To get someone into videogames I'd recommend getting him something that is fairly related to something he already likes. For example, does he like Star Wars? Jedi Academy is fairly simple and stupidly fun, it shouldn't be hard to set up either.
Strategy games like Civilization V are very captivating and pretty beginner-friendly in the lower difficulties.
[QUOTE=Plaster;49465467]My first thought was racing games or anything where you can drive around. No matter how young or old somehow they just figure out how to drive around, I personally started with point and click and went then to racing games like NFS Hot pursuit 2 (the original one) and midtown madness.[/QUOTE]
This, too. Driving games are perfect for anyone.
If he's into mature stuff, then you can't go wrong with GTA. :v:
Pretty much any Kirby game is good for beginners. Heck, his original game was designed specifically with beginners in mind! They're easy to simply play through but offer a lot of exploration elements. Although I don't know if the copy ability system could be considered "too complex" in this situation.
Half-Life
Tycoon/puzzle games. Granddad loved Transport Tycoon, newer equivalents would be Chris Sawyer's Locomotion, Factorio and Cities Skylines (I recommend Locomotion for the simple control scheme and intuitive isometric view)(also I'm a huge CS fanboy).
To get acquainted with the first person view, try Portal/2, however I can imagine this type of games are the most challenging for people who aren't used to it from an early age. Portal at least doesn't punish slow reactions so you have a safe environment to learn.
For action, try simple platformers like Fez. Since Spore wound up much simpler than anticipated, it might work to give a general idea of a wide variety of genres without being too imposing. Papers, please can be hectic but generally the game is easy to control with a mouse.
[QUOTE=Zang-Pog;49465768]Point and click adventure games are a pretty good start, if you ask me.
Some easier platformers are also good, since they're usually quite simple yet fun[/QUOTE]
Depends on the point and click. You don't want one with stuff like "[I]obviously[/I] you were supposed to heat up a waffle, put peanut butter on it, stick it to a computer mouse, swing the mouse like a lasso around the icicle, melt the icicle with the waffle, get the melted icicle water on the mouse, plug in the mouse to the security computer, thus short circuiting the computer because it's wet, therefore shutting down the security system and allowing you to enter the candy store."
[QUOTE=Cows Rule;49465680]If he's not into complexity I imagine something like Bejeweled or Plants vs Zombies might be good. If you want slow paced I encourage looking at turn based games. If he's willing to learn some systems, he might like Civilization or XCOM. If he plays on lower difficulties he could get away with not getting intimate with the the exact nature of the systems. Maybe some Command and Conquer, top-down RPGs might be good like Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, Fallout 1/2/Tactics. Pre-reboot Simcity (classic - 4) or Cities Skylines would be good too. You could hook him up with single player shooters obviously, and he can sit on whatever comfy difficulty rather than be annihilated in multiplayer (though this goes for any game).[/QUOTE]
Civ might be a bit overwhelming for a beginner. After he's played games for a bit, sure, but not as something to start out with.
It's probably best to start out with Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies. Maybe even Angry Birds.
Yes, casual as fuck, but that's what we're going for.
Simple platformers could work too. Any RPG would also have to have a simple enough system, so you don't hear him complaining "What the hell is the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom!?"
[QUOTE=Kirbunny431;49465850]Pretty much any Kirby game is good for beginners. Heck, his original game was designed specifically with beginners in mind! They're easy to simply play through but offer a lot of exploration elements. Although I don't know if the copy ability system could be considered "too complex" in this situation.[/QUOTE]
If it were Onii's mom, then sure. But I'm not sure his dad would be too thrilled about playing as a pink puffball.
Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 and 2 are my first PC gaming experiences and I loved them.
Spyro 3 was my first console game and I love all three of the first three Spyro games for the playstation. I was really young when I played them and I loved all of them. I don't consider them too difficult but the music and graphics are incredibly charming to me to this day.
In my experience, if they don't mind frustration, FTL appeals to people who don't like video games otherwise.
I would recommend Portal 1.
Call of Duty and Battlefield games.
Campaign is quite simple.
If he's not great with computers, I'd not recommend a lot of things like strategy or simulation games people are suggesting. Wii Sports is a good thing to start with.
People are recommending things they started with as kids but they don't realize it's a lot harder to learn new systems when you're older. I have two gaming-challenged parents and Wii Sport is an excellent thing to start with. Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play also. I don't know about PC games though. Definitely don't start with Portal, people seem to think it's simple but it requires certain puzzle solving skills that most gamers have been training since they were kids, and most older non-gamers are just going to get stuck the way iJustine did.
Real time strategy and turn based strategy seems to be a hit among older men, might be a bit too complicated though, I am not sure. Sports games are relatively easy to learn so he could do that if he likes that.
Heroes Might and Magic maybe? The older games can be found on good old games and my sister figured out those faster than she figured out minecraft when she was a toddler.
Do people not understand what "slow paced" "not overly complex" and "not too great with computers" means
People recommending freaking strategy games and hardcore first person shooters
Easy to learn for a kid is not the same as easy to learn for a middle aged adult with little to no gaming experience.
As some guys have already mentioned here, racing games are a good place to start since they always work out with anybody for some reason.
Super Meat Boy
reader rabbit
Trackmania might be a good one, since it's a racing game, but it's designed around keyboard controls instead of controllers. It also scales from "literally just an normal casual racing game" to "insane precision nonsense" pretty slowly, so it'll ease a beginner into more difficult stuff.
I dont know if I can suggest anything other than portal 1/2 or something like minecraft
To be quite honest, you should tell him which genres and types of games exist and ask him what he's interested in, that might make it easier to find something he would actually enjoy, since e.g. puzzle games might not be for someone who is looking for an escapism experience and vice versa.
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