What games would you recommend to people who don't play video games?

[CheerfulAshlee]

Are Nintendo DS and Wii games good choices?

 

[rhinoo]

Xbox Prison architect

 

[Annika.]

For such a case it's always good to say what kind of media you like, whether it's book, movies, shows or whatever. Since you're here, I'll assume you like what Animal Crossing is doing and want games with a similar spirit.

DS and Wii are fine, especially if you're looking for similiar games. They're kinda outdated now, but that means you can pick up a lot of random stuff for a very affordable price.

Unless you want to invest in specific console exclusives, I'd always recommend going with a PC. You'll likely have one anyway.

Here are some of my PC recommendations for AC lovers:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/Stardew_Valley/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/433340/Slime_Rancher/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/304950/Castaway_Paradise__Town_Building_Sim/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/593150/Ooblets/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/762940/Minekos_Night_Market/

I also really really loves Fantasy Life for the 3DS.

Generally speaking, most games are perfect as starter points. When you play a game, you'll play it as much for the first time as a gaming veteran. Neither of you know the controls and have to get used to whatever the game is asking you to do. Just be brave and have fun!

 

[MapleSilver]

I think it's hard to know what kinds of games you even like when you don't play them. I would recommend playing a wide array of genres, such as shooters or strategy. They should ideally be single player, so you are not pressured to perform at the level of people who have been playing for most of their lives.

DS and Wii are definitely good choices. Most Nintendo games are very beginner friendly, so there should be not be much trouble with them.

 

[Hellfish]

I think it's hard to know what kinds of games you even like when you don't play them. I would recommend playing a wide array of genres, such as shooters or strategy. They should ideally be single player, so you are not pressured to perform at the level of people who have been playing for most of their lives.

DS and Wii are definitely good choices. Most Nintendo games are very beginner friendly, so there should be not be much trouble with them.

I agree with this. Itll mostly be trial and error but I believe any non 3D environment would be ideal. From my experience of teaching people how to play games for the first time, having to simultaneously move a camera and an avatar is extremely difficult for people to get their heads around, so I wouldn't recommend third or first person games. I think something like stardew valley would be nice, but I would recommend to the moon and finding paradise. They're both super emotional and brilliant games with extremely simple controls (plus they make people cry so it would be good to show how games are good at story telling).

In short, no 3D graphics and something simple ^-^

 

[Tri]

Undertale is fairly easy, cheap ($10 on PC), and connects its gameplay and plot less disjointedly than other games. It has a turn based battle system where you dodge obstacles on the enemy's phase and either attack, use items or choose from some nonviolent interactions on your phase. Battles are won either by depleting health or by choosing nonviolent actions in a certain sequence based on what the enemy mumbles about, like a small puzzle. To say how this system interacts with the plot would ruin some of the experience...some of the emotional beats rely on you expecting certain videogame tropes, but even without that, it's funny and has great characters and music.

For the DS specifically, I'd recommend "Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story" if Undertale sounds at all appealing (because they have a similar humor and character focus with actiony turn based gameplay). For either Wii or DS, I'd recommend Kirby games if you'd rather run around and be challenged on how you control your player, because they are designed with new gamers in mind (I'm partial to Super Star Ultra on DS).

- - - Post Merge - - -

No one's asked if these recommendations are for you or a relative/friend/another person yet! I don't want to sound like I assumed too much; if these are for someone else consider my rambling the elevator pitch you can give

 

[SnakeEater]

Probably the two most accessible games are Tetris and Wii Sports.

 

[Sweetley]

Crash Bandicoot (the first one). It's a game that starts off easy and gets more and more difficult
the longer you play it. I think it's a good game which you can recommend to people who never
played videogames and also like some challenges.

As for Nintendo DS games as well as Wii games: Probably Mario Kart, Nintendogs or Wii Sports.
Super Mario Galaxy is also a fun game where you can learn a lot about videogames techniques
in my opinion. Animal Crossing (both for DS and Wii) would be a good game to recommend too
if the person is looking more for a relaxing game.

 

[Snowesque]

Any point and click games really, any mobile game can usually fall under this.
I use to play some random cooking game on my DS that was enjoyable but extremely low effort.
The Sims can be pretty easy to get into too.

 

[Stalfos]

Games like Tetris and Dr. Mario seem to go down well with people who are not into gaming otherwise.

 

[Cheren]

it depends on the person, but i think almost anything you can play on your phone is a good place to start. a lot of them can be quite addictive, but i would recommend neko atsume to a cat lover, or pokemon go to a person with an active lifestyle just to name a few. ^^

 

[Sinmenon]

For the Nintendo DS I recommend:
- Big Brain Academy or any other Brain Age game
- Elite Beat Agents (a rhythm game)
- Final Fantasy Fables : Chocobo Tales (a cute mini-game collection and less rage-inducing than the Mario Party series)
- Harvest Moon (any of them, if you enjoy or think they'll enjoy Animal Crossing, it's similar)
- Lego Batman
- Lego Harry Potter
- Lego Star Wars
- Nintendogs (pick the one with your favorite breeds) or Disney Friends
- Tetris DS or Tetris Party Deluxe
- Touch the Dead (think of light gun games)
If the person likes reading, I'd also recommend either Hotel Dusk: Room 215 or Trace Memory.

Wii has tons of shovelware, the very bad games.
Non-gamer friendly, I can think of the Guitar Heroes, Harvest Moon and Lego games in the top of my head
If the person has a computer, some hidden objects games can be very addictive

 

[raeyoung]

For any console, I'd say any Mario game or platformer. Platformers seem to go well with non-gamers. They're very rage-inducing though lol
For those who like calm games, I'd definitely recommend Harvest Moon, especially New Beginning. I'd also recommend Pok?mon, but sometimes battles and stuff can induce rage or frustration, I say it from experience lmao
LEGO games are good as well, so I would definitely recommend those.
I'd also recommend Minecraft because there's a bit of something for everyone in there. Survival mode for those who like the idea of survival-based gameplay and Creative mode for people like me who just like to build things and not have to deal with mobs lol
Animal Crossing is another thing I'd recommend to people who don't play video games because I've gotten non-gamers hooked on New Leaf on several occasions. It's very hard to beat how awesome the animal crossing series is so I would recommend it to gamers and non-gamers alike.

 

[kiwi-strawberry]

i've heard the dark souls games are pretty easy, maybe give those a try?

 

[oath2order]

Animal Crossing because it's easy.

 

[goro]

the original barbie game

 

[mlacroix]

Probably Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. If I knew they liked interesting stories, probably Little Nightmares.

 

[ilpo]

Sims! Or some games which are interesting, but don't have difficult combat.

 

[Alienfish]

Civ V..really good tbs game and really easy to learn if you like me never played any of the type when i got it. it got some dlc yes but grab it on a sale or some collectors edition idk

 

[banjomins]

Oneshot!! It's a really beautiful game with no combat, but super interesting and unusual puzzles and a great story! You can play through it multiple times and get different unique endings and I love it a lot