Tips for getting my girlfriend into gaming?

Pretty self-explanatory from the title! With all the E3 stuff going on at the moment (and my girlfriend showing slightly more interest than normal), I was wondering if anyone's got any tips or recommendations for things to try together?

https://appgrooves.com/article/best-games-to-get-your-girlfriend-to-play-video-games this list seemed to have some good places to start mobile/tablet-wise (which I'm thinking is probably best to avoid overwhelming her - whenever she's tried using controllers before she's always found the coordinator a nightmare to manage), but if anyone's got any experience themselves or knows of some better suggestions then I'd love to hear.

Hey! So I'm a woman who is a gamer. I obviously don't know your girlfriend at all so my assessment could be completely wrong. I looked at the games in that article and most of them aren't really to my taste. You could start super simplistic like that or give games with a good story a try.

But what I've found and this applies to me personally is that women love games with story. We want characters we can root for. I don't care if I win in multiplayer, but seeing Joel tear into a hospital to rescue Ellie in TLoU was very impactful to me. Usually, we aren't super competitive so multiplayer isn't always the biggest draw. Overwatch could be fun eventually though! But for now, I would suggest a few simple games to start with. Maybe walking simulators like Firewatch, Gone Home, or Life is Strange.

very simple instead, ask her to play along with you online teach her about game techniques make her watch game videos and bingo you are all done :)

I find that Nintendo games are generally the best gateway into gaming for girls that are not normally into gaming, so if you are serious about getting her into games and you don't have a Nintendo console, I'd suggest that you get one along with some local multiplayer games that the two of you can play together.

The following are my personal three go-to games for whenever I'm with a girl that is not normally into video games. Thus far, I've never met a girl that did not enjoy playing the following three games:

1. Mario Party (It's pretty much just like a wacky board game with some easy to understand mini-games so it's great for non-gamers. Any of the ones before 7 are good.)

2. Mario Kart (Any Mario Kart is good, but Mario Kart 64 seems to have the most appeal for casual gamers.)

3. Samba de Amigo on the Dreamcast with maracas controllers (This one is kind of expensive to setup since for the proper experience you need the game, a Dreamcast to play it on, and two sets of the special maracas controllers, but trust me when I tell you that all women love this game with the proper setup. Everybody from girlfriends that I have had that hated video games before they met me to even my Grandma that doesn't understand how to play video games if you put a normal controller in her hands have had a ton of fun with this one.)

Start out with some indie games to let the addiction take root, then move onto Nintendo. Add in PS4, Xbox or PC at your own discretion.

My girlfriend isn't a massive gamer, but she enjoys Unravel (and Unravel 2 is coop which is perfect) and Rayman. She can't handle 3D games that are fast paced but she enjoys Cities: Skylines and Zoo Tycoon as they're much more relaxing.

We all had to get used to the controls at some point so tell her to be patient. I remember the days of my PSX and having to look directly at the controller to remember which button was which for a few weeks!

I agree. Every time my wife has watched me play a game it's always been a game that was very heavily focused on narrative. So Heavy Rain and games like it she'll play as they have very simple mechanics and are mainly focused on telling a story. I'm personally not into those games but I know she likes them so if I'm playing my normal COD and BF games it can get annoying when she asks about continuing the story of one of those games so be careful what you wish for lol.

As far as getting her to play games like shooters from my experience it's just the complicated nature of those games that turn them off. We play them like everything is second nature and when you've been gaming for years it literally is. It's nothing for us to pick up a controller of some new shooter and immediately do extremely well in it as if we've been playing the game for years. Que the wife (or anyone who doesn't game regularly) and she has to learn how to first move the character, than throw in the fact that a separate stick is for looking, throw in the triggers, and wait you can ADS to aim better, crouch, jump, run, reload and you haven't even touched the nuanced mechanics of the game and it's just too much to learn in one sitting.

I say start with the games that got you into gaming in the first place. Basic platformers and some fighting games. Very easy to pick up and play.

You could get her in with Nintendo stuff. Or she might like The Sims and stuff like that. Another idea is to get her in with phone games.

@mindplutonium let her watch you play games. You can see what interest her and what didn't.

Thats what i did. And I cant tell what she likes, it clicks or it doesnt. I thought she likes those happy sweet games like Stardew Valley, Starbound, Plants versus Zombie...and I was right. She loved them.

What i didnt forsee was she also fell hook line sinker into Killing Floor 1...and then 2 and play it every night. More than me! She hates WoW but really enjoyed Warcraft 3. But thats the only RTS game i can ever get her to play.

She habitually skips cutscenes and dialogues LOL so RPGs are nono(and i'm tired of trying to explain to her what was what and who was who), shes the type that wants to jump in and get on it asap. But yet she loves Telltale games /mindtwister

So i'm trying to say just let her see, try and decide. Can never tell!

find her a game with a male lead?

ha! just joking.

Maybe a Mario Party game or something like New Super Mario Brothers Wii where you can play together.
Probably steer clear of anything multiplayer focused for now.
Games like Ori and the Blind Forest, Brothers, Audiosurf (she can use her own music) or Epistory if she likes typing

@jenocide: This is such a great response, thanks! I totally agree with the story factor too. I really think that's the best place to start, especially if I can find a story-heavy co-op game to help guide her in. I definitely think that would be a winner.

Hmm, it´s a tough question, if she has never gamed at all, then I would not go with moba´s or fps´s like Cod or Battlefield.

And it depends on what her interests are, but try to play a few games yourself and have her come and watch and tune into what interests she has.

You could always give Fortnite a try since it´s free and have that cartoon look.

I'd start with simple games like Mario games. I'd say play games that are fun and you can play together and build up from there. I'd say get her started by seeing what games she likes to watch you or others play. My brother and I got into gaming by making our dad play the games while we watched. It helps find games you're interested in trying out.

so I am a woman and the main reason I got into gaming is either watching people in person or on youtube. Seeing so many people love the game was exciting and you kinda felt left out. So you join in! Or if that doesn't work put the game in new meaning. For an example game theory, a youtube finds real-life science and maths into video games.

hope that helps.

my misses enjoys mario kart, unravel 2 and cod zombies, she got disgruntled by msg saying she sucked on tdm. the only game she plays alone is sims

@storm_of_swords: I agree.

How about let her hook into games that catches her eye first? For example, casual games or the GTA games (mostly, go with GTA San Andreas). I don't have a girlfriend but my sister plays games but not that much and she's mostly into GTA games and I also got her hooked playing Counter Strike and Warframe.

Ease her into it slowly, thats how I have always found it works when trying to get someone into something. Make her feel that what she is doing is not something like really "different" for her and let her choose what game she wants to play. Preferably start with just something like even a game of couch co op COD, something casual and fun before letting her invest hours into a meaty substantial game.

steady on mate

try games like fortinite or call of duty. girls love those type of games

@Macutchi: I am a girl myself. I'd know.

On another forum on the internet:

"How can I get my boyfriend to enjoy [insert girlfriend activity]?"

Agreed about walking simulatars. Also you can try Telltale games.

why do people keep asking this question as if women dont play games.

to be frank at this point in history a person is either going to be interested in games or not.

nice

@bladebringer: Please do not bump old threads that have pass 30 days old and this is a 1 year old thread.

Locked for necro thread.