Games for First-Time Players

Okay SO:

I know a girl that wants to try playing games for like the first time ever. Their only experience is 8 hours of Overcooked 2 and some visual novels. They asked me for some ideas of games to play but I’m like, completely unsure of where to start.

Some deets from them:

  • all they have is a steam deck, i dunno if they can emulate on it yet but assume she can’t
  • she’s 23, i dunno if that matters but it might
  • she has said she’s down to try any genre from any time period
  • she’s in med school at the moment so we can prooobably leave out 100 hour open world shit
  • she hates strategy games

for some reason the only game i can think of off the top of my head is chrono trigger? so clearly i need some help. literally not a flex but i’ve been playing games for 100 years at this point: my depth of understanding blinds me to games that are good experiences for new players. give me thoughts!

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Platformers are probably a good pick, I think? My deal with introducing videogames to new players is that we severely underestimate how many buttons/keys you have to press on most modern games, something that’s a little more simple on that spectrum is a good starter, IMO

Probably helps that’s how I (and I imagine a lot of other people) started with gaming on the NES/SMS or SNES/MD generation.

Wonder Boy The Dragon’s Trap was literally my first game and it got a remake semi-recently, so I can’t help but recommend it.

Maybe something slower like card-based roguelikes as well? Or if you’re looking to co-op, a beat’em up like TMNT.

Oh yea, since you pointed out Chrono Trigger, jRPGs and wRPGs are both good choices on the “ease to play” front; my sis isn’t much of a gamer but she loved Star Wars for a while and easily got through the first KOTOR, I imagine something similar could work in this case. Really depends on what her interests are, TBH.

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Holding this space as i make suggestions

But im gonna start with Petal Crash
Nice, simple and cute puzzle game. Plenty of single player modes, so she doesnt have grind hard if she doesnt want to.

  • Block Legend DX: does steam deck have mouse/touchscreen controls? If not disregard

  • Bully/GTA/Saint Row 3. Something in this vein. SR3 is my personal suggestoon from this list.

  • Donut Dodo: an arcade platformer like og donkey kong but new. Maybe a bit difficult, but it’s fun imo

  • Forager: cutesy survival sim. Sorta easier version of dont starve is the best i can describe it.

  • Gunfire Reborn and Hades: teo of my favorite roguelikes. I like One step from eden more, but that may be too quick/hard

  • jet set radio/bomb rush. Fun games havent played bomb rush, but still seems like a fun experience.

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Do you know (or can you ask) if she played Overcooked 2 for the cooking theme, the social aspect, or the gameplay?

I think a lot of times gamers get really into genre, which is important but I find that for people who aren’t invested into games, story/theme and art style can be bigger draws/deterrents. Also games that don’t penalize you for not being a capital-G Gamer are good.

Off the top of my head, maybe: Battle Chef Brigade, Legend of Tianding, Agent A?

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Here’s something else i wanna ask. What hobbies was she into pre gaming? May help us give some more ppinted suggestions.

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ohoho thanks y’all

my belief is that it was the social aspect. so one thing i’m planning to suggest is stardew valley since it’s chill and can be played multiplayer.

very good question!!

she loves to play the guitar and she’s super big on anime so that kind of aesthetic won’t scare her off lol

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Ok got a few extra suggestions then

  • Trombone Champ: very fun rhythm game. Scoring puts a bigger emphasis on accuracy than timing. Silly and really fun.

  • Unbeatable: Anime styled rhythm game and it’s free. Super simple two button system.

Also i know you said no 100 hour JRPGs, but she might like those. Even with a busy schedule, you can pare a big game down with a month or so of hour sessions.

  • Something Ys

  • Somerhing Yakuza

  • Something Tales of…

You take a pick on specifics. I trust your taste here.

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I have a friend in their early 20s who didn’t start playing games until just a couple years ago, for a while they struggled with controllers and shared vocabulary, but with some intense interest and many hours of playtime they’ve been playing (relatively) complex stuff like Monster Hunter with little trouble recently!

You can run emulators on Steam Deck, EmuDeck is the simplest way to do it but if your friend is wary of or overwhelmed by messing with their systems then that’s understandable!

I think RPGs is a great suggestion for the story draw and being able to take it at whatever pace you want, (particularly turn-based ones) although they can run pretty long. A lot of the old Final Fantasies are on Steam now with the Pixel Remasters though, and the 2D games aren’t as long as the later 3D entries get.

Just thinking of fun games with nice aesthetics that aren’t too long, too complicated or too difficult…

Slime Rancher is a really chill, cutesy low-stakes 3D first-person shooter/platformer that I enjoy! Games by Supergiant might be of interest too from the aesthetic standpoint, but particularly good ol Bastion for the relatively simpler gameplay compared to their later games. I think original Portal could be a good fun puzzler if it’s of interest too. Frogun is a really cute and pretty slow-paced 3D platformer. I like Sable a lot, a BotW-like with no combat just overworld exploring vibes, but its a bit buggy and runs pretty poorly even on powerful systems so I’m not sure how its Steam Deck compatibility is…

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Only two things that come to mind for me are Wandersong and, uh, Skyrim. I don’t even like it, but Skyrim.

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thanks y’all lots of great recs, also wandersong reminded me of chicory too since they like to draw!

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hmmmm for someone that doesn’t usually game

I would say

  • Stardew Valley: Pretty chill and flexible.
  • Shovel Knight: Very charming platformer! Isn’t too hard iirc until like the last two or three levels.*
  • The Frog Detective games: They aren’t too hard iirc and very charming!
  • Celeste: I guess this one is weird since I know the platforming can get a little crazy but with how decent the accessibility tools are, I think it wouldn’t be too bad to throw it out there as a suggestion.

*I haven’t played this game in a while so I hope i’m not misremembering the difficulty scaling sdjf;ds

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Ooh, another fun social chaos game for infrequent gamers is Boomerang Fu. Although, it’s not co-op and doesn’t have online multiplayer, so ymmv

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SECOND the frog detective games, they got a cute sense of humor

Hmmmm if they’re into anime dudes and visual novels there’s the Date with Death visual novel chatsim ( FREE if you don’t care for the extra outfits + extra ending DLC )

Volcano Princess is a rogue lite? daughter raising sim that isn’t SUPER strategic but there are cute boys n girls for ur daughter to date and there’s a bajillion endings

can’t not recommend some kinda rpgmaker game so there’s To the Moon, it’s kinda old but the story is real good and it’s got a sequel

more modern: Little Goody Two Shoes has a demo, bonus if they don’t mind and/or enjoy their mc dating girls

Powerwash Simulator!, supposedly runs super well on a steam deck and there’s multiplayer

if i think of more i’ll edit lol

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In Stars And Time, and maybe like Pokémon Emerald?

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this is honestly so real, idek what games I can come up with that would be approachable to someone who doesn’t games. it’s hard because so many modern games assume knowledge of concepts that not even that long ago were Super New (e.g. one stick for movement one stick for camera), so in that regard I’m tempted to say ‘go back and play some SNES/N64 stuff from when games were simpler’, but that might be myopic? and also who knows if the oldness is a turn off for someone who doesn’t games/hasn’t gamesed their entire lives like me and basically everyone I know :S

that said I think Stardew is a good shout, since it’s a game that basically is as complex as you want it to be and has simple controls that are easy to pick up. as long as you’re okay consulting a wiki for some of the details, it’s pretty easy to learn and a nice broad experience where you can find your own fun.

I’ll be back with more ideas but my array memory is terrible so I need to sit down in front of my steam library and thonk.

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okay I have consulted the Tomes (I have 419 games on steam so I guess I get to acquire one more before I have to stop forever) and here are some more recs:

  • Crypt of the Necrodancer - one of my GOATs, I still go back to this regularly after nearly a decade. easy to learn, hard to master; banger soundtrack; perfect for handheld play and (imo at least) a fantastic example of what games can be when they get silly with it. can’t say enough good things about it.
  • I think Pokémon Emerald is a good shout (Platinum/BW might be good as well) but if emulation isn’t an option, Cassette Beasts might be a good substitute? (I’m aware I’m speaking to a Cassette Beasts fan here so I’m sure you considered it but hey hey) or maybe Moonstone Island?
  • Dave the Diver - another great game for handheld, relaxing and at times challenging but I never found it overly stressful.
  • if we’re talking classic platformers, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is two games in one! and one of them is actually kinda good! (okay jokes aside Klonoa 1 is fine but it’s kind of finicky and very hard near the end imo. Klonoa 2 on the other hand is one of my favourite games ever and is SO underrated. serious hidden gem)
  • Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator - I really like this game. in a sea of similar potion-y games, I think it really stands out with its art style and gameplay. another fun one for handheld imo.
  • there’s always, like… Terraria or Minecraft.
  • if she wants to play more VNs there’s literally so many great ones. I’d need a whole other post.

it’s tricky cause like… if they really haven’t played games, she’s not going to know what she likes and doesn’t like about them yet. I’ve tried to think of some good ‘entry-level’ (?) games in a few different genres/gameplay types - I think the best advice you could give them is just to play a bunch of things (pick 'em up cheap in a sale if money is a concern) and see what she likes or dislikes about each one. taste is a funny thing.

hope this helped! :O

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bunch of people have suggested Pokemon and yeah that’s probably a good one, since the whole point of the series is sort of Baby’s First JRPG

probably most turn-based JRPGs in general would be good honestly, even with the med school time crunch. a lot of them are good for “I play 60 minutes of this before bed” type situations. FF pixel remasters maybe.

when i think to stuff i played as a kid who was only just understanding video games, it was a lot of side-scrolling beat-em-ups and platformers. someone mentioned Wonder Boy and that’s probably a good shout. farming games probably also good, I played a lot of Harvest Moon in elementary school.

I’ll shout out Citizen Sleeper, which is definitely a plate-spinning game but because it does rely on “turns” it’s not reflex based and you can stop and think about your choices. Pentiment or other mostly-narrative type games would probably be good too.

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Detective Grimoire and Tangle Tower popped in my head, considering they’ve played a few visual novels, point and click games seem to be a good place to expand their gaming vocabulary a bit more

Depending on some of their other interests World of Horror could be a good pick? It’s mostly turn based combat, puzzles and text, not that big of a leap from visual novels

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shrimpteresting update:

i compiled a list of all the stuff y’all recommended and then shot them chrono trigger on steam. they’re into it BUT they got stuck on the first fight with gato roboto because they literally didn’t know how to move around the combat menu.

it made me realize why manuals were so important for games, ESPECIALLY ports of games from the 90s, where onboarding barely existed lol. i found and sent them the original SNES manual for CT as a pdf and now they’re pretty much cruising at the beginning of the game. Will keep y’all updated!

edit:

yeah damn i miss these things. it literally explains EVERYTHING from stats to controls to the flow of the game i can see why they have no issues now lol

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god I miss game manuals SO BAD (or as we used to call them, ‘instruction booklets’). I miss all the art and story stuff from them as well! I used to collect Prima strategy guides for the games I really liked as well, also more for the art/design/interesting facts than for the actual guide.

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