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Two-Player Games for Mixed Skill Level Players?
koreth asks: "What are some good two-player games that a newbie can successfully play with a more seasoned gamer? I want to find a good console or PC game I can play with my girlfriend, who has only recently started gaming. Something cooperative would be great, but head-to-head is fine too. All the games we've tried are made for players of roughly the same skill level -- so either I end up dumbing my gameplay way down (no fun for me) or blowing her out of the water without much effort (no fun for her). Is there any game out there that gives two players tasks of varying difficulty to keep both of them engrossed, at the same time?"
You're probably best off going coop games. If you're going PC games, any MMOG would probably do the trick. There's a decently steep learning curve, but you can help each other out quite effectively. WoW is a really easy game to teach newbies: as a very casual gamer, my wife picked up on it pretty quickly.
If you're not limiting yourself to PC, a Gamecube would be a good place to go. There are plenty of games for the veteran and the hardcore alike. Of course all I can think of is the NES days with coop games like Guerrilla War, the Double Dragon series, TMNT games, etc etc. Classic NES games are hard to beat. Easy to learn, but still a whole lot of fun! When I game with my wife, the NES probably gets used the most.
Your task will be killing her and her tasks will be running away, struggling with the keyboard and dying.
Most fighting games have a handicap system that essentially alters the damage dealt. Turn your damage way down, and hers way up, and then tweak them as she learns the system. I can particularly recommend Super Smash Brothers Melee for this, as it even has an auto-handicap system.
The Merc vs Spy multiplayer mode is insanely difficult if there are less than 3 mercs, i am not as skilled at games as my friends and it was 2vs1 and i could hold my own as the spy, this requires 2 xboxes though, so don't know how easy that is to pull off though.
Look for games that allow handicaps to be set. Like the latest AoE, if you are both into RTS.. Handicap yourself to death..challenging for you and ultimately brings you both to approximately the same level of skill after playing around with the handicap values a bit..
Infinite time means everything that can happen, will. You being you is absolutely incidental. You do not exist.
Theres this game I play with my girlfriend, but it's not a video game.... try it
Purple, because ice cream has no bones.
Another one, though I haven't played for years, that I would suggest would be Super Bomber Man or a sequel - easy to pick up and fun.
And the person above who suggested a MMO has an excellent point, though depends how casual you want the gaming to be as they generally require a large investment of time.
Dr Mario has handicapping ability. Mario Tennis - play doubles. You can pick computer players of different skill levels.
Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
Mixing your "Gaming Personality" with your "Relationship Personality" is not always a good thing.
I think George Costanza put it best when he said...
"WORLDS ARE COLLIDING HERE!!!"
I can't stress enough the sheer multiplayer bliss that can be found in the first Super Monkey Ball. It's a game that gets played a lot whenever my family gets together.
Particularly the minigame "Monkey Target." No matter your skill level, you can have loads of fun; the game is competitive, but in a way that doesn't make it less fun if you get completely obliterated by your opponent. The sounds, colors, and animations make it easy to laugh about doing poorly, to the point where you don't even care who wins or loses. It's a lot of fun, either way.
Plus, the cute graphics will probably make it easy for your girlfriend to get into.
My wife and I are currently playing Dungeon Siege together. It is simple enough that any one with point and click experience and basic math skills can excel at it, but entertaining enough to keep you clicking forward.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
the ancient oriental game of Go has has an excellent handicap system that keeps the game interesting, no matter how wide the skill difference.
need a free COBOL editor for Windows?
Pretty good graphics. Has several solutions for you. It's an Age of Empires clone but is unique in its own right.
1. Cooperative play. The two of you can share the resources and control of a single civilization.
2. Handicap. In multiplayer (and single-player) you define the handicap from newbie to game god. You can be either allied or head-on or free-for-all with computer ai, etc.
3. Adjustable ai skill (easiest to hardest).
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor - Albert Einstein
'Cause if it does, I feel I should quote C-3P0:
I suggest a new strategy, R2: let the wookie win.
Seriously though, if you are up for 'lets work together', and don't mind sharing the controller/keyboard, I would recommend something more puzzle & adventure oriented. Could be a point 'n click, but it doesn't have to be. I mean, some of the older Tomb Raiders were good in this respect (puzzles); just remember to look at other parts of the screen once in a while or your plan may backfire. Let's face it, FPS' are more reaction time and fine motor control -- which can be fun -- but I have a sneaking suspicion your better half will appreciate something more cerebral.
If you really do want a truly 2 player game, I would recommend something coop. If you have Half Life and more than one computer (and what self-respecting geek doesn't?), then give Sven Co-op a try. Play through Half Life co-operatively. There is also a huge map pack avaliable with decent maps; not all of which are quick-blast-everything-that-moves. Other choices include other coop games, such as Halo 2. I'm sure you can think of others without too much effort; eg sports games, racing games usually have > 1 player mode built-in, at least for consoles.
Personally, I'd go for the one that gets you the most thanks-for-thinking-of-me-honey... points.
If all you have is a grenade, pretty soon every problem looks like a foxhole -- MightyYar
DDR lets each player select their own difficulty level.
There's a open source knock off called step mania that's more feature-rich. Thousands of songs for step mania are available on the net, and you can add your own.
LEGO Star Wars is a very fun co-op game . . . it even allows you to drop in/out at any point, which is great if the phone rings, the oven timer goes off, etc. It's not terribly long, but the sequel will be out soon. :-)
On the PC side, WarCraft III might be a good idea -- you can play against AI opponants, and select various handicaps for each player if desired.
Puzzle games are a lot of fun to play together, too -- my wife and I have played Bookworm together and had quite the good time.
...beating each other with live cats.
It's a little tricky setting up a game, but if you put about three ounces of rum in waterdish, they're easy to catch. That said, it's more fun to do it with sober cats... their claws have a higher chance of being extended at any given point in time.
Now, if you start to get the knack of the game before she does, just drug her cat more. Her cat won't be as painful, but she'll be able to swing it harder without it trying to claw her eyes out.
After a few rounds, you'll both be laughing, exhausted, and covered in each others' blood.
Oh, and if you're both knocked unconcious, the cats will eat you. They'll start with with your tongues, btw.
Go is a excellent game, and it has a natural and effective handicapping system.
You can play it on a computer, or you can play it with a real physical board if you're that kind of person.
Most fighting games have a good inbuilt handicap system which evens up the matches.
Also the fact that my girlfriend used to punch me whenever I beat also soon evened up the matches until she kept winning.
My wife and I play a lot of Mario Party together. It has some tweakable handicapping anda pretty short learning curve. We usually play against 2 other computer controlled players. That sets up a nice dynamic where we can be competitive with each other but cooperative in screwing over the computer controlled players.
Another great Japanese game is "Ribbit King"- http://www.ribbitking.com/about.htm sort of a weird golf game where you launch frogs off of a catapult to ultimately get the frog into the hole. You score points for getting teh frog to cover larger distances and interact with the dense kooky environment. It has a lot of charm goofiness and just the right amount of skill to be fun and never frustrating.
Take a look at Final Fantasy XI (11). I play this game a lot with my wife and we get great enjoyment out of it.
I love to play coop console games with my wife. There are some fighting games like smash brothers for gamecube that also work, but you should look into one of the many hack and slash titles for playstation2. Champions of Norrath (and return to arms) is excellent, so are the two baldur's gate titles but CoN really refined the gameplay. Another good one is Koei's Dynasty Warriors. The game mechanics aren't great but it's really fun to decimate an army with your signigicant other. Gladius for ps2 or gamecube is also incredibly fun, if boreing in the first few levels. Tales of Symphonia for gamecube is fun if the experienced player is playing as second player (can't see yourself most of the time). X-Men: Legends (and rise of apocalypse) is also fantastic. Tom Clancy's ghost recon and rainbow six games also offer a pretty fun cooperative aspect but the splitscreen is kinda crumby. Lastly, Rogue Leader for gamecube is good, but your girlfriend would probably need to be higher skill. I have been playing coop games with my wife for years (secret of mana on the snes is f*ing incredible) and it's really made us closer. Competitive titles don't offer the same level of enjoyment at all. You don't want to frag your significant other, you want to frag the NPC that layed a hand on her. Hope this helps.
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you, becuase it's probly real big and could crush you or somthing." - From the Wise prov
What type of game are you looking for? My wife and I played the Baldur's Gate series on the PS2 and had a lot of fun. Since it is strictly co-op, it's easy to help her, without handicapping yourself unduly. Also, the game is simple enough that she should be able to catch on quickly.
We also play WoW together, and while I have a lot of UI mods and do some advanced stuff, she is a fairly basic user. Again, as long as she is willing to put some effort into it, it's easy enough to pick up and play.
If you're planning on an FPS or platform fighter, you're probably asking for trouble. Some platform fighters can be good, as they can handicap you, but even with that, you will still probably win a lot. Is she going to get frustrated and give up?
Only you will really know what she will stand for (you are her boyfriend, right). It's going to be a judgement call between what she will handle and you are willing to put up with. You're probably going to have to dumb down your play a bit for a while, I am guessing that you have been playing games most of your life and you are trying to introduce your girlfriend to your hobby.
Good luck!
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
deathmatch or Coop- I think it's great for this..
if you REALLY KNOW YOUR MAPS, find some custom ones,
if you really need to, restrict yourself to weapons BELOW 5, give here whataver she can locate to use...
my wife really warmed up to it kinda quickly....
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Recently, my sister came to visit me, and she has rarely (if ever) played any console games. I introduced her to Katamari Damacy, and when she first started playing it, she was saying things like "I'm no good at video games, I don't know how to do this, etc etc". And then she stayed up until 2 am playing it, and got up early the next morning to play it some more. We 3 Katamari has a couple benefits: it's very easy to learn, it has a cooperative mode, and it has competitive levels, which also have a pretty short learning curve. So overall it works pretty well for new gamers.
Guild Wars can give you the best of both online and offline gaming. Just you and your GF (plus AI henchmen) as you don't want other players to intrude on the two of you, no subscription fees, and none of the griefing you get in other MMOGs.
... on other things. :P
Plus, a huge and wonderfully detailed world for the two of you to explore and to battle against, with no xp grinding, nor any of the other traditional MMOG timesinks that make some other popular worlds so tedious. The time saved can then be used
Recommended.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
I've only seen it avaiable for the Dream cast, but my girl friend gets a kick out of it just because it's so crazy go nuts.
Get "Katamari Damacy", and "We 3 Katamari". They are both really fun and have great music. The first one has a better story and intro and the second one has the co-op play you are looking for. So if you are in a pinch just get the second one, but if you can splurge a bit get them both. (:
Plenty of games, Mario ones as mentioned, but the SSX games can be tailored to allow the novice to have more speed and control than another...plus it's a blast to play. My 3 yr old son isn't great at turning yet, but the snowboarders just bounce off of enough things that he keeps moving downhill.
fak3r.com
Try this.
Pick up a game at the store that neither of you have played, and agree that neither of you will play it except when you're both playing.
That way neither one will hold the advantage of having played more. It might be a little hard to keep to it, but it should pay off... that or you'll get bored.
"We 3 Katamari of Orient are / trying to roll up a great big star?"
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
yes, tetris.
People who have no sig are cool
World of Warcraft is a remarkably good couples' game. My wife and I play it whenever we get a chance and she's just as addicted to it as I am. I know a bunch of female WoWers -- it seems to appeal to women (even ones that don't like computer games) far more than most games.
On top of that, it's a cooperative game which requires no particular amount of skill.
ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
Look no further than:
.html) if you can find it for the old original PlayStation. That game had very interesting cooperative properties where certain shots would change characteristics and trajectory if they hit your friend's ship so sometimes it would be strategic to try to stay vertically aligned together (or overlay each other) to benefit from these special shots.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzle_Fighter
This game strikes an amazing balance by being both compelling for serious competition and entertaining for casual play. David Sirlin has a relevant article (http://sirlin.net/archive/slippery-slope-and-perp etual-comeback/) describing "perpetual comeback" as it pertains to Puzzle Fighter and why it makes that game so very fun.
Are you still looking further?
Well then...
Another example of perpetual comeback is the fighting system in Battle Arena Toshinden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Arena_Toshind en) where each character has usually two special moves (in addition to their normal repertoire) that they can only perform once their health gets very low (i.e., they are about to be knocked-out). These moves (sometimes referred to as "desperation moves") usually do a great deal of damage and can easily turn the tide of a round or just win the round outright so they add cool intensity to the conclusion of many matches (even when one player is notably superior because they need to be extra careful to avoid getting hit by one or more of these "come-back" moves). These moves can be difficult to perform for those uninitiated to the common fireball and yoga-flame joystick movements they typically require but they totally have the best risk-vs.-reward benefit when a player is learning the game. I'd recommend studying and practicing the execution of those moves first to new players. Additionally, some characters have very easy ones like (if I remember correctly) Ellis and Sophia only need to press back, forward, back, forward + Triangle to do theirs. Choose an easy and fast character to start with until you learn enough to venture out.
Of course there are some fun cooperative experiences (like Halo or MMOs) but if your partner shows an affinity for, and appreciation of, games requiring increasing reflexive (a.k.a. "twitch") skill, I would highly recommend the plethora of http://shmups.com/ out there. Ikaruga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikaruga) must be mentioned as one of the greatest here. All threatening bullets and beams are either white (with blue highlights) or black (with red highlights). Similarly, each players' ship can flip over to alternate between those colors as well. When you're the same color as bullets, you absorb them into your shield and they store in a meter which can be unleashed as homing shots. When you are the opposite color of enemy ships, your shots do double-damage (but you're vulnerable to their bullets because they are the same color as them). It makes for awesome tension because the whole screen can be completely covered in bullets but at least half of it is always survivable space if you're the same color as the bullets occupying that space. Check out "bullet-eater" mode too. You can beat lots of levels without firing a shot (i.e., by just alternating to the right colors and dodging terrain features).
Another great one is Raiden Project (http://gamespot.com/ps/action/raidenproject/index
There are lots of great cooperative Shmups but the only directly competitive one I have yet encountered is astonishingly fun. It is called Twinkle Star Sprites (http://en.wiki
You just need to set her difficulty switch to B and yours to A. Should be on the back of the console (http://www.oldschoolgamer.ca/syspics/25-94.jpg) or next to the black/white and game select (http://www.oldschoolgamer.ca/syspics/25-95.jpg) switches if you have an older console.
It's got a great co-op mode, doesn't rely on both players being skilled, but has some parts that need you to work together and communicate on...
It's available for consoles and the PC, and is a really fun game. (:
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
Any of the Mario Party series is ideal, since a lot of the games just rely on bashing on the buttons or doing something that dosen't necessarily take the hand-eye coordination of an experienced gamer. And if you find that you're kicking the crap out of her anyway, you can play it co-op.
WarioWare is also good, because the games are so random that even an experienced gamer doesn't have a huge advantage.
It's great :)
Any version of Tekken.
You can learn all the moves, and get uber good at it, and have really high end matches that feel intellectual and thought out ... and then still get ur ass whipped by an unpredictable button masher.
Mario Kart: Double Dash for the GameCube offers a fun cooperative style of play where one drives and one shoots and you can switch during the race. Best for the better player to drive most laps to start, then let the other player get more and more laps in until it's even since driving takes a lot of coordination and reflex decision making. Btw, tip : The better player drives the latter half of the race, this way you can have a final come form behind kick that makes everyone happy if the initial laps were poor. If I remember correctly there are nine or twelve different combinations of difficulty level and sets of tracks where you compete over 4 races for a medal and best time, from the ridiculously easy to the ridiculously hard so even though there are not that many tracks, you can have a lot of fun going from the starter tournament at 50cc up to the advanced tournament at 150cc.
You know, there's really NO POINT to play a game that pits you against
your girlfriend. Really, relationships are about cooperation, and there's
a lot to benefit from an adrenaline experience if you're both on the
same side. Show her things and help her up, stay away from
the smack-down.
Anyway, a few games from different genres...
Katamari Damacy 1 is a really fun off-kilter game, but the 2-player mode is
not that fun. I don't know about We Love Katamari (the 2nd in the series), but
I think they fixed the multiplayer. It's quirky, simple to pick up and addictive.
I think Dungeon Siege & DS2 are pretty good cooperative games for RPG-type
games. Fighting is relatively easy and you can help each other. It's an
attractive game too. Go out of your way to share the loot.
For shooter games, Serious Sam and Serious Sam 2 are really
fun cooperative games. They might be more guy games. I've
had lots of fun attacking 300-foot-tall monsters with my friends.
It doesn't matter about skill, because the better players just help protect
the beginners and there is plenty of work to go around. Weapons
and ammo that appear always have multiple copies, so there's no
fighting over stuff.
It's too bad that cooperative games are not as popular as they should
be. I think it's because it requires extra effort and tweaking that most
publishers don't bother with.
Maybe if review sites put "cooperative play" or "family play" on their
checklists, it might help with the situation.
I couldn't agree more. I love games, while my wife is not much of a gamer at all (she loved the original NES, but games have advanced to a point that they're just not enjoyable to her). However, we'll spend just about every evening together playing the "Monkey Race DX" in Super Monkey Ball Deluxe. The game is very simple, you control the monkey with a joystick and use one button to fire - there aren't any "power slides", super ultra-cool combos, or any "must win" moves that one needs to learn. Additionally, you can pick up weapons to fire at each other, which usually favors the player who is behind, and you can toggle a "handicap" option giving losing players a slight speed boost. I've looked for years for a game that both my wife and I could play, and to date this is the only one that has worked. My wife is hooked. My friends are hooked (both the gamers and non-gamers). Even my parents are hooked. The game sells for ~$20 - I strongly recommend the submitter to check it out.
I play everyone's favorite open source strategy game with a friend who isn't nearly as good at it as I am.
Usually we team up against several AI opponents. It's also possible to give a player some AI "teammmates", and this can help level the playing field a bit, though you'll have to experiment with the right number of AI teammates (me vs my friend and 3 AIs = him gleefully kicking my ass for once).
Agree wholeheartedly (or is that whole-3-edly).
After years of dismal attempts to get my partner into gaming, "We love Katamari" was the winner. It's a shame "Katamari Damacy" never made to PAL.
More or less any RTS will do it. They pretty much all give the option of having any configuration of players. So if you want you set her up with a couple of AI helpers and try take them all down. Alternatively you do what I did when I started playing Total Annihilation.
Me and a friend both faught on the same team he had more experience so he was on defence. Meanwhile behind the lines I was building any ol base I wanted, which taught me what buildings there were and what they all did. Shortly after that I started building all manner of offensive units and structures.
Only took a couple of games for us to start building seperate self sustaining bases. Although even if it takes longer experienced players typically love to be on the front line defence in TA. (It gets seriously hectic and weve had a kill counter go up by over 300 units in a matter of seconds.)
Im fairly sure you can do that kind of thing with any RTS but TA is cheap to buy has a spare CD for multiplayer games and is still arguably the greatest muliplayer RTS ever created.
is one of the only ones my gf will play, besides really old ones like frogger... Or DDR and Kareoke revolution.
OMG this game is so fun. The songs are short enough where alternating is realistic, and even dumbed down, I love playing with friends - i just concentrate more on my showmanship than my playing :) I hope that w/ guitar hero 2 you'll be able to play 2 player at different skill levels...
Donkey Konga is ridiculously fun two (or four) player as well... regardless of skill level
Hey there, I went through this same problem with my girlfriend before. She's a pro now, and we owe it to Serious Sam's co-op play. I will list my humble reasonings below: 1) Dying doesn't matter There are unlimited lives, so there's really no penalty for getting killed over and over again. 2) HORDES of enemies If she can get proficient at killing this many baddies at once, there's nothing she won't be able to overcome. 3) Wonky physics Levels turn upside down, gravity pulls you from side to side, etc. Learn to expect the unexpected. I would personally recommend either Serious Sam, or Serious Sam: Second Encounter (not to be confused with Serious Sam 2). Serious Sam 2 was fun, but did not have any of the above listed elements to it (at least, not at the point I've currently played it through to). Since the game is an FPS it's a great place to start for the more hardcore action-oriented games you are likely to be into. An added bonus (at least for me) is that the game is a little bit older now, so if you have unequal computers, both are likely to handle this just fine.
Bushido Blade 2 was a simple 3D samurai fighting game based on the "one shot, one kill" theory. If you cut someone in the leg, it slowed them down. If you hit them in the head, they died instantly. Matches were generally fairly short, and the system would tally your win-loss record. The controls were simple, but there was a decent amount of tactics and strategy involved, focusing less on combos and more on timing and patience. Thus my friends who weren't Capcom freaks were an even match for me, and we always had fun watching a guy bounce backwards after getting stabbed in the chest.
Nightstalker with the short sword or Hongou with the broadsword. That's all I have to say.
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
Women are a little different than men... If you dont want to keep her, play video games with her. If you do want to keep her learn a skill with her that allows romance to be thrown in the mix... I suggest Salsa Dancing... (I'll get flamed for this, but dont knock it till you've seen girls who dance salsa *drool*) While all your friends may call you a fairy, they will be asking you for dating tips when you have the latin version of jessica simpson attached to your arm everywhere you go. But back to the subject at hand, Learn SKILLS together with your mate that have some reward, not just waisting time because theres nothing better to do.
You can play in a coop mode where you essentially play two parts of the same nation. You actually play different countries and have different cities and troops, but you share technologies, maps, etc. Civ 4 has pretty robust helper AIs so you don't have to micromanage if you don't want to. She can just do what she wants, let the game take care of the rest, plus have you around to bail her out if she gets attacked. As she gets more play experience, she can take over things the AIs handled for her.
Why not play a card or board game or something else altogether?
It is very easy to "mod" a RL game so that you can even the playing field. Examples follow:
- "Risk" like games: Different distribution levels of armies.
- "Go" like games: One player starts with more pieces on the board.
- "Monopoly" like games: Start one player with a few properties.
I could go on, but you get the point (I hope.)There are also some games that lend themselves better to n00bs like Cribbage... I can't count the number of times I've been beaten by people who just started playing, and I've been playing it for almost 20 years.
There are two types of people in the world: those who divide people into two types and those who don't.
It's cute, it's simple, it's colorful, and it has a handicap system to help even out players of differing skill levels. (May be known as "Bust-a-Move" in your locale). Other good puzzle games include Super Puzzle Fighter 2, and even good ol' fashioned Tetris. Gauntlet 2 can also be good as an old-school choice, as it encourages working together for the best effect... even if you've got it on free-play.
;) ]
There are also some party games that do automatic leveling of the playing field. Mario Kart, Mario Double Dash, any of the Mario Party series, and (for a non-Mario game) an obscure board game title for the PS2 called "Top Shop". (Top Shop is sort of like Monopoly, only fun.) In any of these games, you're subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) punished for being too far in the lead, so things can even out.
As far as specifically co-op games, they can be difficult to find. That said, the Baldur's Gate series for the PS2 worked well for me and my girlfriend. I saw WoW mentioned above, but there's an easy solution to not inching ahead of your partner's character: each of you create a character that you only use when adventuring together. My girlfriend and I do this with Guild Wars - each of us have multi's that go do their own thing, but we've also got two characters that work together exclusively. Other co-op options include RTS's, so long as you're both playing on the same team (Age of Empires 2 comes immediately to mind) and work together. Also, some of the alternate, team-based modes for UT work well if she'd like to get into FPS's. (I recommend Invasion in UT2k4.)
If it's just a matter of easing her into gaming, I heartily recommend The Sims. It'll get her more comfortable with using her computer (your computer?... not for long if she gets hooked) for gaming, and will make it easier for her to want to seek out other video games later.
Also, finding an RPG to play together can be a lot like reading a book together. If the story is interesting, then it may not even matter that one player doesn't have the controller - just make sure you don't kibbutz too much, and if you're playing in parallel, don't get crazy with the spoilers.
And, of course, there's a lot of crossover between playing computer/console games and playing traditional card/board games. In anything vaguely strategy-related, there's a lot of knowledge that carries over, and if either of you starts to win excessively, it's considerably easier to make some house rules for them than it is for computer/console games. Go to your local small gaming shop together, pick out something that catches both of your fancy, and try it out. [insert blatant plug for my sig here.
So, there you go. All kinds of options for all kinds of tastes. If one of them doesn't work, try another!
That green slime had it coming.
Serious Sam 2 is mindless co-op fun that does not require much upstairs to enjoy or get into. Something more engrossing is City of Hereos (or City of Villains). It's a MMORPG that was primarily built for the casual gamer, and is pretty easy to get into.
Take a game like StarCraft, create a scenario where she's got unlimited minerals and vespene, plus a fully-functional base. You start out with nothing, well maybe just a few hydralisks and your goal is to take over her base. Her goal is to defend it.
Or Quake for instance. You only have a machine gun with 80% life, while she has a BFG, railgun, rocket launcher, etc, with quad damage.
Those are just examples. You can choose any (modifiable) game you want. Make it as lop-sided as possible, then adjust it as she progresses.
Believe it or not, Tengen's Tetris on the NES (not Nintendo's version) has a great multiplayer mode that tends to be a great hit at any get together that I have, and good times are had by all, seasoned Tetris veterans and newbies alike.
Of course, Tetris only goes on for so long. Here's a short list of fairly good games:
-Culdcept (PS2, Card Battle/Board game)
-Mario Party (N64~Gamecube, Minigames/Board)
-WarioWare, Inc (Gamecube, Minigames, hectic)
-Burnout: Revenge (Multi, Street Racing, easy learning curve, fun crash mode)
Screw the rules, I have green hair!
On the xbox there is a title called Fuzion Frenzy. It is a collection of tons of small games that you can play over and over again with up to 4 people. My 5 year can sometimes play with the best of us at some of the games. One of the funnest mini game is sumo where everyone is in a gerbil cage trying to roll around and knock everyone else off. Very simple, yet fun games. I beleive there was something similar called Mario Party, although I've never played it.
Check these out. Moonbase Commander is a top-down, turn based game. My girlfriend found it easy to learn, and soon enough, easy to win. It's good co-op against the computer or against each other. Another two player game is Crack Attack. It's a Tetris style game with multiplayer. My girlfriend comfortably kicks my posterior these days. The cool thing is that they are both free.
The game I HIGHLY recommend is called Fusion Frenzy. It's a great party game. It's for the Xbox only last time I checked. Its fun and has some decent background music. You play against other players in games that don't require alot of skill level. Usually the game use just the analog stick or they use at most 2 or 3 buttons. Great game for newbie gamers.
Monkey Island.
I don't know of any computer games that work well, but for a board game Knightmare chess allows people of almost any 2 skill levels to play chess against one another (if you play random card variation). You'll play your hardest, she'll play her hardest but the luck factor is deceptive so the games will turn out pretty 50/50.
Well, here's one my girlfriend and I play all the time, although it's Mac-only:
:)
http://www.mcsebi.com/bb2.php
Bub & Bob 2, a damned good port of Bubble Bobble, for Mac OS X
Plays better than any other Bubble Bobble port for PC that I've ever played (is it just me or are the ones for Windows totally shitty?)...
We bust this out on the iBook at the coffee shop and play for hours whilst ingesting tasty coffee etc.. fun stuff!
This is my all time favorite game. Its a multi-player non-turn based RPG, and its absolutely great. It was made for the SNES, kinda hard to come by these days though.
City of Heroes has a very nice system that basically makes it nearly impossible for you to not be able to team with one other person. ;)
And it is so genre relevant that it isn't funny.
After all, what would Batman be without his Robin or Batgirl? A sidekick is your friend indeed!
No! It's a *SIG*. Keep the Special Interest Groups away! (Con joke!)
I play Quake III Arena with my wife. The trick is to select bot levels that are somewhat challenging for you and not overwhelming for her. And not to (necessarily) kill her everytime I see her. :-)
She likes the game for its escapist qualities; it allows her to take out certain aggressions...
"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years." -- Warren Zevon
I second the Mario Kart. Playing on "Frantic" mode at 50 or 100cc really levels out the playing field, especially if you stick to the easier tracks to start off with. At 150cc a good player can pretty much own anyone, but at the lower levels it's a lot easier to keep up. Also, Mario Kart has a really fun co-op grand prix mode, so you can drive and she can learn how to shoot/blue spark, or vice versa.
I find that the Mario franchise games in general are very good for players of uneven skill. Mario Golf is great, Mario Tennis was really good on the 64 (haven't played the GC version yet). The new soccer game is slightly more difficult, just because it's easy to lose track of who you're controlling at any given moment, but I found it to have a very friendly learning curve.
For actual two-player, I repeat the recommendations of things like Mario Kart and fighting games with a handicap. There's also this SNES game called Tetris Attack that I recommend at every chance, it has awesome one and two-player modes - but, y'know, it's SNES. (I've heard there's a Pokemon-themed version for N64, but haven't played it.) Animal Crossing can also be interesting - you can both have characters in the same villiage, or start your own villiages on different memory cards. You can't play simultaneously (they really should have a split-screen mode for that), but you can trade back and forth like above, except that you're each controlling your own character, picking your own goals.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
Yes, Zelda is a single player game, but it's great as a cooperative game as well. Do this:
:)
Let her handle the exploring and puzzle solving. You watch and suggest ideas as she goes. When big bosses show up and she gets scared, you jump in to fight the boss battles for her. You'd be surprised how happy she will be as you "protect her" and destroy bosses that she is unable to handle.
If you're describing your girlfriend as a wookie, your relationship has bigger problems than the lack of gaming :)
She also ended up loving to play Bomberman once I showed it to her.
Also someone already mention Capcom Puzzle Fighter, but don't forget the other, similar games like Puzzle Bobble, Puyo Puyo. Most of these type games come with a handicapping option.
Lego Starwars. It's not so much a twich-monkey game, it's colorful, cute and has some shooting, jumping, flying and co-operative problem solving.
That one is great. I'd also try the X-men Legends games.
EpiAdv - if you like Pokey the Penguin, try this comic!
VERY VERY fun game... My friend's GF got addicted to this one in no time, and out of me and my friend (even though we always win by strokes in the end) she is the one to pull off double eagles all the time. I know its a golf game, but expand your world a bit :)
You should try blasting each other with Worms. It's a classic, and good fun.
I can't believe no one had mentioned final fantasy III/VI! It'd be perfect! It has a great storyline, Edgar owns in the beginning just long enough to get over the learning curve, and you guys can pick which characters are controlled by whom and customize to your liking.
I believe the 2 player game you are looking for is sex. Try not to blow her out of the water (unless she's still into that, haven't seen her in a while).
I'm an AC, so you'll probobly never see this, but I'll give it a shot. Phantasy Star Online is a great game, the current incarnation is PSOBB http://www.psobb.com/index.php , but there are other versions for GameCube. You play in teams of 2-4 and play in instances, or specific missions. Beyond that it plays like a Hack and Slash level grind, though there is also breeding of a MAG, now known as "Personal Machinery" that increases skills, many are very cute, so your GF should love it. As for difficulty, it's a versy easy game to learn, has a huge community with guides for raising specific "Personal Machinery" etc.. The bad news is PSOBB is PC only.
Just my 2 cents
-AC
Co-op:
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (a bit cartoonish, but fun anyway)
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (cheap now that it's been out a few years)
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II (A bit more complicated with the building of weapons)
Champions of Norrath (Beware of bugs that crash the game every once in a while, save often)
Champions Return To Arms (More bugs than CoN)
Gauntlet Seven Sorrows (not as good as Dark Legacy, too short)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (seems like random spell casting, but is fun)
If she gets more advanced:
Lord of the Rings Return of the King
Of course you could go for competitive games:
AntiGrav (EyeToy required)
Katamari Damacy (Multi-player battle mode or single player and compare times)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (EyeToy Games)
Most any one person game, comparing scores
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned this before. Set it on autohandicap for the first couple dozen games and before long everyone will be winning 50% of the time. Then make each player's average handicap the level they play at in normal mode, and adjust as players get better until everyone's at 5.
Smash Bros. games are great for uneven skill because taking damage doesn't cause you to lose, only ring-outs. If your handicap's low enough then any smash will basically be instant death. But beyond that, the characters are generally exquisitely balanced. It's also got an exceptional variety of characters, from Jigglypuff (with one of the strongest attacks in the game) to Peach (queen of juggling) to Zelda (two characters in one) to the Ice Climbers (one character who is actually two).
We've also recently discovered a little-known Gamecube and PS2 game called Ribbit King, about playing golf with frogs instead of golfballs, which is extremely cute (seriously, it makes Mario look like Silent Hill), but turns out to be quite well-written and have ingenious gameplay.
My wife doesn't play much, but when she did "Ooga Booga" on the Dreamcast was great fun - a 3rd person deathmatch game with voodoo gods and godess - and the first tennis game also kept us occupied for awhile. With my son we play Super Smash Brothers Melee on the Gamecube (my wife also joins us occasionally) plenty of ways to even out the fighting with either co-op or vs. modes. Before that we played a ton of "Godzilla", which is a slow moving 3D fighter though without a lot of handicapping abilities. The PS2 version seems to be much easier than the Gamecube version. The Gauntlet series is famous for team fighting - funny how no one has mentioned it. We played through many hours of Dark Legacy on the PS2. We've played through some of Serious Sam Next Encounter but the control scheme is a bit tough for him. As mentioned above Lego Star Wars is good for any Star Wars fans though I believe it is only co-op and not versus.
Funny you ask this now. I was asking the same question just last weekend. I finally settled on Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It's awesome in that it's like Guantlet from the days of yore. Just run around slash-and-grab. The co-op play is steller. I too had recommendations of the Star Wars Legos and some of the other ones mentioned in this forum. I will add that my g/f really, really was in to co-op Halo / Halo 2. I'm going to have to buy a damn 360 when Halo 3 comes out or she'll go ballistic.
You might want to try Wario Ware on the Gamecube -- it's a collection of rapid-fire "microgames", mostly relying on single button pushes or d-pad movements. Tons of equalizing fun for the gamer and nongamer alike! Failing that, Super Smash Brothers Melee has a really good handicap system that will allow you to tweak the settings however you like. You could also team up against some bots, if you were feeling cooperative.
Here's one from left field, but let me recommend one of the variations on Dance Dance Revolution.
My wife and I have always been pretty active, but recently a series of injuries and illnesses have interrupted our normal activities. As a result, we gained some weight, and are now having trouble getting motivated to lose the weight and get back into shape.
I'm a PC gamer, and my tastes in games run mainly to FPS's and RPG's. I've been trying for years to get my wife interested in games without much success. She played WoW for a few months, but soon got bored with it. More recently she saw one of those stories about people losing weight by playing DDR, and knowing that I love to buy toys, she suggested that we try it. We picked up a PS2, DDR Extreme-2, and a couple of dance pads for less than $250.
I have to admit, that it's pretty fun. We're starting on a level playing field, since neither of us has played it before. The music is mostly kind of techno / rave stuff, but it works well for the game. (FYI, I'm more of a classic rock kind of guy.) We have a lot of fun learning the game together, and of course we burn off some calories in the process. Also, if one of you learns faster, the game allows you to adjust difficulty seperately.
Now, this may not lead your girl friend into other games (which may be part of your goal); but, you can still have a lot of fun and burn some calories as a bonus. Give it a try.
One of the best SNES games of all time (so you need an emulator and the ROM) is Kirby's Avalanche. The great thing about this game is the handicap system that really does allow for your girlfriend to feel like she's beating the crap out of you while you're having fun actually playing as hard as you can to keep up. Perfect balance there.
You might also want to try out one of the karaoke games that are available. It might seem weird at first, but they're usually hard enough to make the "game" part fun.
like tetris but competitive and more fun. I play at level two against my friend at level five, and we're pretty well-matched that way. for the dreamcast...
Back in my day, we used to play this game called "sex" with our girlfriends. 'course, things may have changed a lot with this new online generation.
Sooner or later someone will have to introduce Bonk Bonk Revolution, just to maintain the population.
I want to find a good console or PC game I can play with my girlfriend, who has only recently started gaming.
Lots of people on Slashdot play this game where they have girlfriends. It's fun to pretend!
I have tried several games with my girlfriend and this is my summary: The best games to play with her so far have been: Coop: Baldur's Gate, Dark Alliance: It was a very simple game. She loved collecting stuff and leveling up her character. If she died, there was usually a place close enough to revive her, so she was always playing with me. X-men: legends: It is very similar to Baldur's Gate, but the leveling up is a bit more involved. You do not get too attached to your avatar since you are changing characters all the time, and there are some special missions that require you to play as single player!! (they say the sequel is 4 players all the time). When she died, she still had two more characters to use... however if the three die, reviving them is not as easy as in Baldur's Gate. Lego Star Wars: Very fun but very short as well. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Reasonably fun. I had Limited success with the TMNT 2 game. She thinks its stupid. I only bought it to unlock the arcade game ;)
Bad luck with
*Timesplitters 2: She doesn't like FPS
*Star Wars: Rebel Strike: Too difficult. She keeps dying and we cannot get past the fourth mission.
Versus:
Mario Kart: Double Dash: you can play all missions and unlock all bonuses while playing in two different screens. This game is so fun that my objective was not to win, but make sure she was the winner: by selecting the turtles, and trying to get or slow down everyone else... really fun.
and
Sonic Riders: Not as fun as Mario Kart, but more challenging.
I had Bad luck with:
Kirby Air Ride (she also thinks it is stupid),
F-Zero (too difficult and not so fun with several players)
Party Games:
Pac-Man Vs. The ultimate party game. We played it all the time whenever we have visitors. It is worth buying the gamecube just for this game. Any visitor can play this: Casual gamer or hardcore!
Tetris: It gets boring really quick, but when we have visitors is another quick game to play.
I had bad luck with:
Monkey Ball: Another "stupid" game
Mario Party: Too slow for her... rolling dices and moving in a board?? This actually kills the party.
If you're talking PC games, my friend plays Gunbound with his girlfriend. The cuteness drew her in, and now my significant other and I play it with them, and she's better than all of us at it. The best thing to do is to get into a new genre with them altogether, especially with a cute game that is fun whether winning or losing.
heh. I crack me up....
It's only paranoia if your wrong...
My girlfriend and I play Mario Kart Double Dash in co-op mode quite frequently, and occasionally in vs. mode. The co-op strategy of one player throwing items and performing slide attacks while the other concentrates on driving provides differing levels of difficulty, while both still vital to gameplay.
Bowling is a good game to play for people of skill levels. With the handicap system, it doesn't matter how good or bad you are. Sometimes players with low averages have the real advantage because bowling doesn't have a linear scoring system (as in there is not a one-to-one relation on pins hit to score. You can actually hit more pins and lose. And you can hit the same amount and win or lose, but in what order and frequency you hit them (3 strikes in a row is worth more than 3 strikes separated by a few frames)) so it's easier for bowlers of low skill to improve their score dramatically. Basically, bowling adheres to the law of diminishing returns.
.asm. Allow them to use a library while you roll your own everything.
It's fun for most ages and it gets you out of the house. Even at the lowest levels you can win money and awards in a league environment.
Go join a league today!
Golf is a good one too but hardly anyone plays "competively".
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If you're only interested in video games, most fighting games allow you to handicap a users strength/hit points. Try Soul Calibur 3. Same goes for most puzzle games as well.
--
Really, in any game that uses points as a metric for determining the winner you can always front a few points.
--
If you want to have a code competition, allow your "newbie" opponent to use hgh level languages while you use C or
--
My point, this is a really bad "Ask Slashdot". In most games, it's acceptable for someone to get the floor mopped until they develop the generally easy skill they learn from you.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
My wife and I play these ones pretty frequently.
Muppets Party cruise has a ton of fun mini games with some that I dominate and some that she kicks my ass in so its pretty fair.
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy is just mindless button mashing fun. It has most of the fun cheesiness of the original. I bought Seven Sorrows hoping for more of the same fun but only found that there is some truth in advertising as I was at least seven times sorry that I played the game.
My girlfriend isn't a gamer at all but Tetris Worlds for the PS2 is one that she'll play. It also autobalances so the better you are the more lines you have to clear to win. You might also want to look into the Sims. My buddy and his wife have been addicted to it for years.
there was this tetris game on the original PlayStation, and it was great because you are set at a level and you start off with that number of blocks to clear. win three times to advance a level.
spent so much time on that w/ gf. her GPA is 3.996 instead of 4 in no small part because of it.
Title says it all!
I don't have a specific game in mind (well, I do, BurnOut Drag Racing, but it's hella old), but bracket drag racing in reality is a competitive game that is able to pit any two cars against one another, regardless of how much faster one is than the other.
Each driver has a dial-in time, which is what they expect to be able to run in a quarter mile. The tree lights at the starting line are timed so that each car starts at a different time, depending on the dial-in time. If each driver gets off the line exactly when they get a greenlight, and runs exactly their dial-in time, both cars will cross the line at exactly the same time.
So, it comes down to reaction time at the tree, coming as close to (but not under) your dial-in time as possible, and beating your opponent to the finish line.
So - an expert driver with a finely tuned car and good reaction and driving skills can compete against a novice driver with a showroom stock car, and the novice has a chance to win.
This may not have been the genre of game that anyone was thinking about, but it qualifies.
Web 2.0 == Giant Blogspam Circle Jerk
Naruto: Clash of Ninja comes to mind first. A seasoned gamer's gonna win most of the time, but newbie button mashers get lucky and can do pretty well. Plus, the learning curve for that series is really small, so it won't take long before just about anybody's pretty good at the game. (Clash of Ninja is the new English version, but the Japanese series is up to the 4th sequel, and that right there is the best game of this generation. So, if your not afraid of imports, get that.)
Super Smash Brothers Melee is another great multiplayer game. Handicaps should help equal out your levels. Always a fun choice.
Any of the Mario Party games too are great, and gaming skill only helps in some of the mini-games. It generally seems to be a series females enjoy.
Finally, I'd have to highly recommend Guild Wars, which is cheap and fun with anybody, but I've found it especially great for couples, as are most MMOs.
I'd say RTS games are good as they are usually based on small groups of players. You can often play against AI teams which can help balance things out. Also, some RTS don't require much of a learning curve to have fun. Rome: Total War is one, you can play online against teams, but it's rare to lose badly even with bad tactics. There's no base building, you just choose your army and attack the enemy. Obviously to win a lot requires tactics, but you can win with luck many times if you do cav charges with cataphracts :] A lot depends on your enemy, and you can always take some poor AI players on.
Other games I reccommend are Need for Speed series, and team based FPS (counterstrike is strangely addictive to new players even though they often get bad scores).
For longer gaming sessions maybe try a MMORPG like Guild Wars, as it doesn't require grind.
On consoles I'm not sure what's good thesedays. I personally liked Soul Calibur on DC for battles with players of varying skill. Mainly because button bashing can work in SC sometimes.
So to sum up:
Pick up and play games: Beat 'em ups, Racing, some RTS (like Rome), team oriented FPS
In depth games: MMORPG, some RTS (like C&C zero hour)
I would avoid the following: Deathmatch, MMORPG grind type games, God games (like Civ IV)
By the way, we think Super Smash Bros is over-rated... we haven't played it for more than 20 minutes. We still haven't sold it in the hopes of finding out what so many people like about it.
am I missing any other games?
My wife (a game newbie) and I love it, and have given it as a gift to other sets of mismatched friends. Seriously, spend the $20 or whatever and give it a shot. She'll love you for it!
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I think you might want to reconsider your premise: your girlfriend, if she is unwilling to immerse herself in the games, might just not be that interested in video games. You may also ask yourself whether your girlfriend really wants to play, or if she is just acquiescing to your hobbies. If the latter is the case, you might find that her ardor wears off and the games become a burden on your relationship. Finding activities that are genuinely, mutually enjoyable would be a better bet if this is the case. Note that I'm not saying it is: you're the one in the relationship and you must trust your own judgment.
As another alternative, you could try something like Go, a board game with a natural way of leveling the skill barrier by giving one side a handicap. Otherwise, I you could be on a quest for something that doesn't exist.
Double Dash. You can both be on the same team, switching off driving and shooting. Lotsa fun.
In Soviet Russia, backwards is everything.
It's two player co-op; your GF can throw bombs and help turbo you through the curves, while you do all the "twitch" driving. Lots of fun for a couple with mixed gaming backgrounds... -Eric
My girlfriend never liked 3D computer games. She rather spent hours playing all the KDE games. Two years ago I bought a Playstation and the game Need for Speed Underground 2...
It took about three months until she became unbeatable. Then the PSP came out and I got one plus Need for Speed Underground Rivals. She likes it, but she is stuck at 90 per cent completion. Feeling much better now.
We had so much fun with NFSU2 on the playstation. Believe me, a great game for couples.
Many games now offer some sort of co-operative mode. The biggest is definitely the Halo / Halo 2 duo. If you want to get her into a FPS, I would definitely reccomend Halo. Controls are relatively simple, the learning curve is pretty easy, just gotta get the reflexes up a bit. As stated earlier RPGs are also good as well as RTS's as well. Rise of Nations is a good one. If you're good at it, simply "lend" her some troops to cover her while she gets used to the controls and strategy. The only problem residing with comptuer games is that you need 2 copies of the game in many cases as well as 2 computers that are networked together and can handle gaming. Consoles are a little simpler because all you need is one console, one game, & two controllers. There's a lot out there, I'm sure you'll find something that you and her both can enjoy.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?
Play is your choice of co-op or competitive.
There is little difference between a new player and a new character, and many games are set up with a single high level character taking low level ones through the game, or getting them over strongpoints.
Games are easy to join or create. If you want you can simply create a private game for the two of you to play in.
Groups are easy to join or create, and don't require any negotiation. The game is easy to play (left click/ right click) and there is tons of room for experimentation.
It's a bit old but it's heaps of multiplayer fun and you can play a round in five minutes. No long attention span required.
http://www.bluemoon.ee/history/roketz/index.html
Drop your damage down to one and leave hers at full. I used to play with my eight year old brother and it was very easy to balance the abilities. As she gets better nudge your damage back up.
I loved this game. You don't have to be good to enjoy squashing bugs and rolling huge balls over targets. Whenever I have a party and we're doing some gaming this game always comes out for a few hours - if not the entire time - and people of all skill levels enjoy it.
This is the sequel to Katamari Damacy a song with a terribly catchy soundtrack that you will hun and hate yourself for doing. Its a game about a prince whose father is the king of the cosmos and the prince makes starts by rolling a ball called a Katamari which is sticky and picks up objects in the level you are in. As the katamari gets bigger it can pick up bigger things. Its crazy addicting its 1 player or 2 player co-op but be warned the 2 player co-op isnt easy at first but it will def bond the two of you once you both get the hang of it. GL
My girlfriend loves it. Play 1-4 people (8 if you have 2 gamecubes with broadband adapters and 2 TV's), and each game you play will be filled with tons of free-for-all, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 1 on 3 action!
Serious! Rent it! Any of the series is great; I'm playing 7 right now and it's a blast.
... Well, anything you could break down into rounds, like a fighting game or a quickie deathmatch FPS.
When you win a round, take a shot.
Skill levels will rapidly balance out, and a fun and unsafe time will be had by all!
well..i cant stress enough how nintendo is the king of multiplayer!
u want to do this in a relaxed enviroment...not in front of your computer. console games ftw.
easy games to get into and most importantly superfun:
(i play all of them except mario party)
super mario strikers (gamecube)
super smash bros. melee (gamecube)
mario party 7 (gamecube)
mario power tennis (gamecube)
mario kart (gamecube, ds)
puyo pop (gamecube, ds)
tetris (ds)
meteos (ds)
have fun!! ^_^
Quake 3 has a handicapping feature. And it's not a horrible game to pick and play quickly.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Mariokart double dash is a good one. The co-op mode has a very low barrier to entry for the 2nd player, and a moderate barrier for the 1st player.
I still keep a copy of Warcraft 2 lying around simply for the sheer amount of fun that can be had playing with 1 friend on this map against 6 computer players.
No matter what the skill level of each of the 2 human players you'll usually have to restart about 10 times until you figure out how to build a wall around your bases before the computers pump out their first offensive units.
After that you have about a 80% chance of accidentally letting someone break the wall down and the MAX_UNITS number of computer controled hoards destory you in about 2 seconds. However, successfully executed the map will take about an hour before the computer runs out of resources and you can begin to break them down. Then you can spend the next 15 minutes selectively destroying a massively stonger force.
Warcraft 2 is quite an old game, but it has some staying power if for no other reason that the Ogres are hilarious.
You may need the version that is rewritten in DirectX (called BattleNet Edition) to play on modern hardware though. The DOS version tended to rely on the fact that your CPU was operating at under 200Mhz so it plays way to fast on modern hardware.
XJS*C4JDBQADN1.NSBN3*2IDNEN*GTUBE-STANDARD-ANTI-U
I'd recommend playing through some Bioware (or similar) titles. My girlfriend and I spent a lot of time playing through Jade Empire when it came out last year; even though it is a single-player game, we'd swap off the controller and discuss (lit. shout at each other) what decisions to make with out characters. Simply put, these games will offer a lot of entertainment, and difficulty level isn't really a problem. Ernie
I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet but the best game for me and my wife has always been Gauntlet. We have a version on Dreamcast.
It's got all the good stuff:
co-op play
If she dies she can come back pretty quickly
basically button mashing with a little of problem solving
Plus she can even be a girl.
Neverball wikipedia entry
Neverball homepage
Free fun nonviolent gender-free multiplatform marble game, not too steep requirements, has a golf mode that is pretty fun.
Everyone here is thkning video games. well i say play the grandady of them all. Get her in to DnD. It does have a steep learning curve. but i know you can have alot of fun the first time you play. My girlfriend has no problem with it.
My wife and I were in this very same situation.
We found co-op games were best. We ended up enjoying Gauntlent: Dark Legacy; Dungens & Dragons (XBOX); Champions of Norrath; Baulders Gate; and the like.
If you start with co-op in the game you both tend to stay the same level or so.
We did find that we started competing on who had the most gold. But that wasn't direct. Oh yeah, share the weapons you don't need. Sometimes you get the mighty mighty sword of death, right after you got the super mighty lighning shadow numchucks, you won't use them both, so give her something cool.
But most importantly, you are playing with her. So, let her make some of the desisions. Let her make mistakes and learn from them. DON'T BE YOUR USUAL "SMART" SELF AND POINT OUT ALL THE WAYS SHE COULD BE BETTER. She isn't playing a game. She is spending time with you.
Outside of the ARPG realm, we also enjoyed Super Bust a Move quite a bit.
Oh, I don't know about all women, but my wife absolutley refuses to take any handicap when we play competivtly. I smack her down, and she gets right back up. Now it's hard a hell to beat her.
This too, shall pass.
Would be a good one..
But in general:
- Pick a game you yourself haven't mastered.
- Pick somthing that doesn't require heaps of motor control (which you're presumably trained in, and she's not)
Hence: Space Channel 5 part 2 - all you need is rythm.
Will you marry me?
Someone save me from this sanity.
Tetris Worlds for the PS2 has a great handicapping feature. I've found that after playing awhile, you can set up a competitive game where you're on level 8 and she's on level 2, and she can give you a run for the money. And it's tetris. Can't argue with that. http://thq.com/tetrisworlds/main.html
You don't have to stick with the co-op mode forever in Halo 2, either. The multiplayer has a pretty effective handicap function. It's especially useful since the steepest part of the learning curve for most new gamers is mastering orientation and sorting through your options. But if she can kill you in four shots while it takes you seven, it won't matter if she's slower at making decisions and taking shots.
John Hancock wuz here.
Slashdot has a "girlfriend" tag?
Gauntlet! You cover her ass so you have some fun while she stay's safe.
A good co-op game for varying skill levels is Jet Force Gemini for the N64. Pretty early in the game, you get a robot that hovers next to the main character. The secondary player get his/her own crosshair and can fire shots from the robot, and shooting is that player's sole responsibility. The main player must maneuver the character, manage ammo, solve puzzles, kill baddies etc. I played it for hours with my little bro years ago.
I'd suggest super monkey ball for the GCN. It's easy to grasp and is neither competitive nor cooperative yet fun for both people.
With differing skill levels, I suggest looking for games that try to level the skills between the players...
Quiz games: Questions can be random (say like, Buzz! Quiz game)
Sports games: where the better player chooses a lower skilled team. (NBA / NHL, Pro Evo)
Fighting games: most of these have a handicap option. I know Street Fighter 2 used to, and I think Tekken did.
Hand-Eye Co-ordination games: Dance Dance Revolution, Beatmania, Guitar Freaks etc. where you're testing your reactions rather than your knowledge of the levels. (these games also usually have individual difficulty levels)
Car Racing: choose a C-Class car while your partner chooses a B-Class car?... or drive manual, while they drive Automatic.
Puzzle Games: again, individual difficulty levels can come into play here; games such as Bust-A-Move, Tetris, Eggo-Mania.
Theres plenty of options!!!
----- Concentrate on promoting more than demoting.
Dance Dance Revolution is one of the best games for a mix of skill levels. In DDR, if one of you is surviving the song, then you both survive and go on to the next stage. So, if you're a more seasoned DDR player, then you can keep her alive and she can continue having fun. Likewise, if you want to push yourself on a particular song and you know she can beat it on light, then you can put yours on heavy and have a go at it without the fear of failing it in the middle of the song.
What you reap is what you sow
I completely disagree with the MMORPG idea. First off, if shes not a gamer, theres no way shell be interested in that. Honestly, there are 2 types that i would suggest: 1. Party Games. All of the mario party games, or Fuzion Frenzy for the XBOX are perfect. My friends gf played that with me, him, and another "girl." my friends GF won one of the minigames >70% of the time, though a few minutes later we learned that she didnt know to use the directional pad as was only using a and b. 2. Oldschool. The NES has 2 buttons. Plus the games are non-gory, which should help. What can i say, Mario's a pimp. Even if you go newer (n64) Nintendo is the way to go. Games like mariokart and waverage offer amamzing gameplay, and waverace's handicap really evens the playing field (too much so for my tastes). My experience with playing games with traditional girls is that they dont mind loosing or coming in second. They dont see it as a competition, but rather just having fun.
She can kill you easily with one ricket, and you will have a hard time killing her.
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If you're tired of all the traditional North American board games, I've recently discovered that there's plenty of great European games, such as Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, Carcasonne, and many others. Just check out your local game shop.
They're more expensive than the standard fare from Parker Brothers but they're a lot more fun and re-playable.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
You are lucky that your girl actually wants to play games together with ya! :)
:)
I think the thing about playing games together is for you to play games with her and enjoy her company! When you enjoy being with her, you will enjoy it either way. To find a game where it will somehow make both of you feel good would be ideal, but maybe you can practise some give and take here.
I'm sure if she is thinking in the same line, she would not really care about winning or not, but would be happy just to be able to enjoy your company and the game together.
Have fun!
I can't believe this has not yet been mentioned. The Atari 2600 has a novice/advanced setting for both controllers. It's the perfect choice. Duuuuh!!
df
[sig]darkfus[/sig]
It's a PS1 game, and it's great for varied skill levels. You basically throw rocks at each other, and the result is very affected by what rocks are available. So anyone can win.
Also, in Super Monkey Ball 2, Monkey Boxing (Monkey Fight) works similarly. You basically run around and button-mash each other. The other good news is that there are two other great games in there, and as her skill level rises, you might be able to play those too. Monkey Target is one of the best multiplayer games ever made.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
You know, several games have Handicap settings. For example, the Super Smash Bros games. Give her the advantage with handicap settings, and maybe put a skilled AI player on her team. Plus, there's the puzzle games that let you set your level. Tetris, Tetris Attack, Dr. Mario, pretty much all of them.
The handicapping feature won't cover the situation. And it requires a level of motor control and spatial awareness basic gamers don't have at all anyway.
Stay far away.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Worms Armageddon, Worms 3d,
Worms for console, and also PC!
Don't listen to the MMO suggestion, if your girlfriend just started gaming, they'res no way she's going to want to put the commitment necessary into an MMO. If you have a PS2, check out the Katamary games. They're light hearted, fun, and incredibly addictive :)
...Pokemon puzzle leuage for n64. Best game ever made. So much fun no matter the skill level.
really bored? My blog
My girlfriend has no problems playing Halo with me. Sometimes she even lets me win!
it never gets old :)
The bits on the bus go on and off... on and off... on and off...
Man, I don't care how good you think you are, it's still fun and entertaining for everyone involved.
Can you ping me now? Gooood! | Manhappenin.Net - Things to do
Or is it bubble bubble ? A fun game where you shoot colored bubble either in coop or against each others. I can tell my sister started gaming after her husband showed her the game.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Nintendo games are especially balanced, by design weaker player are better treated than in you typical game.
For example on gamecube, when you are last in supermariokart, you always get bunses that help you much.
In super mario party, random events help level the playfield a lot, and the minigames, which are not very technical, can be played by most non-gamers.
One of the best games that an experienced video game player can play with an inexperienced one is "Tetris Plus". Each player has a difficulty level that only influences the difficulty level of the other player's game. If one player wins a lot, their difficulty level goes up, while the other player's difficulty stays the same or goes down. So, it's always fun for everyone playing it.
All of my friends, ecen the non gamers play Worms World Party, it's easy to learn, a blast to play multiplayer, and only requires one PC and will run on very old hardware (100MHZ, 32MB). Being turn based makes it a bit easier on noobs who can't compete with your highly trained reaction times as a gamer. Chicks especially love Worms for the cute factor. It's also playable by people of all ages, so it's something you can play with your kids.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
Starfighter
Jedi Starfighter
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series
Bust-A-Move
Any head-to-head Tetris
Mario Kart
Smash Brothers
Warcraft III with handicaps
Multiplayer Halo 2 with handicaps
"Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins
http://www.jjsoftgames.com/english/battlepainters/
Another way of introducing a 'technophobe' to gaming is through 'simpler' games. There are many sites out there that offer games that are easy to grasp, but I've only really found 1 site that provides 'traditional' games in multiplayer mode (heads up). They are currently in BETA, but their stuff works fine on my pc. Try http://www.skillextreme.com/
One of my friend borrowed my Monkey Island 3 CD and played it through with his girlfriend. They seemed to enjoy the experience a lot. Another good game is Vampire the masquerade: Bloodlines, the guy can do all the fighting and the girl can do all the talking.
The original Half-Life port for PlayStation 2 had an excellent co-op mode which my wife and I played through until the end (I don't think that she's ever finished another game - except maybe Quake 1). AFAIK that's the only format that the co-op levels appeared in. It's really cool, both players have to work 2gether, but a good player can help out a less skilled one without detracting from the fun at all.
One thing to note about this is that if either player dies the mission is failed and you have to go back to the start of the level, so co-operation is far more critical than in something like Halo.
Diablo, and more so Diablo II are great for this sort of thing.
Baldur's Gate has issues with mixing attention spans, and gameplay style.
The latest Rachet and Clank has a two player coop mode, but we haven't really tried that yet.
I would recommend getting the latest Nancy Drew games as the quality has improved. They are up to their 13th game so far.
More info at http://www.herinteractive.com/prod/index.shtml
We also got the Agatha Christie computer game but have not yet played it.
Homeworld 2 is a game that can shift quickly when you are completely pwning the other player, should you slack ever so slightly. There are many options in ship building and diverse tactics, there is very little advantage for a highly seasoned player vs someone adept in it's controls. It is also a game where you can blunder into a win. It is a 3d space strat.
Hide-the-Sausage would be a favourite.
I know Halo 2 has a "handicap" feature. I have used it a bit while playing against my son, and it actually works. I haven't looked into how it works, but it seems to make the rate of fire and reloading slower. At least it gives me enough handicap that I don't win every time. I am not an elite player to start with, so if you are ver much better than your opponent it might not help that much, but give it a try.
This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
Bruce Lee for commodore 64.
What about Sonic the Hedgehog 2? You know, the one where the second player just dicks around with Tails while the first player plays the game?
I played single player half-life with a girl-friend. I used the mouse, she the keyboard. You have to work together, communicate, and it was fun to work on the puzzles together. After a while we could fight more effectively than I could playing normally.
Anarchists never rule
Secret of Mana for the SNES is by far the best game you could play together. A cross between an RPG and (Zeldaish) Adventure-Type Game. You can play up to 3 players. You start out as one player and after a few introductory quests you rescue your other two friends. As you are both fighting baddies together you can help each other gain experience points, and since she is new to gaming, you'll just end up helping her out a bit more. It is very cooperative and a good relationship builder. It also has an awesome story line to go with it that will keep her wanting to play more.
Dynasty Warriors (3, 4, 5 +- Xtreme Legends addons)
,seeing how three kingdoms make and break alliances to conquer their enemies in their quest to unify China.
This is a simple Final Fight-esque fighter where you go around and kill screaming Chinamen circa 200 AD. It's based off of the historical novel (that's an understatement; the thing's huge!) Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Anyway, the skill level varies and characters' stats can go up, so a leveled down character for you with a leveled up character for your girlfriend would work wonders on normal difficulty. Plus its a challenge for anyone moderately skilled at games to die but in no way hard; you're almost always allowed to retreat. Plus the "plot" is pretty interresting
Fun game, I can't tell you how much time my buddies and I have wasted in these past four years of college on this series. We still haven't gotten everything in the games, and we have logged HOURS on our saves. Plenty of fun to be had, and you don't need to get the extra stuff to have a good time. Plus there's over thirty characters to choose from, including a decent amount of female characters.
Perception is the thin dividing line between reality and fiction.
I've been gifted lately with a girlfriend that doesn't mind and in fact likely gaming with me. She takes interest in something that interests me. So I've come to rely on these games:
1) Sonic 2 with Tails is a great suggestion. She can just play along with you.
2) Tetris (the old standby) the new XBox version has a handicap feature
3) Amped 2 (XBOX) you can split the screen and ride the mountain together. You will likely always out score her, but you both can play against yourself to outscore yourself. Since you aren't competing with each other, it makes it much more enjoyable.
4) Super Mario! Another old great standby.
Really as far as FPS games go, I have had worse luck. They don't seem interesting to them, or they just have a rather large learning curve.
Good list
Smash brothers is great, if you like fighting games, my opinion.
well, this probably won't be seen by many, but hopefully submitter will read all answers ;)
:)
:)
there's a game my gf was just keeping on playing (and dragging me into it) - dr drago's madcap chase.
it's something between monopoly and... and... ahh, whatever
you can even get it from underdogs :
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=326
i was able to get it running in wine with only minor artifacts some time ago
Rich
Dude, get yourself a Nintendo Gamecube and pick up a copy of one of these games. Mario Party 7 (Co-op or VS) Kirby's Air Ride Super Monkey Ball 2 Mariokart Double Dash (Co-op or VS) Super Smash Brothers Melee (Co-op or VS)(Also has a wonderful handicapping system.) Super Mario Strikers (Co-op or VS) All these games have great reply value, are easy enough for a noob to master yet deep enough for a major gamer to cherish, and offer various handicapping and co-op modes that work well to even the playing feild. Good luck!
Some of the older games have less steep learning curves that spawned a whole genre. Starcraft: Can be played 2players vs. computer or real players online. You'll have to do some of the heavy lifting if you're playing online. Diablo2: Simple LAN game, easy to share items, you share XP gained, and you can take breaks anytime you want and pick up later. Natural Selections: Multi-player online shooter, but has a good smaller community of players. Less abusive youngsters. Different roles for different players, particularly for the Alien side. Gives an opportunity to work very cooperatively. I'm not so into the MMORG for just getting into gaming. The fees, long commitment times to the clan/group raids, and the fact that you'll play more and then advance further causes issues. This is unless you play two different games... one you play with her, and one without.
I like X-Men Legends 1 & 2 for this sort of thing. My girl only played PC RPGs (Baldur's Gate and its variations, Morrowind, etc.), not liking the controllers or the games on my various consoles. That all changed with Mario Kart Double Dash, in which she would take the attacking and providing speed boosts and I would do the driving, but even though we were playing on a console together, she refused to try to drive. When I bought X-Men Legends, she showed some interest in playing; the cooperative mode lets you get away with button mashing even as it gently pushes you towards learning combos and powers; these she picked up quickly, and we were able to start getting lots of combos. After many complaints about (and a few pratfalls due to) the Gamecube wires, I acquired two Wavebirds, and all of the sudden, she expects to be playing when the Gamecube is turned on. It's no longer a spectator sport for her. When she gets tired of playing X-Men, she announces she's out and I can return the game to single-player mode on the fly, letting her spectate once more. This means that I can do a lot of the tedious power leveling when she's not around, and because of the linked leveling scheme, her avatar never lags in level. X-Men Legends 2 is just as good at cooperative play for mixed skill-level couples; my girl is a fan of the X-Men comics since the movies came out, and now she can play as some of her favorite characters. She mostly plays as Magento, while I jump around the other three depending on the situation. These three games (X-Men Legends 1 and 2, and Double Dash), along with the Wavebird, have let her play and enjoy games she normally would have only watched me play; even better, her increase in skill and confidence have let her try playing games solo (mostly Zelda: Windwaker, but some Soul Calibur 2). Bottom line is that good cooperative games along with an easy to use, tangle-free controller helped increase my girl's skill level and worked as a gateway drug for "harder" games. She's even stooped to traditionally "guy" ploys: who do you think bought me X-Men Legends 2 for Christmas? And gave it to me ten days early to open so that "I" could play it?
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. -- Hanlon
Because of the handicap system used in it, players of differing skills can play challenging games against each others and get a result that is close to draw. Beginners can also start playing meaningful games quickly.
This page introduces the rules of Go, http://playgo.to/interactive/ and this page gives background information about it: http://senseis.xmp.net/?WhatIsGo
The second site mentioned contains a Wiki with lots of Go-related information.
ive also tried this with my girlfriend (am i still a geek if i have a girlfriend? lol) on GTA san andreas. she gets one half of the controller and i get the other. usually it results in driving aroun don the pavement running over everything and shooting out of the vehicle, but occasionally we actually get the game to do what we want it to! also, if it gets boring, just resort to making out!
Bomberman: Generation (and to a lesser extent Bomberman: Jetters) is a great multiplayer Gamecube game. With practice you will get better over time, but it seems like only hardcore players would ever become overwhelmingly good. Even after playing with my friends for over a year, none of us are obviously better than the others. And goddamnit those battle games are FUN!
I know many people who play this with their non-gamer girlfriends, and all of them are completely and utterly addicted. You each create a new character, it starts out super-easy, and gradually lets you learn. Also, having other real people including lots of women in the game at any point in time makes it less geeky for her.
My fiance is a non-computer person, and I play Quake 3 and Warcraft competitively.
Even though she is a nature/outdoors/sunlight person the following got her hooked:
1. Diablo 2 (I was totally surprised at first)
2. Warcraft (*specifically* Tower Defence and DOTA)
3. Guild Wars
You may also try "desiger board games" for non-computer but advanced fun:
1. Setlers of Catan
2. RoboRally
3. A card game like MtG/Vampire etc.
The Original HALO. My girlfriend and I burned up many weekends playing HALO together on my Xbox in Co-op mode. If you are a better gamer than her, you just end up killing more bad guys than her, but she can still get her share of kills. By the time we finished the game, she was pretty good and those skills transfer pretty well to other games (the control layout, concepts, etc)
Any of the worms series of games has inbuilt handicaps and if that doesn't work so well then you can even play co-op against other players (make two teams the same colour).
Alternatively, try playing co-op on some of the Commandos games - I can't remember exactly how it works, but I think you both get control of a few of the characters. All the characters have very different skill sets, so she can pick the characters that best suit the way she wants to play the game.
.sigs are for losers
My wife and I play lots of co-op multiplayer games on PS2 and GC.
Neither of us like fighting games and my wife doesn't like driving games so I have spent some time digging out the best co-op games I could find.
If you like 3rd person hack and slash games, you will be well catered for, check out:
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2
Champions of Norrath
Lego star wars is the sequel/prequel featuring the orginal films is due out this year.
We are currently playing 'Ratchet: Gladiator'. This is a co-op platformer/shooter which is absolute mayhem with 2 players and I recommend it highly.
This website has more ideas:
http://charon.sfsu.edu/corey/ps2coop/
A game with a very short and not at all steep learning curve, that anyone can pick up in about 5 minutes or so.
:)
Lots of settings that determine how many powerful weaponry you want in the game, rather a lot of totally random behaviour, and a lot of fun to play against each other.
Nice examples for fun gameplay are: Only banana bombs allowed (who wins is pretty much entirely depending on luck, and only slightly on skill), or only baseball bats, also tons of fun
Splut.
Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
In starcraft custom level. She starts with 7 colonies spread accross the map with resources near by and you start with one.
Good luck. Oh, before doing that let her play some single player games to get hold basic game mechanics before that.
Now that custom level stuff works pretty well in many real time strategies, give her the upper hand and consider surviving for hour a victory. [But don't tell her that, let her feel victorious.]
Anyway when I dated we played some board games, and she was happy playing them even if she almost always lost, it was more important to her to play with me than winning. Most of time *she* was the one to ask for a game.
Emacs is good operating system, but it has one flaw: Its text editor could be better.
Two player beat-em up games like Soul Calibur II or Dead or Alive 3 typically have a penalty value that you can set individually per player. Basically it extends or shrinks your life bar at the beginning of a match. Usually I am the one requiring the extra health. My girlfriend beats the crap out of me. But usually I win in any kind of driving game.
--- Eat my sig.
Dr. Mario wins all around. First off you get to buy (if you don't already have) an old school system which you both probably played as kids. This has added benefits that she will probably remember (fondly) wasting too much time playing Mario one like most of us and look at the game system as fun rather then something 'I play'. Next the actual game of Dr. Mario is really simple and your skill set can't be too far apart and even if she can kick your butt in the two player mode you can set each of you to have different difficult levels. And the game only lasts ten minutes so you are more likely to play "just one game" then some forty hour RPG.
-Benjamin Meyer
Do you changes clothes while making the "chee-chee-cha-cha-choh" transformation sound?
First up: Mario Kart: Double Dash. This suits your needs perfectly. It features mixed-skill coop gaming where one player drives the car while the other player sits in the back of the car (I guess that's called "riding shotgun" or something), "makes the sparks" and fights other drivers.
Actually, most multiplayer Mario games (such as Mario Tennis, Mario Soccer and Mario Golf) allow for mixed-skill multiplayer games.
Bomberman on the DS can be played in teams. My girlfriend usually doesn't like playing "intense" games like Bomberman, but she enjoys it when we can play in the same team, against the computer.
Another game allowing for teams is Mario Party. Again, you can play together with somebody against the computer, which can be a lot of fun.
Super Monkey Ball 2 allows mixed-skill multiplayer in some multiplayer games. For example, if you play monkey bowling as Baby, aiming becomes a lot easier. Other multiplayer games in SMB - such as Monkey Race - are definitely not suited for mixed-skill multiplayer games.
Taito Puzzle Bobble is the computer game we play together. It's a great two player game. She loves it and can get quite competitive. The only thing that the Taito version lacks is an adjustable difficulty level for one of the two players. If it had that then it certainly would be a perfect answer to your question. Maybe one of the other Tetris-like games has, anyone know?
I hate to be a fan-boy, but these are exactly the reasons why a system like the Nintendo Revolution is going to be a huge hit (if the controller is adequately sensitive.) The input method just begs for more puzzle-solving, weird-task executing gameplay, and certainly the controller will be more intuitive and accessible than trying to get your girlfriend to learn WASD or explaining how to hit that stupid little white button on your xbox while clicking the right thumbstick.
It's got the best set of non-threatening, hellaciously fun coop and vs. games. Mario Kart, Advance Wars, and on down the line. Most games have a handicapping feature, and all of them are fun. Plus, if competition isn't your thing, you can always pick up something like Animal Crossing and just have a good time.
My good looks paid for that pool, and my talent filled it with water.
I used to play the Harry Potter games with my ex g/f on her PS2, That was kinda fun, again the collectively solving problems was the best part.
And it doesn't have the Lara Croft issue either!
... Star Wars lego would be the perfect game for you! just be careful when playing the pod-race mission, it's hard as all heck with two players. but you can come back to that one later. :D after you have played through the awesome sequences and missions in episode2 and episode3.
Damn fine game for two players, cause you can protect your chicky babe from those nasty clones, and the evil empire. w00t.
http://www.thelegacy.de/Museum/5013/
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri's multiplayer allows you to assign different difficulty levels to each player, and to the AI. So you can play co-operatively against the AI, each at your own difficulty level. I think this explains why I'm getting mashed in my current multiplayer game while me mate is doing o.k. - I'm on a higher difficulty level. At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
Korvar the Fox!! www.korvar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
I don't know if you are up to very old games, but I used to have hours of fun with my ex-girlfriend playing Diablo I on Playstation. In the beginning I would build up a stronger character for her (usually the rogue) and then start a new game together. The possibility of starting a new game with a saved character is a pretty good handicap system.
So say we all
You have to buy it. Buy a pad for home, where she can play without people watching. Females are very self conscious, unfortunately. You can get cheap pads ($20) for starters and Stepmania is free. Start with the simpler sequences. She'll want to do it then. Remind her to step by listening to the beat, not by watching the arrows. Tell her that you think chicks who do DDR are "hot".
Try City of Heroes. Through the sidekicking and exemplar functions different levels can team and it's easy enough that my 4 year old can play. That's about his most favorite thing in the world, to make a new superhero and team up with daddy.
out of the water instead?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I think this is where the Gamecube + nintendo games shine, and the reason why i bought one cheap few months ago... Great for playing multiplayers with gf, family, and mates who come round for a gathering... Don't think i need to get a next gen console really! anyway;
:-)
Games that we play mostly are;
Mario Kart,
Super Smash Bros,
Super Monkey Ball 2
FZero-FX
Donkey Konga
Its interesting that these are appealing across the board to veteran gamers and novices alike.. Of course when left alone i boot up Ikaruga for some *real* intense gameplay!
My previous girlfriend and I played all the Nancy Drew games to the end (there were three at the time) and then we found the adventure Riddle of the Sphinx. It was fun working together trying to solve the puzzles. All this for a girl that hated video games and would cringe whenever I suggested we play a game.
After finishing Riddle of the Sphinx I took a huuuge leap and installed Zsnes and convinced her to play Zelda: A Link to the Past. She was hooked. Pretty soon she was playing games like Chronotrigger, then Baldur's Gate and eventually Magic: The Gathering. It's a progression.
Download win UAE and CC64.
There were some great two/multi players
Wizball
Bruce Lee
Defender of the Crown
Mario Bros [orignal version!]
Hope this helps!
[% slash_sig_val.text %]
Why not find a new game that you've never played before and play that? Then you're both starting from the same level, and from then on it's all about what you're willing to put into it.
However, I must agree with the parent that co-operative games are generally better for playing with a significant other. It's far more satisfying to work together than to compete with each other, especially when both have different skills which can be combined for a greater good.
WoW on the PC, Phantasy Star Online for GameCube, etc.
Round Based Strategy and or tactics on PC or Console.
FPS with fast respawn and customizable bots.
If you want to get her hooked to Unreal Tournament or some simular FPS multiplayer you can go against her and 5-10 Bots at "Godlike". Unreal Tournament can be real fun for n00bs because you respawn instantly and it's really fun to watch the cracks bouncs around and do terrific feats. Even though you sometimes die every 20 seconds. Just played a UT 2003 Bombing Run game the other day and noticed that dying is actually an essential part of the game. Especially if your at one end of the map and need to get to base fast more than anything else. You just kill yourself and respawn.
I didn't know this game existed until a friend and I were desperate for a new, two playter game and all the good ones were rented. We rented Fuzion Frenzy and Medal of Honor: Frontline (which we had both played before and loved, but never two player). We popped Fuzion Frenzy in first were hooked in no time. My friend's girlfriend then came over to watch a movie and she asked what the game was we were playing. We asked her to join and we eventually played until the wee hours of the morning. We never did play Medal of Honor or watch a movie.
And I have to agree with Mario Party. I was surprised when a few days later she came over with a copy of Super Mario Party. "Let's try this," she said. Another evening wasted on fine entertainment and she kicked our asses!
Super Mario Kart: Double Dash is another great two plus player game for non-gamers. I have to say, the Gamecube seems to rule when it comes fun, multiplayer games for non-gamers or gamers alike. Wacky Races for the Dreamcast is about close as you're going to get on that platform and just as much fun to play.
It's an oldie, but still looks OK due to OpenGL.
Co-op all the way (as someone else mentioned) means that you can really test yourself, but always have support. It's even set up so that the penalty for dying in the co-op game is returning to the start of that map: That's annoying, but forgiving enough that you won't stop trying.
The only issue is that there are no girlie puzzles. That said, the enemy isn't human, nice or pretty, so it makes for a great 'family' game to bond with mates, sons or brothers: The worst stick you can expect to get is "Silly boys! Harrumph" instead of abject moral horror.
It might not appeal real-world Quakers though..
[ insert meme here ]
One of you will end up playing more than the other... one will level faster...
"can you help me kill these wolves?"
"but honey I'm needed in this raid"
"you don't love me anymore!"
etc
I know of one couple who broke up because she lost interest in playing after 3 month hardcore period & he kept playing in his every spare moment.
MMORPG's are not healthy for anyone's relationships.
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
Once you learn the basics, you've got a chance of beating a stronger player once in a while. The problem with chess is that there isn't any random input, so the stronger player is much more likely to win unless they handicap themselves by pulling some pieces.
-- ac at work
I love co-operative games, I'm making a list of them, especially ones that are free or don't need installation.:t iplayerGames
http://www.daveschina.com/dave/articles/games/mul
It's a mess in progress, but there should be some new ones for a lot of people
My list of multiplayer
man win in video game or man win in bedroom. Honorable man play co-op game with his girlfriend.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.-TJ
As the parent suggests, it is perfectly possible to bo two physical players and control just one virtual player. My brother and I did this all the time back in the day; for instance when playing Dark Castle on the Mac, he'd do the running and ducking, I'd do the stone throwing (naturally, we decided together on where to go). We did this with other games as well, though I can't think of the names right now.
I'd also suggest split-screen car racing games (if your SO is into that), you could let the superior player select an inferior car, and see if you can still keep up.
Another way to play it is to ditch the action games, and turn to strategy/turn-based/adventure games, where there are no reflexes involved; two (or more) players can together decide where to steer the story.
"Good news, everyone!"
A classic game (which is freeware now by the way - probably one of the best freeware games out there, having been donated by Cassady and Green when they went out of business) is Glider. It can be played one or two player. In this game (in retro-2D) you pilot paper airplanes through houses, art museums, ships, grocery stores, and everything else in between. It is essentially a maze/puzzle game that requires dexterity. The game play is quite clever since you have to find air vents and other contraptions to keep yourself afloat. When you play two-player, once the first player reaches the end of the room, the game play waits until the second player also reaches the end. This might seem frustrating, but if your purpose is to help someone get better at the game, it works quite well since you can turn your attention to helping them once you make it out yourself. It has quite a following with a multitide of user-created houses and even active newsgroups. When you play two-player you are working as a team to solve the puzzles.
How about trackmania nations? its free to download, is played online has a reasonable learning curve and is about as straightforward as it gets.
Now that I rechecked the site, I found there is a Windows version too -- it seems to work on Windows XP even. No two-player option though.
...are both compulsive gamers. When I say compulsive I say it in the lightest possible meaning of the word, but we still tend to sit down in front of our two high-end computers and play computer games once we both get home from work. It is not the only thing we do, but it is the only thing that is relevant to this discussion, and your imaginations can fill in the blanks elsewhere - thank you.
I turned her almost accidentally to gaming and she only recently started a blog with the intent of chronicling her gaming, except she is too wrapped up in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind at the moment to actually make any updates to the blog. Go figure.
Our favorite genre is RPGs, for Role Playing Games. I prefer games with a deep, rich story and plenty of character development choices. She prefers games that are beautiful. Marriage is like that, you will like different things and you should just roll with it and get along on what you can get along on. That is also where it gets tricky.
Because we are both gamers, and because we love many of the same games we have tried to play them cooperatively. Here are the ones we have tried so far:
Neverwinter Nights (Wintel/Linux)
This was the game that really turned my wife onto gaming, and it was even her first ever contact with the "Dungeons and Dragons" franchise, imagine that. She has played this game and all of its expansions through at least twice, and four times for some. I have not even completed the original campaign. In this game, she is the master and I am the apprentice and my incessant questions about "Who was that?" and "Did you get that quest item?" or "Where does that road go?" became too much for her. We have completely different playing styles and couldn't cooperate.
System Shock 2 (Wintel)
This futuristic first-person RPG has an atmosphere thicker than custard pie and the 2.09 patch introduces a cooperative campaign mode for up to four players. We both love it, we've both played it through, but when we tried to play it together, we ran in different directions. When she was ambushed by a Hybrid from an angle she thought I had covered, I had actually wandered off in search of upgrade modules. It is a tense experience, but it is probably best experienced on your lonesome in a darkened room.
Guild Wars (Wintel)
We had great expectations for the cooperative possibilities in this game, and played through the entire "pre-searing" part of the game together. In this game we did not have the problem of running in different directions, but we were two different player classes. I was the tank warrior and she was the bow-equipped ranger/elementalist mage. She hit targets from a distance while I had to run up to them to attack. This meant she stood still and I ran ahead, and though I never ran far she still got the impression that I was leading the way instead of the ranger.
Icewind Dale II (Wintel)
Another Dungeons and Dragons franchise RPG, but this one was still in 2D art. She liked the 2D art, but decided that the characters "look like LEGOs" and refused to play on account of their miniscule modular ugliness.
Civilization IV (Wintel/?)
My wife not only made first aquaintance with gaming since she met me, but after her introduction to Civilization III, she also made the aquaintance of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. CivIII was her drug of choice and the first time she kept me up all night with a game, it was CivIII. So naturally we were both excited and frightened of the CivIV release. Carpal is painful and fixing it is not exactly free or pleasant. But! The turn-based nature of Civilization IV made this game the best possible cooperative game we have ever tried. Regardless of whether you play simultaneous or individual turns, you always have time to do what you want to and if your partner is ready with his/her turn before you are, you can zoom around the cities you have for some micromanagement.
Just make sure you divide the world between each other before you start. You do not want to get into a diplomatic border dispute with your spouse. And send reinforcements! / Per
/ Per
A while ago I convinced my wife to play Balder's Gate and she got hooked. We finished it and went on to finish Balder's Gate 2. We then played Champions of Norrath and the sequel, Return to Arms. I highly recommend them as you can import a higher level character into a game with a new character. But going through the ranks together is more fun for both. The other nice thing, once you complete it, try a different character type and go again. The dynamics are different enough to make it totally fun to go through several times.
Team Rusty Nuts
You can't rush procrastination!
If you like playing head-to-head instead of co-op, I find the Soul Caliber series for consoles to be great for people of varying skill levels.
I almost always play it when I have a gang of friends over because anyone can pick it up (no handicap needed). It's not like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat where you need to learn unique 132394-button combos for each character--just mash buttons and they'll do awesome stuff.
There is a certain learning curve where you can master blocks, throws, etc, so it favors the more experience over random button-mashing, but less so than any other game. Someone who just picks it up for the first time can usually win 40% of the time.
For a great card game that is both friendly to new players and scales in complexity and craziness as you get more involved, try a game called Killer Bunnies. It has various elements of randomness that ensure that the final outcome of the game is based partially on chance, the most obvious of these being the final determination of the winner, which is based on a randomly ordered deck. However, it is no Sorry! or something in which the game is entirely based on the roll of the die. Also, it has increasingly interesting and complicated elements the more expansion decks you purchase (non-collectible, unlike Magic or something like that), and frankly each of those that we have added seems to have improved the game.
I have no idea how this game has managed to survive to produce something like 7 expansion decks, as it seems like no stores carry it, but it is a game that I have enjoyed playing both with avid game players and with those who are generally not interested in games. It's not a game I want to play every day, after having played it frequently over the past few years, but it continues to be interesting, fun, and I imagine that if you play a lot of computer/console games it might be a refreshing occasional break from that.
Greg
I suggest Katamari Damacy. It's a great game for all skill levels, and best of all it's only $20!
wittysig()
Of all my Xbox games, the Dead or Alive fighting games are the only ones my wife has ever wanted to play. (Not Xtreme Beach Volleyball though... that would be too much, I'm sure).
It has a good handicapping system in that you can do a team battle, and each pick a different number of people on your team. Her 5 players can usually do decently against my 2 or 3 players.
GET READY! FIGHT!
First against the wall when the revolution comes
Girlfriends? Aww common! We're on Slashdot you insensitive clod!
Why doesn't your girlfriend actually learn how to play something properly? Does everything have to be "dumbed down", reducing everything to the lowest common denominator? We'd all still be playing noughts and crosses if everybody's girlfriend was in charge. Seriously, is the girl not capable? Is she like a sub-human? I doubt it. Give her the thrashing she deserves until she can come up with the goods to give you a decent fight back. Its the best way forward. There is nothing better than two SKILLED gamers fighting it out, rather than having to make concessions.
If you have a PS2, I would highly recommend the SSX series (snowboarding). It's incredibly addicting and easy to learn.
You can do a race game, like Project Gotham.
All you need to do, is select different cars.
She gets to drive the Ferarri, you take the
Volkswagen Beetle.
I can't believe no one suggested any of these games. TBS games are the best way to get your GF into computer gaming since they don't require a lot of reflexes and you can keep giving her advice while it's her turn. Both these games can also be played on a hot seat. I have no idea if CIV IV has a hotseat mode, I know that HOMM IV does not. Alpha centauri is another great one. Once you get her to love coop gameplay you can try something in the lines of Warcraft III tower defense maps, but only a few are suitable if there's a big difference in skills. Still, tower defense maps have pretty easy to learn strategies. This requires two computers though.
I have some similar problems. My wife enjoys playing games, but she doesn't enjoy getting obliterated by me when we play. I've found a few solutions. MMORPGS work great and are some of the best for cooperative play. WoW is one of the best ones because of the simplicity to learn to play and it seems to appeal to women more than some of the others. I would say that others to consider (based on how much my wife has enjoyed them) would be in order - City of Heroes, D&D Online, and Guild Wars. RTS games work as well. Most any RTS game I've played lets you play cooperatively against the computer, plus it can work out nice when she starts to get obliterated by the computer and you can come down to her rescue. A little work and you can find the right mix of computer AI and number of opponants that suits you. We've played a few of these including Starcraft and the middle earth one. FPS are kind of iffy. My wife and I have enjoyed the Star Wars Battlefront games, but some like Battlefield 2 seem to have kind of stupid AIs. When you bump up the difficulty they are stupid but accurate, and I really don't like that. FPS games aren't my specialty though, so I'm not as good reccomending titles there, other than the Star Wars one. Many others had good suggestions on consoles if you have one. My wife and I have computers and no console, so all of our games are PC. Personally I've found that the online RPGs are some of the best ones.
Ever played it with everything on infinite supply and double damage? It's a terrifying experience. Given half a chance, any opponent will immediately launch the unstoppable Concrete Donkey... so you have to make sure that your worms are spread out and positioned such that nobody can attack them with a Donkey (or similar weapon of mass destruction) without also obliterating members of their own team. And suddenly you have a tense, nervous game of positional play, in which worms attempt to isolate some, and use others as annelid shields, and in which any slip is immediately punished by massive firepower from above.
Alternatively, play Worms with low-power weapons. Play with unlimited Ninja ropes, one jetpack, martial arts, grenades, and the shotgun only. Things get vicious.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
You and your g/f should play StepMania. Its a DDR-Type dance game on the PC in which you can use either a keyboard (my preference), or a dance pad that you can buy in any computer store. Stepmania, in 2-player matches, allows each player to choose their own skill level. Your g/f can choose beginner, and you can choose heavy if you're hardcore enough. Both players must use the same song, however. You can download it free at www.stepmania.com along with some songs that go with it. I have the original DDR mixes on mine, and you can find some pretty advanced songs at www.arch0wl.com
Surprised nobody's mentioned it yet, but Katamari Demacy is perfect for the casual gamer to get into, and "We Love Katamari" has a two player mode that is awesome. The basic gameplay is you're a tiny little man with a stick ball thing, and you roll over stuff to try to roll it up into the ball. You start rolling up tiny things, like thumbtacks and coins and stuff, and eventually you are rolling up people, and trees, and buildings, and everything! I know it sounds weird, and trust me it is. The game looks like a rainbow threw up on a syrup covered kitten, but it's damn fun. Rediculously easy controls (two sticks control it all), challenging gameplay, and some serious fun are in that game. It's one of those games that anybody can play, and comes highly recommended...
Oh yeah...I wasn't paid to say any of this stuff either...now excuse me while I go roll up more stuff...
Definitely Diablo II. My wife and I have been playing that game for a few years together now. It is simple point and click, but can be as complex as you want trying to build your character up. A simple suggestion is that if she is having trouble with a low level character, pick up a character editor and give her some more health.
I also recommend Lego Star Wars, it is a fun game with a few levels that are difficult where you can step in and save the day. The "come back where you die" feature is nice too.
Lastly is Gauntlet Legends. Another simple run around and kill em type game where you can build your character up.
Cheesy Movie Night
But I would suggest trying a multiplayer online game, like Neverwinter nights or (as suggested) guild wars, etc. I recently had the same painful exercise with my wife, and I found that to be a quick way to teach her the ropes without causing me much pain. We both created new characters together, and picked a multiplayer server that I didn't know (to make us both 'noobs'). Now we both play games like Halo, UT.. and the great part is, no more getting bollocked over playing games. Worked out well for both of us.
The greatest Genesis game of all time is perfect for boys and girls!! Especially stoner boys and girls. Also, my g/f owns me at MarioKart64
EVE
In no particular order (yet):
Super Monkey Ball (2)
Mario Kart (coop in Double Dash)
Animal Crossing (with two copies for simulataneous play) (coop)
LEGO Star Wars (coop)
Sven Coop (coop)
WoW (coop)
Guild Wars (coop)
Mario Party (coop)
Super Smash Bros Melee (coop, handicaps)
Mario Party (coop)
Final Fantasy 9 (coop, split character controls + take turns in field)
Puzzle Fighter (CPS-2 arcade)
Kirby Super Star (coop, ZSNES emu)
Baldur's Gate, Dark Alliance (coop)
DDR (console) or StepMania (PC)
Bomberman DS (coop)
Wario Ware
Sonic 2 with Tails (coop, Genesis)
Diablo 2 on LAN (coop)
Zelda Four Swords (coop)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (coop)
Secret of Mana (coop)
I've not tried most of those, but have had the most success with Mario Party and Animal Crossing easily. There's so much luck in Mario Party that sometimes she wins, which she likes. She gets frustrated easily in games and has a tendency to give up or go "here, you do this part!". She's had a tough time grasping RPGs too, not sure if it's lack of experience, intelligence, interest, or what.
But definitely don't depend on games as the primary thing to do together, because it's a rare girl that this will work with EVEN armed with knowledge of what games *may* work. And you have to be very patient, remembering how many years you've been gaming versus someone who is very new. When a game simply doesn't work... just let it go and move on.
My wife is a moderate video game player so she isn't skilled in some newer games. When we play some newer games, like say fighting games I'll choose a character I don't know to even up the match.
:)
What I found is lots of old school games even things out. I buy lots of compilations for the PS2 from old Atari games when we were kids to old school Capcom collections. I have about 4 or 5 of these and each one comes with 15-20 games so we have a large variety of games.
Since my wife isn't in to first person kill-em' games these work great! Even turned based games like pac-man work well.
I even have my old NES and SNES wired up and playing games like Donkey Kong Country, SMB and Dr. Mario are always a good time.
Spot her a rook or a queen depending on the skill difference - or she can spot you.
There's also a variant I used to play with my daughter when I was teaching her. We call it "chess by chance".
You use an ordinary deck of playing cards and take turns drawing a card from the top of the deck to determine which piece you may move.
If it's impossible to move the piece indicated by the card, draw again. For the rook, knight, and bishop cards, you may move either one of (the pair of) the type selected.
In this version, you are allowed to move into check - in fact, you may be forced to - because the subsequent capture of the King is uncertain. You win by capturing your opponent's King.
You can also play a variation where you deal each player a hand of five cards to allow some choice of moves.
I used to play Phantasy Star Online with my wife. We just played as a single character. She's Japanese, so when we went onto the JP servers, she did the chit-chat and I did the killing.
Quake 3 has a handicap setting that limits your health, armor and damage you can inflict to a percentage of the normal values. There are auto-balancing mods for some shooters that will even out teams or change the toughness of individual players on the fly. Or you could play an FPS using only the keyboard while your GF plays with a mouse.
:) If you are more than five frags ahead, drink one can.
Or go for an acessory - beer.
I play Frozen Bubble with my GF. She beats me horribly on one game type and I win on the other. After about 30 mins we get tired of it and do something else.
If you have access to emulators then bring up NBA Jam for either the SNES or the Sega Genesis. Turn on "computer assistance" (I think that's what its called) in the options. What this does is basically make sure the one player doesnt lead by too much. I pretty much keeps the score close throughout the entire game.
Also Sega Rally Championship on the Sega Saturn had a similar option the would speed up the losing player if he is too far behind. Kept the race competitive even if one player was far more skilled.
#####Free and Open Source Game Directory#####
"Tetris Worlds" (Ps2)
Is exactly the type of game you are requesting.
I play this with my wife and we both enjoy it. In 2 player mode the better player wins the first few matches, but every time you win you go up a skill level (speed increases) until your reach a point where you are both winning levels by equal shares, it is an automatic handicapping system.
In addition Tetris is one of those games that is just fun to play even if you don't ultimately win that round.
My girlfriend and I play Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates together.
It's a massively multiplayer game where you play a pirate, and to perform duties, you play puzzles. The better you do at a puzzle, the more you contribute. This means that you two can play together, cooperatively and on the same ship, working towards a shared goal. It's also a very broad game, so if you like one puzzle and she prefers a different one, you can both play different puzzles on the same ship. The money you make can be spent in any number of different ways, and as you get better and begin to meet people, you can join a crew or form your own, buy ships, run shoppes, get involved in politics and war, take over and govern islands, or just buy yourself a really nice hat.
Don't let the graphics fool you, it's a surprisingly deep game. And, as it's Java, it runs on just about any OS out there.
Hope to see ye on the high seas!
I was never the best player at college, but then I came home for the summer to deathmatch with a group of friends whose previous FPS experience was limited to games with autoaim and no mouselook.
Eventually I had enough of a lead they decided to stop fighting amongst themselves and just gang up on me. That did nothing but freeze their frag counts in place, and even their attempts to coordinate strategy weren't very helpful.
"Where is he, where is he?!"
"He's over by the water!"
"He can't be by the water, he just killed me by the elevator!"
"Oh my God, he's behind me, he's behind me!"
*splat*
Pics are PG-13, but Not necessarily work safe.
It's a one player game, but there's definitely something for her to do. Just think of it as automating foreplay while you get game time.
Rez w/Trance Vibrator
Probably the best game my husband and I play together is Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. It's cooperative missions instead of competing against each other. This is the first shooter kind of game that I've really gotten into and can play it for hours. During the missions, I'll let my husband do the fast shooting while I hide and snipe so it works for both play styles.
The version of Mario Party i've played (6 i think?) allows you to either set up teams or assign certain players handicaps in free-for-all. Both ways work well for introducing inexperienced players, though the team play might be more fun for the new player.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
My girlfriend and I play 'Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth' (and soon Middle-earth 2) and World of Warcraft together. She's DEFINATLY better than me at WoW and she picked up Middle-earth without trouble.
I have a really hard time getting my wife into any game with any learning curve so we have a steady diet of Tetris (every variant you can think of), Dr. Mario, Puzzle Bobble, and Magical Drop 2 when we play together.
I've recently gotten her interested in Blazing Star (just keep pressing A!) and will probably try to get her into beat-em-ups at some point. I definitely agree with whoever said co-op games are a good idea. If you're not playing against her, she can't lose and get frustrated ... and if she does lose, she'll resent the game, not you.
Also, this Official Guide to Getting a Girl to Play Samurai Shodown V With You looks promising, though I haven't tried it myself.
Co-operative puzzle games such as Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the Game Cube are perfect for what you want. The game is co-operateive, but it doesn't get competitive like many other co-op games tend to do. Up to 4 people can play (Each person needs a GameBoy to hook up as a controller however), or 1 person can play with a regular Game Cube controller. The GameBoy's display individual information and shows underground or indoor sceens. All players have to work together as a team to complete the puzzles and defeat enemies. There is also a battle mini game where each player can go head to head in a sort of brawl mode.
Other good games I would reccomend are the Mario Party series and the WarioWare series.
I suggest you try letting your girlfriend blow you......out of the water, or hell even let her blow you in the water if that's what you like. You're almost guaranteed to enjoy that more than playing a video game!
Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors are hack-and-slash PS2 games set in the respective historical time period. Modest difficulty.
Gitaroo Man is a music game with a amusing storyline. You must use buttons and the analog stick to follow a pattern on the screen. It has a competitive component. It's pretty challenging though.
My girlfriend and I just finished playing "We 3 Katamari Damacy". She's not a hardcore gamer so FPS, RTS, and racing games aren't something that'd be much fun, since the relative learning curve would be pretty different. With Katamari, we played cooperatively and we learned a lot about interacting together as well as having a lot of fun. Perhaps the nicest thing is that Katamari is excellent for non-"hardcore" gamers while being fun for veterans as well. I've seen people who'd been playing sidescrollers/3D platformers since they were 10 and watched people who'd never touched gaming since NES -- and the learning curve was almost exactly the same.
We 3 Katamari is definitely a great game for couples with little or a lot of gaming experience.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
You start with one character each (by having one of you either generate a second character or control the girl Imoen who joins you soon after the game starts), at a low enough level that the gameplay is simple to learn, and it only gets more complex gradually. The game can be paused at any time and new orders can be given while it's paused, so if your girlfriend needs to take her time she can.
It's all cooperative play; you're not competing with her. This means that you spend a lot of time talking while you play and that many of your game actions will be saving each other's characters from mortal peril. It's a fun bonding experience.
When you pick up more characters along the way, she can take half of your party of 6 to be fair, or control just 1 or 2 players if she doesn't want to do as much micromanagement as you.
There's a long, interesting story line that gets continued in the sequel games.
One pitfall: in BG2 there's a potential love story involving the main character, and (assuming you're the male main character, like I was) the love interest possibilities aren't good. Do you make your girlfriend think you like ditzes or bitches?
The only other problem: these games take dozens of hours to complete. If your girlfriend is up for playing dozens of hours of D&D with you (can mine have a round of applause?) that's fantastic, but you may be looking for something more casual.
I have a similar problem with my little brother. I found "Lego Star Wars" was a really great game. Its really good fun and easy to learn. Also its got the whole nostalqea from the lego. It is by far the most fun star wars game I have ever played much better than thioer official games in my opinion, its just so fun! Hope you like it -Brennyboy
Tetris on the Playstation from atleast 4 years back is great for varying skill levels of players. As one person starts doing better, they move up in levels and the other person usually stays the same (depending on how many games in the 3-game round are won). This goes on indefinately until someone tops out. It's one of the most addicting games to play. My sister and I can curse at each other for hours at abou the same skill level. Then my dad, of significantly lesser skill, can play either of us and because of the way it works, have equal amounts of cursing ;)
Re-post with the format it was intended to have!!
;)
I have tried several games with my girlfriend and this is my summary:
The best games to play with her so far have been:
-Coop:
-Baldur's Gate, Dark Alliance: It was a very simple game. She loved collecting stuff and leveling up her character. If she died, there was usually a place close enough to revive her, so she was always playing with me.
-X-men: legends: It is very similar to Baldur's Gate, but the leveling up is a bit more involved. You do not get too attached to your avatar since you are changing characters all the time, and there are some special missions that require you to play as single player!! (they say the sequel is 4 players all the time). When she died, she still had two more characters to use... however if the three die, reviving them is not as easy as in Baldur's Gate.
-Lego Star Wars: Very fun but very short as well.
-Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Reasonably fun.
I had Limited success with the TMNT 2 game. She thinks its stupid. I only bought it to unlock the arcade game
I had bad luck with
*Timesplitters 2: She doesn't like FPS
*Star Wars: Rebel Strike: Too difficult. She keeps dying and we cannot get past the fourth mission.
-Versus:
-Mario Kart: Double Dash: you can play all missions and unlock all bonuses while playing in two different screens. This game is so fun that my objective was not to win, but make sure she was the winner: by selecting the turtles, and trying to get or slow down everyone else... really fun.
-Sonic Riders: Not as fun as Mario Kart, but more challenging.
I had Bad luck with:
-Kirby Air Ride (she also thinks it is stupid),
-F-Zero (too difficult and not so fun with several players)
-Any fighting game like SoulCalibur, MK, or even Smash Bros. Melee.
--Party Games:
-Pac-Man Vs. The ultimate party game. We played it all the time whenever we have visitors. It is worth buying the gameboy just for this game. Any visitor can play this: Casual gamer or hardcore!
-Tetris: It gets boring really quick, but when we have visitors is another quick game to play.
-Karaoke: Not our favorite, but when we have a party, besides Pac-Man vs. this is the only game people like to play.
I had bad luck with:
-Monkey Ball: Another "stupid" game
-Mario Party: Too slow for her... rolling dices and moving in a board?? This actually kills the party. Although Mario Party 7 has some bonuses, like 8 player feature for big parties.
-Bomberman Generations: this is fun the first time you play it and for 30 mins at most.
I'm so late to the part at this, that doubt it will even be read. Still: GIRLS LOVE DR. MARIO. Fire that game up, set yourself with the necessary handicap, and then have at it.
She'll be better than you within 2 weeks.
When my wife got so pregnant she couldn't move I introduced her to the joys of Diablo. It was easy to play together with vastly unequal skills - however she soon rapidly ascended to supremacy. I remember leave the house to go to work and when I came back she had filled the entire village with little heaps of gold and started complaining 'there wasn't anything expensive enough' to spend her money on. How soon gamers become jaded...
Bubble Pipe Life does not stop and start at your convenience Dude
So they may not be two player per say, but you'll get some tolerable gaming, and she just might enjoy herself too.
6 /sex_in_games_rezvibrator.html#000141
http://www.gamegirladvance.com/archives/2002/10/2
Someone mentioned the Genesis version of this game but you're more likely to have access to an XBox. This is one of the few games that is all about cooperation. Two players share health, lives, powerups, and even the screen when they're close together (it shifts to split-screen when you move apart so you can each wander off on your own). It's pretty easy to help out the other player, plus, if you have XBox Live, you could download souped up versions of the characters to make it easier for someone. My ex loved the game and she played almost nothing. Surprisingly, she didn't have much trouble with the controls either.
I really, really wish more companies would produce stuff like this. Co-op and especially co-op network gameplay really needs to happen in a big way.
World of Warcraft.
That's what girlfriends are for : playing priests. You play a warrior or shaman and whack at things while she clicks heal, heal, shield, heal, heal, shield, heal, heal, shield. Rinse and repeat.
Incindentally, I now hate WoW and will use this opportunity to bastardly advertise my anti-Blizzard propaganda: http://www.redrival.com/hateown/
Rub Rabbits is a game that is designed to be played with your wife/girlfriend/cute girl next door... or all three if you choose (at different times, I expect!)
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
My girlfriend hated it when I vegged on the couch and played almost any game; mostly because she didn't like watching, she had better things to do with her time. That is, until someone brought home Champions of Norrath. As soon as she saw the game she was interested. There is only cooperative play, and while the replayability wanes after the second or third run-through, you can pick up the sequel (CoN: Return to Arms) and import your character!
So, like Diablo I/II but with a lower learning curve. Any hack and slash game on a console will give you similar results.
And on the subject, I would recommend any console over playing on a PC. Firstly, you can sit next to each other in front of the same screen, making her more comfortable. The button layout is simpler, and hitting a wrong button won't matter so much. A four-player console means you can invite your "couple friends" over. Yes, the advantages are more sociocultural rather than technical, but isn't that the point?
No girlfriend I've ever had wanted to learn the depth of WoW, unless she was a gamer herself.
On the learning curve side, there are a very limited number of controls to learn (forward, brake/reverse, left, right, maybe a turbo).
Plus, if you get a decent game, you can have fun with it while she's learning how to drive (I'll let you decide if there's a double entendre in there or not). Maybe you can taunt her on the track (find places to hide, and come out as she passes), or run in the opposite direction and try head-on collisions for fun. Or, as far as handicaps go, you pick a slower car and give her a faster, better handling car. Then, as she gets better and faster, you can actually start racing against each other.
One thing to keep in mind is that you may want to stick with one franchise of racing sims for the time being. Usually, the physics within one franchise (say Need For Speed), at least in games released no more than a year or two apart, stays somewhat close. Whereas, if you swapped between 2+ different franchises (say from NFS to Project Gotham), she might get frustrated that the physics and car handling are vastly different.
My girlfriend and I play Bombastic for PS2 a lot. It's an action/puzzle hybrid. Quite fun and you can find it in the bargain bin.
Lets see umm I used play Mario Kart for the Snes and that was fun. Metal Warrior (snes) hela fun. Some fantasy games have a multiplayermode. I had tons more fun playing pokemon though. It was essentially a mix bag of luck and skill, if your casual (like me) it's hella fun. The card game can be fun if you don't take it to seriously.Go is good. Monoply less so. Chess can go either way. now battle chess is hella fun. But lots of times board games for bored games are better. Check out Settles of Catan or Hack.What's great about Catan and is that it's pure luck.
If you have an xbox 360, I highly recommend Geometry Wars. It's an arcade game so you can download it from xbox Live for around $6--ridiculously addictive and only uses the two analog sticks (and the right trigger). It's not multiplayer, but its fun to watch and you can trade off.
You should give the board game (tile game) Carcassone a try. Great fun for 2 players, or more!
On the ps2 you will find a series of Baulders gate games as well as Champions of Norath which is based on Everquest. All of them nearly identical, you jump in and co-op running around hacking and slashing hords of baddies and collect items / loot in a very diablo-esque way. My wife and I have great fun playing them and look forward to more coming out. We also played WoW for quite awhile until we realized that Blizzard was keeping our souls in jars and we had to beg to get them back. The ps2 games were much easier to pick up and play for a bit, save it at a save point and put it down until next time. Good luck!
Todd: Can we play now?
Bart: You are playing, we're a team!
Rod/Todd:Yaaaay!
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
Looks like a great start to a list, thanks!
Bempu is a pretty good game that my wife and I have enjoyed playing. It's like pinball, but with many more people. :) While not explicitly cooperative, it's not overly competitive either.
I think you need two computers to play together though -- my wife and I don't mind, since we both have our laptops, but that might not fit most people's criteria. We like using laptops together because we can sit together on the couch. :)
Regarding the larger question, multiplayer Unreal Tournament might be a pretty decent fit for players of varied skill levels. I know that when my wife and I host LAN parties, I don't tone down my playing but just because of how we balance the teams, she gets to have a good time and I do too.
Tiggles, I look forward to tracking your list as it continues grow!
The simple days when atari was king.. Play Pong with her. simple elegant and skill in this is minimal and after 10 or 15 minutes of playing this with her she'll be come bored and leave you alone so you can play the things you really want to play and if she complains, you have the "I Was playing a game with you, and you left". Now if you truely want a game you can both play look into card/board type games. There are several co's out there that make Java and other crappy games.
Bombastic The idea of the game is based on moving dice around until you form groups with the same number on the top. It might sound simplistic, but it's really well done, and aren't many good games built on simple ideas? It's also not PC, it's PS2, but this game is great for playing together, and skill level doesn't seem to matter. I played with a girl who hardly plays any computer games and she did about as well as me. If that's not the case for you, 2 player has handicaps; co-op and vs. and many different modes.
X-BOX GAMES
Soul Caliber 2 - awesome fighting game with incredible hi-res graphics. The good part for you is that you can customize the life totals. Give her infinite life and you 100, then try to beat her by knocking her out of the ring.
X-Men Legends - good co-op multiplayer game. Just remember that when you first start playing you have to go through a little single player tutorial before you get access to the extra characters. Can be played with up to 4 people.
Balder's Gate - D&D themed multiplayer game. Short but well done
Dance Dance Revolution - already covered above
PC GAMES
Everquest - There's nothing else like the original king of MMORPG for content. I've gone back recently after about a year away and it looks like most of the snot nosed kids have all left for WOW. If you want to play on your own or with others, there is nothing better. Plus you can now get the Titanium pack with 10 expansions for $20 with a month free to try it out. Not a better deal out there IMHO except maybe guild wars, but I haven't tried it.
Dungeon Siege I and II - typical hack and slash stuff, but with better graphics than Diablo and a lot easier on your fingers. Multiplayer is just a co-op version of the single player game. We've spent a lot of hours on these.
Magic the Gathering Online - the best evolving strategy game/time sink/money pit out there. You can find a game 24/7 in a few seconds. The absolute best if you can afford it. You can multiplayer, tournaments, two-headed giant against another team, etc. Don't forget that you can pick up cards on Ebay for cheap - 4 sets of commons for $10 to get you started.
Diablo, Diablo2, Starcraft, Warcraft3, etc - most of the Blizzard games have great multiplayer action. Bargain bin stuff.
Red Alert2 - scary cool future of war RTS. Bargain bin.
NON-COMPUTER GAMES
Guillotine - great card game for 2 or more players. Lots of fun for the whole family.
Apples to Apples - why limit the fun to your girlfriend. Get some others and have a great time with this hilarious game.
Tetris Attack
Bust out the SNES emulator and give it a whirl. Appeals to both genders, is highly addictive, and incredibly fun. Has a very good handicapping system... and if you haven't played it, then you'll be on the same footing. You might find your girlfriend kicking your ass.
Also available as Pokemon Puzzle League for N64.
I have found that game to work great for two players. It has a side view, so you feel more like you are watching the action in a movie, but you are playing it at the same time. But it is easy for a person who is not as good to play along with someone who is better. The less skilled person can sit back and shoot arrows more often while the other person gets into more action. But even if the less skilled gets into action it isn't too hard, pretty much button mashing and it works well. Combos come out accidentally so there is no trying to do crazy things like that. And there is one extra life that the two of you share, so most likely the lesser skilled person will respawn during the battle and you then have to try to stay alive until you finish the level. And if you notice that the lesser skilled person is getting low on health, you can stop grabbing the heath potions that drop from people you kill and let them get some. So both of you should be letting whoever is most dead get the potions. It is a great game and I played it with my wife, who isn't much of a gamer either. It is best with gamepads, two of those and you are set!
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
Me and my wife have found a java version of Settlers of Catan to be fun. We have 2 computers. She is not a big gamer but picked it up very quick. You can find a couple servers online if you search but we use or church's http://www.calvary.ca/ which has it for free in the games section.
...so what were you thinking of doing with them exactly? A partnership or a pirateship?
There's lots of multiplayers shooters (if you like that genre of games) that can be played offline against bots. You and here could play on the same team and she could learn in a game environment that only you are there to see how poorly she does at first. In otherwords, she wouldn't have to feel embarrassed that she doesn't do well at first. Playing on the same team is fun. You can talk to one another, and run around together. Eventually you two could venter into the people'd online servers, and still join the same team. Playing this way you wouldn't have to dummy down, or she wouldn't have to get "killed" by you. You two could work together, and back one another up. My wife and I particularly enjoy playing Day of Defeat, a Half-Life modification game. The bot program for it is called Sturmbot. You can also play another fun HL mod game called Counter-Strike. Its latest game has bots built into it. The couple that "frags" together, stays together. At least that's been our experience. HappinessIsaWarmGun www.mammajamma.org
Yeah, I thought about diablo instead. It's not that advanced. Also I guess most ports of "regular" games like monopoly and stuff like that works but maybe it's not fun enough. Worms maybe? Maybe some golf game or whatever, something which isn't advanced and that you/him haven't played a lot. Super mario strikers?
actually if you have a PC i would recommend Legos Star Wars. It is 1 or 2 player your GF can drop in or out at any time without effecting your play. And most important the level of complexity is there or not depending on how you play. i play it often with my 4 yr old son and becuase of the way the game is desgined i can drop out to go off and do something then come back and drop in anytime and resume playing. it is great fun. you can both share the keyboard or use game pads or any combo thereof.
I found the Cooperative play in Conflict Desert Storm I, II and Conflict Global for XBOX to be great fun for both players even when one has more skill/practice. These games actualy don't have a head-to-head mode and are solely based on cooperative play. On xbox live this is great where its so common to find head-to-head games where the beginner has to put in so much time and effort to even have a chance the conflict games foster an environment where the experienced player has the pleasure of mentoring the beginner and the beginner learns quicker and reaches their comfort zone with game fast. (Even more for me because im a bit older and have had too much coffee in my lifetime plus have to fight the lag factor of being in Australia when playing against US people)
Anyhow - totally recommend the Conflict games.