Games for my girlfriend

[Skeletor68]

Hello all. Just wondering if you fine ladies and gentlemen had any recommendations for games for a girl who loved Terraria (up until defeating the Wall of Flesh). Starbound sounds great but is a while off yet. She doesn't like overly complex or high-pressure games. No fps games or anything that really needs min/maxing. Just some fun adventures with minor challenges including some crafting/decoration.

The houses she made in Terraria are really quite lovely but I don't think Minecraft is her thing. I see cubeworld on the horizon but if you guys have any other ideas I'd love to hear. Also feel free to drop in stories about games your significant other plays.

[Althea]

At the risk of sounding like I'm adhering to stereotypes, I'm going to have to say The Sims. It's got the decorating aspect (not a lot less mind you), and it's not entirely complex. I would actually say The Sims Medieval is the best way to go. Decorating, crafting, variety, you get the idea. It might be a little high-pressure, but no more so than Terraria is.

Minecraft might actually be worth a look - I believe it's quite moddable, so there should be a way to tweak it to one's own play style.

Some of the older LEGO games, if you can get them, might be worth a look. I'm not sure what any of them are like, I just know you can - in the UK, at least - get them fairly cheap.

P.S. Her being a girl's got nothing to do with this ;) Smash the stereotype :D

[Lukasz]

Mass Effect 2

My sis loves it.

[Voon]

Building stuff, eh?

Well, I'd suggest RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (my sis loved it). But, does she like business sims?

[DigitalSignalX]

The Anno or Settlers series, or Sims 3. I actually had a heck of a lot of fun just adding a unlimited money cheat in the Sims and building various homes of all shape and size.

[Voon]

The Anno or Settlers series, or Sims 3. I actually had a heck of a lot of fun just adding a unlimited money cheat in the Sims and building various homes of all shape and size.

I did exactly this to build my dream house in Sims 3. Bought all the best furnitures for it too. And 10 cars.

[KauhuK]

Dungeons of Dredmor? Trine 1 & 2? Lego Harry Potter?

My sister likes Red Dead Redemption, Lego games and building games.

[Spider Jerusalem]

everyone must play ck2.

[The JG Man]

+1 with The Sims. Whilst there's certainly a stereotype around The Sims, it's very hard to argue with the actual quality of the games. They've really got it right, so it's not surprising they've flooded the franchise with stuff. I think there's also scope for Portal.

And Super Meat Boy. ​If you want her to hate you.

[Voon]

no, man. binding of isaac or IWBTG

[Heliocentric]

no, man. binding of isaac or IWBTG

Binding is actually an excellent suggestion if someone used to play lots of old school arcade games, its less punishing then them as you get out of life progression via unlocks

Why are we whispering?

[db1331]

If you own a DS or Wii, Animal Crossing. I don't know why, but Animal Crossing is like crack for females. I've seen it turn two non-gamer females into addicts. I used it on my wife as a gateway drug. Once she got used to playing Animal Crossing, I slowly moved her into things like Mario Kart and Golden Axe. She finished Mario Galaxy 5 days after I brought it home. I created a monster.

[DaftPunk]

Soldier Of Fortune 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Half Life series

[Alex Bakke]

I've found Sim City 4 to be wonderfully accessible.

[KilgoreTrout_XL]

If you have an xbox/ps3, I bet that you will both really enjoy Pac-Man championship Edition DX. Pretty amazing game.

[Subatomic]

Trine and Trine 2 come to mind, they are not that stressful, look absolutely gorgeous and can even be played together if you want to (Trine 2 at least, I don't think the original had co-op).

[apricotsoup]

Recettear?

Less building but the shop running is amusing and the actiony bits can be fun with the right adventurer (the elf girl was my go to adventurer).

[Heliocentric]

(Trine 2 at least, I don't think the original had co-op).

It did, but just lan, same as Shadowgrounds too.

TBH 3 player fixed character coop is the best way to play, some of the puzzles are only puzzles when you need ti figure out how to push the knight into the sky.

[Jams O'Donnell]

Dungeons of Dredmor is a great suggestion -- it's very accessible on the lowest difficulty, and quite charming. It also has crafting, though you can't make cosmetic changes to your character or the game world.

[Ravelle]

The Guild 2 if you can look past the bugs, Civilization IV and V are both accessible games, Torchlight if she's in to eagle-view RPGS with a need to collect loot.

[Zephro]

everyone must play ck2.
This!!! This thrice over!

I think it may be the women I date but my previous girlfriends hated the sims, found anything strategy like tedious, but loved Serious Sam, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, Lego anything and Call of Duty. So yknow just base it on what that persons's tastes would be, duh.

Isn't it a bit weird to be asking a bunch of strangers what your intimate friend would like? ¬_¬

[FuriKuri!]

These are games my missus has enjoyed (in no particular order), although I couldn’t get her to bite with Terraria due to it being too two-dimensional for her. :P

Minecraft
The Sims
Heroes of Might & Magic 5
World of Warcraft
Hidden object games (Drawn series, Tiny Bang Story, etc).

[Ravelle]

Not really, lot's of people read reviews from game journalists they've never met or spoken to and use that opinion to spend their money. ;P

[Skeletor68]

Cheers guys. Out of that list I think Sims Medieval is a good bet. She played Sims 3 quite a lot before but cheated the hell out of it. She dropped around 30-40 hours into Terraria which is really unlike her. She says she likes platformers but generally ends up stuck halfway shouting obscenities so it was cool to see her really get into something. Otherwise she just plays Plants v Zombies on the iPhone.

I wasn't trying to be sexist as in 'only games specifically meant for girls'. Just looking for something that was cheery but with a little bit more depth under the surface. Thanks everyone.

[tomeoftom]

Seriously, Minecraft. Start in peaceful mode or easy. It's so wonderful.

[Ravelle]

Seriously, Minecraft. Start in peaceful mode or easy. It's so wonderful.

But play it with friends or else your interest will faint fast.

[Namdrol]

Plants and Zombies, World of Goo, Angry Birds, Mall World are the only games my partner has enjoyed. We actually play a fair number of board games, both together and with friends. Ticket to Ride, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Balderdash, Scene It, and a few others.

I don't think there are many videogames targeting women, maybe because there are so few female dev leads? Actually, are there any femal dev leads?

[Althea]

I don't think there are many videogames targeting women, maybe because there are so few female dev leads? Actually, are there any femal dev leads?
A game doesn't have to target a woman nor be written/lead by a woman to be female-friendly.

[mike2R]

Different genre, but maybe The Longest Journey.

Can be frustrating like all adventure games, but an excellent story with a well rounded female lead character.

[icemann]

Here's some video games that my girlfriend got into/is into:

* Cursed Treasure: Don't Touch My Gems
* Crash Bandicoot (All of them upto and including Wrath of Cortex)
* Plants Vs Zombies
* Puzzle Quest 2 (she's currently OBSESSED with this game).
* Tetris Battle Gaiden (SNES). Even though she can't understand a word of it, since all the text is in Japanese.

[apricotsoup]

I don't think there are many videogames targeting women, maybe because there are so few female dev leads? Actually, are there any femal dev leads?

Kim Swift is one that comes to mind immediately, I'm also unsure of jade raymond's exact input on assassins creed but I think she's credited with a bit.

Most games designs are collaborations though so other names may be left behind for no fault of their own.

[Wizardry]

I don't think there are many videogames targeting women, maybe because there are so few female dev leads? Actually, are there any femal dev leads?
Of course there are. The King's Quest series was designed by Roberta Williams. The Gabriel Knight series was designed by Jane Jensen. Lori Ann Cole designed Quest for Glory. Wizardry 8 was designed by Brenda Brathwaite and Linda Currie, both of whom had been working at Sir-Tech for 20 years.

[MrN]

How about the King's Bounty games. No crafting in there, but I've found them to be some of the most relaxing games that you can come by. I actually love firing them up for 30 minutes or so before going to sleep. Fun, and not high pressure.

[Nalano]

Isn't it a bit weird to be asking a bunch of strangers what your intimate friend would like? ¬_¬

It's a bit weird to make his friend's gender the defining characteristic, rather than her tastes.

[squareking]

I've tried several times to get my fiancee to play something, either with me or solo. She has a strong console background, like I do, and tended toward JRPGs back in the day -- Jade Cocoon, Suikoden, Grandia I & II, Final Fantasy, etc. So she likes a strong narrative. I got her into Oblivion for a short time, and Skyrim on her sister's 360 seemed to interest her a bit, but I haven't found something where she wanted to really take the reins and follow through. Dragon Age also got close, but not quite. Then again, she's busy with life as an architect(ual intern type) and doesn't have much time to waste on silly games. With Minecraft and Terraria, she just kinda blinks and says, "why do you enjoy these again?"

I think she's let go of being a kid and sees the majority of games as a waste of time (though she's always down for Carcassone/Catan/similar). I admire her steadfastness and can definitely empathize.

*clings to precious videogames*

edit: Oh yeah -- I might just force Planescape: Torment on her next. She's secretly a fantasy geek, so I'm hoping it's a winner.

This thread makes me think of a post I saw on gog regarding Neverwinter Nights:


Okay, I bought this game for me and my girlfriend to play. When we applied for the CD-key, her email read "My boyfriend is making me play this game."

The guy sent back a message saying "Don't worry, your boyfriend isn't cruel, he's just sharing his passion with you." I thought that was awesome.

Kudos, man :)

[Drake Sigar]

How about the King's Bounty games. No crafting in there, but I've found them to be some of the most relaxing games that you can come by. I actually love firing them up for 30 minutes or so before going to sleep. Fun, and not high pressure.
I found the short battles and frequent rewards had me playing for hours longer than I intended.

[DaftPunk]

When i drugged my girlfriend,she loved to play quake live.

[MrN]

I found the short battles and frequent rewards had me playing for hours longer than I intended.

That's the worst (best?) part! I'll think to myself, "Well, time for bed I guess! Oh, there's one more group of bandits over there. I suppose I could mosey on over and stab them in the face..." Repeat that a few times, and all of a sudden it's 3AM. >_>

[zookeeper]

I've tried several times to get my fiancee to play something, either with me or solo... I haven't found something where she wanted to really take the reins and follow through... she just kinda blinks and says, "why do you enjoy these again?"

Me too dude.

Me too.

[Shane]

A game doesn't have to target a woman nor be written/lead by a woman to be female-friendly.

What do you mean by "female-friendly"? If a game is good, people will like it regardless of their gender.

[burningpet]

Well, personally not to my likings but from what you describe she has more or less my fiancee taste in games, so if that so, i'd suggest Spore, she was addicted to it in ways i have never have to any video game and i'm supposed to be the gamer in our duo.

[Althea]

What do you mean by "female-friendly"? If a game is good, people will like it regardless of their gender.
That's my point.

[donnawhite]

Soldier Of Fortune 2, Mass Effect 2 are really best for her because i love these games.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToT3Yqxn4aGT8NSWXZzg5_EyWgcVNmG Wpx7_PZFJmRnMigQLNMfkOFCNVl

[Lukasz]

What do you mean by "female-friendly"? If a game is good, people will like it regardless of their gender.

Not true.

Women and men are not identical. Most games are targeted towards men, to be liked by majority of men. It does not mean a woman will not enjoy it but not being a primary target it is less likely that a woman will have as much fun as a guy.

[Althea]

Not true.

Women and men are not identical. Most games are targeted towards men, to be liked by majority of men. It does not mean a woman will not enjoy it but not being a primary target it is less likely that a woman will have as much fun as a guy.


Um, yes, it is true. Women are not all alike. Men are not all alike. Some women are more like "traditional" men than some men are, and the reverse is also true. The gender one identifies as has absolutely zero bearing on what one does or does not like.

It's social conditioning that leads us to believe that Women Like X and Men Like Y.

[Lukasz]

Um, yes, it is true. Women are not all alike. Men are not all alike. Some women are more like "traditional" men than some men are, and the reverse is also true. The gender one identifies as has absolutely zero bearing on what one does or does not like.

It's social conditioning that leads us to believe that Women Like X and Men Like Y.
no. you dont understand. i never said a game will not be liked because it is not made for women. everyone is different and everyone has different likes.
what you said before was right. a game does not need to be written by female or targeted at females to be liked by woman.
it is not true what shane said tough.
Gender DOES decide what we like or not. we are wired differently and games, like all media tries to target specific wiring of brain to increase sales.
cause a game is good it does not mean it is going to be liked by women. that game is most likely targeted at men at their usual behavior, usual stereotypes, usual cultural uprising. sans why women may not like it.
a woman might like it of course.
women not.
difference between a group and individual.

[Althea]

Gender DOES decide what we like or not. we are wired differently and games, like all media tries to target specific wiring of brain to increase sales.
Like the disproven "sex sells"? But no, gender decides nothing.


cause a game is good it does not mean it is going to be liked by women.
Or men, for that matter.


that game is most likely targeted at men at their usual behavior, usual stereotypes, usual cultural uprising. sans why women may not like it.
a woman might like it of course.
women not.
difference between a group and individual.
You're only half right. Women are conditioned not to like "men things" and men to not like "women things" via upbringing, advertising/marketing and social views. It could be argued that girls are brought up to dislike action things, and men are brought up to dislike more personal things. It's complete bullshit, of course. But no, gender does not decide whether one person likes something or dislikes it.

[Lukasz]

But no, gender does not decide whether one person likes something or dislikes it.
therefore by your logic women and men are identical.
countless studies disproved that.

so you really are mistaken. gender decide our personality on basis of upgringing but also on basis of how our body operates. We are different!
Most games from the "hardcore" genre (aka not casual) are geared towards male audience. From design to marketing. Your claim that gender decides nothing goes against really everything about how products are made, how the world operates.
Men/women ARE different. Gender decides how one perceive the world, has impact on our likes/dislikes on how we think.

[Edlennion]

so you really are mistaken. gender decide our personality on basis of upgringing but also on basis of how our body operates.

I'm inclined to disagree that our gender decides what we like, but that's just personal opinion. As far as I'm aware there's no conclusive evidence either way, so there's not much point in arguing about it

[Bhazor]

My friends girlfriend's favourite games is Deus Ex. Go figure.

I'm a guy and I honestly think the best new comedy show of last year was a show for 8 year old girls about ponies singing about their relationship problems. Go figure.

OT
If she likes games about making stuff then I'd say Tropico is probably the best traditional theme park style management game series at the moment. If shes more into open world side scrollers with an emphasis on loot and exploration then Spelunky comes highly recommened

[Althea]

therefore by your logic women and men are identical.
countless studies disproved that.
Never said identical. I said you cannot decide whether someone likes something based on their gender.


so you really are mistaken. gender decide our personality on basis of upgringing but also on basis of how our body operates. We are different!
No we're no-ot.


Most games from the "hardcore" genre (aka not casual) are geared towards male audience. From design to marketing. Your claim that gender decides nothing goes against really everything about how products are made, how the world operates.
Men/women ARE different. Gender decides how one perceive the world, has impact on our likes/dislikes on how we think.
Yes, that is how they are marketed. If what you said is true, women would not have played Bulletstorm (Hi!) or be playing Call of Brohoofdy. Have you not thought that perhaps it's the marketing that's wrong?



I'm a guy and I honestly think the best new comedy show of last year was a show for 8 year old girls about ponies singing about their relationship problems. Go figure.
Proof in point. MLP:FiM's success is proof that marketing is complete bull. It's a show with a target market of young girls, and is marketed as such, yet has found a core audience with the "typical male" audience of 18-37 year olds. Says a lot about how entertainment transcends socially-imposed gender barriers.

[Lukasz]

Yes, that is how they are marketed. If what you said is true, women would not have played Bulletstorm (Hi!) or be playing Call of Brohoofdy. Have you not thought that perhaps it's the marketing that's wrong?


Proof in point. MLP:FiM's success is proof that marketing is complete bull. It's a show with a target market of young girls, and is marketed as such, yet has found a core audience with the "typical male" audience of 18-37 year olds. Says a lot about how entertainment transcends socially-imposed gender barriers.
im sorry but wtf you are talking about? because a girl likes something which was made for men does not change anything. that's not argument, that's just personal experience.

i might find some links later to show that we think differently (and teens do that compared to adult too for example. not experience, not wisdom, not knowledge makes them different. they are wired differently on top of all that) which affects what we like dislike.
http://www.mastersofhealthcare.com/blog/2009/10-big-differences-between-mens-and-womens-brains/
here random link i found after few seconds of searching which explains the difference in how brain operates simply in 10 bullet points. do recommend reading something more in-depth to get understanding of human psych.

on individual basis anything goes of course. therefore althea's statement that a game has not to be made by woman or be women friendly to be liked by a girl is absolutely correct.
that a good game will be enjoyed by a person regardless of gender is absolutely not.

[orcane]

on individual basis anything goes of course. therefore althea's statement that a game has not to be made by woman or be women friendly to be liked by a girl is absolutely correct.
that a good game will be enjoyed by a person regardless of gender is absolutely not.
Holy generalization Batman.

[Althea]

that a good game will be enjoyed by a person regardless of gender is absolutely not.
I think the success of EA Maxis, BioWare, The Sims Studio and PopCap shows that statement is utter BS.

[Lukasz]

I think the success of EA Maxis, BioWare, The Sims Studio and PopCap shows that statement is utter BS.
Maxis games were never targeted at male audience but have broad appeal. bioware games did the same, expanding their market. popcap are casual games. i mentioned why not count them as their demographics is everyone.

enough on this. go learn something about marketing how not only gender but age, place of origin decide our likes and dislikes.

[Nalano]

Maxis games were never targeted at male audience but have broad appeal. bioware games did the same, expanding their market. popcap are casual games. i mentioned why not count them as their demographics is everyone.

enough on this. go learn something about marketing how not only gender but age, place of origin decide our likes and dislikes.

No clan or guild I've ever been a member of was mono-gendered. Three of the last four I was in were run by women. That said, the gender imbalance in the games themselves were fairly dependent on the genre of the game. MMORPGs were pretty much 1:1. MPFPSs had a token female and a lotta shit-spewing bros. They never made the one girl uncomfortable - they were dudes and she was a dudette - but the game didn't tend to appeal to her demographics.

You see it in music, too. Nine Inch Nails had a majority male audience but I know a lot of women who liked the sound (but then, I hang out with a lotta dudette gamers). I hardly know any women who like the sound of King Crimson, who purportedly have a 95% male audience.

Thing is, tho, when you're talking statistics, you're not talking individual tastes. I dunno if the OP's friend will like something or not like something. Ultimately, everybody likes everything, and if you're going to stereotype the OP's friend based on broad demographics, you're likely to get it very, very wrong.

[Lukasz]

Thing is, tho, when you're talking statistics, you're not talking individual tastes. I dunno if the OP's friend will like something or not like something. Ultimately, everybody likes everything, and if you're going to stereotype the OP's friend based on broad demographics, you're likely to get it very, very wrong.
I never stereotyped anyone Nalano. I did say more than few times that on individual basis everything goes. My argument was in reference to incorrect statement from Shane.


anyhow

Settlers 2 10th anniversary is really frigging good. do recommend it.

[NathanH]

My mother likes Puzzle Quest as well as Terraria.

[Nalano]

I never stereotyped anyone Nalano. I did say more than few times that on individual basis everything goes. My argument was in reference to incorrect statement from Shane.

Well then forward my post to him. I don't give a shit, but this conversation's been circling that drain for a while.

[Namdrol]

I just wanted to drop back into the thread to mention that a former female student of my wife's did an art installation, part of which involved her playing the sims for 12hours strait.

as to the ot argument: Men and women's brains are visibly different, it can be seen in scans What that means is up for debate, and of course individuals variance matters.

But, one need only look at testosterone levels, violent offense rates, and the fact that "the empowerment of women is the only cure for poverty we know" (c. hitchens) to know that men =/= women.

[Voon]

Oh, great. Thread de-railed because of gender issues

[FuriKuri!]

I just wanted to drop back into the thread to mention that a former female student of my wife's did an art installation, part of which involved her playing the sims for 12hours strait.

Bugger me that's what passes for art these days? By that standard I must be the Da Vinci of our times.

12hrs is an aperitif.

[NathanH]

According to a friend, it isn't art if a child could do it. He has cute curly hair, so you should listen to him.

[Heliocentric]

According to a friend, it isn't art if a child could do it. He has cute curly hair, so you should listen to him.

Those crazy Asian kids with abacuses can do anything, art is dead.


Settlers 2 10th anniversary is really frigging good. do recommend it.
*high fives*


Me too dude.

Me too.
You need the right game and the right setup.

Just a curve ball for you:
Sumo Tori Dreams , played by 4 players, on the tv, also drunk, with wireless controllers.

[Bhazor]

Oh, great. Thread de-railed because of gender issues

Such is the way of all <strike>flesh</strike> forums

Edit: Damn it all to Hades. How do you do a strike through?

[heretic]

Skyrim.

Cos you can cook and redecorate your house :D



bahahhahaha, although I jest and tl;dr the thread apart from the first post, my girlfriend is completely hooked on skyrim due to all the possibilities though I sometimes play through the difficult parts for her :P

[Althea]

Such is the way of all <strike>flesh</strike> forums

Edit: Damn it all to Hades. How do you do a strike through?
You don't. You also use BBCode because HTML isn't supported unless you use the BBCode tags to allow HTML.

[taione]

Back on topic:
My wife enjoys Tropico and, surprisingly, Rise of Nations. RON she really got into the build stuff, build more armies and conquer the enemy. She did get a bit frustrated at the difficulty level - she found easy a cake walk and normal a little too hard.

[Skeletor68]

Uh, sorry dudes and dudettes didn't mean to start an argument. Haven't dropped in for a while.

Spelunky sounds good, thanks to the poster for suggesting.

I only asked for advice because you lovely people have a broad knowledge and I only knew about Terraria because of RPS. Lots of little hidden gems out there so thought I'd see if I was missing anything with the same kind of dynamics.
Thanks everyone.

[LennyLeonardo]

Unfortunately gender can sometimes determine what kind of social conditioning we receive, which in turn influences the things we enjoy, and is compounded by marketing (which is also a form of conditioning in the long term). However, this doesn't rule our every waking thought and act, and we can certainly enjoy things we're not "meant" to. It's like you're a ship, your mind is the crew, and social pressure is the wind. You don't have to go where the wind blows - just pull a bit harder on the ropes.
It's far more complex than just "gender does/doesn't determine what games we like".

Aaanyway, has anyone mentioned the Fable games? That seems like a decent candidate to me.

[pariah]

Machinarium or pixeljunk eden?