I’m a 30 year old woman who’s only really played card and puzzle games on my phone. Im considering new hobbies. Is it worth trying to get into video games for the first time. Where would I even start.
Start with stardew valley and thank me later.
Yes, it is worth getting into video games. Mental quickness, friends, and less Alzheimers are some benefits.
People in this post are making excellent recommendations for quality commercial games.
I can recommend starting out in videogames, by getting into Free Software (Libre) games.
Libre Games cost nothing, have no spyware, and usually have positive, helpful, DIY focused communities.
Here is a post I made that lists a few of my favourite free games on desktop and mobile.
https://lemmy.world/post/20786563
If any on this list are too difficult or hard to set up, just skip.
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Historical note
The Fool’s Errand game, from 1987, sold very well with women gamers. Over 50% IIRC.
It is a tricky puzzle game with Tarot Card theming and an excellent sense of humour.
Fool’s Errand is not Free Software though, and way out of print. It could probably be emulated on a device that you have, PC or phone.
Considering you’re already into card games, give Balatro a try. It’s got it’s basis in poker, but puts some extra spice on it that might interest you.
Chants of Sennar is also a strong recommend. It’s a puzzle game based around intuitive language translation, but also has a really strong story that keeps it interesting.
Steam would be a great place to start. Tons of games, many of them free. If you’re willing to buy some hardware, getting a Switch would be a good bet. Lots of excellent games, many of them are beginner-friendly.
They can tell wonderful stories if you pick the right ones. Personally I find Disco Elysium to be particularly good at this.
If you have a continuous online connection, download Steam. Also look at GoG if you dont want to deal with valves drm
In general, it’s worth getting to video games. I would caution against trying corporate-created games, mainly because they are a money sink (for you) first and worthwhile entertainment second. There are a lot of “indie” games out there typically created by people truly passionate on their craft… you can take a look at them and see if it interests you.
- Stardew Valley
- Songs of Conquest
- No Man’s Sky
- Factorio
- Disco Elysium
If you want to start playing video games, you should try easy games like celeste
By “easy” i mean extremely hard, if you play the game you will die thousands of times
It’s definitely worth trying if you’re interested.
I would not recommend buying a console or gaming PC first as that is a money sink that you’re not sure is worth it yet. My gaming PC broke when I arrived at university, and I got by playing less graphically intensive games on my standard laptop for a few years.
Good games I’d recommend to start with:
- Stardew Valley — cosy, charming farming game that you can play at your own pace. Has great characters that you get to know, and fun, simple, rewarding gameplay. My girlfriend got really into this game.
- Minecraft — this is where many of us started as kids. It’s an excellent game that’s fun for all ages. There isn’t a clear goal so it’s more about making your own fun.
- Vampire Survivors — extremely fun, simple, cheap, and addicting game. Play at your own risk.
- LIMBO — a puzzle game classic with a unique, dark aesthetic. Only takes a couple of hours to complete.
- INSIDE — made by the same people as Limbo. Grabbed me and wouldn’t let go for the whole 4 hour experience. I don’t play many puzzle games but I couldn’t get enough of this one. Probably because of the narrative.
Those can all be played on the average laptop or desktop anyone would have.
Best of luck on your journey! Feel free to reply with any questions or suggestions for specific genres and such. My girlfriend didn’t play video games until I introduced them to her, and the most important thing was that I didn’t try to force any games on her, just show her what there was and let her interest lead the way. So take a look at all the suggestions people are leaving and go with what interests you most. And if you’re not enjoying a game, it’s okay to go play a different one.
(Also, Steam provides free, no-questions-asked refunds for any games purchased that both 1) were bought less than 2 weeks ago, and 2) have less than 2 hours of game time. So you can always demo a game to see if you like it and return it easily if not.)
Agree with this. Stardew Valley and many games can be found on mobile and quite popular with the gaming community. I am not sure as a beginner player I would start off with Stardew Valley as there are a lot of mechanics? Would recommend more of the below as there are not as many things to figure out:
High recommendations for Vampire Survivors. There is a demo with that link as well as direct app access.
Additionally, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp for $20 come December is great intro. Super relaxing game.
100% recommend Slay the Spire as well.
For games without a mobile option, I feel like Portal 1 and Portal 2 are must plays for anyone. And are not too graphically intense for any computer. Its a puzzle game. You run and jump into portals to figure out the puzzles. I wish I could play them again for the first time. All the above are amazing games. Wishing you the best on your journey!
P.S. if you have a friend to game with, It Takes Two is a pleasant experience.
I’d also add Balatro and Terraria to that list.
Balatroncould be good. Terraria I think is a bit tricky to learn unless you have a friend guiding you. It requires a lot of looking up the wiki which I think isn’t ideal for someone getting into video games.
Stardew can be a bit slow and boring at the beginning
Stardew Valley
If you want to try an FPS, the original Half-Life is amazing (if visually dated), and was designed to ease the player into the experience as opposed to something like Doom or Dusk that throws you into the action without any tutorials. I’m biased though, Half-Life is my favorite FPS of all time lol.
It goes on sale for around $2 regularly, which is a nice bonus. I second the Portal and Stardew recommendations of others too.
Half-life is good – I played it recently – but I think it relies on having a bit of skill already, it’s not a great choice for a beginner in my opinion. I would suggest Minecraft (if you’re creative) or Portal (if you like puzzles) instead, to learn the ropes of how to control a game in first-person perspective.
I’d recommend Portal and its (much better) sequel Portal 2. Excellent puzzle games, good writing, fun characters and short. It should take you abojt 3-5 hours if you have never played a 3D video game before.
Oh and btw the website linked is Steam, the most beloved PC game buying plateform. Be aware that you shouldn’t buy the games at full price on stem, check websites like instant gaming, humble bundle or fanatical to get better deals (-80% sometimes!) On these alternative websites you will get a code that has to be activated in the steam app (downloaded on your computer). Search “activate steam game code” on YouTube for explanations on how to do that.
Portal should cost about ~3$ now (it’s a 2007 game so it can run on basically anything)
Of course portal and portal 2 are fantastic games but I would never recommend them to someone who has never played a game before. One of the reasons it’s so good is because it subverts the tropes and even mechanics of other games.
Casual gamer me would tell you there are amazing short narrative games these days.
Slay the Spire is a card based video game.
I think these types of games would be a great place to start; maybe even something like Inscryption since it shows how deep games can be even when they appear to start off fairly simple.
Its such a vast ocean, I would just start with whatever catches your attention. Theres so many different kinds if games for all types of people that you should probably assess what you think is fun, and pick a game sort of involved with that? I tend to like cooperative games, RPGs, and games about exploring more than I like competitive games like First Person Shooters. I also really like racing games.
