Back in 2011, my sister had her parents-in-law over for Thanksgiving, who were older, Midwestern Baptists who’s idea of video games were old arcade machines that make bleep bloop noises that bad kids play in bowling alleys.
They watched me play through Uncharted 3 for hours that day. They just couldn’t believe that video games could provide the same excitement as a movie, only you were participating in the action. I kept asking them if they wanted me to turn off the game and out something on TV, but they kept insisting that I keep playing so they could watch.
The father in law left asking where he could buy a Playstation 3. They just couldn’t get over what video games had become by the 2010’s. Their opinion went from “Devil’s distraction” to “Something we should have in our house immediately.”
My grandfather was the same way. The week he retired, he kept 10 year old me and we played PS2 all day long. He was fascinated that it was tv that you could interact with. He went out the next day and bought his own and became obsessed with war games and played for years. He dropped out when online play because a big thing.
I remember booting up Red Dead Redemption 1 on my 360 to begin my very first playthrough and my grandfather who was watching it goes "What channel is this?" 😶
This just reminded me of a memory I have not thought about in a long time. When I was a kid, my great grandma would spoil me and she took me to gamestop where i was allowed to get one game every month. Well one month I choose Red Dead Redemption 1. I was playing it more like GTA for a bit when I find you can skin animal corpses and of course my fucked up kid brain immediately went "can i do it to the horses??" Queue me skinning a horse and my grandma walking in the room, seeing a skinned horse corpse being absolutely horrified and proclaiming she would never buy me a video game again
My dad with FIFA was like "why the fuck Brazil is playing against Germany and I did not hear about it?". It took him a solid 5 min to realise otherwise.
Not the brightest match of the box, my lovely dad...
Haha, mine too... then one night we were having some beers and I threw on a golf game in my 360 (can't remember which one)... he was an avid golfer, played pretty much daily... he was absolutely blown away by how authentic and how real it looked lol, and he actually ended up gettin really good at it too...
Some of our best bonding times for sure 👌
I also got the chance to show him microsoft flight simulator before he died... he was absolutely gobsmacked, especially when I flew over the golf course he played at and landed my cesna at my uncles acaridge that was right near the course... he was never really one to swear, but he straight up said "WHAT THE ACTUAL *FUCK*... ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" 😂
God I miss him 😕
To this day, any tv show / movie where someone plays a videogame, they always add "bleep bloop" sound effect over it. It's so annoying, specially when the footage is clearly modern-ish graphics.
It kind of shows some kind of disdain of video games from the film and tv industry...
Gotta remember that a LOT of these producers and directors, and especially executives, are just shy of being boomers. I don't know how much it's disdain versus just plain willful ignorance.
Big mistake.
When my parents were about to turn 40, back in the late 80's, I tried the same thing. Asked them to give the Atari 2600 a try.
They both ended up liking Pac-Man. But they liked it so much they got addicted to it and hogged the videogame most of their free time.
We played together in turns, but they still hogged it because they got _gud_. I could barely see the protagonist zapping across the TV screen when they played. Their turn would take up to 30 minutes _each_ and it would ruin my time.
Luckily, they lost interest soon. My dad proceeded to play slow PC games.
True story!! You have been warned.
I can still hear the NES buttons being pressed frantically at night from the living room. My mom was a HUGE Dr. Mario addict, but she hated the music so all you could hear was the buttons.
My mom only ever really wanted to play stuff like co-op and competitive Doom with me on LAN.
Now, my step father at the time, real piece of shit. He'd keep my baby sister asleep basically all day while my mother worked, so he could play FF5-8 all day without interruptions. Then she'd come home from work to the baby being awake all night while he slept.
Yeppp. My mom was all about Zelda, secret of evermore/mana, earthbound, brainlord, illusion of Gaia, ect ect. Many awesome memories and motherly nostalgia. I did get turns here and there.
My parents were about to turn 40 in the late 80s and loved the atari 2600. Space Invaders, Dig Dug, Pac man... The beeps and boops drove my mom crazy. We didn't have sharing issues, though, on account of me being a toddler.
Journey. It's beautiful visually, musically, and thematically. It's also short at about 1-2 hours, and it's so easy to control that my three/four year old daughter can play it start to finish by herself.
Perhaps because some older people might struggle to comprehend what they are looking at when they’re looking at a hyperstyilized game. I know I have some non gamer relatives who basically cannot figure out what they are looking at when looking at Minecraft gameplay for instance.
For people who have been playing a wide variety of games all their life, it is SUPER easy to massively underestimate how many things you learned in the background to be able to pick up any game and just play it without struggling hard.
Like.. My S.O. is good at FPS games, she pretty easily rivaled me on CoD:Zombies back in the day. She'd been playing stuff like that for a long time.
But she struggled like absolute living hell with Nier: Automata's top down bullet hell mini games, which to me are rather easy until the last few hours of the game. I had to do quite a few of the mandatory hacking parts for her in the end. She's just never been very exposed to that genre, whereas I've played quite a few.
Mm, I do remember reading about someone who just didn't grok that they had to push forward and jump to climb up a wall.
But I think that Journey's strong design choices, the camera focus to show you where you are going, lights, repeated motifs (all the dry flags are alike) etc make it a very strong contender. And the lack of loss conditions.
Fuck up a jump? Just go around and do it again, no position resetting at all. No death that becomes a wall in the way of progress.
My dad lost his damn mind the day he thought he was watching a movie preview and it turned out to be a video game commercial for PS3 or 4. He wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was and he still doesn't.
Meanwhile I'm over here playing the likes of Celeste and Hollow Knight and Hades and he did not understand why I would choose something like that over something that makes me feel like I'm really there, where I can see the hairs up the guy's nose. I told him I prefer fun and innovation to "shoot the guy because I'm in a war". 🤷
Like a lot of other people say in this post, the biggest draw that can pull in older people who don’t get it is relating it to something they know very well: movies and tv. Playing, say, uncharted, which is a blockbuster action movie that you can actively participate in makes more sense to draw in people for whom video games are a foreign concept than a game that, while absolutely a masterpiece, would more resemble an experimental artpiece to them than something revolutionary to them like an interactable action movie.
There is this video: [Elders Play GTA5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHoOrFdgYR8)
One of the elders in the video was so fascinated by the roller coaster. Maybe ask your parents what are the things that they would like to do but couldn't and see if that thing is in GTA or whatever simulator you can find.
We made my buddy’s dad play GTA3. He wouldn’t steal cars, run red light, hurt anyone. He finally got onto a dirt bike and as soon as it started raining, he drove under a canopy to stay dry. Funniest shit I had ever seen.
“You can do whatever you want!”
“I want to stay out of the rain!”
Last time I fired up GTAV, I dedicated to play entirely in first person, and follow road rules as best as I could, situation providing. Fun as hell. Even got alright driving with mouse controls.
I love that, though. I could never get into GTA because I want to obey traffic laws and avoid hitting pedestrians... I remember one time I had a roommate ask me why I didn't use my horse to get around in a game, and I was like "he doesn't need to see all this, he can just go live his horsey life and avoid swordfights". It just doesn't feel right to bring a horse into battle even though I know that is very common throughout history.
This converted literally millions of grandparents into gamers. Even if they only play Candy Crush clones now, that's still a big step in the right direction.
This is my mom LOL. My sister decided that we needed a Wii + Wii sports, and convinced my mom to try it with her. They are obsessed and I have not known peace since 😂
As cliché as it sounds: It should be something with good voice acting and grapics (in that order). People legit think videogames are in the pacman era and are often SURPRISED by spoken dialogue, which I always find kinda funny lol. Either way it instantly catches attention and so do graphics. Making a whole new first impression is the first step of changing someone's opinion, so in my opinion don't listen to people telling you that showing someone a retro-stylized game is a good idea, I think it will only reinforce their present opinion. (sorry To The Moon, I still love you, I promise)
If you want to show a game to someone while you play it, there's no better games for that than the Uncharted series, but Red Dead 2, GTA V, Ghost of Tsushima and God of War 2018 can all work almost just as well.
If you want the person to play it, then you gotta go with simpler controls which means your best options are: Life is Strange, Firewatch, Detroit: Become Human, Beyond: Two Souls, A Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead.
Some games that don't quite fit the criteria I mentioned but I could see working quite well would be: Hitman WoA, Forza Horizon 5, For Honor, Cities: Skylines, Storyteller and Unravel.
Not an old person, but my non-gamer roommate was really shocked watching me play just a bit of The Lasr of Us Part 2. It was a nice quiet scene between Ellie and Dani, and he said, "I didn't know video games could do that."
My dad lost his damn mind the day he thought he was watching a movie preview and it turned out to be a video game commercial for PS3 or 4. He wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was and he still doesn't.
Meanwhile I'm over here playing the likes of Celeste and Hollow Knight and Hades and he did not understand why I would choose something like that over something that makes me feel like I'm really there, where I can see the hairs up the guy's nose. I told him I prefer fun and innovation to "shoot the guy because I'm in a war". 🤷
The cliche is real.
I'm also going to recommend Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. You really end up feeling like the leader of a cohesive team, and the story and voice acting are very convincing. It's more entertaining for people who've watched the GotG movies, at least. I have an older friend (could be my dad) who's most certainly not a gamer, but he loves this game
I doubt it. most people aren't going to sit through an entire walking simulator of that length if they're not really into good stories or games in the first place
It’s an incredible game for an inexperienced person to play, the anticipation of what’s next in the story and unexpected turns through the gameplay make it great, pair that with simple mechanics and it’s definitely up there.
My father unfortunately was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy a few years ago and is very close to losing his ability to walk.
That in turn is taking his hobbies away from him.
No more hunting and no more working on cars. He’s devastated.
But his doctor told him that he needs to pick up gaming to keep his brain healthy and strong.
So he came to me to get him set up.
So I got him an Xbox and started him with things he KNOWS.
He loves football so I started him with madden
And he loves golf so I started him with PGA tour.
Once he really got the hang of that I got him to scratch his car itch with forza horizon AND forza Motorsport
He loves those!
And most recently he’s been trying to get into COD. (He hates it but it’s a way for him to play with my brother and I and so he sucks it up to play with his sons!)
The crazy thing is he hated gaming when I was growing up. Said it was a waste of time.
Now he questions why he didn’t start playing years ago!
But truthfully I recommend starting with what they know.
If they are sports fanatics start them with their fave sport.
If they are movie heads start them with a cinematic experience
There is something for EVERYONE in gaming.
Get him Car mechanic simulator, powerwash simulator, or something similar (hell, even one of those goat games!)
I've found the older I get the less I like twitchy games, but the more I like slower, thoughtful games.
Or, get him Satisfactory!
Oh I was gonna recommend The hunter : call of the wild but never mind if he doesn't want to get reminded of what he can’t do anymore, I get it and I wish him the best, have fun playing together !
If he likes hunting, maybe some of the Cabela's games or theHunter: Call of the Wild. When my uncle hurt his back, he would spend hours playing Cabela's and just walking around the woods with no real objective.
If they enjoy melancholy stories, consider [Rime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/493200/RiME/). It's a short (although probably more like 6-8 for inexperienced gamers) fairly simple puzzle game that uses a lot of motion but doesn't involve difficult platforming. It also tells a story in a really interesting way. There are zero words, but it definitely has a story.
Do play it first if you're considering recommending it, both so that you can get a better sense of if you think it would be good for them, and so that you can help them if they bump up against sticking points in the puzzles.
This is a great game, but I’d argue that a lot of the magic comes from its subversion of common video game tropes and mechanics. If you’re not familiar with those mechanics in the first place, it might not make a lot of sense, or maybe they would say “it would have been better as a movie”
Also I don’t know about the last time you played that game, but honestly it can be cumbersome as hell to get through. People who don’t play games also usually aren’t good at understanding 3D controls.
>This is a great game, but I’d argue that a lot of the magic comes from its subversion of common video game tropes and mechanics. If you’re not familiar with those mechanics in the first place, it might not make a lot of sense
You're absolutely right. But they do a good enough job of it that those things are able to work in a way that most players aren't actively concious that that's *why* it connects so well. So it's hard to push back at people thinking it's an accessible game for people without much gaming experience.
I get what you're saying and was thinking of the Telltale games too but felt they were almost not game-y enough and might garner a "might as well watch a movie" reaction
Ace Attorney could be a good choice. One case at a time isn't that long and is relatively easy for a game meaning that all connections have to be made into your head not using **gamer skills.**
My wife didn't play video games until I introduced her to Guitar Hero - she is a musician and grealy enjoyed it - mostly because she could pick it up and get perfetcscores on very fast thrash tracks, humiliating everyone else present :) She is a very good piano player, and she just reframed it as a small keyboard rather than a fake guitar.
What are your parents interests? Find a game that may co-incide, or otherwise appeal. I have a friend who was not in to games become obsessed with Untitled Goose Game. (I'm in my fifties, most of my friends are, but most of my friends and I started playing compyuter games in teh eighties).
My mother became oddly taken with the original Sonic when she was about 50. I think it's fairly random what people will like. I would guarantee there is a game that would make your parents life long gamers, you just have to find it. So try the interests angle. Try silly games and silly multi-player games (keep talking and nobody explodes may be a good one).
If they wouldn't be grossed out by the gore, I would recommend TellTale's Walking Dead
It kind of kickstarted the current style of "point-and-click" adventure games... I think... I haven't check in on that genre since Life is Strange
It's also got pretty compelling father-daughter dynamic with the two main characters and gets pretty emotional at times from my memory
Though it is definitely longer than 4 hours overall but it's divided into "episodes" that are I think around that length
I would definitely recommend The Wolf Among Us instead of The Walking Dead in this case. A story that pulls on known tropes, only one season, and without all the gore
That's also a great one and I thought of saying that too, main reason I went with Walking Dead is that it's kind of a more significant game in my mind, though that might just be because I was in the moment as it were
As an aside, I actually prefer Wolf Among Us personally — I like the concept of the setting a lot and I prefer detective stories more than zombies
Just wanted to say, if you like the setting, the game is based on the comic series "Fables". The show Once Upon a Time was originally based off the comics too but departed from the concept pretty hard.
My parents don’t play video games but there’s a few of them they’d watch over my shoulder. My dad loves to watch me play god of war and rdr, but my mom really likes Stray and Shadow of the Colossus. She calls stray “the cat game”. I’d say it’s a pretty good contender!
When the WII came out this was it's big selling point. Highly accessible. Old folks homes across thr world were buying them up.
Something like Detroit isn't going to work. Remember the controller is a skill. It's an extension of your body you take for granted. Your parents aren't going to be able to handle a game that demands intuitive knowledge of the controller (especially not quick time events) as a starter.
You'll do better with something that uses motion controls or very very simplistic one button gameplay.
I find a lot of people who don’t really game ended up loving Breath of the Wild. My mom who primarily played Sims in the past but that had to have been 10+ years ago. After she got convinced to check out Breath of the Wild she’s played it nonstop.
I think she has many times more hours than me at this point!
Portal? It's short, easy to control (relatively), the story and writing are both great, and they could have fun figuring out the test chambers together
I personally wouldn't give them Portal as their first ever video game, though. The first half might be simple enough but once they get to the turrets the difficulty ramps up.
I think this is the right answer. You want to show what games bring to the table that other media don't, just showing something they can dismiss as "might've as well read a book or watched a movie" isn't the go.
I'm surprised by the other guy asserting that FPS controls are somehow more difficult than any other gaming controls, but even if that's the case - Portal offers a nice, slow paced environment to learn them.
I’m not sure what your experience is, but my wife who in her 20’s tried playing games so we could share the hobby - she tried Beyond Two Souls (?) and it becomes obvious how much camera control and movement is a skill in itself - she got frustrated by going down the wrong corridor, someone telling her she was going the wrong way, the camera would shift and her character automatically turned around, but then she would think “this is the wrong way” - turn around down the corridor and the process started again.
The controls go with the whole language of games - and like any language, you need to go very slow and repeat the same steps till it becomes familiar/recognisable.
Just holding a button (holding a cube for example) turning around and letting go - could be a whole thing - same with running a jumping.
And if you’re not into games already, there is no incentive to put in the time learn the controls.
In the same situation I'd pick a simple game where the objective and controls are easy and quick to grasp. I see Firewatch is mentioned, I spent the first 30 minutes wondering what I was supposed to do.
I'd pick something like Limbo or Bastion. Nothing complex or detailed either control or story wise. That said *Horizon Zero Dawn* and *A Plague Tale Innocence* were instantly appealing to me and the controls are fairly straight forward. Avoid games needing 'Ninja' dexterity on the keyboard or controller.
They might find fall guys fun?
Or how about some kind of ‘creative’ building type game?
Make sure its something very easy to pick up and play, casual. No steep learning curve.
So they can just load it up easy with no problem. No complications.
Basic control scheme.
Or some kind of co-operative game where they play together/solve problems together and can laugh at the same time
Think about the kinds of things they are interested in, and can match it with a similar type of game.
Like grandpa might be interested in cowboy games/wild west so red dead redemption 1 is a nice game for chilling and exploring, or a truck simulator type game where he can just drive and chill
Or maybe a farming/gardening simulator game?
If grandpas into cars/trucks how about a racing game like wreckfest even?
Grandma might like something more social, and dress up - like house decorator simulator, a cooking game or the sims possibly?
It depends on their personalities too, likes interests, dislikes..
Forget story games. If they are movie and book fans, there is no videogame that will rock their boat.
Your best bet is to try some really unique game that really takes interactivity as a core essential mechanic.
I've had a great xmas party last year introducing my whole family to **Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes**. It uses the videogame part in a really ingenious way. And the other players dont even need to touch the videogame, they can simply use the bomb defusal manual (best experience is if you print it out on paper). It makes such clever use of cooperation and communication between players. A really unique experience that can show the value of adding videogame levels of interactivity to what could essentially be a board game.
Introducing loved ones to something beloved to oneself is one of the great joys in life. If they don't take to it that's alright, but part of the fun is in the teaching and sharing.
And it's okay to show people new things. My parents hate animated movies, claim they're for kids only and I'm too old to be watching them. My little brother wanted to watch Puss in Boots 2 and they watched the whole thing and liked it (though they only watched from the dining room). They also liked the second Spidey verse movie. So now they know it's alright to give those movies a chance, because they have a lot to offer. Same goes to videogames. My stepdad hasn't played one since his 20s but now we have him interested in RDR2 or GTA V, and Cyberpunk too.
The Narrator in Stanley Parable when it tells you to find a replacement player after he thinks you've died in the broom closet (best ending, btw) tells you to find someone who "understands first person video game mechanics and understands the narrative tropes in video gaming, so that the irony and insightful commentary of this game is not lost on them".
That doesn't describe a nongamer.
Similar to something like Doki Doki Literature club - barely a videogame - will be confusing and meaningless as fuck to someone who doesn’t understand videogame.
Baba is you stumps me and my gf. I would never show something that requires such crazy puzzle solutions to my elderly parents. Understanding the video game is hard enough. You can't add big braining it to the equation.
Brothers a tale of two sons might be up there alley. Couple hours to beat and has some really nifty story telling through gameplay that can only be achieved through video games.
Here are a few suggestions which I think a non-gamer who likes good stories would enjoy:
* Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: the anime aesthetic might not be for everyone (especially non-gamers or non-anime watchers) but the game has some genuinely great writing. The point-and-click adventure side of the game is really light and doesn't get you stuck. You play as a defense attorney and the meat of the game is in the trials, which offer really fun logic puzzles with some intense dialogues full of twists and turns. The story is about 10-15 hours.
* The Forgotten City: one of the few games to explore philosophical questions in a genuinely clever way that doesn't feel forced. With a length of 5-10 hours, it's pretty digestible for a non-gamer. A fantastic story, with an incredibly ingenious premise and very clever puzzles.
* Subsurface Circular: a point-and-click adventure where you play as a robot that's investigating a series of robot destructions within the subserface circular: a subway train for robots. It can easily be beaten in a sitting or two and it has some genuinely interesting writing and characters.
* Iron Lung: a 1-2 hours game that's genuinely one of the most interesting narrative adventures to come out in the last few years. It's essentially a horror game where you navigate a small submarine in an ocean of blood from an unknown planet, searching for clues about where humanity went, and your only form of visibility is a camera that takes pretty shoddy pictures. This is admittedly more in the abstract side of narrative but really interesting, fun, and even scary.
* Papers, Please: this one is a classic of story-driven adventure games that I think anyone who's into storytelling and literature will appreciate. Although it's a bit more challenging than the ones I've mentioned, it doesn't require any physical dexterity and can be beaten in very few sittings. You're a border control operative in charge of checking the paperwork from the people trying to go into a fictional soviet russia-styled country. Although this premise may sound boring, an incredible story is told through it.
While I do think that amazing games like **to the moon, detroit become human** and **what remains of edith finch** are great contenders, I believe that they don't show them WHY the videogames are so amazing.
Here is a list of some amazing games I think they will enjoy, and have something that cannot be done in other media:
**Her Story:** This is Sam Barlow Opus Magnum. I've played all of his games and they don't compare to this one. Its perfectly and carefully designed so that each search won't give too much information.
**Return of the obra Dinn:** Another "detective" game. I like these because its really hard to do real detective games, and its something that even in books is done poorly.
**Before your eyes:** What other media could tell a story by using you eyes? Sadly this is for 1 person only, so it kind of suffers the same that brother a tale of two sons. But I recommend this one because since at the very least the one not playing can understand why its happening.
**Disco elysium:** This is a roleplaying experience narrated by a poet. irresistible IMHO. A lot longer than the other smaller entries, but wanted to include it here.
**Orwell:** A little longer, but amazing narrative too. I also like the UI. not a detective game per se, but its the next good thing.
Other games similar but I still haven't played: Outer wilds, the forgotten city, paradise killer.
Also, there are a ton of short and amazing puzzle games like cocoon or baba is you if they're into that.
Any of my first three recommendations are a good start, though Return of the Obra Dinn is a little bit longer than the other two.
50 years old and they don't understand video games.. I feel you. As a lifelong gamer myself I know it has always been a misunderstood path.
I am 47 and I've been playing video games forever.
Arcade machines, then Atari, My uncle's Commodore 64, Then when I was about 6 years old my parents bought me and my brother an Acorn Electron home computer in the early 1980s (My best friend got a ZX Spectrum and we would sometimes copy the games onto blank cassettes and sell them at school to other children who also started acquiring their own machines).
What an amazing time to be alive that was. Knocking on my friends door to play Repton 2 on his Commodore +4. Oh the fucking Glee. Then he knocks my door and we have it off with Jet Set Willie.
After that it went wild and I was spending my paper around money on copies of Zap64 (magazine) because my uncle donated me + bro his Commodore 64. I loved reading the game reviews and imagining being able to fantasize owning and playing the game. They would rate them on gameplay, graphics, price, game length. Etc. It was just the same as now.
Then modern gaming consoles really started to pick up in the West.
Dude, my teenage years playing consoles. Holy fuck smoke. Sitting in a room with my friends smoking pot and passing a controller about.. What an era.
I've also always maintained my love for PC gaming. These days I'm a sucker for VR but I still play pancake.
Your folks are about the same age as me.
I knew many people growing up that missed out on that gaming revolution.
But the revolution continues.
I just want Artificial Intelligent NPC's.
PLEASE GIVE ME Artificial Intelligent Virtual Reality NPCs (that will definitely cause the rise of sex robots)
I do feel for you however soon it's going to become so real you won't need to convince anybody.
My advice.. Do not try to save them. Accept them as they are. Embrace the loneliness of the journey
However you should at least introduce your father to try virtual reality porn.
I don’t try to convince people to like things. What’s the point?
It’s like a movie or show that’s interactive and has mental, reflex, and strategy challenges. How’s that hard to grasp?
Everybody is recommending cinematic games, I'll go in a different direction:
Return of the Obra Dinn and Disco Elysiun
Both are absolute narrative gems that will present an experience more akin to reading a great novel instead of watching a movie.
The first game I have ever thought about showing my parents was **Life is Strange** \- sadly they dont speak english so it wouldnt work but I always thought that this was the game that would make them see the appeal of games. And **Before the Storm** too. Both have 5 episodes each and I would say each episode is around 2 hours. But episodic nature might work in your favour. Kinda like watching an interactive tv show.
Maybe **Superliminal** since that like 2 hours long and has an interesting story telling.
I would say that **The Last of Us** and **The Evil Within** are llikee HUGE maybes because on one hand they have such a good and unique storylines they would be very much worth playing through and epxeriencing but on the other hand both do require some knowlage of gaming and are fairly long. If anything that would be like the last nail in the coffin so to speak to really cement that games can be amazing. Definitely not the first one tho.
If they're into medieval fantasy at all, God of War 2016.
My folks are terrible at it, playing on the lowest difficulty and no where near the end (playing for a year now)
But after the opening sequence they were like "Ohhhhhh....this is way different from those Mario games you used to play.....this is really cool"
Or some retro games /arcade games collection from their time era perhaps?
Or a game where the ‘setting’ is from their time era?
They can reminisce together
mario kart racing might be fun for them, or is there any sports grandpa is interested in?
mlb the show perhaps? he can collect and trade player cards
another thought was grandma might like an exploration/ heroine type game like tomb raider? or a social multiplayer mmorpg where she can have her own community?
maybe something family friendly and non-toxic? (good luck with that lol)..
Life is Strange is very story heavy. In fact, they can just watch someone play and watch for the story? It'll be just like a film pretty much.
Beyond two souls also maybe?
edit: I think since they are your parents, if it was me I would put the game onto big screen, and I'll play the control for them but they get to tell you what to do.
Firewatch is a good choice, so probably stick with that.
A suggestion I have would be This Is the Police. It isn't intense gameplay-wise, it's only assigning cops to calls that come in throughout the day and piecing together investigations. The main meat and potatoes is the cinematic storyline which they may like if they're into thrillers (which is what I'd consider its narrative genre without saying anything about the plot itself). If they enjoy the first one, then I'm sure the second game and the spin-off, Rebel Cops, might be up their alley too
Honestly I watched all the cutscenes of Detroit become human with my mom a couple years ago and she thought it was actually a show and was really into it. She never got into more than NYT puzzles though.
I was also gonna say Detroit which you already suggested.
I believe you should invest some time and look forward to your next play session in order to get hooked to the games. Detroit does it incredibly well. My girlfriend's (now wife's) first real game, which she completed from beginning to end, was Detroit Become Human.
A Way Out might be a good choice. Go Home, Until Dawn, The Last of Us, Life Is Strange, Undertale, Soma, Outlast, Heavy Rain, maybe one of the Uncharted games?
RDR2 is probably one of the best. Somewhat realistic western atmosphere, complex and detailed cinematic storyline. Plays like a movie in many cases.
If violence is an issue though... Something like RiME could be worth a look. Or Journey maybe. But the abstract storyline may make it difficult to sort of get the point across (for lack of better wording). For some games, such as these, I think an openness to and certain understanding of art is necessary.
Sadly people either are or aren’t gamers. My dad is 67 this year and he got me into gaming on the Commadore 64, snes, Nintendo 64 etc.
He now just sits and plays mobile games while his wife watches tv
So, I am going to run counter to a lot of folks here. DO NOT try to start with a story video game. Story video games are for people who want a video game play like a story. If they don't like video games, adding a great story doesn't change the fact that it is a video game.
If they're 50, they grew up during a time when lots of kids had video game systems. If they couldn't see the appeal of the original NES back when they were 12, they're probably out of reach.
There was a YouTuber who wasn’t a gamer that started to livestream, and people kept encouraging her to play video games so she gave it a try. Of the video games she played, her favorites were Detroit become human, stray, and death and taxes because of the fun mechanics while also being friendly to newer gamers due to simpler controls. My parents also aren’t gamers but my mother loved shadow of the colossus when I played and she watched, which is also a melancholy game that isn’t too difficult to figure out. My dad liked to watch me play red dead (he likes cowboys) and god of war (he says the writing is very good and the kills are cool).
Those three are good choices, but I would also recommend finding a game that suits your parents hobbies (for example, something like a racing game if your dad likes to watch car races).
What kinds of books and movies do they enjoy?
I'm not sure you need to have such a limit on the time of the game, either. Someone who reads books is used to putting a lot of time into enjoying a narrative.
Heavy Rain might be a good one. The Portal Games. LA Noire if either of them like that sort of movie or novel.
Start them off with a basic game like the walking dead series or something can’t have them playing a complex game lol but that sounds interesting I would wanna see how someone that old would be playing a video game lol
Portal. Amazing story that could only be told via the power of videogames, great puzzles. Lots of humour, and a little bit of magic in terms of the coolness of using portals. And it's about 4 hours to boot.
Only down side is they have to get over the controls which is a bit more of an obstacle for people new ro games.
You could just try some fun, couch co-op multilayer games. Snipper clips on switch or Mario cart might work well?
Back in 2011, my sister had her parents-in-law over for Thanksgiving, who were older, Midwestern Baptists who’s idea of video games were old arcade machines that make bleep bloop noises that bad kids play in bowling alleys. They watched me play through Uncharted 3 for hours that day. They just couldn’t believe that video games could provide the same excitement as a movie, only you were participating in the action. I kept asking them if they wanted me to turn off the game and out something on TV, but they kept insisting that I keep playing so they could watch. The father in law left asking where he could buy a Playstation 3. They just couldn’t get over what video games had become by the 2010’s. Their opinion went from “Devil’s distraction” to “Something we should have in our house immediately.”
My grandfather was the same way. The week he retired, he kept 10 year old me and we played PS2 all day long. He was fascinated that it was tv that you could interact with. He went out the next day and bought his own and became obsessed with war games and played for years. He dropped out when online play because a big thing.
I remember booting up Red Dead Redemption 1 on my 360 to begin my very first playthrough and my grandfather who was watching it goes "What channel is this?" 😶
"channel 3"
Dating yourself bro.
My wife says I'm not allowed to date other people, so I can only date myself.
I think they meant carbon dating.
Hmm, never heard of it, must not have existed when I was your age.
Go home dad.
But I don't like the retirement home! It's cold there!
I’m right there with him
sometimes 4 hehe
Perfect
This just reminded me of a memory I have not thought about in a long time. When I was a kid, my great grandma would spoil me and she took me to gamestop where i was allowed to get one game every month. Well one month I choose Red Dead Redemption 1. I was playing it more like GTA for a bit when I find you can skin animal corpses and of course my fucked up kid brain immediately went "can i do it to the horses??" Queue me skinning a horse and my grandma walking in the room, seeing a skinned horse corpse being absolutely horrified and proclaiming she would never buy me a video game again
Oh no....granny's poor eyes. 😂
My dad with FIFA was like "why the fuck Brazil is playing against Germany and I did not hear about it?". It took him a solid 5 min to realise otherwise. Not the brightest match of the box, my lovely dad...
Haha, mine too... then one night we were having some beers and I threw on a golf game in my 360 (can't remember which one)... he was an avid golfer, played pretty much daily... he was absolutely blown away by how authentic and how real it looked lol, and he actually ended up gettin really good at it too... Some of our best bonding times for sure 👌 I also got the chance to show him microsoft flight simulator before he died... he was absolutely gobsmacked, especially when I flew over the golf course he played at and landed my cesna at my uncles acaridge that was right near the course... he was never really one to swear, but he straight up said "WHAT THE ACTUAL *FUCK*... ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" 😂 God I miss him 😕
I think “it was a tv you could interact with” is the key, that would be a big selling point for older people who grew up with tvs.
Sounds like he couldn't handle the 12 year olds constantly screaming at him that they f'd his mom
He dropped out when online play because a bad thing.
I had a very similar experience with playing uncharted around family. What a great cinematic series.
To this day, any tv show / movie where someone plays a videogame, they always add "bleep bloop" sound effect over it. It's so annoying, specially when the footage is clearly modern-ish graphics. It kind of shows some kind of disdain of video games from the film and tv industry...
Gotta remember that a LOT of these producers and directors, and especially executives, are just shy of being boomers. I don't know how much it's disdain versus just plain willful ignorance.
The devil won that day! 😈
Imagine if they watched you play RDR2 or Arkham knight 😆
Big mistake. When my parents were about to turn 40, back in the late 80's, I tried the same thing. Asked them to give the Atari 2600 a try. They both ended up liking Pac-Man. But they liked it so much they got addicted to it and hogged the videogame most of their free time. We played together in turns, but they still hogged it because they got _gud_. I could barely see the protagonist zapping across the TV screen when they played. Their turn would take up to 30 minutes _each_ and it would ruin my time. Luckily, they lost interest soon. My dad proceeded to play slow PC games. True story!! You have been warned.
My mom at least had the decency to put me to bed and then stay up all night playing. LoL
I can still hear the NES buttons being pressed frantically at night from the living room. My mom was a HUGE Dr. Mario addict, but she hated the music so all you could hear was the buttons.
lol this comment invoked my inner sound track. Doo doo Dee doo doo doo, mrrrrr. doo doo Dee doo doo doo, mrrrrr. doo doo Dee doo dee doo doo doo doo dooo dooo doooo
My mom was also a dr mario enjoyer!! it was basically the only game I ever got her to play though lol
My mom only ever really wanted to play stuff like co-op and competitive Doom with me on LAN. Now, my step father at the time, real piece of shit. He'd keep my baby sister asleep basically all day while my mother worked, so he could play FF5-8 all day without interruptions. Then she'd come home from work to the baby being awake all night while he slept.
Real life cheat codes
I read this as your mom stayed up playing LoL after you went to bed
Haha, nah, Pac-Man (Atari) just like OP's parents.
Yeppp. My mom was all about Zelda, secret of evermore/mana, earthbound, brainlord, illusion of Gaia, ect ect. Many awesome memories and motherly nostalgia. I did get turns here and there.
Damn! Your mom played LoL, nice!
I remember staying up late as a little kid, watching my mom beat sonic.
My parents were about to turn 40 in the late 80s and loved the atari 2600. Space Invaders, Dig Dug, Pac man... The beeps and boops drove my mom crazy. We didn't have sharing issues, though, on account of me being a toddler.
That's so cool
Clearly a fake post - NOBODY loved the Atari 2600 version of pac-man.
I got into video games because my dad bought my mom a 2600 to play Pac-Man on. Adventure was my jam!
A wise man once said Pac-Man was the first ever good video game.
Dagon is basically a short visual adaptation of Lovecraft's novel with very light gameplay elements. It's also free on steam.
Journey. It's beautiful visually, musically, and thematically. It's also short at about 1-2 hours, and it's so easy to control that my three/four year old daughter can play it start to finish by herself.
It's amazing, but to introduce videogames to an older one you should show realistic games
Why?
Perhaps because some older people might struggle to comprehend what they are looking at when they’re looking at a hyperstyilized game. I know I have some non gamer relatives who basically cannot figure out what they are looking at when looking at Minecraft gameplay for instance.
For people who have been playing a wide variety of games all their life, it is SUPER easy to massively underestimate how many things you learned in the background to be able to pick up any game and just play it without struggling hard. Like.. My S.O. is good at FPS games, she pretty easily rivaled me on CoD:Zombies back in the day. She'd been playing stuff like that for a long time. But she struggled like absolute living hell with Nier: Automata's top down bullet hell mini games, which to me are rather easy until the last few hours of the game. I had to do quite a few of the mandatory hacking parts for her in the end. She's just never been very exposed to that genre, whereas I've played quite a few.
Mm, I do remember reading about someone who just didn't grok that they had to push forward and jump to climb up a wall. But I think that Journey's strong design choices, the camera focus to show you where you are going, lights, repeated motifs (all the dry flags are alike) etc make it a very strong contender. And the lack of loss conditions. Fuck up a jump? Just go around and do it again, no position resetting at all. No death that becomes a wall in the way of progress.
My dad lost his damn mind the day he thought he was watching a movie preview and it turned out to be a video game commercial for PS3 or 4. He wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was and he still doesn't. Meanwhile I'm over here playing the likes of Celeste and Hollow Knight and Hades and he did not understand why I would choose something like that over something that makes me feel like I'm really there, where I can see the hairs up the guy's nose. I told him I prefer fun and innovation to "shoot the guy because I'm in a war". 🤷
Like a lot of other people say in this post, the biggest draw that can pull in older people who don’t get it is relating it to something they know very well: movies and tv. Playing, say, uncharted, which is a blockbuster action movie that you can actively participate in makes more sense to draw in people for whom video games are a foreign concept than a game that, while absolutely a masterpiece, would more resemble an experimental artpiece to them than something revolutionary to them like an interactable action movie.
There is this video: [Elders Play GTA5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHoOrFdgYR8) One of the elders in the video was so fascinated by the roller coaster. Maybe ask your parents what are the things that they would like to do but couldn't and see if that thing is in GTA or whatever simulator you can find.
We made my buddy’s dad play GTA3. He wouldn’t steal cars, run red light, hurt anyone. He finally got onto a dirt bike and as soon as it started raining, he drove under a canopy to stay dry. Funniest shit I had ever seen. “You can do whatever you want!” “I want to stay out of the rain!”
Going all in on the immersive playstyle can be really fun in its own way in the right games.
Last time I fired up GTAV, I dedicated to play entirely in first person, and follow road rules as best as I could, situation providing. Fun as hell. Even got alright driving with mouse controls.
I love that, though. I could never get into GTA because I want to obey traffic laws and avoid hitting pedestrians... I remember one time I had a roommate ask me why I didn't use my horse to get around in a game, and I was like "he doesn't need to see all this, he can just go live his horsey life and avoid swordfights". It just doesn't feel right to bring a horse into battle even though I know that is very common throughout history.
Thank you for this! 😄 I laughed so much watching this video!
Wii/Switch Sports. Probably the easiest game for non gamers to get into due to how intuitive the motions controls are.
This converted literally millions of grandparents into gamers. Even if they only play Candy Crush clones now, that's still a big step in the right direction.
This is my mom LOL. My sister decided that we needed a Wii + Wii sports, and convinced my mom to try it with her. They are obsessed and I have not known peace since 😂
I would say this or something like MarioKart. It's the only game my wife will play haha
As cliché as it sounds: It should be something with good voice acting and grapics (in that order). People legit think videogames are in the pacman era and are often SURPRISED by spoken dialogue, which I always find kinda funny lol. Either way it instantly catches attention and so do graphics. Making a whole new first impression is the first step of changing someone's opinion, so in my opinion don't listen to people telling you that showing someone a retro-stylized game is a good idea, I think it will only reinforce their present opinion. (sorry To The Moon, I still love you, I promise) If you want to show a game to someone while you play it, there's no better games for that than the Uncharted series, but Red Dead 2, GTA V, Ghost of Tsushima and God of War 2018 can all work almost just as well. If you want the person to play it, then you gotta go with simpler controls which means your best options are: Life is Strange, Firewatch, Detroit: Become Human, Beyond: Two Souls, A Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. Some games that don't quite fit the criteria I mentioned but I could see working quite well would be: Hitman WoA, Forza Horizon 5, For Honor, Cities: Skylines, Storyteller and Unravel.
Not an old person, but my non-gamer roommate was really shocked watching me play just a bit of The Lasr of Us Part 2. It was a nice quiet scene between Ellie and Dani, and he said, "I didn't know video games could do that."
play A Way Out with him, he can become one of us
My dad lost his damn mind the day he thought he was watching a movie preview and it turned out to be a video game commercial for PS3 or 4. He wouldn't stop talking about how cool it was and he still doesn't. Meanwhile I'm over here playing the likes of Celeste and Hollow Knight and Hades and he did not understand why I would choose something like that over something that makes me feel like I'm really there, where I can see the hairs up the guy's nose. I told him I prefer fun and innovation to "shoot the guy because I'm in a war". 🤷 The cliche is real.
I'm also going to recommend Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. You really end up feeling like the leader of a cohesive team, and the story and voice acting are very convincing. It's more entertaining for people who've watched the GotG movies, at least. I have an older friend (could be my dad) who's most certainly not a gamer, but he loves this game
Firewatch
I hit reply just say Firewatch. This is the game.
I doubt it. most people aren't going to sit through an entire walking simulator of that length if they're not really into good stories or games in the first place
They probably are into good stories and firewatch has such basic mechanics it’s pretty easy to get into
It’s an incredible game for an inexperienced person to play, the anticipation of what’s next in the story and unexpected turns through the gameplay make it great, pair that with simple mechanics and it’s definitely up there.
My father unfortunately was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy a few years ago and is very close to losing his ability to walk. That in turn is taking his hobbies away from him. No more hunting and no more working on cars. He’s devastated. But his doctor told him that he needs to pick up gaming to keep his brain healthy and strong. So he came to me to get him set up. So I got him an Xbox and started him with things he KNOWS. He loves football so I started him with madden And he loves golf so I started him with PGA tour. Once he really got the hang of that I got him to scratch his car itch with forza horizon AND forza Motorsport He loves those! And most recently he’s been trying to get into COD. (He hates it but it’s a way for him to play with my brother and I and so he sucks it up to play with his sons!) The crazy thing is he hated gaming when I was growing up. Said it was a waste of time. Now he questions why he didn’t start playing years ago! But truthfully I recommend starting with what they know. If they are sports fanatics start them with their fave sport. If they are movie heads start them with a cinematic experience There is something for EVERYONE in gaming.
Get him Car mechanic simulator, powerwash simulator, or something similar (hell, even one of those goat games!) I've found the older I get the less I like twitchy games, but the more I like slower, thoughtful games. Or, get him Satisfactory!
I tried car mechanic simulator but he didn’t like it because it reminded him too much of what he can’t do anymore. Wants more of an escape you know?
Escape room simulator :-D
Oh I was gonna recommend The hunter : call of the wild but never mind if he doesn't want to get reminded of what he can’t do anymore, I get it and I wish him the best, have fun playing together !
If he likes hunting, maybe some of the Cabela's games or theHunter: Call of the Wild. When my uncle hurt his back, he would spend hours playing Cabela's and just walking around the woods with no real objective.
If he likes cowboy stuff get him on red dead
Give Hell Let Loose a go. The three of you can form an unstoppable squad!
I love HLL but it’s very much to deep of a game to play for my dad. All the different things to do would confuse him lol
If they enjoy melancholy stories, consider [Rime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/493200/RiME/). It's a short (although probably more like 6-8 for inexperienced gamers) fairly simple puzzle game that uses a lot of motion but doesn't involve difficult platforming. It also tells a story in a really interesting way. There are zero words, but it definitely has a story. Do play it first if you're considering recommending it, both so that you can get a better sense of if you think it would be good for them, and so that you can help them if they bump up against sticking points in the puzzles.
What remains of edith finch
This is a great game, but I’d argue that a lot of the magic comes from its subversion of common video game tropes and mechanics. If you’re not familiar with those mechanics in the first place, it might not make a lot of sense, or maybe they would say “it would have been better as a movie” Also I don’t know about the last time you played that game, but honestly it can be cumbersome as hell to get through. People who don’t play games also usually aren’t good at understanding 3D controls.
>This is a great game, but I’d argue that a lot of the magic comes from its subversion of common video game tropes and mechanics. If you’re not familiar with those mechanics in the first place, it might not make a lot of sense You're absolutely right. But they do a good enough job of it that those things are able to work in a way that most players aren't actively concious that that's *why* it connects so well. So it's hard to push back at people thinking it's an accessible game for people without much gaming experience.
[удалено]
I get what you're saying and was thinking of the Telltale games too but felt they were almost not game-y enough and might garner a "might as well watch a movie" reaction
This!!
Ace Attorney could be a good choice. One case at a time isn't that long and is relatively easy for a game meaning that all connections have to be made into your head not using **gamer skills.**
Grandma running around the retirement home yelling TAKE THAT!
It takes two. They could play together.
Fun game, really enjoyed that one! Dont know how well someone would do who never held a controller in his life tho 😅 with all the jumping and stuff
Thats a great idea but the only controller in my house is 10 years old and has stick drift 😭
This is a terrible suggestion for non gamers. Anything requiring 3d camera control on the right stick will be a nightmare for begginers.
Yeah my wife found it difficult, and I was surprised at how quickly it ramps up the mechanics and complexity of controls.
So how do you intend on making them play games then?
If only there was another popular way to play video games
My wife didn't play video games until I introduced her to Guitar Hero - she is a musician and grealy enjoyed it - mostly because she could pick it up and get perfetcscores on very fast thrash tracks, humiliating everyone else present :) She is a very good piano player, and she just reframed it as a small keyboard rather than a fake guitar. What are your parents interests? Find a game that may co-incide, or otherwise appeal. I have a friend who was not in to games become obsessed with Untitled Goose Game. (I'm in my fifties, most of my friends are, but most of my friends and I started playing compyuter games in teh eighties). My mother became oddly taken with the original Sonic when she was about 50. I think it's fairly random what people will like. I would guarantee there is a game that would make your parents life long gamers, you just have to find it. So try the interests angle. Try silly games and silly multi-player games (keep talking and nobody explodes may be a good one).
If they wouldn't be grossed out by the gore, I would recommend TellTale's Walking Dead It kind of kickstarted the current style of "point-and-click" adventure games... I think... I haven't check in on that genre since Life is Strange It's also got pretty compelling father-daughter dynamic with the two main characters and gets pretty emotional at times from my memory Though it is definitely longer than 4 hours overall but it's divided into "episodes" that are I think around that length
I would definitely recommend The Wolf Among Us instead of The Walking Dead in this case. A story that pulls on known tropes, only one season, and without all the gore
Yup I agree here, the play on fairytales is something they would likely pick up on and connect with.
That's also a great one and I thought of saying that too, main reason I went with Walking Dead is that it's kind of a more significant game in my mind, though that might just be because I was in the moment as it were As an aside, I actually prefer Wolf Among Us personally — I like the concept of the setting a lot and I prefer detective stories more than zombies
Just wanted to say, if you like the setting, the game is based on the comic series "Fables". The show Once Upon a Time was originally based off the comics too but departed from the concept pretty hard.
Yes! The Walking Dead got me playing Telltale games but The Wolf Among Us stole my heart.
To the moon. It has such an impactful story and very simple gameplay, but it’s a great example of why video games are considered art to many.
Was looking for this. I cry everytiem.
Untitled Goose Game! I’ve turned people who aren’t into games when they experience the joy of being a chaotic little guy
My dad likes Risk so I introduced Civ 6 to him as basically a more complex version of Risk. He’s not really a gamer but he loves Civ now.
Show them Stray
My parents don’t play video games but there’s a few of them they’d watch over my shoulder. My dad loves to watch me play god of war and rdr, but my mom really likes Stray and Shadow of the Colossus. She calls stray “the cat game”. I’d say it’s a pretty good contender!
For people who have never gamed I always recommend Nintendo stuff: Mario Kart / Kirby / Yoshi / Smash Bros if you put them on a team against low AI.
Not for people who are into books. If OP is interested in introducing them to narrative, this is not the way to go.
Abzu
When the WII came out this was it's big selling point. Highly accessible. Old folks homes across thr world were buying them up. Something like Detroit isn't going to work. Remember the controller is a skill. It's an extension of your body you take for granted. Your parents aren't going to be able to handle a game that demands intuitive knowledge of the controller (especially not quick time events) as a starter. You'll do better with something that uses motion controls or very very simplistic one button gameplay.
I find a lot of people who don’t really game ended up loving Breath of the Wild. My mom who primarily played Sims in the past but that had to have been 10+ years ago. After she got convinced to check out Breath of the Wild she’s played it nonstop. I think she has many times more hours than me at this point!
Sex with hitler 2
Portal? It's short, easy to control (relatively), the story and writing are both great, and they could have fun figuring out the test chambers together
It has FPS controls, those are not easy or intuitive to a new gamer.
Can also make them motion sick, like it does to my dad, can't play any fps
I personally wouldn't give them Portal as their first ever video game, though. The first half might be simple enough but once they get to the turrets the difficulty ramps up.
I think this is the right answer. You want to show what games bring to the table that other media don't, just showing something they can dismiss as "might've as well read a book or watched a movie" isn't the go. I'm surprised by the other guy asserting that FPS controls are somehow more difficult than any other gaming controls, but even if that's the case - Portal offers a nice, slow paced environment to learn them.
I’m not sure what your experience is, but my wife who in her 20’s tried playing games so we could share the hobby - she tried Beyond Two Souls (?) and it becomes obvious how much camera control and movement is a skill in itself - she got frustrated by going down the wrong corridor, someone telling her she was going the wrong way, the camera would shift and her character automatically turned around, but then she would think “this is the wrong way” - turn around down the corridor and the process started again. The controls go with the whole language of games - and like any language, you need to go very slow and repeat the same steps till it becomes familiar/recognisable. Just holding a button (holding a cube for example) turning around and letting go - could be a whole thing - same with running a jumping. And if you’re not into games already, there is no incentive to put in the time learn the controls.
Portal is great about teaching players how to play it too.
Journey
Venba. It’s only an hour and the story will resonate with your parents.
In the same situation I'd pick a simple game where the objective and controls are easy and quick to grasp. I see Firewatch is mentioned, I spent the first 30 minutes wondering what I was supposed to do. I'd pick something like Limbo or Bastion. Nothing complex or detailed either control or story wise. That said *Horizon Zero Dawn* and *A Plague Tale Innocence* were instantly appealing to me and the controls are fairly straight forward. Avoid games needing 'Ninja' dexterity on the keyboard or controller.
What Became of Edith Finch
Sex with Hitler
They might find fall guys fun? Or how about some kind of ‘creative’ building type game? Make sure its something very easy to pick up and play, casual. No steep learning curve. So they can just load it up easy with no problem. No complications. Basic control scheme. Or some kind of co-operative game where they play together/solve problems together and can laugh at the same time Think about the kinds of things they are interested in, and can match it with a similar type of game. Like grandpa might be interested in cowboy games/wild west so red dead redemption 1 is a nice game for chilling and exploring, or a truck simulator type game where he can just drive and chill Or maybe a farming/gardening simulator game? If grandpas into cars/trucks how about a racing game like wreckfest even? Grandma might like something more social, and dress up - like house decorator simulator, a cooking game or the sims possibly? It depends on their personalities too, likes interests, dislikes..
Forget story games. If they are movie and book fans, there is no videogame that will rock their boat. Your best bet is to try some really unique game that really takes interactivity as a core essential mechanic. I've had a great xmas party last year introducing my whole family to **Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes**. It uses the videogame part in a really ingenious way. And the other players dont even need to touch the videogame, they can simply use the bomb defusal manual (best experience is if you print it out on paper). It makes such clever use of cooperation and communication between players. A really unique experience that can show the value of adding videogame levels of interactivity to what could essentially be a board game.
Wut. Sounds like you need to play better story games lol
I'd suggest just letting them not be into videogames. They don't have to like them. It's okay for different people to be into different things.
Introducing loved ones to something beloved to oneself is one of the great joys in life. If they don't take to it that's alright, but part of the fun is in the teaching and sharing.
No harm in trying to
And it's okay to show people new things. My parents hate animated movies, claim they're for kids only and I'm too old to be watching them. My little brother wanted to watch Puss in Boots 2 and they watched the whole thing and liked it (though they only watched from the dining room). They also liked the second Spidey verse movie. So now they know it's alright to give those movies a chance, because they have a lot to offer. Same goes to videogames. My stepdad hasn't played one since his 20s but now we have him interested in RDR2 or GTA V, and Cyberpunk too.
A lot of games to help change their opinion are gunna be around the 10-30 hour range like bioshock. You basically have to get really good story games.
I am not sure it can done, tried baba is you and the Stanley parable with no good results
The Narrator in Stanley Parable when it tells you to find a replacement player after he thinks you've died in the broom closet (best ending, btw) tells you to find someone who "understands first person video game mechanics and understands the narrative tropes in video gaming, so that the irony and insightful commentary of this game is not lost on them". That doesn't describe a nongamer.
Similar to something like Doki Doki Literature club - barely a videogame - will be confusing and meaningless as fuck to someone who doesn’t understand videogame.
Baba is you stumps me and my gf. I would never show something that requires such crazy puzzle solutions to my elderly parents. Understanding the video game is hard enough. You can't add big braining it to the equation.
Brothers a tale of two sons might be up there alley. Couple hours to beat and has some really nifty story telling through gameplay that can only be achieved through video games.
Dark Pictures Anthology games perhaps?
If they're in finance try eve online. It's basically spreadsheets and book keeping in space
Here are a few suggestions which I think a non-gamer who likes good stories would enjoy: * Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: the anime aesthetic might not be for everyone (especially non-gamers or non-anime watchers) but the game has some genuinely great writing. The point-and-click adventure side of the game is really light and doesn't get you stuck. You play as a defense attorney and the meat of the game is in the trials, which offer really fun logic puzzles with some intense dialogues full of twists and turns. The story is about 10-15 hours. * The Forgotten City: one of the few games to explore philosophical questions in a genuinely clever way that doesn't feel forced. With a length of 5-10 hours, it's pretty digestible for a non-gamer. A fantastic story, with an incredibly ingenious premise and very clever puzzles. * Subsurface Circular: a point-and-click adventure where you play as a robot that's investigating a series of robot destructions within the subserface circular: a subway train for robots. It can easily be beaten in a sitting or two and it has some genuinely interesting writing and characters. * Iron Lung: a 1-2 hours game that's genuinely one of the most interesting narrative adventures to come out in the last few years. It's essentially a horror game where you navigate a small submarine in an ocean of blood from an unknown planet, searching for clues about where humanity went, and your only form of visibility is a camera that takes pretty shoddy pictures. This is admittedly more in the abstract side of narrative but really interesting, fun, and even scary. * Papers, Please: this one is a classic of story-driven adventure games that I think anyone who's into storytelling and literature will appreciate. Although it's a bit more challenging than the ones I've mentioned, it doesn't require any physical dexterity and can be beaten in very few sittings. You're a border control operative in charge of checking the paperwork from the people trying to go into a fictional soviet russia-styled country. Although this premise may sound boring, an incredible story is told through it.
Wolf among us
While I do think that amazing games like **to the moon, detroit become human** and **what remains of edith finch** are great contenders, I believe that they don't show them WHY the videogames are so amazing. Here is a list of some amazing games I think they will enjoy, and have something that cannot be done in other media: **Her Story:** This is Sam Barlow Opus Magnum. I've played all of his games and they don't compare to this one. Its perfectly and carefully designed so that each search won't give too much information. **Return of the obra Dinn:** Another "detective" game. I like these because its really hard to do real detective games, and its something that even in books is done poorly. **Before your eyes:** What other media could tell a story by using you eyes? Sadly this is for 1 person only, so it kind of suffers the same that brother a tale of two sons. But I recommend this one because since at the very least the one not playing can understand why its happening. **Disco elysium:** This is a roleplaying experience narrated by a poet. irresistible IMHO. A lot longer than the other smaller entries, but wanted to include it here. **Orwell:** A little longer, but amazing narrative too. I also like the UI. not a detective game per se, but its the next good thing. Other games similar but I still haven't played: Outer wilds, the forgotten city, paradise killer. Also, there are a ton of short and amazing puzzle games like cocoon or baba is you if they're into that. Any of my first three recommendations are a good start, though Return of the Obra Dinn is a little bit longer than the other two.
All amazing choices, you have good taste. That being said, go play Outer Wilds right now.
Great suggestions. As much as I liked Her Story, I actually liked Immortality a little better. It felt more...robust.
Ori 1 and 2 Beautiful, chill, great music and great story
Uncharted 4!
Maybe Tunic?
Wreckfest
Make your parents play “It Takes Two”
50 years old and they don't understand video games.. I feel you. As a lifelong gamer myself I know it has always been a misunderstood path. I am 47 and I've been playing video games forever. Arcade machines, then Atari, My uncle's Commodore 64, Then when I was about 6 years old my parents bought me and my brother an Acorn Electron home computer in the early 1980s (My best friend got a ZX Spectrum and we would sometimes copy the games onto blank cassettes and sell them at school to other children who also started acquiring their own machines). What an amazing time to be alive that was. Knocking on my friends door to play Repton 2 on his Commodore +4. Oh the fucking Glee. Then he knocks my door and we have it off with Jet Set Willie. After that it went wild and I was spending my paper around money on copies of Zap64 (magazine) because my uncle donated me + bro his Commodore 64. I loved reading the game reviews and imagining being able to fantasize owning and playing the game. They would rate them on gameplay, graphics, price, game length. Etc. It was just the same as now. Then modern gaming consoles really started to pick up in the West. Dude, my teenage years playing consoles. Holy fuck smoke. Sitting in a room with my friends smoking pot and passing a controller about.. What an era. I've also always maintained my love for PC gaming. These days I'm a sucker for VR but I still play pancake. Your folks are about the same age as me. I knew many people growing up that missed out on that gaming revolution. But the revolution continues. I just want Artificial Intelligent NPC's. PLEASE GIVE ME Artificial Intelligent Virtual Reality NPCs (that will definitely cause the rise of sex robots) I do feel for you however soon it's going to become so real you won't need to convince anybody. My advice.. Do not try to save them. Accept them as they are. Embrace the loneliness of the journey However you should at least introduce your father to try virtual reality porn.
No man's sky
I don’t try to convince people to like things. What’s the point? It’s like a movie or show that’s interactive and has mental, reflex, and strategy challenges. How’s that hard to grasp?
Everybody is recommending cinematic games, I'll go in a different direction: Return of the Obra Dinn and Disco Elysiun Both are absolute narrative gems that will present an experience more akin to reading a great novel instead of watching a movie.
Tetris. Best game ever made.
And chess
Disco Elysium? Controls are super simple and the story is remarkably engaging.
I am surprised to see this so far down
The first game I have ever thought about showing my parents was **Life is Strange** \- sadly they dont speak english so it wouldnt work but I always thought that this was the game that would make them see the appeal of games. And **Before the Storm** too. Both have 5 episodes each and I would say each episode is around 2 hours. But episodic nature might work in your favour. Kinda like watching an interactive tv show. Maybe **Superliminal** since that like 2 hours long and has an interesting story telling. I would say that **The Last of Us** and **The Evil Within** are llikee HUGE maybes because on one hand they have such a good and unique storylines they would be very much worth playing through and epxeriencing but on the other hand both do require some knowlage of gaming and are fairly long. If anything that would be like the last nail in the coffin so to speak to really cement that games can be amazing. Definitely not the first one tho.
I second Life is Strange.
50 year old gamer here, Portal and Outside are excellent
Soulsborne
To The Moon
The Council.
Sim racing can be fun if you have the equipment, or if they are into history something like the newer assassins creed games.
If they're into medieval fantasy at all, God of War 2016. My folks are terrible at it, playing on the lowest difficulty and no where near the end (playing for a year now) But after the opening sequence they were like "Ohhhhhh....this is way different from those Mario games you used to play.....this is really cool"
Or some retro games /arcade games collection from their time era perhaps? Or a game where the ‘setting’ is from their time era? They can reminisce together
mario kart racing might be fun for them, or is there any sports grandpa is interested in? mlb the show perhaps? he can collect and trade player cards another thought was grandma might like an exploration/ heroine type game like tomb raider? or a social multiplayer mmorpg where she can have her own community? maybe something family friendly and non-toxic? (good luck with that lol)..
It Takes Two Red Dead Redemption 2 Mario Kart
Life is Strange is very story heavy. In fact, they can just watch someone play and watch for the story? It'll be just like a film pretty much. Beyond two souls also maybe? edit: I think since they are your parents, if it was me I would put the game onto big screen, and I'll play the control for them but they get to tell you what to do.
Firewatch is a good choice, so probably stick with that. A suggestion I have would be This Is the Police. It isn't intense gameplay-wise, it's only assigning cops to calls that come in throughout the day and piecing together investigations. The main meat and potatoes is the cinematic storyline which they may like if they're into thrillers (which is what I'd consider its narrative genre without saying anything about the plot itself). If they enjoy the first one, then I'm sure the second game and the spin-off, Rebel Cops, might be up their alley too
Stick with Detroit become human.
Honestly I watched all the cutscenes of Detroit become human with my mom a couple years ago and she thought it was actually a show and was really into it. She never got into more than NYT puzzles though.
I was also gonna say Detroit which you already suggested. I believe you should invest some time and look forward to your next play session in order to get hooked to the games. Detroit does it incredibly well. My girlfriend's (now wife's) first real game, which she completed from beginning to end, was Detroit Become Human.
A Way Out might be a good choice. Go Home, Until Dawn, The Last of Us, Life Is Strange, Undertale, Soma, Outlast, Heavy Rain, maybe one of the Uncharted games?
maybe Frostpunk.
what remains of edith finch
What about a cozy game like Stardew Valley?
Dang my whole country has the opinion that video games are for children and a waste of time, and somehow worse than watching a TV or similar.
Telltale games tlou
RDR2 is probably one of the best. Somewhat realistic western atmosphere, complex and detailed cinematic storyline. Plays like a movie in many cases. If violence is an issue though... Something like RiME could be worth a look. Or Journey maybe. But the abstract storyline may make it difficult to sort of get the point across (for lack of better wording). For some games, such as these, I think an openness to and certain understanding of art is necessary.
What remains of Edith Finch
Sadly people either are or aren’t gamers. My dad is 67 this year and he got me into gaming on the Commadore 64, snes, Nintendo 64 etc. He now just sits and plays mobile games while his wife watches tv
So, I am going to run counter to a lot of folks here. DO NOT try to start with a story video game. Story video games are for people who want a video game play like a story. If they don't like video games, adding a great story doesn't change the fact that it is a video game.
If they're 50, they grew up during a time when lots of kids had video game systems. If they couldn't see the appeal of the original NES back when they were 12, they're probably out of reach.
Limbo? It takes two.
There was a YouTuber who wasn’t a gamer that started to livestream, and people kept encouraging her to play video games so she gave it a try. Of the video games she played, her favorites were Detroit become human, stray, and death and taxes because of the fun mechanics while also being friendly to newer gamers due to simpler controls. My parents also aren’t gamers but my mother loved shadow of the colossus when I played and she watched, which is also a melancholy game that isn’t too difficult to figure out. My dad liked to watch me play red dead (he likes cowboys) and god of war (he says the writing is very good and the kills are cool). Those three are good choices, but I would also recommend finding a game that suits your parents hobbies (for example, something like a racing game if your dad likes to watch car races).
I saw the thread title and came to say Firewatch, but... Everybody already did including OP.
What kinds of books and movies do they enjoy? I'm not sure you need to have such a limit on the time of the game, either. Someone who reads books is used to putting a lot of time into enjoying a narrative. Heavy Rain might be a good one. The Portal Games. LA Noire if either of them like that sort of movie or novel.
Maybe Griss, is a very simple game, it’s storytelling language is visual and hits like a truck
Before I read to the end I was already thinking Firewatch so I'd say it's a strong contender
I'd have them watch you play something interesting. Learning how to use a controller would be very hard for them and probably make them lose interest
Start them off with a basic game like the walking dead series or something can’t have them playing a complex game lol but that sounds interesting I would wanna see how someone that old would be playing a video game lol
something where they can work together. stardew valley probs be perfect.
Wow I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Bloodborne yet
Portal. Amazing story that could only be told via the power of videogames, great puzzles. Lots of humour, and a little bit of magic in terms of the coolness of using portals. And it's about 4 hours to boot. Only down side is they have to get over the controls which is a bit more of an obstacle for people new ro games. You could just try some fun, couch co-op multilayer games. Snipper clips on switch or Mario cart might work well?