Recommend a game for me to play with my partner

My partner and I occasionally play games together, but they pretty much only play word puzzle games on their own. I’m not very good at word games though, and they don’t have very good spatial skills, so we frequently find ourselves mismatched. We have a switch and a single decent gaming pc, and a pretty old laptop.

The biggest hit for us has been Baba is You because it is slow paced, and combines words and logic and spatial reasoning. Our biggest problem was that its not actually coop, so we would just alternate who played, which can disengage the other person. My partner also thought its aesthetic is cute.

Our next positive example is probably Snipperclips is also a pretty slow paced puzzler, is mostly spatial skills, but we could play at the same time. They also liked how interactive the avatars are, and particularly snipping my avatar up.

The first miss is overcooked, it was a bit too chaotic, and my partner felt a little lost and uncoordinated. They don’t remember it super well, so we might retry this one at some point if they feel more at home playing video games.

The other miss is Mario Kart, which they liked when we played with 4 player, but not just the 2 of us. I’m significantly better at Mario Kart, and they are pretty competitive. If they get more into games they might be willing to put in some time improving, but not so much right now.

Our worst miss was probably Tricky Towers, I’m decently good at regular Tetris, so I can do okay out of the box at physics based Tetris, but there was too much happening to fast for my partner. Combine that with it the competitive aspect and they didn’t enjoy this one at all.

The games they most fondly remember from childhood are Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, though we have downstairs neighbors under part of our apartment and no dance pad or guitars, SSX Tricky, and the Lord of the Rings movie tie in games.

They think they’d enjoy a game that does movement as input like ddr or guitar hero but is maybe less bouncy, and are open to action games, or games with a story, but they should be easier to control and not be too chaotic. Cute aesthetics and cats are a plus.

Thanks!

Edit: Everybody gave great recommendations! We picked up It takes two and pizza possum. Just finished the first chapter of it takes two and we had a blast, and I might even be able to get another game night in this weekend if we can be on top of chores. I’ll keep checking in this thread for more ideas for future games to try! Thanks again!

the16bitgamer,
@the16bitgamer@lemmy.world avatar

A weird one if your SO is a fan of anime. Persona 5.

My SO loved playing with me since they had all the guides and stuff ready to min max the game while I did the heavy lifting. It’s a different type of 2 player game, like a Driver and Navigator while driving.

woelkchen,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

Try Handshakes. It’s 100% free. store.steampowered.com/app/2171690/Handshakes/

Officially it has no coop mode but because the game just accepts input from all input devices, one person can control the right hand and the other the left hand. No time limit, infinite retries. It’s a short game but you that’s really not a problem with a price tag of free.

Kylamon1,

I play a lot of games with my 10yr old daughter. Here are some of what we liked:

-Any lego game(there are sooo many and they often go on sale)

-trine series, much more puzzley

-sackboy a big adventure

-brothers a tale of two sons

-it takes two

-portal 2

-degrees of separation

-putty pals

-ibb and obb

-toodee and topdee

-bleep bloop

-battle block theater

-chariot

-pikunuku

We also loved going through the monkey island games. They are not mumtiplayer but they are slow point and click games that we bounced ideas off one another.

cbarrick,

+1 for Portal 2.

OP, the co-op campaign for Portal 2 is a separate story from the single player campaign.

It’s a puzzle game at it’s heart, wrapped in the control scheme of an FPS.

Chobbes,

It Takes Two is probably the best jumping off point (as you’ve already been informed). It has enough variety that you can discuss what parts they liked and maybe find the games in that kind of genre.

My partner isn’t big on games, but loves The Binding of Isaac for coop. The latest DLC adds a better coop mode, but the original coop mode with coop babies works well too (and there’s advantages like them being able to fly so they don’t need to worry about floor hazards). I think the fact that they grew up in a catholic household but aren’t religious helped them get into it lol.

cheesymoonshadow,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

You two might enjoy Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.

g.co/kgs/zmYgtb

Blackmist,

That’s a one player game.

cheesymoonshadow,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

I was thinking they could share the keyboard and each do one side/hand. With a wireless keyboard, they could even play while snuggled up on the couch.

Blackmist,

It’s not the controls that are the issue. It’s literally a single player game, designed for one person to play.

Have you actually played it to the end? It’s only a couple of hours, tops.

cheesymoonshadow,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

Yes, I did. I remember using one hand to control each brother, hence my thinking they found each control one with a shared keyboard.

It was just a suggestion. And the fact that it’s simple and short I thought was good since she doesn’t sound like she likes intense games.

ouRKaoS,

In the realm of Rhythm games and movement input: Beat Saber.

A bit of an initial investment for the VR setup, but well worth it.

Ludrol,
@Ludrol@szmer.info avatar

Beat saber and all VR stuff is VERY bad at couch coop.

ouRKaoS,

True.

I’ve had better luck w/ Beat Saber “multiplayer” in a party type setting where there was turns being taken by 5+ people.

Keep talking & nobody explodes is perfect in VR, though, because the diffuser is in their own world.

dalakkin,

We’ve been playing Walkabout Minigolf on the Quest 3 which is fun. We take turns and play 4 holes each in a row, and during play we discuss how to approach different obstacles and where to search for hidden balls. Obviously casting to the TV while playing.

HeavyRaptor,

I found this really difficult to read/understand this in places with the neutral pronouns. Anyway a cool little coop puzzle game is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. It’s an asymmetrical puzzle game where one of you is trying to defuse a bomb (played on a computer) while the other is trying to give directions without seeing the bomb. It might fit your asymmetrical needs you described.

ABCDE,

Every “they” refers to the partner (the first two words of the post). Shouldn’t take too long to get used to in future.

woelkchen,
@woelkchen@lemmy.world avatar

As a non-native speaker I still struggle with it. Just sounds like plural all the time. I’d expect something like “they does” for an individual and “they do” for a group of people but “they do” for just an individual frequently fucks up my comprehension.

ABCDE,

The post we’re looking at includes “my partner” then almost immediately after “they”, with consistent conjugations of the verb (which doesn’t change). It can look a little odd and take some getting used to, but it isn’t far removed from other seemingly irregular uses, such as yous/youse/y’all for addressing a group of people (direct form of ‘they’), instead of using the singular ‘you’.

HessiaNerd,

Ultimate Chicken Horse

An example

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZvF9y9D8tc

Romkslrqusz,

My partner was never really into games growing up, and especially had trouble with the spatial aspect and controllers.

The tipping point came when we played Minecraft together and they got to use a keyboard and mouse rather than a controller. Since then, they’ve done tons gaming on their own with hundreds of hours in Stardew Valley and a more recently a deep dive into Fallout 4.

Destiny 2 played a big part in learning shooting mechanics, sense of space, and especially precision platforming.

Thrilled to see that you’ve found and enjoyed It Takes Two because that’s our all-time favorite co-op game and we recommend it to everybody.

Since yours is into puzzling, I want to second the recommendation for the We Were Here series. The first one is free and each is better than the next. It’s an asymmetrical puzzler that requires two computers with each player unable to see the other’s screen. Communication is critical to solve each of the puzzles.

GullibleOyster,

My wife and I really enjoyed playing The Quarry together. It’s one of those games where it is more of a movie with decisions so I would do all of the controls and she would do the decisions.

Dickarus,
@Dickarus@lemmy.world avatar

Since some have already been mentioned

Death Squared - nice puzzle game

Mario Party

Mario deluxe u

Plate up! - overcooked on crack.

Baldurs gate 3 on ez mode

ABCDE,

Death Squared is really nice. I may have a spare key somewhere

AngryCommieKender,

Late to the thread, and you already have loads of suggestions, but Portal and Portal2 may help your partner with their spatial issues. I’ve heard that those are the games to use to introduce someone who doesn’t play videogames in general, but specifically FPS, to the media and basic controls that most of us gamers take for granted.

Lennnny,
@Lennnny@lemmy.world avatar

Yes! A very fun game to play as a couple! I liked how it was more graphically interesting than a lot of other puzzle games, and dialog is fantastic.

Chobbes,

NOPE. This might work for some people but my partner couldn’t handle it :/. When walking around in 3D and paying attention is hard portals are just too hard when thrown into the mix. I would kill to be able to play Portal 2 coop, but alas :C. Maybe Portal 2 would be better to start on, they do a better job of introducing some concepts and the story is harder to completely ignore lol.

Astaroth,

Lego games like Lego Starwars has already been mentioned and I will second those (especially the newer ones that have split screen).

Divinity Original Sin is also great.

Honestly most games I can think of have already been mentioned and those who have not seem like they might not be that great of an option since it seems your partner isn’t normally into gaming. (RTS in particular might be too hard)

But I will suggest some anyway just in case

Starcraft 2 has free online multiplayer which includes a COOP vs AI mode.

There’s also a 2 player campaign adaption of Warcraft 3’s normally single player campaign. Although it might only be available for pre-Reforged.

Also I didn’t know about it before now, I googled it just in case, but apparently SC2 also has COOP mods for its campaigns.

You mentioned having a Switch so I will recommend Advance Wars Reboot and Wargroove 1 & 2, although there are no COOP campaigns but you can play multiplayer maps.

Besides Advance Wars Reboot Camp on Switch (or the originals for Gameboy, which you could play with emulator), there’s also an online fan site called Advance Wars By Web where you can play advance wars in the web browser, although there’s no single player.

Wargroove is also on Steam and besides the campaign and regular game itself there are puzzles.

And speaking of Puzzles, card games tend to have Puzzles. I haven’t actually played Magic, Yu Gi Oh, etc. so I can’t say for sure whether they have any, but there’s puzzles in Faeria. (I would’ve recommended Might and Magic Duel of Champions, it had some great puzzles, but Ubisoft shut that game down many years ago)

AngryCommieKender,

Also StarCraft 2 can be modded with MassRecall so you can go through the SC1 campaigns, more than just SC and Broodwars, in the SC2 engine, which makes them a bit easier and more satisfying. I think that would allow you to do co-op on the original single player campaigns.

hardaysknight,

Checkers

UnPassive,

Still play SSX Tricky with my family via an emulator

Jarix,

What’s your favorite thing about that game? I still know one of the people who created it

UnPassive,

We’re competative I suppose. Grew up playing and nothing ever replaced it. There’s probably other arcade games we’d enjoy but the closest we’ve come was the Tetris Effect - but we haven’t picked that up again for a while. Tricky is one of those games that has a huge skill difference between being good and actually practicing. It’s fun, a bit janky - maybe it’s just what we know. My brother has a couple high scores on my steam deck and writing this has inspired me to go spend some time trying to beat them lol

Jarix,

Glad you are enjoying it. Any advice on getting it up and running on a steam deck? Just got one a few months ago and havent looked into emulation yet but intended to, life just got in the way and havent gone back to it yet. Maybe you can inspire me to get my some old tony hawk games running. Loved the ps era skater games

UnPassive,

Yeah, there’s something called Emudeck, it makes setup super easy. Even comes with tools to add emulated games into your steam library to launch like a regular game.

There is this one funky caveat - the PlayStation and Switch games I emulate didn’t run very well, after some research I found out that lowering the CPU cores helps a ton. And it did, they run great for me now. To do that I had to install a Deck extension called Powertools - super easy to do because Emudeck came with a user interface to install plugins, Powertools included. Anyway, with Powertools you turn off this thing called SMT and then can lower the CPU cores. Some people think it’s actually a bug in emulation or Steam Deck drivers because using less cores shouldn’t have a big impact on performance so it may not be necessary in the future.

Tons of video examples on YouTube make the install and setup super easy. Highly reccomend setting emulation up, I’ve been playing through games I never finished as a kid and it’s been great. The convenience makes it awesome

choss,

Can you thank them for defining a huge part of my childhood playtime? My siblings and I bonded over that game. We still quote voicelines from it.

Jarix,

Can do Choss

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