Good "Backseat" Games?

So Walking Dead and Journey seem to be fun to watch for other people. Does anyone else have recommendations for games that other people enjoy watching? Maybe Sleeping Dogs?

Also, anyone know what factors make a game fun to watch? In Walking Dead, it clearly was the story, but Journey, there was the visuals. Basically, I'm asking what within a review of a game would be flags that indicate the game would be fun for more than just the gamer.

Thanks!

Bethesda's open world RPGs in general have always been favorites of mine to watch and be watched playing.

(Damn mobile site) As for the reasons why Fallout and Elder Scrolls are so great for that, the sheer amount and variety of stuff in those games that you can do is the primary one; watching a friend explore an area that you have explored before but having a completely different experience is a lot of fun.

I gotta say, I have more fun watching people play Lollipop Chainsaw than actually play it myself.

Do you want spectator games or backseat games? If you just want to watch, I don't know. If you want to actually interact and bring something to the experience without being annoying(think the Endurance Runs), then I'd say pretty much anything. It also depends on if the person playing is entertaining. Every game has good parts and bad parts, but I would bet most games are pretty boring for the spectator much more often than entertaining purely on their own.

I always enjoy watching my wife struggle with Plants vs. Zombies.

@YI_Orange said:

Do you want spectator games or backseat games? If you just want to watch, I don't know. If you want to actually interact and bring something to the experience without being annoying(think the Endurance Runs), then I'd say pretty much anything. It also depends on if the person playing is entertaining. Every game has good parts and bad parts, but I would bet most games are pretty boring for the spectator much more often than entertaining purely on their own.

Both. In Walking Dead, I've had friends say "do this," or comment on my choices. In Journey, it was basically silence.

I did not expect Lollipop Chainsaw as a possible choice, haha. I'll check out the open world games! Thanks!

Obvious answer is a GTA game. Saints Row, I think, is a bit more barren as an open-world, but the missions are often fucking insane anyway. It's rad.

FarCry 3, in the same way that many open-world games can be hella fun to watch other people play, is rad.

Asura's Wrath is pretty great to just kinda sit back and absorb, too.

Any kind of JRPG with a good story, if you can both slog through it. Low impact if it's turn-based, and if you've both got investment in the characters, it's awesome. Something like Nier could be a good bet, too.

The Yakuza games are hella fun to play and watch--again, open world. Fighting system is just brutal enough that some shit will make you cringe, and it looks badass. It's quirky and Japanese as shit, and when you finally get into the story, there's some really great stuff. You can probably start off with 4 and be fine if you don't wanna invest a lot of time. 3's pretty great, though, even without playing Yakuza and Yakuza 2. Dead Souls is... eh, but not a traditional Yakuza game at all.

I've also found that Fable has been a big hit with several friends. It's not like it's very hard, so you don't really have to concentrate. And I go into the game with the caveat of "Eh, it's kinda shit anyway, so whatever." And a good time is often had by all.

My girlfriend also loved Alpha Protocol, or what she saw of it. We both realized pretty quickly that the game was a broken mess, so I just exploited melee combat and stealth, which made for some pretty hilarious shit, and she and I really got into the story. She didn't see it through, but every time we were bored with nothing to do she'd suggest to throw it on.

Mass Effect I'm iffy on as a suggestion. Again, girlfriend loved the cutscenes, hated watching me actually play missions. And I don't blame her. The missions were, for the most part, a god-damned chore, and they're boring as shit to watch. So depends on how tolerant people are of watching the missions, because Mass Effect is obviously very easy to get invested in. I'd also put Binary Domain in the same kind of category. I haven't played it, but the gameplay seems fine--maybe even great or good, but it's more cover-based shooting. And that can be a slog to watch. But the story seems bonkers enough that it could be rad.

For me, it's either insane shit like Asura's Wrath, or really intriguing storylines, or open-world gameplay. Or just crazy shit popping off all the time. I don't think many other single-player games lend themselves to being fun to watch, at least not for an extended period of time--especially because I'm the type of asshole who will want to wrestle a controller away from someone if they're playing a game 'wrong'. I'm not one to watch someone play a game for its gameplay mechanics. I couldn't watch someone try to play through Assassin's Creed, or the previously mentioned Mass Effect. I understand that open-world games will have linear missions at some point, but watching someone play a purely mission-based game, especially if it's something like a cover-based shooter, or Assasin's Creed? Fucking boring. I'd much rather experience them myself, too. FPS and fighting games, especially, I just don't care to watch at all.

Only exception when it comes to skill-based stuff, I'd say, is something like Batman. If someone's really good at the combat, it's really god-damned satisfying to watch them pop off a huge combo. And the storyline's intriguing enough, at least in Asylum, to get hooked. City's fine for the most part too, too.

If you are watching someone else play the Fallout/Skyrim games would be good as well as Asura's Wrath.

@EarlessShrimp said:

I gotta say, I have more fun watching people play Lollipop Chainsaw than actually play it myself.

I think that's the case with most of Suda's games.

Any Zelda game. They are so fun to watch and you can help out with the puzzles.

I'd also say, there's nothing quite like watching someone play a horrific game--something like Sonic '06. The bond you share with someone when you've played a truly horrific game together can't be broken.

I'm not sure about all the people suggesting open world games. There is a lot of travelling between locations which can be boring for someone to watch. I had a cousin come over who doesn't really play video games and he was watching me play Fallout 3 and seemed incredibly bored with it. I even asked him and he was saying it just looked like I was walking around. I think a story based game is good for Backseat gamers where getting to the next story point is fast. That being said, Journey seems to stick a knife in my argument

I would say Alan Wake would be a good one. Asura's Wrath would be a good one. Perhaps Saint's Row The Third although there is a good amount of travelling between missions. Bayonetta is good if you want some visual spectacle.

Games with puzzles in them are also probably good as it will involve the person and make it more interesting for them to watch so things like Portal 2.

The best game would be LA Noire though. You get all the great story, the mystery to solve that the other person can help with and it's a great game.

If you're watching someone less skilled at games it can be fucking murder watching them play something hard. Heavy Rain was pretty fun to watch my flatmate play.

Puzzle games, especially the likes of Portal. See, while someone who doesn't play games may not be able to control it, they can give some input on how to solve puzzles. The Endurance Runs show that turn-based JRPG's are good for this as well.

Isn't it @crusader8463 who keeps mentioning playing Final Fantasy X all night because someone forgot the memory card? Yeah, stuff like that is great. Sorry if it isn't you, that will be kind of awkward.

I become an asshole when watching someone else playing a game, just can't stand it. Only in person is this the case however.

@believer258: That would indeed have been me. Turn based JRPGs like that are really good for that kind of stuff. If there's a party in the game you can assign a few different characters to each person in the room and let them decide how that character will rank up, what class they will play, what skills they will get, how to allocate points and if the game allows it you can customize how they look. If the game has major plot points where you get to pick then you can debate with others in the room why you should go one way or another. Nine times out of ten they will all probably agree on the same thing, but it can get real fun trying to debate why you should do something when others don't want to.

Mass Effect, watched the entire trilogy. :D

Asura's Wrath.

The people watching will probably end up having MORE fun than the person playing.

Deadly Premonition because the gameplay sucks.

My cousin told me she watched her boyfriend play Uncharted 2 and really enjoyed it. I watched my fiancee play through most of Heavy Rain.