Recommend Games for my GF (extremely specific taste!)

My gf had always been very reluctant of ever playing a video games anymore, but then she saw the trailer of the remakes of Spyro when I was on the PC and it piqued her interest. I bought her the full trilogy and she finished them all in like a month.

Now the thing is: I've tried to get her into other games but she has extremely low tolerance for anything that doesn't fit the following criteria:

- Very easy difficulty, unless its something I can play for her (like a difficult boss where the levels themselves are easy)

- Collectibles, collectibles, collectibles

- Fun, relaxed aesthetic (i.e. the opposite of something like Dark Souls)

- Don't need to think too much (very light puzzles are fine but no "deep" puzzle games like, I dunno, The Witness)

- No story. I mean seriously, one unskippable cutscene or dialogue and she is OUT.

- Controller support (the keyboard confuses her)

Any ideas? We don't own a Switch so I been thinking about buying one since I think the 3D Marios would be something up her alley. She also expressed some interest to Ring Fit Adventure when I saw it on GB.

My immediate reaction was Mario Odyssey sounds perfect but if you don't have a Switch I guess that isn't an option. Yooka-Laylee might be a good fit, there's dialogue but on a similar level to the Spyros IIRC.

From a different angle, it's not a platformer but Burnout Paradise fulfills all the criteria too if she's into driving.

The first answers that pop up in my head are A Hat in Time and Yooka Laylee, if she wants her 3D platformer fix. She might also be into Katamari Damacy

Clearly she needs to play Underrail.

Uh... anyway, A Hat in Time is the most modern thing I can think of, though I recall hearing the later parts of that game were a challenge? Yooka-Laylee might be something worth looking into, though I recall the reception to that game being less than stellar.

The original Jak and Daxter, if you have access to a PS2, 3, or 4, or you could emulate it if you don't mind setting that up for her. Actually, I believe that one has unskippable cutscenes, but I don't think it relies on them any more than Spyro 2 and 3 did.

Alternatively, what about something like Stardew Valley? I mean, it's not a 3D platformer but if she's looking for something easygoing Stardew Valley could be it? It does have a lot of dialog, though.

The cutscene/dialog/story hangup is going to limit her way more than the other criteria. Most games that lack those things make up for it with gameplay and difficulty - people looking for chill vibes usually want some characters in their game.

She might like Astroneer. That game's not particularly complex, at least for its genre, though its controls can take some getting used to.

You say you don't have a Switch but you don't list the systems you do have. For example the Banjo Kazooie games are on Xbox and they seem to fit her criteria pretty well (People are talking about Yooka Laylee instead of Banjo for some reason.)

If you have a PS3 then the Ratchet & Clank games seem to meet most of these criteria, though they might get a bit tough later on. Sly Cooper 1 definitely qualifies, and that's on PS3 as well.

Have you considered the Prince of Persia 3D series? There are a bunch of those available on various systems and at least one of them doesn't even feature fail states, so it's super easy and they have a great vibe. I will admit that they don't have a ton of collectables, but they do have some.

What about Kart racers? Beyond Mario Kart there's the Crash racer remake, and the Sonic racing games, all of which are cartoony, not too tough, and aesthetically up her alley.

There are lots of other games that fit the bill here but they are on various systems and some of it may depend on how willing she is to branch out to different gameplay styles. Could she be in to something like Yoku's Island Express? Or is that too far outside the comfort zone?

The Grow Home and the Grow Up games might fit what you're after, pretty light on story, lots to collects and quite straight forward progression.

A lot of recommendations for Yooka Laylee but my understanding was that the game was very mediocre or even bad?

I havent exposed her to something like Stardew Valley since I rarely play any games like that myself, but I think thats worth looking into.

Oh and I was mostly referring to the PC. I do have some consoles lying around but PC is what we use mainly.

I'd recommend Rayman Origins/Legends based on this criteria. Might be best to stick to Origins since I could see her possibly getting stressed out by the musical stages in Legends (though they're still very charming aesthetically). You could also do co-op with her and if her character dies it's very quick and easy to get back into the action. I've played through both games with my niece when she was younger and we both had a blast.

I just started playing Umurangi Generation today and I think it might fit the criteria. I don't know if there are more involved puzzles later on, but it's very much aiming for a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere and the levels have traditional collectibles in addition to the collectable nature of the photo hunt.

Clearly your GF is looking for Balan Wonderworld.

@mezmero: We did play Rayman Origins actually! I think the Co-op part turned her off in the end though, since it was just me helping her get through everything and she couldn't explore at her own pace.

@eccentrix: Too out there for her, but I might play that myself at some point

@bigsocrates: Yokus Island Express might be worth a shot but it might be a bit too out there. Kart racers are definetly worth a short. I think buying the Switch will enable a lot things in general.

@ridenator: But I mean, did she like it at all? I feel like Origins fits every criteria you put forth here.

@ridenator: Yooka Laylee is not a bad game but I wouldn't recommend it because it's rough around the edges and can be frustrating in places. People recommending it for someone who nopes out at games as soon as they get tough clearly do not remember the minecart sequence in the Casino level of that game. In general I think the difficulty level is pitched a bit too high for what you say she's into. Especially the final boss. I am a lifelong gamer and even I thought that Capital Bee was a pretty rough challenge, especially because he has a bunch of phases and no checkpoints.

What about something like Firewatch? It definitely seems story heavy for her but it's in game dialog rather than sit there cut scenes, and it's got zero challenge and a great aesthetic. Or What Remains of Edith Finch if she wants a bit more gameplay? Would she be willing to try a game like that?

Donut County has maybe too much story but otherwise seems like it might make sense.

Annapurna did ports of Flower and Journey to the PC. Are those games she might be interested in? They both technically fit your criteria.

I just want to second Grow Home/Grow Up. They honestly seem perfect for this criteria. They are very relaxed, fun to explore, do not have any story/cutscenes, a ton of collectibles and you control an adorable robot. I recommend starting with Grow home as it is a tighter experience, and if she is into that then Grow up will offer a lot more of those same vibes (you can show her a video or trailer first to see if she is interested).

I would also recommend a Short Hike. That's also a very chill game with no cutscenes, collectibles and fun exploration. I also don't remember ever really getting frustrated with it, and it has great music. It's pretty, well, short though.

Grow Home/Up seems the closest yeah, I'm gonna try that next. If that doesn't work for her then I'm starting to think it just literally needs to be a dragon or some other kind of Disney/Pixar -esque animal as the playable character at the expense of everything else, lol.

@ridenator: If it weren't for the story bit I'd say Animal Crossing sounds ideal for her

what throws her off about cutscenes/dialogue?

How about Skyrim with adjusting the difficulty if anything gets hard, and not caring about the story? Just exploring and enjoying the graphics and the music, and shooting something with the bow sometimes.

100% Captain Toad Treasure Tracker hits all of those checkboxes and is one of the best games on Switch period, I finished it on Wii U when it originally came out and am playing through it again now. Definitely look at some videos if you might be convinced to get a Switch.

My SO has a fairly similar taste (collectibles, collectibles, collectibles + skips all cut scenes), so some of the other games she's recently enjoyed:

• Unravel 1 and 2 look very pretty and friendly. I find them too frustrating to play myself, but she enjoyed them.
• Immortals Fenyx Rising, which probably does have some unskippable cutscenes -- but it's a big open world game so there's not many of them, and this game doesn't take itself too seriously. It looks good, friendly, and has lots of stuff to collect/complete (just play it on easy and the fights shouldn't be difficult).
• Recent Yoshi games perhaps? I've found them a bit frustrating to play, mainly because I was playing them with a 10 year old, and we would keep butting heads. Also, usually you cannot go back in a level, so if you missed a collectible you're replaying the same level a bunch of times from the start in order to find the one collectible you missed. I know it's another switch game, but it just seems _the_ platform for "Fun, relaxed aesthetic" :)
• I guess the Assassin's Creed or Tomb Raider games are not fun/relaxed enough? They both do the collectibles, collectibles thing pretty well.
• Did I mention Captain Toad?

I also second NOT giving her Yooka Laylee to play. I'm a huge fan of all the Banjo games, and I'm even a sucker for DK 64 even though that game is pretty bad in hindsight. But Yooka Laylee is just really clunky and rough around the edges. I still haven't finished the game after all these years because I fell off of it. I do recommend Hat in Time though! It's basically Banjo but modern, though I think some later levels do get harder so I'm not sure if she would be into that part of it. There's "story" and cutscenes but I think you can skip it all and it's not really necessary to play the game. It's also really colorful and cartoony and cute.

Bit out of left-field but I'd recommend Diablo 3. The switch version is pretty good and me and my partner have had an awesome time running through that game with a TV show in the background.

It presses scratches that compulsive itch in the brain that gets a lot of people into mobile games, which I don't mean as a criticism.

First thing that comes to mind is Yoshi's Crafted World on Switch, if she can handle the cuteness.

It's interesting, I find this as well among people not into gaming. They lose interest in the story VERY fast. It's surprising to me how some devs don't seem to appreciate this! Really, for games designed with less frequent gamers in mind, they should drop you into gameplay as quickly as humanly possible. Then AFTER we see what the game is like they can sprinkle in some story. Ironically, it's *tutorials* that are especially bad at this - new gamers have no patience for drawn-out tutorials with a series of locked gates and hoops to jump through, and they have the opposite of the intended effect. Just let them play the damn game, and GENTLY introduce new mechanics once in a while in an intuitive way.

She might like something like Slime Rancher which is very cute, I don't remember there being story in the time I played it, extremely relaxed. If you want to try something co-op Bake n Switch is fun. It's similar to something like Overcooked but 1000 times cuter. Both are on Steam.

A Short Hike

Is co-op on the table? My girlfriend and I (admittedly she plays more video games than yours, but still) went through the Man of Medan games and had a good time, Overcooked 2 is another option for something lighthearted with no story.

For some reason i think that a Musou game could be pretty good? Well apart from this Persona Strikers one, given the amount of time they spend on narrative. Getting in a game and mashing a bunch of buttons to make hundreds of dudes fly all across the screen is something that has immediate appeal to many people.

And i haven't played it, but maybe Super Lucky's Tale is that kind of colorful platforming action that she likes.

Untitled Goose Game? Donut Country? Fall Guys? Goat Simulator? Human Fall Flat? Totally Reliable Delivery Service? Maybe even a Cook, Serve, Delicious game?

As for the story-aversion many new gamers have, i have also experienced this. I always wonder what the reason for this is. Does it stem from the idea that this person now CHOSE to play a game, so they're looking for that gameplay action that a game can only provide and not a story to be told, because that's something they could also get from a book or a TV series? Or is it more that they don't see themselves spend 10-30 hours with a game to see the whole story through, so it's just annoying to waste time on the start of a story?

It's a real burden though, because often the easiest games to play for newcomers are the ones that really go hard on the storyfront.

What about that Jak and Daxter remake from a few years ago?

EDIT: Nevermind, you said PC.

Katamari Damacy.

Some suggestions I echo that were suggested above would be Slime Rancher and Fall Guys. I haven't played it, Stardew Valley. Some other games matching that criteria that I've enjoyed playing myself and sometimes come back to or consider coming back to playing are: Bombergrounds: Battle Royale, Super Animal Royale, Risk of Rain 2, and Temtem. I'm excited to try Ova Magica when it comes out, and that's something along those lines too.

Not the best game in the world, but I think Super Lucky's Tail fits the bill.

@ridenator: I recently played a ton of Minecraft Dungeons with my girlfriend and some friends. It's a very simple loot game with easy mechanics, but can be reasonably fun for advanced players too.