What are some good titles to recommend my wife?

Hey duders,

I've been running a 2 year long mission to get my wife to enjoy gaming more. She used to play some older games, but is interested in trying some more modern titles. We started with Overcooked which she enjoyed but got frustrated in later levels. Recently I got her to play through all of Journey which she enjoyed but there were some parts that she got frustrated and I had to take over in some spots.

Are there any other games that you guys could suggest that are casual(ish) in the controls and complexity?

EDIT: Firstly, thanks for all the constructive responses and suggestions. I have a nice list of games for us to try out over the holidays. Also, to be very specific: my wife played some games before I met her and has consistently asked me over the last couple years to recommend her new games. I have been trying my best but as mentioned she has found some aspects of the games I recommended frustrating. Finally, I appreciate all the concerns around having a 'healthy relationship' but it's not what I'm looking for nor is it helpful.

Probably ease her into something narrative driven like Life is Strange, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Walking Dead Season 1 or Firewatch.

Since she linked Journey, you might also check out Abzu.

It's been a very long road with my girlfriend. I think exposure is key, atleast for me. The more she sees, the more things she might be interested in. Between myself, trailers, giantbomb and friends she has gotten a small staple of games to play and things that we get to try out. She had watched some games before we started dating while friend's played but very rarely ever played anything herself. I just let her figure out what looks interesting for her to play it, not just to watch, and then am as eager and supporting as I can be with her.

I would recommend some of the Telltales adventures (before they get de-listed) or similar narrative adventure games like Until Dawn, and Life is Strange or Valiant Hearts. If you are concerned with the controls, take them and let her do the decisions...

I guess the most pertinent question is whether she wants to get into gaming or not, because if there is no desire on her part then it's like trying to get Dan to play an adventure game.

She might not be into gaming in general, and no one likes it when someone is constantly pushing them to like something.

But you know what everyone can enjoy? Pizza. Drop some fat stacks on primo pizza for the both of ya.

The use of the word “hook” sounds slightly nefarious, but I’ll assume positive intent.

Find things she likes. Talk to her. Sometimes expose her to something that builds off her likes but is slightly outside of her comfort zone.

It’s no different than sharing and exposing folks to anything else.

My wife had played some Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, and Jackbox, recently. She’ll also check out some narrative-based games, especially shorter ones. We played through Virginia, Walking Dead Season 1, Late Shift, and others.

As others have pointed out, this will depend almost entirely on your wife's feelings about gaming, and what kinds of games she enjoys.

Years ago, my wife saw me playing Oblivion and wanted to try it so that she could walk in the forest and pick flowers. No joke.

These days, she enjoys playing Stardew Valley and had a passing interest in Papers, Please. The other day she asked me about Kingdom Hearts 3 because she likes the Disney stuff. Over the years, she has played and enjoyed The Sims (without needing/buying a ton of extra crap), Civilization Revolution (but not the core Civ games - too complicated, she says), the LEGO Harry Potter games, Skyrim, Plants vs Zombies, and the Katamari games. I've learned what she likes and I recommend stuff from time to time that may be of interest her. Otherwise, I leave her alone.

Always remember - "Happy wife, happy life." If she doesn't enjoy gaming, best to just let it go. :)

The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to let it happen naturally. My wife has been exposed to many different types of games just by watching me and by watching Giant Bomb when I have it on. She never played games before she met me but every once in a while something will grab her interest. I couldn't stop her from playing Until Dawn. It really grabbed her due to the campy teen horror storyline and easy controls. I grabbed a PSVR on Black Friday and Thumper grabbed her due to the easy controls and immersive experience. I love it when she finds a game she likes but she will never like games the way I do, and that's ok.

Maybe don't. Its important to have different interests in life, and the end result of converting her to hardcore gamer could prove detrimental to your health as a person/couple. Lets all be different! I work at a bank and play every game worth playing, my wife is a victim advocate and plays maybe one game a year (zelda, and mario being an exception). Shes the one that gets me to shows and the beach, im the one that curates the tv and movies.

Gonna echo that maybe you don't need to..? Unless she just actively wants to be more invested in this thing you really like so that you can together.

But I feel like this sort of approach will otherwise just push people away from a hobby.

Yeah I'm also on the board with the - maybe don't worry about it train. My wife has zero interest in Video Gaming and yeah, that's cool with me. She likes shopping and I don't really need to.

I'm huge into board games and know some games that she enjoys, but I don't push too hard to get her into heavier games I know she wouldn't enjoy.

If she's interested in games then yea, maybe something narrative driven with limited gameplay could be a start.

Thanks for the good suggestions.

To be clear, this isn't me forcing games on her. My wife has expressed an interest in trying games but the genres I play don't seem to click with her, hence my question. We also play a decent handful of boardgames and she specifically asked to play Journey. I'm just trying to find some interesting experiences for her to enjoy. Nothing nefarious, promise.

I think Abzu will be next, although Life is Strange might be a good alternative. Will have to see if either grab her.

It's an older game, but Greed Corp has a board game vibe to it and has local multiplayer. My wife enjoys games that are more about thinking than motor coordination. We typically play competitive puzzle games like Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Puyo Puyo Tetris or quiz-style games like Fibbage and Trivial Pursuit Live. She has also found a lot of joy in strategy RPGs like the Fire Emblem games. I know these genres are pretty different from Journey and Life Is Strange, but they may be worth exploring at some point.

Why does she need to play games if she is not interested..... you seem weird.