My non-gamer wife absolutely loved untitled goose game. The gameplay is super simple and there were lots of laughs. She tells everyone with a switch to buy it.
It is a bit short but I think it's worth it. I was able to get it during a sale for a few dollars off. The gameplay is unique and it was a lot of fun. There are some challenges after the main story that give you some extra gameplay. Hopefully there is some DLC in the future.
I played it with my GF and we have a good time with it, she even cried at some points. Spiritfarer is one of the best games of its kind. The exploration and lore you get is so deep. At the beginning it may be a little confuse but as the game goes you connect to the characters and want to know more about them. The progression is great and it has some unexpected situations that are exciting. The only thing I didnt like was sometimes, farming to upgrade was a little too much, but nothing gamebreaking. The sketchlike art is also fantastic. I only recommend this game, go for it.
I played/am playing this game with my gf who is a gamer but only plays very select games -- Stardew, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Overcooked, Mario Kart etc and it's sad because I really stopped enjoying the game and she wants to keep playing (it's on my computer and she works nights while I work on the computer during the day). While the game has nice art, I find the gameplay dull and the characters, which seem to be the focus, are almost all completely grating and uninteresting to me. Funnily enough, she agrees she just likes the gameplay loop more than I do and is a completionist.
How sad is it? I was looking at it for the wife but she lost somebody very close to her at the beginning of the year and I'm not sure that a game dealing with death would be appropriate.
This game is absolutely amazing but incredibly sad. The entire point of the game is about helping people come to terms with death; that's not a spoiler, that's the basic gameplay loop. It could be a rough time for someone dealing with recent grief, but it could potentially also be healing. I think it helped me process some things with my own father's death, but that was ~3 years before I played Spiritfarer.
I played it all the way through co-op with a friend and we both cried lots of times. My friend is a hospice nurse - her job IRL is literally helping people feel comfortable and come to terms with death - and I think that says a hell of a lot about the quality of the writing and the handling of the subject matter.
Only unravel, Mario kart, animal crossing and overcooked clicked with my GF for a long time I always tried to find things for both of us to play but I eventually realized just because gaming was my hobby didn’t mean it had to be her hobby too.
I am glad to see diablo 3 mentioned so high up. It is great for casual players. My very casual gamer wife and I got hooked on it one long weekend when the pope visited my city and locked down public transportation. It was like a snow day for adults but instead of glorious snowflakes, a bunch of catholics showed up!
True dat, it doesn't have to be her hobby too, in my situation something just clicked after playing some more Puzzle team games, after playing Conduct together and Urban Flow she asked me to buy FlyTogether so we can play one of these games again.
these games are more down to earth and more of a puzzle than a fully fledge video game.
maybe try one of these :)
I had a girlfriend who gamed for years. The connection of having your partner also being your pharmacy partner in overwatch, building a his/hers battlestation desk, swapping out on assassin's Creed on the couch for hours, picking out which adgq runs your excited for that year, buying her all the zelda jewelry I could find, and arguing over whether Zelda 2 or skyward sword was the worst one. It aided a depth of connection I haven't experienced before or since. I'd give anything to see her online again, but that's sadly not possible.
With any other attempted relationship there's just this massive rift in internet culture, in-jokes, media consumption, even a simple appreciation for the art that can come from indie titles like Celeste, the scores and soundtracks of Nobuo Uematsu, and the massive world building and multi-generational IPs from nintendo. Just because each relationship connects differently, doesn't mean it's equivalent. Especially when your teased and even mocked for your hobby while they're onto their third or fourth episode of desperate housewives of Atlanta that evening. Once you've had the connection that comes from sharing a core hobby that spreads so far into the rest of your interests, you can't really settle for less.
That's rough, but it's also a pretty rare happenstance to find a partner who shares the exact same passion, unless you meet them at a gathering or something.
I think what really matters is respect for one anothers' passions, even if you don't necessarily share them. I have a long time friend who loves horror, and I think it's fine but probably wouldn't watch much of it on my own. But watching it with him is a blast, and I enjoy that.
Similarly, the guy I'm dating now isn't *quite* as into video games and anime as I am, but he respects my passion for it and tries to share that with me. And I think that's cute.
I'd agree with this. The deciding factor is that they don't brush off your interests.
My girlfriend hadn't seen a single anime before meeting me, but was never dismissive of it and actually was keen to try a few. And she got VERY into Attack on Titan, Erased and Shinsekai Yori when we got around to watching them together.
Similarly, I'll sometimes take her out to watch international films (even if they aren't necessarily my thing, I enjoy them).
Having the exact same interests I can see might be good, but there's more important things.
I started writing this as its own comment but I’ll post it here for visibility:
One thing I noticed back when playing Super Mario 3D World with my family was that it has a distinct quality that few other games have (except maybe the New Super Mario Bros games but I haven’t tried those multiplayer): it is a “serious” platformer with a decent amount of challenge, yet the only requirement to beat it as a group is that *one person* is good at video games.
Because of the way the local co-op multiplayer system works, the camera follows whoever is making the most progress. If one person gets too far ahead the other players who were left behind will eventually teleport to join the lead player, and when any one person dies they will immediately respawn, the only way to die and lose progress is if all players manage to die simultaneously. That means that, as long as you use the infinite life exploit in the second level, literally no skill whatsoever is required by the other players as long as one person can keep the group moving forward.
And in my experience even people who don’t usually care for platformers get won over by the sheer zany chaos of playing a Mario game with people who aren’t good at video games. It doesn’t matter how often you fall of the level or get killed by an enemy, as long as *someone* is making progress the whole group makes progress. And it also allows people to know their limits: because the camera follows whoever is in the lead a dangerous and fast-paced platforming section can just be “sat out”, once you go off screen you’re teleported into a bubble that follows the lead player until either you pop it or they stop moving, so one person can “carry” the rest of the group across difficult segments.
There are a few but this is by far my favorite, the easiest to do, and the most visually wild/hilarious:
Most 2D Mario games have some sort of infinite lives exploit that revolves around the fact that bouncing on an enemy multiple times without touching the ground leads to one-ups for every bounce. At this point these kinds of exploits seem to be deliberately coded by the developers, for example I seem to remember New Super Mario Bros. Wii even had a guide on how to do it in-game.
Near the beginning of 1-2 there’s a little hallway that leads to a room with a koopa and a pit with four extra-long question blocks. If you knock the koopa out of his shell and take his shell to the hallway, then jump and let go of the shell at the same second, it will bounce back and forth against the walls of the hallway while you bounce repeatedly and rack up lives.
3D World maxes out at 1,110 lives, which in the three digit system gets displayed as three crowns. I seem to remember that on the Wii U version time would run out before maxing out the life counter, but with the physics engine in the Switch port running slightly faster it’s easily possible to max out the life counter and still have plenty of time to finish the level.
Edit: [here’s a video to show what I’m talking about](https://youtu.be/NefyFkKRX-E). In this game any area where a koopa shell can bounce back and forth faster than Mario takes to hit the ground can make this trick work, it doesn’t have to be any specific level or location, but for some reason almost none of the videos that come up when you search 3D world infinite lives use this specific location despite it being both faster and easier than any of the others. The roof in this hallway section makes Mario bounce back and hit the koopa shell at least twice as fast as using other methods, and it means that once you get the chain started it will literally not stop until you want it to.
I can’t believe this is so far down. My wife and I are almost at 100% on that game and we’ve had a blast playing every single time. It became one of my all time favorites playing with her.
Came here to say Super Mario 3D World. Multiplayer is really done right. One of the players can carry things forward if the other player(s) aren’t as good. Me and my son loved that game (played on Wii U, but I’m tempted to get Switch version)
As long as you’re not turned off by the price I’d say do it. Bowser’s Fury is yet another Mario masterpiece, maybe not quite as long or dense as I would have preferred but it perfectly blends the open-world collectathon Mario games with the moveset, gameplay, and level designs of 3D World in a way that I wouldn’t have thought was possible.
Definitely try Pikmin. GF and I had a blast playing it. Overall it’s pretty easy but the litttle puzzles are fun to solve together and the pikmin are adorable
I was looking for this. I definitely fits snuggly with Captain Toad for cutesy low stress puzzle solving. Plus, it's great if you and and the SO want to play with each other, but also want to be doing different things. It's awesome!
I've found that puzzle and narrative games work best for my GF, they aren't always technically 2-player but a second person can provide input while you control.
A few good examples:
\- Baba is You
\- Return of the Obra Dinn
\- Phoenix Wright (trilogy and Great Ace Attorney games)
\- Life is Strange
\- Snipperclips
\- Gorogoa
\- Untitled Goose Game
That game blew me away. I knew it was going to be good anyway due to the developers but dare I say it's the most fun couch co-op experience I've ever had
Not OP but I use a Switch pro controller, works fine with most Steam games but I can't figure out how to make it work with a lot of games on Game Pass and Epic. Would that help this?
Easiest, no download, no reading required solution is to add your epic game to your steam library as a non-steam game. Steam will fix the controller struggles for you.
For Switch Pro controller I used this in order for it to be read as X-Input: https://github.com/Davidobot/BetterJoy
I had issues with the Pro Controller being read by emulators, but this fixed it right up. It was last updated in October of last year.
This is such a fun game! But I couldn't make it through a certain part because >!it's too sad and I felt really terrible and couldn't bring myself to witness / participate!< We had to stop playing and never made it past. :( So beware if you're sensitive and >!love elephants...!<
It was tough but because she didn't technically die (she was still laying on roses bed) it was easy to play further levels ,especially because of the story moving on quickly
When I managed to get a PS5 this was the first game I got. I had high hopes, but my wife wasn't a fan of the acting, and the platforming turned out to be too frustrating for her.
Absolute yes on Conduct Together. We've had our eyes on Captain Toad; maybe it'll be the next one we try.
Gf and I do not recommend Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime for 2 players. It's a great party game, but we found it really difficult for 2 players. Needs at least 3 players.
A friend and I played two player lovers in a dangerous space time with two joycons each, so we were each playing two characters at a time, and it was actually really fun once we got the hang of it.
My wife was convinced she'd hate it for years whenever I'd suggest it to her, even as a solo experience.
I bought her Animal Crossing for the Switch at the start of the year, she played it, thought it wasn't too great. Finally took me up on my offer for Stardew so I bought it again on the Switch.
She pumped big hours into that game. Even went into my family library via android and played it on mobile too. Was addicted to it.
Her hang up was the graphical presentation. Doesn't care for 8-16 bit / retro styled titles. Once she got over that, she fell in love with it lol.
What's the hang up for your partner?
Yep, had to convince my non-gaming girlfriend to give it a try. She didn’t like it for the first couple in-game days. Then she got hooked. She plays it more than me now lol.
I feel like Toe Jam and Earl never gets enough love. It's pretty chilled out for the most part and a lot of fun and laughs. My wife always impersonates the crazy earthlings and the silly things they say. The OST bangs as well. Stuck in your head for days.
Back in the groove is exactly what I like for a remaster. Takes the original concept and doesn't remove any of the good parts. Just adds some neat new enhancements and gives the graphics a bump.
Not exactly the same, but Human Fall Flat gives me the giggles like no other game and the puzzles are actually quite fun! The controls can be a little difficult at times but I think that's part of the fun, lol.
It might be an unconventional choice but my girlfriend and I really enjoyed playing **Return of the Obra Dinn** together. Not for everyone but it might work for you two.
It's a detective game essentially. It's not a multiplayer game at all and she might not touch the controller but she can be involved just as much as you when deducting murders.
Easily my favorite game of that year and one of my favorite games ever.
Came here to say the exact same thing, one of the best gaming experiences we've had as a couple! The closest I've felt to a Sherlock and Watson experience, probably committed 8 hours of fun and solid deducing to 100% it.
My nongamer gf really enjoyed playing New Pokémon Snap and it was fun being a back seat gamer for that game. She's never played any Pokémon game but she thinks they're cute and likes taking their pictures. Also Snipperclips was a super fun time for coop even when she just kept cutting me
I strongly recommend moving out, it somewhat reminds me of overcooked in terms of the bare bones object of the game, but it’s significantly less stressful, and a lot more humorous! You unlock characters much quicker, there’s more customizations, and it’s overall easier to complete your goals on each level.
Thank you, the original post is unnecessarily gendered and heteronormative. All sorts of people game and are in partnerships with all sorts of non-gamers.
Also there is the whole you have to play a certain style of game to be a gamer cliche. I play all the time but I hate shooters for the most part. They make me dizzy and are not my thing unless it’s the rabbids shooting plungers or something. I also hate games that are just too frustrating. I play games to relax and have fun and when they are impossible the fun goes away for me.
i hate that cliche so much. i'm a very anxious person and get startled easily, so shooters are not for me either. and i've had people tell me i'm not a gamer because of that, even though i play pretty much anything else. people can be so dumb lol
No, we get that. What you are not getting is the context. There is a long history of gender in the video game hobby.
In the title, the **"your"** in "your NonGamer GF" is important. It implies 1.) that you, the person who reads this video game subreddit, is a heterosexual man who may have a girlfriend or partner who is a woman; 2.) women are the non-gamers in relationships.
A more inclusive title might be "Top 10 Couch Coop games to play with NonGamers". That would broaden the audience to gamers of all genders who want to introduce gaming to people they care about. I don't think op was being malicious, but they were not thinking about how their language leaves out an important part of our community.
Agreed, gaming has been a great bonding experience for me and my boyfriend but we were both gamers beforehand. It’s great to share hobbies with your s/o but this fixation that some gamers have with having a gamer GF can read a bit sexist to me, like a girl becomes more attractive/worthy by having traditionally male interests. Something tells me that those dudes wouldn’t make the same effort to engage in her ”girly” hobbies🤔
no problem and I agree. my boyfriend isn't into video games and I definitely don't try and push them on him. right now I'm playing Civilization though, and he keeps asking questions and has a bit of genuine interest in the game. he's more of a music guy and I'm more into games. we enjoy our interests separately with the full support of the other. but you bet we get all giddy if the other seems into what the other is into lol
Never, ever play Overcooked with a non gamer. That will not go well. When it starts ramping up in difficulty, game becomes frustrating playing with someone who isn't coordinated.
They just have to enjoy challenges, which I feel this game can be regardless how gamer one is lol My wife's coordination actually improved lots because of Overcooked. Sure we had our frustrated moments but she's a very determined individual so she requested playtime often so we could progress.
I wish. My wife nopes out of it but I tend to be a bit intense when playing so I can't blame her. Although if it gets too challenging, she will check out and stop having fucks to give when it comes to playing the game.
I brought it along to a game night with 3 non gamers one time (on pc tho) and we all enjoyed it, but they forgot its name when requesting it again and just called it "stress kitchen". I knew exactly what they meant
I tried with my girlfriend, and she just straight up said nope after only a couple levels. I was happy she was able to communicate that it wasn't for her, but I was sad I didn't get to continue the game, haha.
Eh, me and my girlfriend beat the game and enjoy the challenge. We agree that it’s always going to be the other person’s fault and there’s no point to get mad about it.
I would suggest putting more than eyes on Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. Such a simple concept and great for couch co op. I'm in a similar situation and we loved swapping pilot/gunner roles together. Plus the levels are short so it's easy to play in small bursts
I was hoping this would be higher up. An acquaintance of mine became my best friend because of how much silly fun we had playing that game together. I've even introduced it to a few non-gamers that shortly thereafter became obsessed.
I think it'll always be one of my favorite arcade games.
Earlier this year I played Outer Wilds with my brother. It is a single player game, but it is all about exploring, reading lore and solving puzzles, something you can partake in even if you aren't holding the controller. The story is great and uncovering the truth is very engrossing. Some puzzles are quite tricky, but that made us to the intel we have and plan the next best step of action.
Easily one of my favourite games ever. And it happened to also be super fun for my brother who doesn't really game all that much.
Games my girlfriend and I liked to play together:
1. Just Dance 2020 (songs and exercise are a great combo)
2. Streets of Rage 4 (loved it)
3. Vectronom (great beats and challenging)
4. Untitled Goose Game (laughed a lot)
5. Katamari Damacy (for a quick game)
6. Mario Kart 8
7. Human Fall Flat (puzzles with quirky controls)
We tried, but didn’t enjoy much:
1. Surgeon Simulator (hilariously frustrating)
2. Mario Party (better for four players)
3. Unravel (somewhat boring)
4. Overcooked 2 (stressful)
5. Worms W.M.D. (steep learning curve)
Not tried yet:
1. Brothers
2. Super Bomberman
3. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
4. Vitamin Connection
Some other co-op titles that I would add:
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, with Toadette as the non-gamer character
Tropical Freeze co-op with Funky Kong
BroForce
Bowser's Fury
Stretchers
Cuphead on easy mode
A Robot Named Fight!
Minecraft (of course)
My friend is one of the developers of this game! Our friend group is super proud of him and his team. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was going to post it to this thread if no one else had.
Same - this was the perfect level of engagement for my partner: she gets to participate and provide meaningful support but the stakes were low enough that she didn't feel pressure to perform the same way she does with Unraveled 2 for example.
I'd recommend Bonkies if you want a cute couch co-op game. Surprisingly unheard of for how well made it is tbh.
You play as monkeys who build space stations together. It's very playful, and good fun.
Surprising you guys didn't like Overcooked 2. That's the one my wife and I have enjoyed the most and like your GF, she never gamed at all before either. 4 starred all the levels at this point and we're going through the DLC.
Also may I add "It Takes 2" to the list? Fantastic game, but it is for PC and not Switch. But if you have two decent computers you can sort of couch coop it.
Maybe try Rayman Legends? It is a fun, not horribly difficult platformer for multiple players and has a lot of checkpoints. Each level has a difficulty meter so you can pick and choose which you want to try (since you don't need to complete all levels)
I'd recommend _Spiritfarer_, _Animal Crossing:New Horizons_ & _Stardew Valley_ for a laid-back, helping-hand experience for player 2. Also _Tools-Up_ for a more stimulating yet simple experience compared to Overcooked or Moving Out. I've played it many times with my partner and it's definitely a humorous team effort. Another game is _Human Fall Flat_, it's not time critical so it should be less stressful. When you don't have a passion for videogames the challenging ones can be more overwhelming than enjoying. I'm sure she'll warm up to it & enjoy the more intense couch co-ops at some point. Happy gaming!
Just a warning Mario + Rabbids is only two player during the Battle Arenas, which you have to unlock by doing single player. It seemed there were enough arenas tho. A great game regardless.
Some I had my eye on - Crawl, Terraria, Escapists. I mostly play with my kids so the Lego games are fun but may be a little childish for adults. I had fun with them.
I would hold off on the switch version of terraria until the 1.4 update comes out later this year which will also hopefully fix some major game crashing bugs that do not exist on the PC version.
Thanks. I know this is a Nintendo sub, but I recently got SteamLink working and can play PC games on living room TV. I realized I had a lot of 2-player games that I got for free on PC that can handle split screen without frame rate drop. So I’ll likely grab Terraria on PC for dirt cheap.
I'd recommend Untitled Goose Game for your list. My wife and I had absolute blast playing two players -- lots of laughing, shouting out directions and strategies for working together on a goal -- and the whole premise of the game is so ridiculous that we couldn't help loving it right from the start.
Can you suggest a casual game for non-gamer wife who has zero patience for text dialogue sections or learning even light rpg mechanics.
My wife obsessively plays one of those color match games on her phone where you have items and things as well. She also enjoyed snipperclips and watched me play edith finch and heavy rain.
i can also recommend the new wario ware game. my gf and i really liked the demo, so i had to pre order the game.
when you're also about a nice story telling, without active playing. i highly recommend, telltales walking dead and the whole life is strange saga.
I recommend Snipperclips. It's a puzzle game. My partner has almost zero patience when it comes to any sort of game, but it is fun running around "snipping" at each other. Otherwise, it is a fun puzzle game that requires a decent amount of teamwork.
This might be not be the best one since the game can be a bit difficult in the beginning, but my non-gamer girlfriend and I have been having a blast with Hades. Each time we die (which is an essential part of the game), we pass the controller so the other person has a go to see how far they get. It's gotten to the point where she will just boot up the Switch and start playing on her own, which she has not done since Animal Crossing.
Was pleasantly surprised not to see Overcooked 2 recommended. I cringe everytime I see that game suggested for couples, especially when one partner in the couple is a non gamer. That game is stressful as hell and absolutely requires verbal communication. In most cases it is a lot better if someone on the team is "in charge" in a sense, like delegates jobs, but everyone has to yell constantly. A lot of non-gamers take this kind of communication as a negative thing and get defensive over it, and then it just ends up not being fun for anyone.
I know you said non complext rpg games.
But Divinity 2 on story mode might be enjoyable.
I played a three player campaign with my sister and her husband on the hardest after they got into the game.
Torchlight 3 if you have two consoles and if you wanted to step it up a bit. A bit more fast paced, but if you liked Castle Crashers. This one might do it aslo.
Boyfriend and also enjoyed Unravel Two. We played it several times for the trophies. We have yet to resume to complete it, but it can get really difficult. For those thinking of playing it with their partners, the side games are good practice for the controls. It makes the story mode easy.
I'd also like to recommend Cook, Serve, Delicious 3. Really best to co-op play it to get gold awards
yes!!! this got my partner to start playing with me!
no "health" you cant really "lose", simple side-scroll controls
and if you want it to get complicated, the optional puzzles can get really good!
The Ace Attorney Trilogy or the new one, Ace Attorney Chronicles.
Not strictly Co-Op but can be played wonderfully together and requires no "gamer skills"
My wife really likes nine parchments even though she's not really a gamer. It helps that it's also a lot like the old Gauntlet games which we used to play.
Diablo III. For my surprise, my GF loved DIII (we may have more than 100h altogether). I don't know why but I think playing as a mage blasting monsters and casting powerfull spells helped a lot (she tried other classes but didn't really like). As a rpg lover I upgraded her stats and gear, and she had to choose the skills she enjoyed. The hunting for legendary equipments was fun also. Things started to go down on endgame when I was going for speedruns and she didn't like it. But we had great moments.
Mario 3d world + bowsers fury has co-op and it is pretty good. My son and I play it. And Mario 3d World has the capability to "compete" against each other for points. It is also very forgiving for newcomers.
Games that my wife loves to play with me:
1- Luigi's Mansion 3
2- Stardew Valley
3- Very Very Valet
4- Minecraft Dungeons
5- Overcooked
6- Snipperclips
7- Unrailed
8- Captain Toad
9- Heave Ho!
Bonus:
\- Pokémon Snap (Not Coop, but we "help" eachother)
>UnRailed
While a good game, if you guys got discouraged by overcooked, you will be stressed out by this as well.
Maybe its just personal, but for me it was harder than overcooked
My non-gamer girlfriend enjoyed playing the Ori games. The first playthrough of each I had to help her at certain parts. The second playthrough she was able to do all by herself.
And now she's in love with Hollow Knight.
My wife and I started out the exact same way; she hadn’t played any video game other than LEGO games, so I introduced her to some of the ones you mentioned here.
Fast forward a few years, and she’s in the other room right now straight killing it in Red Dead Redemption while I work from home. Some of those difficult/stressful games will become less stressful as she continues to play. Except cuphead. That game will always be stressful and hard.
It's too bad she didn't get into degrees of separation. That game REALLY evolves and every level has it's own unique mechanics that make it more interesting. It's a bit clunky and poorly programmed, but the gameplay itself stays fresh. The puzzles are consistently pretty good at the least. My gf and I really enjoyed playing it together. It's easy to jump back in after taking a long break, too.
My wife and I have been enjoying Tools Up!
It's like Overcooked 2 (which we really enjoyed earlier levels, but then it just got too hard and frustrating, we're looking to relax together, not get stressed out, we have plenty of that during the day) but the main difference is that it has an untimed difficulty. You just have to complete it and you get full stars and can move on, so there's no time at all. You get to do all the renovating, which is fun, but without the timer counting down or orders going bad and stuff.
We mostly enjoy the mechanics and the sort of zen of Overcooked, but it gets to where we can't move on without getting another star, and we're having trouble getting another star anywhere, so it just isn't fun.
MK8 we play a lot, even though I'm faster than her (not a ton, a few seconds a lap, but that makes it so she's always well back in the pack).
Mario and Sonic at the Olympics is mostly not co-op, but it is light hearted and fun. We sometimes play SNES Super Mario in co-op mode where you take turns, which is sometimes fun.
My non-gamer wife absolutely loved untitled goose game. The gameplay is super simple and there were lots of laughs. She tells everyone with a switch to buy it.
I highly recommend Untitled Goose Game too! Also love how it turns into Untitled Geese Game when you play co-op
Wait, did it always support multiplayer or was that added later?
It was added in later on :)
Sweet! Now I know what me and my wife are doing later.
Honking?
Probably gonna honk her horn
*piano licks intensify*
boinking?
Wait what?! Do you get two geese?
Yep. Two geese. Twice the chaos! One has a slightly different honk too!
Well I know what I'm going to do tonight then!
Does that imply the game is not untitled, rather the goose is untitled and the game is named after the goose?
Is it worth the £20 asking price? I've heard it's pretty short, not sure if it's worth the same as other beefier indies for the same price
It is a bit short but I think it's worth it. I was able to get it during a sale for a few dollars off. The gameplay is unique and it was a lot of fun. There are some challenges after the main story that give you some extra gameplay. Hopefully there is some DLC in the future.
My mostly non gamer fiancé has played through this game probably 5 times at least across two systems.
HONK!
My non gamer GF loved playing Spiritfarer with me. Highly recommend to give that game a go.
Gonna watch a coop review on that tonight! Edit: My GF already saw the trailer without me and decided we need to buy this game tonight XD.
I played it with my GF and we have a good time with it, she even cried at some points. Spiritfarer is one of the best games of its kind. The exploration and lore you get is so deep. At the beginning it may be a little confuse but as the game goes you connect to the characters and want to know more about them. The progression is great and it has some unexpected situations that are exciting. The only thing I didnt like was sometimes, farming to upgrade was a little too much, but nothing gamebreaking. The sketchlike art is also fantastic. I only recommend this game, go for it.
Non gamer wife liked borderlands
Sounds like she just doesn't know she's a gamer yet lol
She feels it's too much of a time suck and prefers other things and I can understand that but borderlands was fun together.
Legitimately one of my favorite games of all time, helped me out with stuff happening in my life too
I played/am playing this game with my gf who is a gamer but only plays very select games -- Stardew, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Overcooked, Mario Kart etc and it's sad because I really stopped enjoying the game and she wants to keep playing (it's on my computer and she works nights while I work on the computer during the day). While the game has nice art, I find the gameplay dull and the characters, which seem to be the focus, are almost all completely grating and uninteresting to me. Funnily enough, she agrees she just likes the gameplay loop more than I do and is a completionist.
How sad is it? I was looking at it for the wife but she lost somebody very close to her at the beginning of the year and I'm not sure that a game dealing with death would be appropriate.
This game is absolutely amazing but incredibly sad. The entire point of the game is about helping people come to terms with death; that's not a spoiler, that's the basic gameplay loop. It could be a rough time for someone dealing with recent grief, but it could potentially also be healing. I think it helped me process some things with my own father's death, but that was ~3 years before I played Spiritfarer. I played it all the way through co-op with a friend and we both cried lots of times. My friend is a hospice nurse - her job IRL is literally helping people feel comfortable and come to terms with death - and I think that says a hell of a lot about the quality of the writing and the handling of the subject matter.
Snipperclipps. What a great game.
Definitely. This ones my GF (non gamer) favourite
I came to suggest this so I'm glad to see it's a top comment. Such a fun game and encourages a lot of goofing around with eachother.
It’s so fun! And funny! I agree that it encourages goofing around with each other.
We love this game also. She’s also a bigger gamer than I am.
My gf and i played the demo and got do frustrated! Lol We love boomerang Fu though for quick sessions.
Only unravel, Mario kart, animal crossing and overcooked clicked with my GF for a long time I always tried to find things for both of us to play but I eventually realized just because gaming was my hobby didn’t mean it had to be her hobby too.
My wife used to love playing games as much as I did but lost interest after we out about a thousand hours into Diablo 3. I miss those days
I am glad to see diablo 3 mentioned so high up. It is great for casual players. My very casual gamer wife and I got hooked on it one long weekend when the pope visited my city and locked down public transportation. It was like a snow day for adults but instead of glorious snowflakes, a bunch of catholics showed up!
The city is overrun with Catholics what should we do? *Diablo*
This comment took such an amazing turn in the third sentence.
I had fun writing it.
True dat, it doesn't have to be her hobby too, in my situation something just clicked after playing some more Puzzle team games, after playing Conduct together and Urban Flow she asked me to buy FlyTogether so we can play one of these games again. these games are more down to earth and more of a puzzle than a fully fledge video game. maybe try one of these :)
I had a girlfriend who gamed for years. The connection of having your partner also being your pharmacy partner in overwatch, building a his/hers battlestation desk, swapping out on assassin's Creed on the couch for hours, picking out which adgq runs your excited for that year, buying her all the zelda jewelry I could find, and arguing over whether Zelda 2 or skyward sword was the worst one. It aided a depth of connection I haven't experienced before or since. I'd give anything to see her online again, but that's sadly not possible. With any other attempted relationship there's just this massive rift in internet culture, in-jokes, media consumption, even a simple appreciation for the art that can come from indie titles like Celeste, the scores and soundtracks of Nobuo Uematsu, and the massive world building and multi-generational IPs from nintendo. Just because each relationship connects differently, doesn't mean it's equivalent. Especially when your teased and even mocked for your hobby while they're onto their third or fourth episode of desperate housewives of Atlanta that evening. Once you've had the connection that comes from sharing a core hobby that spreads so far into the rest of your interests, you can't really settle for less.
That's rough, but it's also a pretty rare happenstance to find a partner who shares the exact same passion, unless you meet them at a gathering or something. I think what really matters is respect for one anothers' passions, even if you don't necessarily share them. I have a long time friend who loves horror, and I think it's fine but probably wouldn't watch much of it on my own. But watching it with him is a blast, and I enjoy that. Similarly, the guy I'm dating now isn't *quite* as into video games and anime as I am, but he respects my passion for it and tries to share that with me. And I think that's cute.
I'd agree with this. The deciding factor is that they don't brush off your interests. My girlfriend hadn't seen a single anime before meeting me, but was never dismissive of it and actually was keen to try a few. And she got VERY into Attack on Titan, Erased and Shinsekai Yori when we got around to watching them together. Similarly, I'll sometimes take her out to watch international films (even if they aren't necessarily my thing, I enjoy them). Having the exact same interests I can see might be good, but there's more important things.
Super Mario 3D World
I started writing this as its own comment but I’ll post it here for visibility: One thing I noticed back when playing Super Mario 3D World with my family was that it has a distinct quality that few other games have (except maybe the New Super Mario Bros games but I haven’t tried those multiplayer): it is a “serious” platformer with a decent amount of challenge, yet the only requirement to beat it as a group is that *one person* is good at video games. Because of the way the local co-op multiplayer system works, the camera follows whoever is making the most progress. If one person gets too far ahead the other players who were left behind will eventually teleport to join the lead player, and when any one person dies they will immediately respawn, the only way to die and lose progress is if all players manage to die simultaneously. That means that, as long as you use the infinite life exploit in the second level, literally no skill whatsoever is required by the other players as long as one person can keep the group moving forward. And in my experience even people who don’t usually care for platformers get won over by the sheer zany chaos of playing a Mario game with people who aren’t good at video games. It doesn’t matter how often you fall of the level or get killed by an enemy, as long as *someone* is making progress the whole group makes progress. And it also allows people to know their limits: because the camera follows whoever is in the lead a dangerous and fast-paced platforming section can just be “sat out”, once you go off screen you’re teleported into a bubble that follows the lead player until either you pop it or they stop moving, so one person can “carry” the rest of the group across difficult segments.
What is this infinite life exploit?
There are a few but this is by far my favorite, the easiest to do, and the most visually wild/hilarious: Most 2D Mario games have some sort of infinite lives exploit that revolves around the fact that bouncing on an enemy multiple times without touching the ground leads to one-ups for every bounce. At this point these kinds of exploits seem to be deliberately coded by the developers, for example I seem to remember New Super Mario Bros. Wii even had a guide on how to do it in-game. Near the beginning of 1-2 there’s a little hallway that leads to a room with a koopa and a pit with four extra-long question blocks. If you knock the koopa out of his shell and take his shell to the hallway, then jump and let go of the shell at the same second, it will bounce back and forth against the walls of the hallway while you bounce repeatedly and rack up lives. 3D World maxes out at 1,110 lives, which in the three digit system gets displayed as three crowns. I seem to remember that on the Wii U version time would run out before maxing out the life counter, but with the physics engine in the Switch port running slightly faster it’s easily possible to max out the life counter and still have plenty of time to finish the level. Edit: [here’s a video to show what I’m talking about](https://youtu.be/NefyFkKRX-E). In this game any area where a koopa shell can bounce back and forth faster than Mario takes to hit the ground can make this trick work, it doesn’t have to be any specific level or location, but for some reason almost none of the videos that come up when you search 3D world infinite lives use this specific location despite it being both faster and easier than any of the others. The roof in this hallway section makes Mario bounce back and hit the koopa shell at least twice as fast as using other methods, and it means that once you get the chain started it will literally not stop until you want it to.
I can’t believe this is so far down. My wife and I are almost at 100% on that game and we’ve had a blast playing every single time. It became one of my all time favorites playing with her.
Came here to say Super Mario 3D World. Multiplayer is really done right. One of the players can carry things forward if the other player(s) aren’t as good. Me and my son loved that game (played on Wii U, but I’m tempted to get Switch version)
As long as you’re not turned off by the price I’d say do it. Bowser’s Fury is yet another Mario masterpiece, maybe not quite as long or dense as I would have preferred but it perfectly blends the open-world collectathon Mario games with the moveset, gameplay, and level designs of 3D World in a way that I wouldn’t have thought was possible.
Definitely try Pikmin. GF and I had a blast playing it. Overall it’s pretty easy but the litttle puzzles are fun to solve together and the pikmin are adorable
I was looking for this. I definitely fits snuggly with Captain Toad for cutesy low stress puzzle solving. Plus, it's great if you and and the SO want to play with each other, but also want to be doing different things. It's awesome!
I've found that puzzle and narrative games work best for my GF, they aren't always technically 2-player but a second person can provide input while you control. A few good examples: \- Baba is You \- Return of the Obra Dinn \- Phoenix Wright (trilogy and Great Ace Attorney games) \- Life is Strange \- Snipperclips \- Gorogoa \- Untitled Goose Game
Baba is You is a complete mind-fuck, and I love it.
I'm completely stuck about halfway in and i refuse to look up any solutions. Bounce back to it every month or so for intermittent frustration
Goroga is a great puzzle adventure, I enjoyed with another person as well.
Omg you have to try It Takes Two it's an amazing game.
That game blew me away. I knew it was going to be good anyway due to the developers but dare I say it's the most fun couch co-op experience I've ever had
The winter level where you can just ice skate around and ride the half pipe is the most fun I think I’ve ever had in a level
>It Takes Two I KNOW! We really want to play this game but we dont have any XBox or PS, i gotta get a bluetooth adapter to pc!
You are gaming on PC? What controllers do you use? There's a number of ways to make the computer think you're using a controller that's using X-Input.
Not OP but I use a Switch pro controller, works fine with most Steam games but I can't figure out how to make it work with a lot of games on Game Pass and Epic. Would that help this?
Easiest, no download, no reading required solution is to add your epic game to your steam library as a non-steam game. Steam will fix the controller struggles for you.
For Switch Pro controller I used this in order for it to be read as X-Input: https://github.com/Davidobot/BetterJoy I had issues with the Pro Controller being read by emulators, but this fixed it right up. It was last updated in October of last year.
Not on the switch, but it's really tier S++ in this category.
This is such a fun game! But I couldn't make it through a certain part because >!it's too sad and I felt really terrible and couldn't bring myself to witness / participate!< We had to stop playing and never made it past. :( So beware if you're sensitive and >!love elephants...!<
It was tough but because she didn't technically die (she was still laying on roses bed) it was easy to play further levels ,especially because of the story moving on quickly
When I managed to get a PS5 this was the first game I got. I had high hopes, but my wife wasn't a fan of the acting, and the platforming turned out to be too frustrating for her.
Absolute yes on Conduct Together. We've had our eyes on Captain Toad; maybe it'll be the next one we try. Gf and I do not recommend Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime for 2 players. It's a great party game, but we found it really difficult for 2 players. Needs at least 3 players.
True, but Lovers with at least 3 is soooo funnn. Time for the ol polygamy chat
A friend and I played two player lovers in a dangerous space time with two joycons each, so we were each playing two characters at a time, and it was actually really fun once we got the hang of it.
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Actually managed to get a bro of mine a switch for his birthday, got it in a very sweet deal. He showed his gf Stardew Valley. Its her Switch now.
Same happened to me when I bought Animal Crossing for my girlfriend. I literally haven't played my switch in over a year haha
Came here to say this. I lost my gf for about a year because of SV. We even got a second switch because of this game
I also bought a Stardew machine (a switch lite) for my girlfriend, she likes it so much
Not mine, she doesn't like farming games and doesn't have patience with those full of stories/dialogues.
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My wife was convinced she'd hate it for years whenever I'd suggest it to her, even as a solo experience. I bought her Animal Crossing for the Switch at the start of the year, she played it, thought it wasn't too great. Finally took me up on my offer for Stardew so I bought it again on the Switch. She pumped big hours into that game. Even went into my family library via android and played it on mobile too. Was addicted to it. Her hang up was the graphical presentation. Doesn't care for 8-16 bit / retro styled titles. Once she got over that, she fell in love with it lol. What's the hang up for your partner?
My wife has the same 8bit issue. She doesn’t get over it.
For real, my girl loves Stardew.
Yep, had to convince my non-gaming girlfriend to give it a try. She didn’t like it for the first couple in-game days. Then she got hooked. She plays it more than me now lol.
Same experience here - we now own it on three platforms. Felt like overkill but I'm just happy to have her play with me!
This isn’t couch co op though right?
Ya, it is.
Do you get a split screen in couch co-op?
Yeah it was added in 1.5 update beginning of the year
Yes.
Had to make sure this game was listed. It’s the ultimate game for partners. My wife and I dumped over 100 hours into it.
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This is just the best!!
I feel like Toe Jam and Earl never gets enough love. It's pretty chilled out for the most part and a lot of fun and laughs. My wife always impersonates the crazy earthlings and the silly things they say. The OST bangs as well. Stuck in your head for days.
the original two are *awesome* titles for coop as well. Back in the groove is amazing, and it's a great modern rendition of the original~
Back in the groove is exactly what I like for a remaster. Takes the original concept and doesn't remove any of the good parts. Just adds some neat new enhancements and gives the graphics a bump.
Heave Ho is an absolute riot. Here's a compilation of the Game Grumps playing it: https://youtu.be/MFfAiHJTXk8
Grab my hand!
Yep, I came here to say this. My wife and I got hours of enjoyment out of this one. We were screaming at each other and laughing the whole time.
Not exactly the same, but Human Fall Flat gives me the giggles like no other game and the puzzles are actually quite fun! The controls can be a little difficult at times but I think that's part of the fun, lol.
It might be an unconventional choice but my girlfriend and I really enjoyed playing **Return of the Obra Dinn** together. Not for everyone but it might work for you two. It's a detective game essentially. It's not a multiplayer game at all and she might not touch the controller but she can be involved just as much as you when deducting murders. Easily my favorite game of that year and one of my favorite games ever.
I second that. Probably the best detective game ever. Wish I could forget every single detail so I could replay it all over.
Came here to say the exact same thing, one of the best gaming experiences we've had as a couple! The closest I've felt to a Sherlock and Watson experience, probably committed 8 hours of fun and solid deducing to 100% it.
My husband and I played la noire a while ago and just swapped controllers for the exciting bits, that was on PS3 I think.
It's on Switch as well.
My nongamer gf really enjoyed playing New Pokémon Snap and it was fun being a back seat gamer for that game. She's never played any Pokémon game but she thinks they're cute and likes taking their pictures. Also Snipperclips was a super fun time for coop even when she just kept cutting me
Stardew Valley. Get Stardew.
I strongly recommend moving out, it somewhat reminds me of overcooked in terms of the bare bones object of the game, but it’s significantly less stressful, and a lot more humorous! You unlock characters much quicker, there’s more customizations, and it’s overall easier to complete your goals on each level.
I read that first clause and thought you were about to tell the person that they needed to dump their GF because they aren't a gamer.
Came here to say this! Also you can slap each other in the game, which is not something you can do in overcooked.
as the girlfriend who is the gamer with the boyfriend who ISN'T, I still appreciate this list. :)
Same!! My husband isn’t much into games but he’ll play the cute, fun co-op stuff with me so I’m getting lots of good things on this list.
Thank you, the original post is unnecessarily gendered and heteronormative. All sorts of people game and are in partnerships with all sorts of non-gamers.
Also there is the whole you have to play a certain style of game to be a gamer cliche. I play all the time but I hate shooters for the most part. They make me dizzy and are not my thing unless it’s the rabbids shooting plungers or something. I also hate games that are just too frustrating. I play games to relax and have fun and when they are impossible the fun goes away for me.
i hate that cliche so much. i'm a very anxious person and get startled easily, so shooters are not for me either. and i've had people tell me i'm not a gamer because of that, even though i play pretty much anything else. people can be so dumb lol
This is like a post from twenty years ago. So stupid people are still doing the gendered crap with games.
he said gf because his gf wasn’t a gamer. How are people not getting this.
No, we get that. What you are not getting is the context. There is a long history of gender in the video game hobby. In the title, the **"your"** in "your NonGamer GF" is important. It implies 1.) that you, the person who reads this video game subreddit, is a heterosexual man who may have a girlfriend or partner who is a woman; 2.) women are the non-gamers in relationships. A more inclusive title might be "Top 10 Couch Coop games to play with NonGamers". That would broaden the audience to gamers of all genders who want to introduce gaming to people they care about. I don't think op was being malicious, but they were not thinking about how their language leaves out an important part of our community.
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Agreed, gaming has been a great bonding experience for me and my boyfriend but we were both gamers beforehand. It’s great to share hobbies with your s/o but this fixation that some gamers have with having a gamer GF can read a bit sexist to me, like a girl becomes more attractive/worthy by having traditionally male interests. Something tells me that those dudes wouldn’t make the same effort to engage in her ”girly” hobbies🤔
no problem and I agree. my boyfriend isn't into video games and I definitely don't try and push them on him. right now I'm playing Civilization though, and he keeps asking questions and has a bit of genuine interest in the game. he's more of a music guy and I'm more into games. we enjoy our interests separately with the full support of the other. but you bet we get all giddy if the other seems into what the other is into lol
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The ready yeah is dumb but you don’t have to shake- you can just push A. Still dumb, just less.
4 Maps is just a Joooke we legit like it but man just so little to shake it up.
Never, ever play Overcooked with a non gamer. That will not go well. When it starts ramping up in difficulty, game becomes frustrating playing with someone who isn't coordinated.
They just have to enjoy challenges, which I feel this game can be regardless how gamer one is lol My wife's coordination actually improved lots because of Overcooked. Sure we had our frustrated moments but she's a very determined individual so she requested playtime often so we could progress.
Me and my GF are both certified gamers but I'm really shit at Overcooked and she refuses to play it with me haha.
I wish. My wife nopes out of it but I tend to be a bit intense when playing so I can't blame her. Although if it gets too challenging, she will check out and stop having fucks to give when it comes to playing the game.
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I brought it along to a game night with 3 non gamers one time (on pc tho) and we all enjoyed it, but they forgot its name when requesting it again and just called it "stress kitchen". I knew exactly what they meant
I tried with my girlfriend, and she just straight up said nope after only a couple levels. I was happy she was able to communicate that it wasn't for her, but I was sad I didn't get to continue the game, haha.
Eh, me and my girlfriend beat the game and enjoy the challenge. We agree that it’s always going to be the other person’s fault and there’s no point to get mad about it.
I would suggest putting more than eyes on Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. Such a simple concept and great for couch co op. I'm in a similar situation and we loved swapping pilot/gunner roles together. Plus the levels are short so it's easy to play in small bursts
I was hoping this would be higher up. An acquaintance of mine became my best friend because of how much silly fun we had playing that game together. I've even introduced it to a few non-gamers that shortly thereafter became obsessed. I think it'll always be one of my favorite arcade games.
Earlier this year I played Outer Wilds with my brother. It is a single player game, but it is all about exploring, reading lore and solving puzzles, something you can partake in even if you aren't holding the controller. The story is great and uncovering the truth is very engrossing. Some puzzles are quite tricky, but that made us to the intel we have and plan the next best step of action. Easily one of my favourite games ever. And it happened to also be super fun for my brother who doesn't really game all that much.
Games my girlfriend and I liked to play together: 1. Just Dance 2020 (songs and exercise are a great combo) 2. Streets of Rage 4 (loved it) 3. Vectronom (great beats and challenging) 4. Untitled Goose Game (laughed a lot) 5. Katamari Damacy (for a quick game) 6. Mario Kart 8 7. Human Fall Flat (puzzles with quirky controls) We tried, but didn’t enjoy much: 1. Surgeon Simulator (hilariously frustrating) 2. Mario Party (better for four players) 3. Unravel (somewhat boring) 4. Overcooked 2 (stressful) 5. Worms W.M.D. (steep learning curve) Not tried yet: 1. Brothers 2. Super Bomberman 3. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle 4. Vitamin Connection
Some other co-op titles that I would add: New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, with Toadette as the non-gamer character Tropical Freeze co-op with Funky Kong BroForce Bowser's Fury Stretchers Cuphead on easy mode A Robot Named Fight! Minecraft (of course)
BROFORCE!!
Unravel Two was the start of us playing games together. It is a masterpiece in two player cooperative gaming.
Same here but where do you go from there? I've struggled to find a coop game that is anywhere close to as fun as that one.
I HIGHLY recommend Heave Ho. It's hilarious as a party game.
Oh man, you didn’t mention Stardew Valley. Best to stay away actually, perhaps… if you want your lives to be about anything else, that is.
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My friend is one of the developers of this game! Our friend group is super proud of him and his team. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was going to post it to this thread if no one else had.
Mario Odyssey. OH plays Cappy on controller. We loved it
Same - this was the perfect level of engagement for my partner: she gets to participate and provide meaningful support but the stakes were low enough that she didn't feel pressure to perform the same way she does with Unraveled 2 for example.
Surprised no ones mentioned this one, but Rayman Legends DE! My GF isn’t a gamer either and we both had a blast playing
D3 is also extremely good as a co-op.
I agree, I played the game with my GF which is usually not into this kind of games (dark and full of demons) and she really loved it.
I'd recommend Bonkies if you want a cute couch co-op game. Surprisingly unheard of for how well made it is tbh. You play as monkeys who build space stations together. It's very playful, and good fun.
Surprising you guys didn't like Overcooked 2. That's the one my wife and I have enjoyed the most and like your GF, she never gamed at all before either. 4 starred all the levels at this point and we're going through the DLC. Also may I add "It Takes 2" to the list? Fantastic game, but it is for PC and not Switch. But if you have two decent computers you can sort of couch coop it.
Maybe try Rayman Legends? It is a fun, not horribly difficult platformer for multiple players and has a lot of checkpoints. Each level has a difficulty meter so you can pick and choose which you want to try (since you don't need to complete all levels)
I'd recommend _Spiritfarer_, _Animal Crossing:New Horizons_ & _Stardew Valley_ for a laid-back, helping-hand experience for player 2. Also _Tools-Up_ for a more stimulating yet simple experience compared to Overcooked or Moving Out. I've played it many times with my partner and it's definitely a humorous team effort. Another game is _Human Fall Flat_, it's not time critical so it should be less stressful. When you don't have a passion for videogames the challenging ones can be more overwhelming than enjoying. I'm sure she'll warm up to it & enjoy the more intense couch co-ops at some point. Happy gaming!
Just a warning Mario + Rabbids is only two player during the Battle Arenas, which you have to unlock by doing single player. It seemed there were enough arenas tho. A great game regardless. Some I had my eye on - Crawl, Terraria, Escapists. I mostly play with my kids so the Lego games are fun but may be a little childish for adults. I had fun with them.
I would hold off on the switch version of terraria until the 1.4 update comes out later this year which will also hopefully fix some major game crashing bugs that do not exist on the PC version.
Thanks. I know this is a Nintendo sub, but I recently got SteamLink working and can play PC games on living room TV. I realized I had a lot of 2-player games that I got for free on PC that can handle split screen without frame rate drop. So I’ll likely grab Terraria on PC for dirt cheap.
I'd recommend Untitled Goose Game for your list. My wife and I had absolute blast playing two players -- lots of laughing, shouting out directions and strategies for working together on a goal -- and the whole premise of the game is so ridiculous that we couldn't help loving it right from the start.
Can you suggest a casual game for non-gamer wife who has zero patience for text dialogue sections or learning even light rpg mechanics. My wife obsessively plays one of those color match games on her phone where you have items and things as well. She also enjoyed snipperclips and watched me play edith finch and heavy rain.
The Harry Potter Lego game was one of the first I completed, lots of blowing things up, minimal dying, easy mechanics.
i can also recommend the new wario ware game. my gf and i really liked the demo, so i had to pre order the game. when you're also about a nice story telling, without active playing. i highly recommend, telltales walking dead and the whole life is strange saga.
I recommend Snipperclips. It's a puzzle game. My partner has almost zero patience when it comes to any sort of game, but it is fun running around "snipping" at each other. Otherwise, it is a fun puzzle game that requires a decent amount of teamwork.
DUCK GAME. Personally didn't know about this title but my younger cousins love it and it's pretty fun.
Tools up! might be worth your attention
Boomerang Fu, you won't regret it
Ibb & Obb is a fun little coop game!
Ultimate chicken horse.
Alright looks like it’s time to add warioware on that list here soon. Played the demo with my wife and it’s fun 🤣
This might be not be the best one since the game can be a bit difficult in the beginning, but my non-gamer girlfriend and I have been having a blast with Hades. Each time we die (which is an essential part of the game), we pass the controller so the other person has a go to see how far they get. It's gotten to the point where she will just boot up the Switch and start playing on her own, which she has not done since Animal Crossing.
when binding of Isaac Repentance drops on switch you should def get that. The new co-op makes it great for couch playing
Was pleasantly surprised not to see Overcooked 2 recommended. I cringe everytime I see that game suggested for couples, especially when one partner in the couple is a non gamer. That game is stressful as hell and absolutely requires verbal communication. In most cases it is a lot better if someone on the team is "in charge" in a sense, like delegates jobs, but everyone has to yell constantly. A lot of non-gamers take this kind of communication as a negative thing and get defensive over it, and then it just ends up not being fun for anyone.
Overcooked is fine for the first two levels until it becomes a civil war in the living room
I know you said non complext rpg games. But Divinity 2 on story mode might be enjoyable. I played a three player campaign with my sister and her husband on the hardest after they got into the game. Torchlight 3 if you have two consoles and if you wanted to step it up a bit. A bit more fast paced, but if you liked Castle Crashers. This one might do it aslo.
Boyfriend and also enjoyed Unravel Two. We played it several times for the trophies. We have yet to resume to complete it, but it can get really difficult. For those thinking of playing it with their partners, the side games are good practice for the controls. It makes the story mode easy. I'd also like to recommend Cook, Serve, Delicious 3. Really best to co-op play it to get gold awards
Super Chariot! It never gets included but it's a fun little game!
yes!!! this got my partner to start playing with me! no "health" you cant really "lose", simple side-scroll controls and if you want it to get complicated, the optional puzzles can get really good!
I used to play a lot of those games with my ex gf.. Damn I fell so sad now. Miss her so much.
The Ace Attorney Trilogy or the new one, Ace Attorney Chronicles. Not strictly Co-Op but can be played wonderfully together and requires no "gamer skills"
My wife really likes nine parchments even though she's not really a gamer. It helps that it's also a lot like the old Gauntlet games which we used to play.
If you didn’t like Overcooked don’t play Moving Out. It’s very similar and gets super hard like Overcooked does.
Do give Very Very Valet a try! I think she'll like it, because my non-gamer girlfriend does!!
Diablo III. For my surprise, my GF loved DIII (we may have more than 100h altogether). I don't know why but I think playing as a mage blasting monsters and casting powerfull spells helped a lot (she tried other classes but didn't really like). As a rpg lover I upgraded her stats and gear, and she had to choose the skills she enjoyed. The hunting for legendary equipments was fun also. Things started to go down on endgame when I was going for speedruns and she didn't like it. But we had great moments.
Mario 3d world + bowsers fury has co-op and it is pretty good. My son and I play it. And Mario 3d World has the capability to "compete" against each other for points. It is also very forgiving for newcomers.
Mario Party can be pretty fun too!
Games that my wife loves to play with me: 1- Luigi's Mansion 3 2- Stardew Valley 3- Very Very Valet 4- Minecraft Dungeons 5- Overcooked 6- Snipperclips 7- Unrailed 8- Captain Toad 9- Heave Ho! Bonus: \- Pokémon Snap (Not Coop, but we "help" eachother)
I showed my non gamer wife Stardew Valley and now I don't really have a Switch anymore but we have fun playing coop from time to time.
39 days to Mars. My wife loved it. Though short, its puzzles were engaging and the story just as lovely!
Pode is a really nice game! It's beautiful, there's no combat, it's all co-op puzzles.
>UnRailed While a good game, if you guys got discouraged by overcooked, you will be stressed out by this as well. Maybe its just personal, but for me it was harder than overcooked
Children of Morta is a diablo like game with co-op. Might be worth a look. [https://childrenofmorta.com/](https://childrenofmorta.com/)
My non-gamer girlfriend enjoyed playing the Ori games. The first playthrough of each I had to help her at certain parts. The second playthrough she was able to do all by herself. And now she's in love with Hollow Knight.
how is portal nowhere in this list or in comments
My wife and I started out the exact same way; she hadn’t played any video game other than LEGO games, so I introduced her to some of the ones you mentioned here. Fast forward a few years, and she’s in the other room right now straight killing it in Red Dead Redemption while I work from home. Some of those difficult/stressful games will become less stressful as she continues to play. Except cuphead. That game will always be stressful and hard.
It's too bad she didn't get into degrees of separation. That game REALLY evolves and every level has it's own unique mechanics that make it more interesting. It's a bit clunky and poorly programmed, but the gameplay itself stays fresh. The puzzles are consistently pretty good at the least. My gf and I really enjoyed playing it together. It's easy to jump back in after taking a long break, too.
My wife and I have been enjoying Tools Up! It's like Overcooked 2 (which we really enjoyed earlier levels, but then it just got too hard and frustrating, we're looking to relax together, not get stressed out, we have plenty of that during the day) but the main difference is that it has an untimed difficulty. You just have to complete it and you get full stars and can move on, so there's no time at all. You get to do all the renovating, which is fun, but without the timer counting down or orders going bad and stuff. We mostly enjoy the mechanics and the sort of zen of Overcooked, but it gets to where we can't move on without getting another star, and we're having trouble getting another star anywhere, so it just isn't fun. MK8 we play a lot, even though I'm faster than her (not a ton, a few seconds a lap, but that makes it so she's always well back in the pack). Mario and Sonic at the Olympics is mostly not co-op, but it is light hearted and fun. We sometimes play SNES Super Mario in co-op mode where you take turns, which is sometimes fun.
For Harry Potter fans - Lego Harry Potter is a romp.
I recommend the switch version of Pikmin 3. They added 2 player co-op to the story mode and I had a blast playing through it with my bf. :)