My wife has recently taken an interest in my hobby. I got her to try Braid and she loved it. The thing is, she now sees our game time together as a way of connecting aside from simply having fun. Long story short, she got a little upset I finished Braid when she wasn't around. She viewed it as an experience we were sharing together. I feel a little bad for doing this, but Braid is so damn good and I had no idea she felt this way.
Anyway, I know some of you guys here have wives, so you have any advice? What are some good games her and I can play together from start to finish, perhaps co-op ones? Easier games with puzzle elements to them are things she likes. Platformers too. Also, the main system in our living room is the 360.
In my alone gaming time I plan to stick to my RPGs, SHMUPs and FPS's. Those seem to intimidate her.
My girlfriend and I have been keeping an eye out for games that we can play together, and we've actually come up with a good number of co-op/multiplayer games we can play together, though my list might not be so helpful to you because I only have a PC and various Nintendo systems, and because most of them really don't seem to be the right genre. I dunno if you have any systems other than a 360, but here goes anyhow, just in case:
- Bubble Bobble (NES: platformer puzzle game)
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (NES: platformer)
- Civilization IV or Civilization III with Play the World or Conquests! expansion packs (PC: turn-based strategy, real-world empire building)
- Contra, Super Contra, Contra III, etc. (Various: platformer shoot-em-up)
- Donkey Kong Country 1-3 (SNES: platformer with some puzzle elements)
- Heroes of Might and Magic I-V (PC: turn-based strategy; fantasy empire building with more emphasis on battles and exploration)
- Lego Star Wars I, II, or The Complete Saga; Lego Indiana Jones; upcoming Lego Batman (Various: platformer beat-em-up/puzzle game)
- Mario anything (Mario Golf, Kart, Party, Tennis, etc.; SNES, N64, GameCube, or Wii, depending.)
- Master of Orion II or III (PC: turn-based strategy; sci-fi empire building and space battles)
- Tales of Symphonia (GameCube: Anime-esque RPG with a real-time battle system along the lines of a fighting game like Soul Calibur)
- Secret of Mana (SNES: RPG; haven't actually played it yet, so I can't speak for the gameplay)
- Worms 1, 2, Armageddon, World Party, etc. (PC and various other platforms: turn-based strategy; opposing teams of worms blow each other up all manner of weapons)
- X-Men Legends I or II (XBox, PS2, GameCube: real-time action beat-em-ups with RPG elements)
I'm sure there are plenty more, but that's at least a start. Also, here's a short list of single-player games that you might have fun with that are platformers or puzzle games, but the difficulty levels vary and I again don't know if you have any of these systems:
- Adventures of Lolo 1-3 (NES: puzzle game)
- Bionic Commando Rearmed (360, PS3, PC: unique platformer with some puzzle elements)
- Jetpack (PC: platformer/puzzle game)
- King's Quest Collection, Leisure Suit Larry Collection (probably not, but who knows?) Police Quest Collection, or Space Quest Collection (PC: classic adventure/puzzle games)
- Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby Super Star, etc. (Various Nintendo systems: platformers)
- Mega Man Anniversary Collection (XBox, PS2, GameCube: collection of 8 platformers and 2 arcade fighters)
- Wario Land 1-4 (Various Game Boy systems, best played together on a Game Boy Player for a GameCube; platformers with some puzzle elements)
Additionally, there are oodles of platformers and puzzle games on sites like Newgrounds that are really well done.
Hopefully that's of at least a little bit of use to you, and if not, hopefully someone else will find it handy. Good luck!
Whatever you do, don't play fighting games with her. Trust me. My girlfriend and I both enjoy fighters, but suffer from a difference in skill(read: I'm better at the majority of them). After five rounds of winning, she's upset. After ten, she's pissed. And after twenty, she wants to tear my head off. And if I try to hold off a bit, she yells at me for holding back.
Why not try some older titles like Dr. Mario, or maybe a few racing titles like MarioKart? One of my best friends and his fiancee play MarioKart on the Wii together, and absolutely love it.
I would say, try Guitar Hero,
My fiance' isn't into games as much as myself but i introduced her to Guitar Hero and she plays the damn thing more tham me. lol. I always have fun playing it with her, she does some songs and i finish up the hard ones she can't pass. So it works out wonderfully.
http://www.artwanted.com/cloudrat7 Sega master system, Sega genesis, Sega saturn(mod), Dreamcast, Nes, Super nes, Turbografx-16, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Gamecube, X-box 360.
It's not a co-op game but my wife makes me play Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo against her all the time. We practically have nightly best-of-five battles. Definitely worth a try if you haven't already checked it out together.
Good to see the other suggestions. We'll have to try some.
For my part, my wife and I play:
Diddy Kong Racing
Goldeneye (she's intimidated by newer fps)
Street Fighter II
Donkey Konga
Guitar Hero III
Mario Kart DS
Tetris DS - once. She's used to the old single player Tetris and got so pissed on two player that she probably won't play again.
