Hey everyone! Despite my efforts, my fiancé really doesn’t get into video games much. Mechanical skill limitations frustrate her, and sometimes her attention span for games isn’t high when she could read a book or watch a show, I want to try a new tactic to see if it works: games where she can be a “backseat driver.”
I’m mainly thinking of story focused games that aren’t reliant on mechanical skill and where having a second person watching can meaningfully contribute.
Some games I’ve thought of are the Phoenix Wright games, and Return of the Obra Dinn. Does anyone else have suggestions for games I could try to play with her?
Steamdeck verified games preferred, so I can play while docked to our TV.
Currently paying Outer Wilds in my steam deck while docked to a tv. It’s been very engaging and fun for my wife and I to sit down and try and solve an interstellar mystery while winding down for the night.
Interesting game with good art style and interesting mechanics.
I keep seeing this in steam but haven’t actually checked it out yet
If you decide to go for it, don’t read too much, just go in blind.
My two cents; I’m in a very similar boat with my GF, and Outer Wilds was unfortunately a bit too slow paced and open ended for her, so I ended up completing it by myself (and absolutely loving it). Same with The Witness unfortunately. Both are very much in my personal top three though.
But to make it not all negative, some recommendations!
We enjoyed The Room series by Fireproof Games a lot. It’s an escape room puzzle box type of a deal with a really cool, slightly creepy atmosphere, and there’s multiple games out already. The games are quite linear and focused, so my GF didn’t bounce off. We’re escape room junkies and haven’t found a better digital fix. Escape Room Simulator is decent, but not quite up there in production quality.
Another fun one is the games by Rusty Lake. They’re mechanically similar, if a bit less flashy than The Room, but the puzzles are mostly fun and the story/atmosphere/music is really neat.
And yeah, Obra Dinn is absolutely our number one favorite game, but that one was already mentioned.
Oh, I think I have the perfect series of games to you because they also work as movies, sort of.
Check out the dark pictures anthology, until dawn and the quarry, all developed by supermassive games.
Here’s a trailer: https://youtu.be/3NcF7EOnjow
If you want something that’s less horror based, check out oxenfree.
Yes so much. I played these with my partner. This is exactly what OP is looking for.
Hmm definitely going to give this a shot!
Detroit: Become Human was my favorite of this sort of game. Not in the horror genera though. My wife loved watching me play it and giving suggestions.
You should really check out this YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@GirlfriendReviews
Their content schedule had slowed down a lot recently because they got married. But their whole schtick is about games that are fun for backseat gamers.
Wouldn’t it be called WifeReview instead?
They’re not changing the name.
As they have not been mentioned before: We played „The Witness” and “Return of the Obra Dinn” together and are currently solving “The Case of the Golden Idol”
Obra Dinn is phenomenal, you should try it right now.
My girlfriend and I really enjoyed playing Life is Strange together like this. I think we both enjoyed the setting and characters quite a bit (high school in the Pacific Northwest). We tried Life is strange 2, but never really got into it.
Also tried to like Life is Strange 2 and 3, but really couldn’t. Have you tried Before The Storm? It’s really great as well!
I’ll have to give before the storm a try! That’s disappointing to hear that the third one was also a let down.
It probably wasn’t bad on its own, but it doesn’t have the feel of 1 or BtS, which is what I was after.
And episode 1 is currently free on Steam!
These are all story based games where the player must make decisions, which is a great way of involving someone who is not actively playing:
- Tell Me Why
- Detroit: Become Human
- Heavy Rain
- Beyond: Two Souls
- Life is Strange
- Telltale Games
- Until Dawn
Telltale games are perfect. It’s usually solving a puzzle and picking dialogue. And quick time events are usually slowed down
I suggest Telltale games, like the walking dead and the wolf among us. You can make choices together to shape your own story. It’s more like watching a TV show together.
Her Story, Telling Lies, and Immortality (all games by Sam Barlow) are uniquely meta/postmodern FMV games with no input besides consideration, selection, search, and other very democratizable actions. I bet those would go over really well!
My wife and I call this “Single controller co-op”.
There are classic point and click adventure games that work well like the Monkey Island series, or more recently Thimbleweed park. Any game with a significant puzzle element works well too - we’ve really enjoyed Tunic.
Thimbleweed park took me by surprise and really loved that game,
Detroit: Becoming Human, you can make the endless decisions together Live is Strange, as others already said
I’m and avid gamer but my heart can’t take survival horror games. I usually backseat help out with the puzzles while my husband plays them. He doesn’t mind since I’m really good at puzzles.
you may try “blanc”. A good coop game with simple gameplay mechanics
Stray seems perfect, it’s mechanically easy, has puzzles, cute characters, an interesting (short) story, and a nice environment to explore.
I played this with my partner - it’s perfect as one person can do as much or as little work as they want. And you can take the game at your own pace. Great co-op game.
Maybe Her Story? Some would not even call it a game, but I enjoyed unraveling the mystery. It involves inputting text, but it’s just keywords for a search so it shouldn’t be too cumbersomer even with on screen keyboard.
Beat me by one minute! I recommended this and everything by Sam Barlow.
