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moistclump @lemmy.world

Is it worth getting into video games?

I’m a 30 year old woman who’s only really played card and puzzle games on my phone. Im considering new hobbies. Is it worth trying to get into video games for the first time. Where would I even start.

129 comments

  • Its such a vast ocean, I would just start with whatever catches your attention. Theres so many different kinds if games for all types of people that you should probably assess what you think is fun, and pick a game sort of involved with that? I tend to like cooperative games, RPGs, and games about exploring more than I like competitive games like First Person Shooters. I also really like racing games.

  • This is like asking if you should get into books or movies! The answer is absolutely! 💜 There are so so many games.

    The genre "cozy game" is a pretty good place to start, I think. They focus more on the vibe than challenges.

    Definitely stay away from games that use phrases like "souls like". Those are games that are trying to be intentionally difficult for the sake of being difficult.

    A lot of this depends on what sort of console or computer you have access to. A lot of indie games are not very taxing and you can probably play them on your computer easily even if it isn't a gaming computer. Things like Stardew Valley and Spiritfarer come to mind.

  • Slay the Spire is a card based video game.

    • I think these types of games would be a great place to start; maybe even something like Inscryption since it shows how deep games can be even when they appear to start off fairly simple.

    • And it’s on mobile so she can start there without buying any new hardware

  • Get a Switch Lite and go from there. If you already have a midrange PC with decent iGPU, download Steam and play an older but highly rated game.

    Don’t spend too much before deciding if it is for you. Find the cheapest entry point.

  • Something else to consider is that it's a wonderful social window if you have friends that you don't get to hang out with very often due to geography and life.

    I have a couple of good friends who are too far away after I moved to another area. We play games online and have a nice social hangout for a few hours each Saturday. Voice chatting works great.

    It's fantastic to be able to regularly spend time with them.

  • Yes games are fun. I made friends, had so many memorable adventures with complete strangers, managed to keep in touch with family and close ones no matter the distances.

    Honestly its about how you want to game, do you like something chill? Or something more like adventurous? How long do you see yourself playin? Something that is played on a desk or a couch? Do you like "gamey games", or do you like realism in your games?

    First, you need a system if you dont have one. A system is needed to run a game.

    If you are a comeplete beginner the switch by nintendo is in my experience a great onboarding experience, but that might be a bit expensive in the long run once you accumulate games. The system is a bit underpowered, but delivers such great experiences through their exclusive nintendo game titles. Great on the go, light, great for couch co-op, has online play.

    Playstation and xbox are very easy to manage, and deliver more on the realism side of games while still having great gamplay first experiences. Its honestly a great balance, old ones are just as great since the old games are cheap and usually have great classics. (Warning about compatibility though). Couch gaming, has online gaming and couch+online coop.

    The PC is extreme: its kinda hard to build the right machine for your needs, it can deliver whatever experience you want (it can basically "cheat" and pretend to be a playstation or switch gameboys etc through emulation, a process that is not very beginner friendly), has ALL the games (except the latest nintendo ones, except through the mentioned emulation) but can be pretty expensive if you want a high quality graphical performance to the point where you can see a cyborg sweat running down his firm and physics enhanced abs. You use launchers to go to an online store to buy games that you have to find on the internet and download, like Steam (my fav) Epic (they give a free non freemium game each week I believe!) Gog (very privacy, and consumer oriented ) and many others. Some miscreants will tell you that you can (gasp!) Pirate (arr) games, so a good system could potentially cost less in the long run! Its more of a gaming on desk unless you dont mind having a big PC next to your tv. Couch co op games are rare, but the online experience is really good.

    My two cents, get minecraft if you like legos. You can also make it prettier on PC. It runs well on even old laptops. Its a great entry for anyone. If its not what you are looking for, you can look up what youd like!

    Also please newcomer, do not EVER pay for the microtransactions, for they plague us all. Games should be about fun, not a tool for extracting wealth from people who just want to go on cool adventures, explore strange worlds, meet interesting characters or experience lives never lived.

    I wanted to make this shorter but I get excited about theses things. Gl hf!

    • How about the steamdeck-like, for.PC gamas. The Pros and Cons.

      • I actually own a steam deck! Its a great system, that runs on Linux, so there is a little bit of tinkering and buyers awareness to get through as not all games on steam run on it easily.

        The catalogue compatible with just one tap/click is still growing, but you still have to use the proton tool before launching a game that is windows based. Some online games are also protected with some anti cheat software that may or not stop you from playing your favorite online games. Its also a handheld, so unless you plan on connecting the steam deck to a screen and bringing out a keyboard for your keyboard based game, you are going to have a bad time. (Note, there is a virtual keyboard thay pops up if need to enter some text occasionally).

        The thing that attracted me to the deck, is the fact that you can actually launch the steam deck in desktop mode, that gives you access to a fully functioning linux system. There, you can also download your games from other launchers/stores and link them to your steam game library and access them through the non desktop mode.

        This means that with some more tinkering (kinda alot actually, i wont lie), you can turn the steam deck into the ultimate emulator for any switch/some ps3 games and lower (as in raw processing power, so gameboy, gamecube, ps1, ps2, xbox etc) on the go. You also get a rather powerful computer for an amazing price point,at the cost of an hdmi/usb/ethernet dongle or dock. Since its a computer in the shape of a hanheld console, you can dualboot windows if you wanted.

        The other very cool thing, is that you can use steam to stream your games from your gaming pc right to your tv by using your steam deck as a streaming game console, which is amazing and in the end extends your desk PC capacity to offer the best couch gaming experience with no drawbacks if it wasnt for the whole ensemble price. Also the trackpads are a very cool addition to the gamepad layout, amd it has extra buttons on the back! Since it has bluetooth, you can also just get a controller and let it chill next to your tv.

        You can configure it the way you want, you can apply cool mods, change components within pretty easily (some ppl buy the cheapest version then upgrade the hardware to save money!) And since its a steam hardware product that has successfully proven itself to enough ppl, the support its gonna be getting is very exciting.

        To me the problem of the Steam deck is the time and tinkering that it requires to setup this perfect machine, but its a new system, and emulation is in a gray zone legally in many countries so it will probably always require some amount of tinkering. (There are vids online that take you through it, its absolutely doable but can be a barrier for some newcomers) You can manage well the battery, but it drains rather fast. If you dont like steam, idk if this product is right for you, but you can install windows or another linux distro if youd like. (Level 3 tinkering right there)

        I love my steam deck, and actually do work on it occasionally, which got me more comfy with the linux ecosystem (but this is about just using linux as an operating system so im gonna stop here). Its the best for the indie games on steam as long as they have gamepad support and are compatible with or without the proton tool.

        Now for the other handheld PCs, I cant speak. I heard that some are very powerful, more than the steam deck by quite alot, however imo they are held back by being run on windows, an Operating System that is not made for such a device, but will absolutely get you through the anti cheat headaches that a steam deck might have.

        They also have a 1080 p screen for the fancy ones, but this impacts battery.

        You can install chimera OS or Bazzite if you want the linux experience, and the Steam Os (on the steam deck) is coming soon (its gonna be a while though).

        So yeah im gonna stop there cuz i cant stop talking about this thing.

  • You are already a gamer!

    I’m a 36 year old woman who grew up playing them with my dad. My sister is a year younger than me get than me. She grew out of it a bit but she still plays “cozy”, low to no pressure games. I like long role playing games with interesting stories.

    If you want any recommendations or a new friend to play with, I’m here! I also know of several gaming groups for women.

    I’d like to know more about what you’re interested to give better suggestions but here are a few that might pique your interest.

    Balatro is a recently popular card game. You can play it on your phone or on a computer. It works sort of like poker, but you apply effects to the cards to multiply your score.

    A Little To The Left is a puzzle game. You play the owner of a mischievous cat and your goal is to reorganize the messes that your cat made throughout the house, like sorting the mail, organizing a battery draw, displaying sea shells you collected etc

    Unpacking is also a puzzle game. You literally unpack boxes in various rooms. Sometimes it’s hard to make everything fit. As you progress through each level, you learn about the main character’s life.

    If you want something more traditional, Ori and the Blind Forest is absolutely beautiful. In that, you play as a small guardian spirit and you navigate through a forest solving puzzles, collecting items, and jumping between platforms (sorta like Mario).

  • Games can be one of the nice forms of entertainment like tv series or films, so i'd say yes.

    Just try to look for really good games, like zelda breath of the wild, bioshock infinite, twelve minutes, sayonara wild hearts and so on. No online games, no infinite games, no games that are more like a job than a game (where you have to grind for everything) and so on. Games that let you enjoy the gameplay, the art and the story without making you feel like ''oh i have to login or i lose the fit and i have to get the daily rewards and bla bla bla''.

    • Good advice. Solo player games where you actually buy them is usually a safe bet. If it's free, they'll want your money later or make it an impossible grind. It's a bit of the same on the mobile side so OP is probably aware.

      You can make some searches about good games for new comers because of all the games I'm currently playing, none would be a good start.

      Done recently that could work :

      Baldur's Gate 3. It's turn by turn so not reliant on mechanical skills. Can be played on concoles or pc with keyboard or controller. The story is so amazing. The acting, the branching, the choices... Loved it.

      Frostpunk. Game where you try to save people gathered around a generator cause the earth is now ice cold. You manage ressources and tech to meet people expectations. They'll have demands but you can't say yes to everything. Hard choice. Can be kinda hard but you just start over the scenario with the knowledge you just got. It's mostly just figuring things out...

      Skyrim? I liked the story / setting. I don't know if that aged alright or if there's something better in the same genre that could be welcoming. I remember that it wasn't particularly hard. On easy it should be more focused on the story / immersion.

    • Why are you recommending the worst BioShock game as a really good game? Shouldn't a person start with the best BioShock game, BioShock? Or at least start with the second best BioShock game, BioShock 2? It just doesn't make sense to start with the one BioShock game that actually kinda sucks, that being BioShock Infinite.

  • A place to start might be a friend or family member who is into video games.

    Gaming hardware can be a little costly, so you may want to visit with someone and play a selection of games before deciding which direction you'd like to start in. I'll also point out that video games are often the very most fun when shared with friends.

    If my 30 year old woman friend came up to me one day and said "Hey I've never really played video games before and I'd like to give them a try, but don't know where to start," I think we'd talk awhile first to see if I can find what games are interesting to you. I see a lot of people in this comment section recommending Stardew Valley, which is a game I deeply like and respect though I have seen people bounce right off it, including someone recently here on Lemmy. So while I would recommend giving it a look, if you do bounce off it, don't just go "video games aren't for me," maybe cozy games aren't for you.

    Some questions I might ask are:

    Are you looking for a more relaxing or more exciting experience?

    Would you like your play sessions to be challenging, contemplative, creative, or competitive?

    Are you more interested in story, or gameplay?

    How important are flashy fancy graphics to you?

    Where will your gameplay sessions fit into your life? Do you want something to do during your daily train ride? Will this replace your daily television hour? Is it what you're going to do all Saturday afternoon?

    Do you see yourself playing games on your couch, at a desk, or on the go?

    Do you want to enjoy games alone, or with friends? Will you gather in one place to play together, or play across the internet?

    Do you have a genre of fiction you like? Are you into historical drama, sci-fi, fantasy, slapstick comedy?

    How do you feel about horror? Both the psychological Lovecraftian existential crisis type, and the "oh god a 10 foot monster with 50 mouths for a mouth just jumped out behind a tree and roared" type?

  • I'm 31 and I only really started playing games around 4 years ago, apart from playing on bootleg NES consoles or C64 as a kid.

    It is worth it if you have fun doing it, and you probably will!

    If you don’t know where to start, you probably still haven’t figure out what genres you'd be into.

    You might like Steam Deck, an affordable console-like handheld PC, because:

    • It offers a wide variety of games from all generations, so if you want to experiment with different genres you can always find something for yourself - you can purchase a game on Steam store and if it’s not for you, just return it below 2h of gameplay
    • Very user friendly, easy to navigate for non-techies, despite being PC, for the most part it just works, great entry for folks with no prior experience with PC gaming
    • It's a handheld! Take it with you anywhere easily, play in bed, on couch, toilet, whatever. If you're used to playing on a phone, this might be appealing
    • you can still dock it as a regular PC and have mouse+keyboard+external screen if you want to try gaming this way
    • if you want to tinker to explore even further, you can emulate older consoles, play with 3rd party launchers, use it for other things than gaming, even replace the software completely - it is all possible

    Other choices are perfectly valid like Nintendo Switch, Xbox or PS5, but they’re within their respective closed ecosystems. With Xbox and PS5 you’re also stuck with TV. Consoles have limited backwards compatibility, so for example Switch only supports games for Switch, PS5 supports games for PS5 and PS4, and it’s a bit better with Xbox iirc.

    If you want Nintendo Switch (if games like Mario or Zelda are appealing to you), maybe wait a little bit as they’re cooking new generation for release soon-ish, and the current one is old and miserable in terms of performance.

  • There are some decent to good video games available on Android & iPhone, of a wide variety of genres.

    If you have the self discipline to not let gaming take over all your spare time (whistles innocently while totally not looking in mirror), it’s absolutely worth getting into.

    Where to start? I recommend keeping it simple. If you don’t already own a desktop or laptop computer at home, it’s probably easiest to stick with games on your phone.

    • ask friends & family what games they play, particularly those who fall on the same side of the Apple/Google divide as you.
    • open your app store and look at lists of popular games by genre. Pick a free one, download it, and try it out. If you don’t like it, delete it and try another one.
    • if there’s a news or culture site whose judgement you trust & like to follow, even if it’s not a technology or gaming related site, it’s worth spending a couple minutes to see if they have review articles or recommendation lists available. You can even find a related Lemmy community and ask there.

    Personally, I play the following:

    • an older logic puzzle game
    • a free klondike solitaire game
    • Egg, Inc - this is an idle incremental game available on both iOS & Android
    • Leaf Blower Revolution - just started this one. It’s in the idle incremental genre as well. Available on iOS, Android, and through Steam. Supports cross platform play by way of cloud saves. I picked it up a week ago and it has been fun so far.

    I don’t have the reflexes for active combat games. I like RPGs but prefer to play those on desktop.

    • I would highly recommend not starting with phone games. 90% of them are designed to be addicting, borderline gambling games, which you can collect or accomplish more things if you just pay them an easy $2 or more... which quickly turns into $20, which then becomes $50+. Before you know it, you're throwing hundreds of dollars at what is essentially a repetitive unending game, just for the dopamine hit.

      I know; my wife is addicted to these games and I see $20 charges to our bank account every few days. Nothing ever changes in her games. She never progresses anywhere and there's no end to the game, but it gives her a boost on scores or collectibles or rare limited items, so she drops the money. It's been especially hard to break her of the habit.

      I got her to sign up for Steam on her desktop PC and I gifted her a few co-op games, and so we play games online together to give her something fun to do that doesn't require spending money to progress. She used to be awful at FPS games, but playing with me gave her more confidence and practice, and now she's pretty decent.

      She really loves Deep Rock Galactic, because a lot of the game is just mining and resource-collecting, with only a little alien bug shooting. She plays as the engineer, so she can set up a turret and not have to worry too much about aiming herself. Plus, playing solo means she gets Bosco, the flying droid, to help her with combat and resource-collecting too. If I'm not around to play with her, she has all the assistance she needs to relax and enjoy the game. It was a very good intro to video games for her.

  • If you have a PC download steam and get half life 2 for free.

    We all have our type of game. Try out a ton of new genres. Maybe you don't like shooters and you like simulators. Or maybe you like roguelikes. Or just platformers or building games. Don't stop trying new things till you find the genre that is right for you, then ask people for recommendations within that genre.

    I had a comment earlier that had a bunch of.free games, I will try to post links later.

  • maybe something like Minecraft or terraria? I'd recommend starting with the classics, no shooter games or stuff like that.

  • Lots of good advice here, but I would just add, start with your interests and work out from there. You like puzzle games? Portal is a great physics puzzle game, so you might like that. It's also a 3D platformer, so you'll find out if you like games with a lot of running and jumping. It's also technically a first-person shooter (not in the sense that you shoot enemies, but you do shoot a portal gun at walls), so if you don't like that aspect of the game, you'll know that FPSs aren't for you.

    Doesn't have to be the type of gameplay either. You like designing things? Maybe try the Sims or Animal Crossing. Like horror movies? Maybe start with something simple but creepy, like Limbo. Detective stories? Something like Strange Horticulture might be up your alley.

    The most important thing is to look around and see what catches your interest. Read some reviews, watch some gameplay footage, and find something that's right for you. Don't just say, "I'm going to do video games now," and buy a Call of Duty or Dark Souls because, "gamers," like them.

  • Worth getting into? Absolutely. It can be very cheap, too.

    Where to start? That's the trick question. It will depend on whether you start with console or PC, the latter having a much more extensive catalogue of games, plus emulation of older systems.

    My personal recommendation is getting a PC, it doesn't even need to be a gamer one, anything that isn't a piece of shit and was released in the past 4 or so years will do good for playing low end games and emulate anything up to N64 and possibly Dreamcast games (2003 and earlier). You can use a variety of console controllers on computer, so it's fine. Whe searching for ROMs, be sure to have uBlock Origin installed on your web browser.

    If you have any friends, talk to them, see what they're playing or would recommend you to play. If you don't, download steam and download demos of games that look somewhat interesting to you. Check GOG as well, it tends to have some older PC games as well, plus demos and whatnot.

    Try out a variety of genres. It's possible one game of a certain genre might not "click" with you, but another might.

  • Yes. It's a scalable hobby, and can run from virtually no cost to why-are-you-burning-money. But you can do a lot in gaming with little monetary investment.

    There are lots of budget indie games that are lots of fun, and if you find out you like gaming and want to try more fancy titles, you can always upgrade hardware.

    Minimal entry: your current pc. Install steam, and buy/try what you like, returning it if it's too slow/doesn't work.

    Light entry: get familiar with your pc's ram size, hd/ssd size, cpu speed/type, and graphics card. Use that to ensure your pc can handle the game by looking at the game's minimum requirements.

    Medium-heavy entry: Upgrade things.

    • ssd if you don't have one. The difference between that and spinning disks is night and day. If you wished things loaded faster, get this.
    • 8 gb graphics card in the $150 range, amd or nvidia-based. Get this if you want a smoother experience / if you can notice individual frames happening. You don't need the most expensive tech to play most games that are out there.
    • Genuine XBox or PS4/5 controller. These standard controllers are generally pretty solid and durable. $60ish
    • new cpu ($$$, and may not even be an option): most games won't be processor-bound. But some are cpu-heavy. Get this if you really want to upgrade overall, or have a particular title in mind that needs it. Or..
    • Low-mid range gaming computer ($900 ($600-$1500)): wait until you want to do a pc upgrade, and get a low-end gaming computer. I recommend Lenovo LOQ or Legion. Lenovo in general has provided laptops that don't fall apart on me, and that's not something I can say about most computer manufacturers. That said, keep them long enough and you'll have to replace the keyboard - but that's every laptop out there that I've run across.
    • or: go crazy and buy everything all the time at the moment it his the market because it is a game or has "game" written on, near, or associated with it (not recommended)

  • Yes, it is worth getting into video games. Mental quickness, friends, and less Alzheimers are some benefits.

    People in this post are making excellent recommendations for quality commercial games.

    I can recommend starting out in videogames, by getting into Free Software (Libre) games.

    Libre Games cost nothing, have no spyware, and usually have positive, helpful, DIY focused communities.

    Here is a post I made that lists a few of my favourite free games on desktop and mobile.

    https://lemmy.world/post/20786563

    If any on this list are too difficult or hard to set up, just skip.

    --//--

    Historical note

    The Fool's Errand game, from 1987, sold very well with women gamers. Over 50% IIRC.

    It is a tricky puzzle game with Tarot Card theming and an excellent sense of humour.

    Fool's Errand is not Free Software though, and way out of print. It could probably be emulated on a device that you have, PC or phone.

    Game detail at Wikipedia

    Play original Mac version online

    PC version online

  • IMHO it's worth getting into games because they are a mainstream form of entertainment these days (just like movies) and there are incredibly well made games and all sorts of genres, so that everyone can find something. It's also a fun hobby, at least as long as you play either with friends, or singleplayer, or a multiplayer game with a non-toxic community. Stay away from popular e-sports titles, they're usually filled with toxic teenagers.

    If you like puzzle games, there are some great ones, for example Portal 1+2 or The Talos Principle 1+2 are probably the most polished ones out there, these are AAA games made by big studios, who don't usually do puzzle games as they're somewhat niche but there are some exceptions thankfully. Portal 2 is the highest ranked game of all time on Steam (I think it's deserved).

    There are also tons of great indie puzzle games out there, of course.

    Somewhat related to puzzle games are "point and click" adventure games. That genre was very popular in the 80s and 90s, now it's also rather niche, but still some great ones are being developed all the time. Adventure games are (also) about story-telling and solving many puzzles to advance in the game. You usually find lots of items in those and have to combine them in various ways and interact with the game world and its characters to solve puzzles and advance the story. That's maybe the key difference between those and more focussed puzzle games where it's more about the puzzles, less about item combinations and character dialogs. But adventures can also contain quite challenging puzzles none the less.

    Genres are hard to distinguish these days because so many games are a blend of different genres. Anyway, you probably want to stay away from games tagged with "action" or "e-sports" and primarily look for "adventure", "puzzle" or "casual" tags.

129 comments