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Couples gaming: getting started

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Couples gaming

There are many gamers out there, admittedly mostly male, who dream of sharing their passion with their significant other.

They dream of intense capture-the-flag sessions, where each partner has the other one’s back. They envision themselves as an unstoppable Arena team – a Paladin and a Druid perhaps – kicking ass in Azeroth. And they see themselves slaughtering zombies side by side during a Left For Dead co-op session.

There are many gateway drugs to gaming, from Popcap puzzles to cutesy Nintendo DS titles, to perennial “party” favourites like SingStar and Guitar Hero. The truth though is that one of the most effective ways to convert your girlfriend to the Great Gaming Faith is to play together. You may be surprised to discover that most of your partner’s previous animosity, or disinterest, towards your favourite pastime stems from her feeling ignored while you stare for hours at pixelated guns and gals.

Of course, suddenly including your girlfriend in your gaming activities doesn’t mean you should drop her straight into a brutal Halo multiplayer battle to be sworn at, corpse camped and tea bagged. Also, and this is most important, resist those prankster urges to flatten her character – especially if she’s on your team – with your favourite armoured vehicle. I speak from personal experience when I say that such behaviour is not conducive to happy coupledom.

Couples gaming requires carefully thought. Particularly in regards to the type of game you’ll be playing.

If your partner is a gaming newcomer, it may be a good idea to avoid fiercely competitive, testosterone-soaked games at the beginning of your shared experience. If you do feel the urge to let rip with the rivalry, pick a title that tempers the contest with humour – such as Boom Blox for the Wii.

At the same time, accessibility is important when it comes to couples gaming. Your significant other shouldn’t feel overwhelmed or confused. This means StarCraft II and other complex real-time strategy games should be avoided… at least until your partner’s gaming confidence grows.

To start with then, collaborative (or co-op) multiplayer is the best way to share a gaming experience with your girlfriend. Many games, from kiddie-friendly platformers to hardcore first person shooters and musical “party” titles, offer a co-op mode. My personal recommendation is one of the LEGO titles – whether it be Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones or Harry Potter. Simple to play, gender neutral, and not too frantically paced, these games still offer a challenge, and plenty of irreverent laughs.

And if your partner remains game-phobic and refuses to touch a controller, you’re still not without shared gaming options. Although not multiplayer in the tradition sense, adventure games are ideal couples fare – if you’re up for the mental challenge! How well the genre works for you as a couple though will really depend on your tolerance for the inevitable trial-and-error puzzle solving required. You know, the typical bizarre logic of “use bowling ball with cheese grater,” “use bowling ball with goldfish,” ”use bowling ball with foot.”

In the end, when it comes to couples gaming you want to keep it light, simple and undemanding – at least in the beginning. Good luck, and happy gaming!

Last Updated: October 7, 2010

21 Comments

  1. James Kotick

    October 7, 2010 at 12:09

    I’ve had great success with PS Move’s Sports Champions, especially getting my significant other to (FINALLY) play games with me. Frisbee golf and bolce = Couples playing together.

    Reply

  2. Pen

    October 7, 2010 at 12:13

    The Rayman’s Raving Rabbids TV Party (Wii version) for me was one of the best ways to actually get collaborative-console play going and works well to combine play styles too.

    Being a geekette does make it easier to find a gaming partner as most guys do play games but the points about not being a jackass or sore winner/loser are very good. Be nice or she wont want to play with you again.

    Reply

  3. Nick de Bruyne

    October 7, 2010 at 12:26

    Something we spoke about on the latest Podcast, is that Heavy Rain is actually a very good opportunity to get your significant other to at least sit with you while you play the game, and comments and give opinions on what choices should be made.

    It’s almost as good as watching a TV show, and a great way to at least introduce them into sitting with you and enjoying the game. From there, recommend that you play something light together.

    Reply

  4. Scratchy

    October 7, 2010 at 12:57

    I’m going to be honest, the only reason I clicked through was in the hope that there are more pictures of that girl :happy:

    Reply

  5. RSA-Ace

    October 7, 2010 at 13:12

    I managed to get my GF to play (and finish) the new Tomb Raider PSN game. She loved it and only sometimes complained about it being to hard.

    She’s also enjoying playing Sports Champions with me :wub:

    Reply

  6. Supes

    October 7, 2010 at 13:21

    “keep it light, simple and undemanding”
    Nail, meet hammer. Even though my girlfriend was a bit of a gamer before we met (Final Fantasy, God of War, etc) I definitely wouldn’t have called her a hardcore player. Although she did joke early on in our relationship that she was only with me because I had a PS3 and FF13 was coming out (she had a long wait for that one :tongue: and I still bug her about not having finished it yet, anyway, I digress)

    After sometime of being together I started trying to get her to play WoW (I wasn’t big into it myself, but I figured with her liking of FF, WoW would come easy). Eventually she started, but completely at her own pace and even didn’t want me to come help her on group quests, etc because she wanted to learn by herself. And she did. We ended up being the top 2 Warlocks in our guild, she was even an officer and quite consistently out DPS’d me (until the Demo buff, bwahaha).

    But then we both stopped playing WoW, was just too much of a time sink with too much crap to deal with, but lo and behold, Blizzard had just released SC2. I had pre-ordered both her and myself CE’s and she had pretty much told me to give it to a friend as she probably wasn’t going to like the game… She is currently gold ranked in 1v1 and 2v2 and knows who Day9, HD, Idra, Husky, Huk, Select, etc are :biggrin:

    My point with all of this was just to reiterate that you should, just like most parts of a relationship, start slow and if both of you enjoy something, then enjoy it to its fullest 😉

    In fact she’ll probably be reading this later. So Hi angel :heart:

    Reply

  7. Fred

    October 7, 2010 at 13:22

    I haven’t got a chance in hell of my wife starting to game with me. My daughter loves it though.

    Reply

  8. al360

    October 7, 2010 at 13:25

    funny enough for me it was streetfighter that got my one interested adn after that it faded but might get it going again with the “move” hehehehe

    Reply

  9. Steve Hofmeyr

    October 7, 2010 at 13:35

    Judging by the guys face, it looks like she’s squeezing his nuts with her left hand. I don’t know if I’m into that though. :unsure:

    Reply

  10. James ODST

    October 7, 2010 at 13:41

    Dude, Bolce and Frisby Golf! They were made for couples and the non-gaming wife. :whistle: :wub:

    Reply

  11. LordKhaan

    October 7, 2010 at 13:46

    All i can say is throwing any type of grenade at your love one, ruins any chances of you getting laid later that evening.
    But luckily mines as much an addict as I am

    Reply

  12. Gavin Mannion

    October 7, 2010 at 13:50

    My wife isn’t really a gamer but I have managed to get her hooked on New Super Mario Bros Wii, Viva Pinata, Lips and Just Dance…

    what… don’t judge me…

    Reply

  13. James ODST

    October 7, 2010 at 13:57

    🙁 I have tried everything, viva Pinata (which incidentally has to be one of the most awesome xbox 360 game ever created) and Sims. Nothing worked! She would play it for a few minutes and then go off to do something ridiculous like make me a sandwich (:blush: )… I kid, but a game wouldn’t interest her and she’d only play it for a few seconds before heading off to do something else.

    Hence, the feelings of victory when she finally played Sports Champions with me and for A WHOLE HOUR!! :cwy: I nearly cried.

    Reply

  14. mujabees

    October 7, 2010 at 14:46

    My wife loved viva piniata and actually went further than me before losing interest. Surprisingly though she has 100% in deathspank and on her way to 100% in thongs of virtue. She hates the pace of shooters and usually freaks out and puts it off.

    Reply

  15. Onelargeprawn

    October 7, 2010 at 15:02

    I’m in the same boat as dear James. My wife is not that interested, and I know when to quit. Thankfully it’s not a deal-breaker as we have other hobbies together.

    Reply

  16. Luna

    October 7, 2010 at 15:51

    I’ve been gaming with my sweetie for years, so I’m not worried. ^_^

    But PS Move has gotten nearly everyone I know gaming. EVERY one of our friends loves Frisbee Golf, and even the old guy who can’t find the Start button on a game pad is actually WINNING most of the Frisbee Golf games! lol

    Reply

  17. Dylbobjohnjoe

    October 7, 2010 at 20:22

    Yeah it works out pretty good, So far we have managed to finish RE5, Spec ops and gears 2 on their hardest difficulties….seems to be the only time I get some though……

    Reply

  18. Bobby Kotick watches the Grudge on e

    October 7, 2010 at 23:39

    I got my ass spanked in Frisbee Golf by the missus. We played 18 holes, but I got cocky after the 9th hole after I scored a hole in one on the first, but she just kept on getting birdies and Par. Lol! It was awesome! I’d like to think she won because.. cough.. of calibration problems.. :wub:

    Reply

  19. Gavin Mannion

    October 7, 2010 at 23:56

    I never really got into VP that much but my wife completed it with full achievements… didn’t quite get into Trouble in Paradise though…

    Reply

  20. Pseudonaja

    October 8, 2010 at 15:08

    Lara Croft: Guardian of Light. My girlfriend and I finished it in 3 sittings. Then I gave her Fable 2 to play. I haven’t seen my console since tuesday…

    Reply

  21. Dante

    October 11, 2010 at 13:00

    Never really wanted a GF that will play games with me. Just want one that will understand that she has to entertain herself when I do game. Which is what my gf does. The picture up there is totally what we do. She sits and reads and I yell random profanities at the screen. It is beautiful.

    She has said that she wants a wii. So maybe we will do that together.

    Reply

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