PC game recommendation for my partner and I
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
Bokura, 2d puzzle platformer played with 2 players
::: spoiler Minor gameplay spoilers
Both players are seeing a completely different world. Different art, different puzzle elements. It is about communicating exactly what is happening, and puzzle solving.
:::It requires Steam, both players need to own the game, and two separate devices to play on (one for each player). Iirc networking goes through Steam, no way to selfhost.
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Overcooked: Looks cute, frantic, and fun!
Super mario 3d world: Feeling meh about it.
Limbo: Single player. But looks like something I might like.
INSIDE: Also single player. But somerhingt we both might like.
Yeah I should've mentioned my last 2 are single player. We took turns after each death and it was super enjoyable. Using the controller and navigating is only half the battle with those two games. The other half is just brainstorming and planning a solution to the puzzle.
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
I’ve posted about this somewhere else too, maybe a different account idk.
But for games to play with people that aren’t really “gamers” I actually prefer single player games with light amounts of fast paced action or none at all. The “coop” comes from taking turns with the controller.
This works well with puzzle or logic games with generous reaction time requirements (again, or none at all), as well as story based games with light action. A lot of these games also come with natural pauses in the story that provide opportunities to either swap who is driving or put the game down for the day.
I’ve had a lot of success playing through many of these titles with partners. I’m sorting these roughly by category and then how strongly I recommend them. Some of these games I haven’t actually played yet, but I know them to fit the overall vibe.
Puzzle/Logic - no reaction time required
- Chants of Sennaar (HIGHLY recommend, requires decent notes and map making, so the person not using the controller still has a job)
- Strange Horticulture (HIGHLY recommend, also requires some light note taking to make life easier)
- Strange Antiquities (sequel to above, have not played yet, high expectations)
- Return of the Obra Din (have not played yet, high expectations)
- The Case of the Golden Idol + DLCs (STRONGLY recommend, got a bit burnt out by the end, but very fun, also light note taking)
- The Rise of the Golden Idol (sequel to above, have not played yet, moderate to high expectations)
- Baba is You (HIGHLY recommend, nice learning curve but becomes brutally difficult towards the end of the game)
- Myst (HUGE game, very good, but daunting and little to no hand holding, detailed notes required)
Kind of a category within a category, haven’t played these, but they’ve been referred to as 1.5 player games.
- Spiritfarer
- Chicory
- Child of Light
Puzzle/Logic - aim and reaction time needed
- Portal 1
- Portal 2 (and its coop if you have 2 devices)
- Portal Reloaded (community mod adding a portal through time with some seriously mind bending puzzles)
- Portal Revolutions (another mod, haven’t played yet but looks fun)
- Viewfinder (HIGHLY recommend, spiritual successor to Portal IMO and a very, very good game)
- Superliminal (HIGHLY recommend, a “Portal-like” that uses perspective as the core mechanic)
Story Based - some action sequences requiring aim and reaction time and some puzzling
- Stray (just a cute good time with some spooky, heart rate spiking moments where you really don’t want your kitty to get hurt)
- Alien Isolation (if you’re horror movie people at all this is like an interactive movie)
- Shadows of a Doubt (might be a miss for a lot of people, immersive detective sim)
- Firewatch (played this a long time ago, might not hold up)
- Dredge (spooky but cute fishing sim with good story)
- Summertime Madness (not much reaction time needed, but still some aim or speed based puzzles)
All of these that I’ve played were on either Arch (custom), Arch (Garuda), or NixOS based systems under Proton. Two of those systems were installed from scratch and they performed flawlessly, so if you’re on a system that handles all the audio and video driver installation for you things should be very smooth. The Garuda machine is a laptop from 2016 that is plugged into my TV and actually saw the most play time for these titles. It held up perfectly. The other two systems were back to back installs on my fairly beefy desktop, but installation and running the games was smooth after the initial effort to get the systems fully functional with drivers and controller support.
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I know and like almost all of these games! Unfortunately I don't think she'll like any of them. Maybe some of the early levels of dungeon defenders.
RoboQuest caught my attention. While I generally don't gravitate towards roguelikes or FPS's, the combo has my interest piqued!
It's really hard to suggest games without knowing what you guys normally would play. You mention puzzle games. There are a ton of two player puzzle games that you play head to head which might be fun, but it isn't coop exactly. I highly recommend super puzzle fighter ii turbo. It's available thru emulation and I think maybe on steam via that capcom arcade thing. There are lots of games that fit into that category if it ends up appealing.
If you have access to any of the games mentioned... maybe just have her try some of them and see what clicks. I know with my wife she wasn't really a "gamer" at first... and I just let her loose on my steam games and a few that she would have never considered before became favorites like half-life, portal, l4d2. Most of the valve stuff holds up really well and makes for good primers into FPS style gaming. We also got really into coop minecraft and dungeon defenders so hundreds of coop hours have been dumped into those. I'd pick a bunch of genre styles (fps, puzzle, survival, etc) and just show her some gameplay videos if she's reticent to play them sight unseen... see if anything sparks her interest. Then pick out some of the more well regarded titles from them to dive into. There are definitely classics that are considered classics for a reason.
As for roboquest... I've enjoyed that one. The dev kept putting out content patches so it's gotten a bunch of content dumped into it. Fun solo and coop. I personally love the pop art comic style. The progression is rogueLITE... so you're slowly building up new stuff in your hub as you play, which makes for a nicer experience, IMHO. They even have a free demo on steam if you wanna try it out while you wait for a sale.
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Oh Minecraft. She'd get bored with an open world sandbox. Maybe there are mods or something that are more story driven, but that'd ruin my nostalgia for the game. Bit of a pickle!
ah, usually the creative aspect draws people in but i know not everyone is that way.
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
Portal 2 coop is phenomenal.
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
My wife surprisingly loved Divinity Original Sin 1/2 can be played on controller splitscreen or M/kb
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Oh Minecraft. She'd get bored with an open world sandbox. Maybe there are mods or something that are more story driven, but that'd ruin my nostalgia for the game. Bit of a pickle!
I’ve recently gotten into putting together sort of silly “party” mod packs for my friend group. Things that are meant to be played as a “one shot” with everyone online. Things like full loot randomizers, or shared health and inventory. Just silly and chaotic mods to shift the focus from exploration and sandbox-y things, to “let’s try to beat the ender dragon under very adverse conditions”. So far I’ve only gotten one friend to bite, but we’ve been doing one run a night for the last week or so. Takes between 20 to 60 minutes, maybe more if we really get into it.
Could also look into mods/modpacks that add quest books. That helps take the edge off the “open world, figure it out” paralysis and give some concrete things to work towards.
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Abiotic Factor has been a blast with a friend. I don't play a lot of survival games (I prefer more narrative than most offer, and Grounded was a great one for that) and this one doesn't take itself very seriously (you craft weapons and armor from general office supplies a lot of the time... I've never been so excited to find a cache of staplers).
May want to turn the difficulty down if she gets overwhelmed easily, as while they majority of the game is pretty manageable, there are the occasional hard fight.
I tried to get my friend group into this and most of them bounced off. I tried to convince the “hardcore gamers” of the group that by the looks of it things get quite hard in the late game. Bummed I never really got to experience it to that point.
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
My gf and I enjoyed:
Stardew Valley
Starbound
Cook Serve Delicious 2 and 3
Out of Space
Overcooked 2
Pizza Possum
PEAK
Biped
Cat Quest 2
Cats Love Boxes
Core Keeper
Temtem
These are the good ones (the ones where I felt like she was having a blast) which should run on anything. She’s also not good at games and has a fairly low-powered laptop. Looking back at them I can‘t believe we‘ve played that many lol
We‘re currently playing Schedule I but it‘s so buggy in co-op that I can‘t recommend it…
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
My girlfriend and I have spent many fun hours playing Lethal Company. It's a real blast with an insanely high skill ceiling if that's your thing.
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That is quite the list! I know a handful of these but most are new to me. I haven't gone through it them yet but I wanted to be sure to say thanks for the effort you put in to your reply.
I will toss in, don't starve together is very much NOT beginner friendly. Playing with someone less experienced with video games can turn into effectively playing with one hand behind your back as you try to cover the needs for both of you, the world is threatening, and the penalty for death is high.
Might not be well suited to what you're looking for -
Oh Minecraft. She'd get bored with an open world sandbox. Maybe there are mods or something that are more story driven, but that'd ruin my nostalgia for the game. Bit of a pickle!
You mentioned puzzles so maybe a middleground is finding some co-op puzzle maps?
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Since she likes puzzles, the Trine game series could be nice! I think they added coop multiplayer starting with Trine 2.
If you both like hack 'n slash then Torchlight 2 is also great fun!
Trine 1 has co op. I played it 3 player
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
PlateUp! The better overcooked (this time, roguelike). Love this game. Might test your relationship a little though...
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
Civ 6, the whole Picross lineup on the switch (emulated ofc), Cassette Beasts, Minecraft Java (which can be a pain to setup but once its good its good), Halo MCC apparently has a new split screen mod.
You get a lot with a switch emulator due to all the fantastic first party games by Nintendo.
Also look into Nucleus Coop.Tl;Dr: try Cassette Beasts
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Civ 6, the whole Picross lineup on the switch (emulated ofc), Cassette Beasts, Minecraft Java (which can be a pain to setup but once its good its good), Halo MCC apparently has a new split screen mod.
You get a lot with a switch emulator due to all the fantastic first party games by Nintendo.
Also look into Nucleus Coop.Tl;Dr: try Cassette Beasts
Plus 1 for cassette beasts, it's insanely good. Much to the continued anger of my friends with hundreds of hours in Pokemon, I routinely summarize it as Pokemon but good having hundreds of hours in both lol
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Semi-casual games that run well on older PCs and linux? Plus no launchers? Let's see.
I got a few but there may be splitscreen ones in this list too. (If that's ok)Battleblock Theater
Biped (maybe?)
Cassette Beasts
Castle Crashers
Children of Morta
Don't Starve Together
Dinkum (If Australian Animal Crossing sounds interesting)
Factorio
A hat in time
Guacamelee
Human Fall Flat
Hyper Light Drifter
ibb & obb
KeyWe
Kingdom Two Crowns
Knights and Bikes
Like, all of the lego games (They're all similar mechanically, so pick one of the newer ones that look good)
Lovers in a dangerous spacetime
Magicka (I like the first one but the second one isn't bad)
Monaco
Moon Hunters
Necesse
Peak
Resident Evil 5/6 (Yes, really, its a great time in co-op)
Satisfactory
Secrets of Grindea
Split Fiction (This one may be graphically harder to run?)
Stardew Valley
Spiritfarer
Terraria
Trine games
Valheim (At least until mistlands)I'm kind of going off of semi-casual meaning not high intensity shooters or things that require crazy skills. Most of these are pretty easy to pick up and are generally forgiving. They shouldn't have launchers but if they added one in a later update, then dang.
Semi-casual
Factorio
Are you trying to kill him?
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
I know its kinda crazy for me to.suggest this, but hear me out:
Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition runs nearly perfectly in emulators on pretty modest hardware. Its not very difficult, but has a Games Journalist level Easy mode as well if thats needed. Its a Musou/Warriors game, so its basically mindless button mashing with the flavor of Zelda.
Its a splitscreen game, so you only have to have it set up on one machine. The game has a story mode and a bunch of challenge modes as well to keep things interesting. Wide range of upgradeable charaacters with different weapons that change up their playstyles. And a lot of unlockable costumes.
Downsides:
- Nintendo
- Have to use a controller (not a downside to me, but for sosme it is)
- Getting the game can be a little challenging if you don't know where to look
- Setting up the emulator can also be challenging if you don't know where to get the important parts
- Can get stale after really long sessions of play
Upsides:
- No account or extra launcher required, boot the emulator and play the game
- Most emulators have decent to great Linux compatibility
- Fully offline - no randos joining or server outages when internet drops
- Only two players can play, meaning nobody else can join after your partner, and Player 1 controls when Player 2 joins
The only issue could be if you aren't using a Nintendo controller, the buttons won't match up, but there might be a mod for that. I know there are input mods for other games.
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My partner expressed an interest in finding a game for both of us to play. She doesn't play many games, and I generally prefer single player games so I find myself at a loss for what's out there that we might like. Hoping the community here can help!
We have played some retro platformers together. Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, that kind of thing. And I know she plays puzzle match games on her phone. Which isn't a lot to go on.
It needs to be a multiplayer PC game that runs on Linux/Proton (if unsure, please suggest your game anyway. It probably does). One machine is a mid-range PC from about 5 years ago. So probably no recent AAA games with high system requirements.
I'm thinking:
- Easy to pick up and play and can offer a satisfying play experience with short play times.
- Cooperative play would be a plus.
- Being able to play with just two people (not forced to play with random people online).
My particularities:
- I won't play a game that requires creating/signing in to an account to play it at all. I can tolerate that requirement for multiplayer play, but I'd rather it just use a Steam account.
- I'd prefer if it didn't install a launcher.
- I'd like it to either have a built in server and/or be selfhostable.
I’m in a similar situation with my wife not being particularly interested in games - I’ve had some success in playing LA Noire with her guiding the investigations and interrogations. The jazz soundtrack in particular helped convince her, funnily enough!
Not quite perhaps what you’re looking for, but may work for others with hesitant non-gamer partners.
