What are good games for middle aged couple to get into gaming?

Hi. I'm going to show may age here but the last time I did serious gaming was back in the 80s with the classics like space invaders, and titles like defender on my BBC model B. I don't know what happened but it fizzled out and have not really played anything for 20 years. I see the fun my boy have with gaming and I'd love to get back into it. I have tried to play things like FIFA but waaaaay to many controls to master. I like driving games but their pretty shallow, I'd like more depth and story.

So question is can you recommend some good titles on PS4 which are fun and have low barrier to entry? I'd also like to know about some games that I can play with my wife - on the PS4 that is!

Would be great to hear recommendations from players who were in a similar situation.

Many thanks.

Try Last of Us or Uncharted.

Last of Us definitely. All the Uncharteds would be good too. If you would be interested in some games that aren't so simple, Far Cry 4, Fallout 4, Grand Theft Auto V, and Metal Gear Solid V are some open world games that came out recently that are all pretty damn good. If you are looking for an online shooter that is super easy to jump into Star Wars Battlefront would be a good choice.

The Telltale adventure games are great for playing with a S/O.. Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Borderlands, Wolf Among Us.. They aren't multiplayer games, but they are games that are pretty much all conversation based, so its fun to talk with your partner and decide how you will react. Until Dawn is similar, but a fun teen horror game with more realistic graphics.

Fun local multiplayer games.... Sportsfriends, definitely, that game is awesome. Other than that.... shit I dunno.

The more important thing is getting yourself comfortable with the gamepad as most modern games require the use of all or most of the buttons and both analogue sticks. Most people my age and older that haven't played since Atari have the major barrier of overcoming the controls...often it's the one thing that prevents them from continuing to play or hinders their ability to get into gaming. My wife won't practice so she's out after 2 minutes because she doesn't like the controls. If you have a game rental store in your area still, you might try renting some titles first and just keep playing to build some muscle memory and to see what kind of games you will enjoy more. You might find the controls frustrating at first but you must keep trying. Don't let FIFA discourage you...you must master the controls to get comfortable first because it'll be like that for many games.

Last of Us, Uncharted, Tombraider all have great story lines but you may find yourself losing interest quickly despite that which is why I suggest a rental first. Even I lost interest in all those titles despite them having good stories but I've just gotten too picky with gameplay and mechanics as I get older plus a lack of time.

Depends, first I would ask what general genres you like.

I would suggest you look up all the games I list, since you might not like how they look, or how they seem to play, or subject matter. Luckily most games tend to have some video trailer or the like, or look up the games on this site. As the reviews are a good source of first impressions.

-I might suggest Survival Horror, specifically Outlast, and SOMA.

Reason being that they control fairly simply (untill dawn little more then a butten press, and choices really), are fairly story heavy and have quite decent stories to boot (SOMA more so), and as such not only fun to play, but also to watch. They can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but the relatively slow pacing can make it less stressful to learn, personally I would pick SOMA of the two.

- Adventure games, These are more in the vein of chose your own adventure, meaning that they are stories you dictate the direction with, they usually revolve around talking, there is very little in quick actions here, but more choosing what to say, they can be stressful with you having little time to think about what to say.

Life is strange: A fairly colorful game about a girl who can alter time

The Walking Dead season one and 2: Based in the same universe as the tv series and comic books

Until Dawn, basicly a tacky B horror movie that has every trope in the book in it, it is rather fun, and better then I likely make it sound.

-investigation. Using the head as much as the controller, it can be rather fun to try to solve mysteries, if you are holding the controller or not.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and punishments, is also fairly easy to pick up, and revolves more around solving crimes then twitch skills on a controller.

The vanishing of Ethan Carter (more an exercise of walking then solving the crimes, it is not be a bad game, take a look at it, It is an odd one.

Other games I might suggest are:

Resogun: it is a fairly simple but rather fun game, that can be played in co-op. Simple looks, but nice sound.

HellDivers: Somewhat harder, a more punishing game, but great in co-op, but rather fun to play together, still retain fairly simple control input.

Tearaway Unfolded: is fairly easy to control, but really sweet and cute game. It is fairly simple to control, and certainly not a stressful game.

Bastion, as most others on the list, the input needed is fairly simple, but a nice game, with a good delivery of the story.

Diablo 3: A nice dungeonrun, addicting loot gameplay, with a gloriously bad story, a bit more complex then most games here, when it comes to input, but doable with little knowlage of a controller. It is pretty much brainless fun, and likely one of the best games on the list overall.

Rayman Legends: A good solid platformer, Likely the second best game on the list, as it is a platformer it is fairly simple, but require a good deal of motor skills. Being bright cure and colorful, this might be a game your wife might like.

Unfinished swan: hard to explain, you basicly throw black paint to reveal the world around you, it is a game your wife might like, it is fairly simple (but teaches how to navigate 3d spaces fairly well) and relaxing.

Rocket League: it is soccer with cars, the ruleset is rather simple, and outside of the slight learning curve, it is not a complex game. It is however a blast to play :D

The Last of Us Remastered: I am hesitant to suggest this game, it is quite good, but requires a fairly firm understanding of the controller, It is however a really REALLY good game, and if you are up for a challange I would suggest it.

In truth there are a lot of good games to pick, but in order to enjoy games, the basic need to learn how to control them is needed, so I have picked games that are fairly simple to control (mind you the games themselves are not automatically easy), And will likely get you and the wife to get a relatively in depth feel for how to play using the controller in general.

Go back to Defender I say. The eppitemy of hardcore if you ask me. Most games released these days are just films.

Get a PlayStation 4 console. This is the only time that I would suggest this. Use the PSnow rental system. This way you can discover what games you might like before spending $70.00 on a game that you may not like. PSnow is meant for people to catch up on games that people may have missed.

But since you have not played since the early 1980's when Defender was current. You are going to have a harder time. Your just going to have to learn the PlayStation 4 controller, Practise, Practise until you are confrontable with it.

You missed PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 so starting with PlayStation 4. Seems daunting but if you just use the PSnow game rental system to discover what games you like. Before you buy the actual game for $70.00. There is no easy way, your just going to have to put the time in until the PS4 controller is second nature.

Project Root is a game you might like. This is the closest thing to a modern day Defender. Sort of. Good luck on PlayStation discovery.

Resogun is kind of a modern take on old school games like Space Invaders. It's downloadable on PSN.

Try Fallout 4. Nice story, nice world, you can wonder around doing whatever you want.

If you like driving games, check out Mad Max - can get repetitive after a while, but that was after 30 hours of gameplay.

Trivia Pursuit Live is a fun game you play with the missus. You can get it along with Scrabble, Risk and Monopoly Plus in a disc based collection put out by Hasbro.

The first thing that came to my mind was Resogun and I'm glad others recommended it. It definitely has that oldschool space invades vibe, like something they would have made if the technology was ready back then. Give it a try! I'm a 40 year old guy myself.

If you want something with depth and story you are just going to have to take the plunge and figure it all out. You will and it will be worth it.

What have you seen your son play that interests you? What about games has caught your eye? That will help you choose what to get. Do you like gunplay? Strategy? Story? Platforming (think Super Mario)? Sports? Stealth action? Indie games (check youtube for examples)? SciFi settings?

Once you narrow down what interests you, you can start trying out games in those categories. But as others have said the biggest barrier will be the controller, no way around it unless you play PC games with keyboard and mouse. Even then you have to move with the arrow keys while simultaneously moving the camera with the mouse. You are going to have to practice till it becomes second nature (not as long as you may think, but it wont happen same day). Even for me it can take time to adjust to a game's camera, as they all have their little quirks.

As long as you are willing to suffer the first week or so you will have a ton of fun once you get the hang of things. Video games today are really unlike anything else, you can read a book or watch a movie (two activities I enjoy), but immersing yourself into a world where you control the character is something else. Best of luck to you, and don't give up!

Surprised that nobody mentioned Little Big Planet 3. It's a great game that you can play with the wife at the same time as it supports couch co-op.

Catherine.

Well, there are several old classics that have been adapted as PC, console and mobile games.

Board games are a good example and games like Risk or Scrabble are surely something that "middle aged couples" enjoy, no matter if you play it online or offline.

Little Big Planet 3, Ratchet & Clank, Tearaway Unfolded

Hotline Miami

@glitch-: 2yr old topic.

Please don't bump ancient threads