Help my wife and me find a game we can play together

[the_great_eskimo_pie]

There's nothing wrong with this either. While my husband are both pretty into gaming and a lot of times the same games, we have completely different playstyles that don't always mesh well together, so we found that a lot of times it's easier and more fun to spend some time where he plays and I watch and give input and help solve puzzles and such. It's still time spent together and it also offers the advantage of opening up all kinds of single player gaming experiences to share, too.

My sister and I do the same thing. One of us plays while the other helps with puzzles and such.

 

[RyanB]

My sister and I do the same thing. One of us plays while the other helps with puzzles and such.

Definitely something to try. I know with us it's difficult due to our different playstyles. I have the OCD style of play where I liked to explore every crevice for some hidden item, or complete every quest. It drives her nuts trying to watch me play something like Final Fantasy, haha.

 

[Tek7]

Ember and I played the first 3 levels of New Super Mario Bros. Wii together. She didn't care for it.

She has about 9 hours and 40 minutes left of her Guild Wars trial, so we'll see how that goes.

Secret of Mana is a great suggestion and I'm thinking of having her try that. I only wish Seiken Densetsu 3 had been released in the US as Secret of Mana 2 (as was the original plan) instead of being canceled.

I played a bit of FFCC: Echoes of Time on the DS and didn't care for it and the Wii version is essentially the DS version in a window. I don't remember if I asked Ember to try FFCC: EoT or not.

I might have to check into Neverwinter Nights 2, provided there's a demo. I'm not up for buying 2 copies of a game blind while unemployed.

House of the Dead Overkill is right out because of all the profanity. Seriously, what was Sega thinking?

We own House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, but she (and I) would rather play RE: Umbrella Chronicles if we're going to shoot zombies on the Wii.

She didn't like Mario Kart: Double Dash. I wasn't fond of the controls (especially compared to Mario Kart Wii).

The Marvel Ultimate Alliance games are the spiritual successors (if not outright sequels) to the X-Men Legends games, which Ember didn't care for.

If I had a 360 or a PS3, I'd definitely be getting Castle Crashers and asking her to try it out. It'll be a while before we pick up a new console, though (barring the announcement of a new title in a certain Atlus game franchise).

I'll check out the RPG brawlers RyanB recommended.

Toontown and Wizard 101 are right out. Toontown is a Disney MMO (there is nothing right with that sentence). Wizard 101 is geared toward kids--which is fine for kids. If we decide to play a MMO together, it's going to be WoW.

And I think that's ultimately where all this discussion will end: with both of us eventually returning to WoW. I just did not want to surrender to that MMO monolith without a fight.

If I lose the battle and we return to WoW, I'm sure I'll have a great time. I just wanted to see if there was something--anything--else that provided a comparable co-op experience and didn't cost $15 a month plus $140 for expansion packs (not counting whatever Blizzard charges for Cataclysm).

 

[Tek7]

2.) We got New Super Mario Bros. for Christmas, and my wife loves it, but I found it easier than pouring a glass of milk...got boring very fast...

Dude, what levels are you playing? World 8 was a beast and collecting all the Star Coins in the first 6 worlds has been a challenge (moreso for the later worlds, of course).

 

[RiverTigress]

I might have to check into Neverwinter Nights 2, provided there's a demo. I'm not up for buying 2 copies of a game blind while unemployed.

I can loan you my disks to give it a try if you want. Media mail's pretty cheap to send it back and forth.

 

[XionTawa]

Dude, what levels are you playing? World 8 was a beast and collecting all the Star Coins in the first 6 worlds has been a challenge (moreso for the later worlds, of course).

Well, we are at world 5, and I am bored, and flying through the game too fast, that was just with 2 hours of play time...I was hoping for more of a challenge...I guess I will have to wait for world 8...

 

[corinalbria]

I'll take a stab at this Tek... I'm not saying for sure you guys would like all of these games, but I'm pretty familiar with the whole scope of gaming... including some perhaps more obscure ones.

Dreamcast:
-Chu Chu Rockets - it's a crazy party game that is just... crazy... and fun. And crazy.
-Typing of the Dead - House of the Dead meets Turbo Typing, 60wpm or bust! The disadvantage to this one is finding 2 dreamcast keyboards... don't know how hard that is to do nowadays.

DS:
-Phantasy Star Zero - It's basically a handheld mmo/diablo II sort of game. I haven't played this yet but i think it may play similarly to Soma Bringer. It's playable solo, local, or online.
-These are solo, but if you enjoy puzzles, the Professor Layton series (2 of them so far) are quite enjoyable. These aren't puzzle games so much as an adventure/mystery game whose primary mechanic is all kinds of different puzzles.
-I've never played them personally but the Puzzle Quest games get pretty good reviews, I think it's a puzzle game meets an rpg kind of framework... or something like that.
-Picross DS is a fun number based puzzle game

PS2:
-Again, it's solo, but Okami is a very very well done action/adventure game that's quite original and beautiful.
-Ico and Shadow of the Colossus although somewhat slower pace games are both hauntingly beautiful and quite engaging as far as adventure games go. Both are solo.

PC:
-D&D online - I dunno your view on D&D, but I thought I would bring this up as it is free to play and it's all instanced small group quest based I think. Again, haven't played it but I've heard generally good things about it.

Out of those I listed, I have the Professor Layton games, Picross DS, and Okami - if you want, I wouldn't mind loaning them to you... we can work something out if you're interested.


I'm also a boardgame evangelist and there are some pretty solid 2 player board games if you guys might be interested in that too (in order of complexity):

-Mexican Train Dominoes (although this works best with more than 2 I suppose)
-Ingenious (abstract puzzle kind of game, very elegant)
Carcassonne (tile laying game, best with 2 IMO, more than 2 starts bogging down)
-Ticket to Ride: Europe (w/Swiss expansion) (trains meets rummy... sort of, this is probably my most played board game of all time. Light enough to teach easily, can play relatively quickly, and enough interesting decisions that for the time investment it's worth it)
-Through the Desert (I own this, but haven't played it, has to do with routes and stuff, may be similar to Ticket to Ride)
-Thurn and Taxis (hmm... route planning... I guess... I play with my wife fairly frequently, works well for 2 players)
-Race for the Galaxy (Starting to go up on the complexity scale. Elegant card based economic/point engine game, compact, and once learned, plays fast)
-Agricola (Farming game. Uhh... I guess that's just the theme, it's also an economic/point engine game but it has a fun tactile theme of building your farm)

I highly recommend the website Boardgamegeek.com for looking some of these up. It's a huuuuuuuge board gaming community. I also highly recommend buying board game online as it is substantially cheaper. My favorite webshop: Boardsandbits.com if you want to try going this route.

That's my two cents...

Nice thing about these games is they scale well up to 4-5 players also.

 

[Corpfox]

Have you tried the old games?

Its possible "Ember" prefers the old style of gaming.

You could get the Super Mario All-Stars.

Maybe Super Mario RPG?

Advance Wars?

Umm...TrackMania Nations Forever?

Its a free PC racing game and I enjoy it very much.

Super Smash Bros?
King of Monsters?
Bust-A-Move Bash!?

 

[ewoksrule]

Hey Miri, great Board game suggestions, I have some of those and love them.
A couple that my wife and I play 2 players (besides ones above) are:
Dungeon Twister (awesome chess like game with a board that changes while playing, highly recommend)
Lost Cities (neat card game)

 

[Omega Amen]

If you do decide on NWN2, Tek, I highly recommend playing through the Mask of the Betrayer expansion. It should be included in the Gold Edition.

It would seem Diablo III might be a good fit for you and your wife, but it is going to be a while before that is released.

If you had a PS3, I would recommend PixelJunk Shooter for its cooperative mode. Easy to learn, stylish music and art style, and can be played in short sessions if desired.

Honestly, most cooperative games I can think of right now are FPS/TPS. So I cannot really give you much help.

I think though the cooperative action-RPG genre might be worth investigating for you two.

 

[Ember]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm taking everything into consideration, but I'll try to reply really quick to a few....

Thanks for the reply, Ember. It seems to me that you tend to prefer the arcade/platform/puzzle type of games.

Maybe, but I don't want to rule anything out. Especially not PC. I haven't played a lot of PC games in the past, but only recently has it even become a possibility for me. It's not so much lack of interest as it is lack of exposure.

Also, you both mentioned Wii, but didn't list it in your consoles.

Oops! Fixed. Thanks for those suggestions, I'll look into em. And we do have gamecube controllers.

Have you played the new Mario Brothers game? It's very fun co-op, albeit very hectic at times. It can be difficult at times, but you can hop into an invincible bubble and float towards your co-op partner if you get into too much trouble.

I did play it, but I couldn't get excited about it. But I didn't play it much, so it may be too soon to rule it out.

I have the OCD style of play where I liked to explore every crevice for some hidden item, or complete every quest. It drives her nuts trying to watch me play something like Final Fantasy, haha.

Haha. Tek is more the explorer type, but I have more of the "has to finish every quest I come across" thing going on. =) So we drive each other nuts. =D

She has about 9 hours and 40 minutes left of her Guild Wars trial, so we'll see how that goes.

Yeah, I realized I forgot to mention that in the previous post. My first impression is that I'm not really excited about it. But I'm definitely not into it enough to really make an informed judgment.

I played a bit of FFCC: Echoes of Time on the DS and didn't care for it and the Wii version is essentially the DS version in a window. I don't remember if I asked Ember to try FFCC: EoT or not.

Not that I recall....

We own House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, but she (and I) would rather play RE: Umbrella Chronicles if we're going to shoot zombies on the Wii.

QFT =)

She didn't like Mario Kart: Double Dash. I wasn't fond of the controls (especially compared to Mario Kart Wii).

I feel like I *might* have tried it once, but I don't really remember it. I'd try it again.

The Marvel Ultimate Alliance games are the spiritual successors (if not outright sequels) to the X-Men Legends games, which Ember didn't care for.

Just because I kept using Phoenix Force on accident. Over and over and over. It was frustrating. Couldn't pull off a special attack when I actually WANTED too because I had already used it up. ;_;

If we decide to play a MMO together, it's going to be WoW.

I tried very hard to see if there was anything else, but I think this is turning out to be true.

-Typing of the Dead - House of the Dead meets Turbo Typing, 60wpm or bust! The disadvantage to this one is finding 2 dreamcast keyboards... don't know how hard that is to do nowadays.

Hee hee.... We have two, actually. We might start getting too competitive with each other on that one. *lol*

DS: (games)

Seem like all good suggestions. I'll look into them. ^^

PS2:
-Again, it's solo, but Okami is a very very well done action/adventure game that's quite original and beautiful.
-Ico and Shadow of the Colossus although somewhat slower pace games are both hauntingly beautiful and quite engaging as far as adventure games go. Both are solo.

Tek played through Okami for the Wii and really loved it. It seemed like something I would rather watch than actually play. But it did look like a really well-done game. And certainly beautiful. I don't know anything about the other you mentioned, so I'll look it up.

PC:
-D&D online - I dunno your view on D&D, but I thought I would bring this up as it is free to play and it's all instanced small group quest based I think. Again, haven't played it but I've heard generally good things about it.

I don't know what I think about it yet. I really don't know enough to think anything. I avoided it initially because of stereotype.... >_> But I have heard good things too.

I'm also a boardgame evangelist and there are some pretty solid 2 player board games if you guys might be interested in that too (in order of complexity):

"boardgame evangelist" ...awesome. =) I always liked board games, but so many were 4 player, and I never had people to play with me. Now I have my hubby, so finding someone to play with isn't a problem...I just don't think of board games as much anymore. Thanks for all the suggestions. It is hard to know what is really fun with just two players.

 

[Odale]

...
PC:
-D&D online - I dunno your view on D&D, but I thought I would bring this up as it is free to play and it's all instanced small group quest based I think. Again, haven't played it but I've heard generally good things about it.

....

Wow a Pip post! XD

I played D&D for a little bit and it was fun but I could never really get into it because I felt that the community aspect was missing (ToJ and their sponsored MMOs has spoiled me!). Also, I have never played any D&D so I had no idea what things like 4d2 damage is and the other dice/rolling/whatever systems totally stumped me. With the missing community and my misunderstanding of the systems, I simply lost interest.

I am not saying it is a bad game and no one plays because there are TONS of people on. If you have a better grasp of how D&D works you'd enjoy it.

...I don't know what I think about it yet. I really don't know enough to think anything. I avoided it initially because of stereotype.... >_> But I have heard good things too.
....

Lol, just because you play a D&D MMO does not mean you will talk nerdy to everyone and go LARPing out in the woods dressed up as a crazy person.

I totally know what you mean though...

 

[Tek7]

I played D&D for a little bit and it was fun but I could never really get into it because I felt that the community aspect was missing (ToJ and their sponsored MMOs has spoiled me!).

I know exactly what you mean. One of my primary criteria for choosing which games to buy or download is, "How many Tribe of Judah members own and regularly play this game?"

I know there's at least one other ToJ member who's at least given DDO a try (ewoksrule). There may be others, too. I may see if there's a thread on DDO in the ToJ General Discussion Forum and bump it to see if people are still playing. I'd need to give the game another shot, but my first experience with DDO would warrant a second download and install.

 

[corinalbria]

I'd be willing to give DDO a shot if you guys are trying it out. Would be fun.

 

[Ember]

Lol, just because you play a D&D MMO does not mean you will talk nerdy to everyone and go LARPing out in the woods dressed up as a crazy person.

*lol* I know that, but...

I totally know what you mean though...

...yeah.

I might feel the need to be selective who I tell I'm playing the game...even if I shouldn't be like that. I already do so many things my friends don't do/know nothing about. It gets tiring explaining sometimes. Not that that really even shows up on the radar when I'm deciding what I do or don't want to do.

 

[Tek7]

I'd be willing to give DDO a shot if you guys are trying it out. Would be fun.

Cool deal. Sounds like we're slowly gathering a group of DDO players. When you have a chance, be sure to post in the DDO thread on ToJ General Discussion.

 

[Tek7]

Dreamcast:
-Chu Chu Rockets - it's a crazy party game that is just... crazy... and fun. And crazy.

Chu Chu Rocket may be the only Dreamcast puzzle game that I did not like. I'm not entirely sure why myself, but I just can't like the game. I've tried.

-Typing of the Dead - House of the Dead meets Turbo Typing, 60wpm or bust! The disadvantage to this one is finding 2 dreamcast keyboards... don't know how hard that is to do nowadays.

You're talking to the only person in the United States who owns two (yes, two) Dreamcast keyboards, a copy of the Dreamcast version of Typing of the Dead, and a copy of the PC version of Typing of the Dead (which I purchased from Jammer7, who bought the game in Canada and sent it to me, after which I reimbursed him the cost of the game and shipping).

I think I'll dig up the PC version of the game and see if it has a LAN option. If it doesn't I might have to suck it up and play on the flat (i.e. not ergonomic) Dreamcast keyboard again for some co-op action.

DS:
-Phantasy Star Zero - It's basically a handheld mmo/diablo II sort of game. I haven't played this yet but i think it may play similarly to Soma Bringer. It's playable solo, local, or online.

I'll give it a shot.

-These are solo, but if you enjoy puzzles, the Professor Layton series (2 of them so far) are quite enjoyable. These aren't puzzle games so much as an adventure/mystery game whose primary mechanic is all kinds of different puzzles.

I tried a bit of the first Professor Layton and liked it. In fact, it's on my backlog. It just may be a while before I get back to it.

-I've never played them personally but the Puzzle Quest games get pretty good reviews, I think it's a puzzle game meets an rpg kind of framework... or something like that.

I was a bit disappointed with the first DS Puzzle Quest game, but maybe I should give Puzzle Quest in some form another shot. Maybe the multiplayer component is more fun.

-Picross DS is a fun number based puzzle game

I think any possible interest in the game died when I read "number-based." Just not my thing.

PS2:
-Again, it's solo, but Okami is a very very well done action/adventure game that's quite original and beautiful.

I played through the Wii version and loved it. In fact, it's the only RPG I could bring myself to care about after finishing the fourth entry in a certain RPG franchise. I cleared the game with all 100 Stray Bead on the first playthrough and earned all the Karmic Transformers.

-Ico and Shadow of the Colossus although somewhat slower pace games are both hauntingly beautiful and quite engaging as far as adventure games go. Both are solo.

I tried Shadows of the Colossus once and quit after 30 minutes of running around and banging my head against the wall. Reviewers made the game out to be the second coming of Christ, but I just didn't get it. Sure, it was beautiful, but the gameplay (to me) made so little sense that I switched off the game and never went back.

I'm still willing to give Ico a shot, though. It's hard to argue with a score of 90 on Metacritic (I say even though Shadow of the Colossus has a 91).

I guess if Ico is just awesome, I'll give Shadow another shot.

Out of those I listed, I have the Professor Layton games, Picross DS, and Okami - if you want, I wouldn't mind loaning them to you... we can work something out if you're interested.

My backlog is overwhelmingly long and grows every time Steam runs a good sale, so I doubt I'll be looking to pick up new single-player titles soon. But I'll definitely keep the offer in mind--especially if I ever get to the first Layton game and enjoy it.

I'm also a boardgame evangelist and there are some pretty solid 2 player board games if you guys might be interested in that too

Unless the games were extraordinarily cheap or a friend in the area already owned the game, I doubt we would try them out without prior experience.

We own Cranium Hoopla, Trivial Pursuit, and a few other games. Maybe we should break those out more often. If we played them regularly enough to get bored of them, we'd probably consider picking up a new board game now and then.

 

[Tek7]

In my efforts to build a list of games with co-op gameplay to sample, I'd like to narrow it down a bit. I'm going to post a few "Game 1 v. Game 2" choices below and would appreciate if people familiar with both or all titles in a group could recommend the best game to start with.

• Neverwinter Nights v. Neverwinter Nights 2
• Baldur's Gate v. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
• Champtions of Norrath v. Champions: Return to Arms

For the PC games, it might be worth mentioning that my wife and I both run Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

 

[Elader Arkon]

Flip a coin on Neverwinter Nights 1 or 2.
I personally enjoyed Neverwinter Nights 1 a bit more, but that's likely because I had the diamond edition of it, and I never got to play any of the expansions for Neverwinter Nights 2.

 

[corinalbria]

For whatever it's worth, the board games I was talking about are a different class/type of board game than cranium, scattergories, trivial pursuit, monopoly, etc (which are fondly known as "ameritrash". The emphasis on these types of games tends to be trivia knowledge, lots of dice and luck, and/or yelling and screaming. Don't get me wrong, these are still fun, but tend to need the right people/party atmosphere). There's an entirely different genre called "Eurogames" (Although they aren't all from Europe anymore) or "Designer games" (because all of the games are published with their designer prominently on the game box, similar to how an author is on a book). These focus a lot on strategy, long term planning, and short term flexibility. The game mechanics themselves can take many forms: auctioning type games, civilization building, light war-gaming, trading and negotiating, etc.

Probably the most well known game that is considered a "gateway" game to these types of games is "Settlers of Catan" which is playable for free online; if anyone would like to learn, I'd be happy to teach it... all you need is a computer w/internet and a cellphone on which to talk :-D Beyond that though, the breadth and depth of boardgaming is vast.... arguably as deep or deeper and as high an entertainment factor and replay value as video gaming. (And I love video games.)

Just some thoughts