Recommend me Switch games for my wife

[<3sRichardSimmons]

My wife has recently started playing video games for the first time in her life, and has been really enjoying it. She doesn’t like using a computer, and the only console we own is a Switch. I’ve gotten her the following games:

Stardew Valley. This was the first one she played and she loved it. Exhausted all the content multiple times.

Breath of the Wild. Ditto above, but she frequently needed my help with Lynels, bosses, dragons, and the endgame content, which was pretty annoying.

Spiritfarer. She liked this one, but thought that it was light on actual gameplay. 7/10.

Minecraft. She’s just started playing this one and is finding its complexity somewhat frustrating.

So what else is there?

 

[Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi]

Miitopia, Animal Crossing, the pokemons, zelda link aweken, mario odysse, luigi mansion 3, splatoon, hollow knight. Maybe Ring Fit Adventure so she can work that ass

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Miitopia, Animal Crossing, the pokemons, zelda link aweken, mario odysse, luigi mansion 3, splatoon, hollow knight. Maybe Ring Fit Adventure so she can work that ass

Oh yeah she played Animal Crossing too. Liked it, but not as much as SDV, and I hesitate to call it much of a "game". She played Link's Awakening a little too, but found it unengaging without BotW's big open-world. I own and love Hollow Knight, but it is for sure way too hard for her. I very much doubt she could make it to the False Knight. She has a weird chip on her shoulder about anything related to Mario Bros. Is Splatoon fun in single-player? She and I occasionally play games together, but a major draw for me to get her invested in a game is that she leaves me alone to play real games (crpgs, tbses) . I hadn't heard of Miitopia, but that looks like a possibility. I've never played a Pokemon game. Are they linear in structure, or do they have a more open world? I assume that they're fairly low-difficulty?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

codex's RPGOTY of course

 

[Strange Fellow]

Profile sounds similar to my sister, who has played BOTW to death and enjoys Animal Crossing. I know she likes Pokemon games a lot. She also loved Ori and the Blind Forest, so if your wife is willing to give 2d platformers another chance that one might be an option. (For reference, she tried Hollow Knight after and found it too hard.)

 

[Ippolit]

Maybe she likes Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

Or Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

 

[Maximilian]

Maybe she likes Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

Or Mario & Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

Frankly, recommending Fire Emblem to a casual gamer woman who likes to chill in games and seeks helps with challenges is perhaps as outlandish as telling her to wait for SMT5, or something.
Animal Crossing presents itself as the natural fit, I'd say.

 

[Catacombs]

Super Mario Odyssey. It has a literal easy mode that'll make the game even more forgiving.

Oh yeah she played Animal Crossing too. Liked it, but not as much as SDV, and I hesitate to call it much of a "game".

Did she play Animal Crossing: New Horizon?

 

[Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi]

Miitopia, Animal Crossing, the pokemons, zelda link aweken, mario odysse, luigi mansion 3, splatoon, hollow knight. Maybe Ring Fit Adventure so she can work that ass

Oh yeah she played Animal Crossing too. Liked it, but not as much as SDV, and I hesitate to call it much of a "game". She played Link's Awakening a little too, but found it unengaging without BotW's big open-world. I own and love Hollow Knight, but it is for sure way too hard for her. I very much doubt she could make it to the False Knight. She has a weird chip on her shoulder about anything related to Mario Bros. Is Splatoon fun in single-player? She and I occasionally play games together, but a major draw for me to get her invested in a game is that she leaves me alone to play real games (crpgs, tbses) . I hadn't heard of Miitopia, but that looks like a possibility. I've never played a Pokemon game. Are they linear in structure, or do they have a more open world? I assume that they're fairly low-difficulty?

the splatoon campaign is fun, can coop it too if u wish. When it comes to pokemon is a semi linear approach mixed with open world; as in, the game have soft area locks until u can get either a certain special pokemon power/meet a plot character or defeat a gym leader. And yes then are casual tier difficult for the most part.

 

[ExposedBrainMatter]

Offline Splatoon is fun in the same way that offline Souls games are fun, still worth the experience but you are missing a LOT if you don't multiplayer. The only other game I ever liked on Switch was Blasphemous but...

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Oh yeah she played Animal Crossing too. Liked it, but not as much as SDV, and I hesitate to call it much of a "game".

Did she play Animal Crossing: New Horizon?

Yeah that’s the one she played.

It’s a little difficult for me to state definitively what she likes in games because she both doesn’t have much exposure to games, and doesn’t approach them from a particularly critical perspective, but from what I’ve observed I believe she likes:

+A focus on exploration

+Strong progression systems that make sure you always have a goal you are working towards

+Crafting mechanics

+ A generally low level of difficulty (I think the Ori games would probably be too hard)

+ A strong and cohesive art direction; one of her strongest criticisms of Animal Crossing was that it looked like shit.

 

[MRY]

Mario Odyssey. No crafting, but checks the other boxes. My kids have a similar roster of favorites to your wife, and they really liked it.

 

[Catacombs]

It’s a little difficult for me to state definitively what she likes in games because she both doesn’t have much exposure to games, and doesn’t approach them from a particularly critical perspective, but from what I’ve observed I believe she likes:

+A focus on exploration

+Strong progression systems that make sure you always have a goal you are working towards

+Crafting mechanics

+ A generally low level of difficulty (I think the Ori games would probably be too hard)

+ A strong and cohesive art direction; one of her strongest criticisms of Animal Crossing was that it looked like shit.

Is she limited to the Switch? She'll find endless options with PC gaming.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Is she limited to the Switch? She'll find endless options with PC gaming.

She spends most of her workday in front of a computer and would rather not do the same in her leisure time.
Functionally, I'm sure she wouldn't quibble about using a wireless controller to play a game on a PC that's being mirrored onto/connected via HDMI to a TV, but that would also deprive me of access to my PC, which again deprives me of much of my (selfish) motivation to find games for her -that it affords me large swaths of time to play games she finds boring.

That said, feel free to recommend games that are not available on Switch. Circumstances change and I love my wife; perhaps someday I'll convince her of the superiority of desktops.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Terraria? Its less complex than Minecraft in some places and more in others.

 

[Bastardchops]

Get your wife pregnant. If she's playing with kid's toys it's probably because she wants kids.

 

[deuxhero]

The Atelier Arland trilogy is pretty good. Mysterious trilogy is OK but not as good.

Is she limited to the Switch? She'll find endless options with PC gaming.

She spends most of her workday in front of a computer and would rather not do the same in her leisure time.
Functionally, I'm sure she wouldn't quibble about using a wireless controller to play a game on a PC that's being mirrored onto/connected via HDMI to a TV, but that would also deprive me of access to my PC, which again deprives me of much of my (selfish) motivation to find games for her -that it affords me large swaths of time to play games she finds boring.

That said, feel free to recommend games that are not available on Switch. Circumstances change and I love my wife; perhaps someday I'll convince her of the superiority of desktops.

Build a cheap PC and use Steam's big picture interface.

 

[grimace]

Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne

 

[mediocrepoet]

Since she's new to games and seems to like more casual games, many of the suggestions here are solid. I'd also add Mario Kart if she's even remotely open to racing games. Obviously there's no crafting in it, but there are hidden sections of tracks, etc. and is one of my wife's GOATs.

 

[Stokowski]

My Time at Portia might appeal.

 

[Catacombs]

Terraria? Its less complex than Minecraft in some places and more in others.

I second this. Great game.

 

[Xmantis]

I've heard good things about Golf Story, but I haven't played it myself yet.

 

[Catacombs]

I've heard good things about Golf Story, but I haven't played it myself yet.

Golf Story was fun for the dozen or so hours I put into it. I've been meaning to get back into it.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

https://vsrecommendedgames.fandom.com/wiki/Switch

she might like the jrpgs because they usually have a big world, clear objectives and usually not too difficult. Xenoblade chronicles 1/2 and trials of mana in particular have an easy mode, and dq XI by default isn't difficult

 

[Dyskolos]

Mine did the same last year with Stardew and also enjoyed Spiritfarer but more for the story than gameplay. We tried My Time at Portia but the performance is pretty ass on Switch and she somehow finds full 3d confusing for character control. More successful in the same vein were Graveyard Keeper, Rune Factory 4, and Doraemon Story of Seasons. Out of nowhere she also enjoyed the Dragon Quest 1-3 trilogy I had on there.

It turns out after giving me shit for years someone else in the house also has a strong autism streak.