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I would vote for Stardew Valley as a universally "good" introduction to gaming. There's a lot of charm, it's low intensity, it's obviously a labor of love, there are frequent rewards, and it incentivizes planning/engagement but not in a way that makes a new player fail.
Honestly though I'd rather know what kind of preferences a person has and tailor the game to that because gaming is so diverse.
Speaking of labour of love I would also add Terraria
100% agree. Both are examples of how passionate indie gaming can surpass millions of dollars of budget and create something special.
SDV is a great answer. It's still my top played game in steam. I played it through the entire quarantine phase of the pandemic.
Even if SDV is my favourite game to play, I wouldn't recommend it for someone with little to no gaming experience. It's a cozy farming sim yes, but a lot of mechanics are not that well explained and you have to use the wiki A LOT! Even watching streamers playing it for the first time just shows how much on top explaining is often necessary to really start a good farm where you can feel the progress.
The Portal games. They show how games can build alternative realities in a fundamentally more tangible way than other mediums while not assuming previous experience with games.
Dark Souls
Jeez, let them start with something easy, like Battletoads on NES.
Movie-like games where you pick choices? Life is Strange, The Walking Dead and similar, Heavy Rain.
Also Lego, Thrine, EDGE for easy platforming.
It's also worth noting many games now have a "story mode" like difficulty, an easy mode with almost no risk, just something to allow you to experience the story.
What comes to mind is the Uncharted series, though I would probably try to avoid any sort of 1st or 3rd person shooter like game with the typical dual stick controls.
It doesn't directly answer your question, but this playlist of videos is tangentially related. It's showing the experience of trying various games/genres of games for someone who is not at all a gamer. It was really interesting to see some of the things that gamers might take for granted which are completely foreign to someone who hasn't been steeped in gaming.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLordXx8iNEyStcX_WzqM0JCpiJYgqhinc
I find Nintendo games are great for people that don't play games much.
If they're very young, one of the most recent yoshi games are very easy to play.
Or else a nice 2D platformer like Mario wonder. You can play with them and help if necessary.
If you want them to get used to 3D style games Mario Odyssey or Astro's playroom on ps5 are very fun to play.
You get to be an animal, and run around and explore an expansive but uncomplicated world. You meet other animals (players), and try to communicate with only animal noises and emojis. And you run around together collecting resources, that unlock more animals or animal things to use.
It's wonderful.
There isn't one single answer to this, it depends on the person's predilections. But good beginner games have in common that they have simple controls, start out easy and introduce new elements piecemeal. An engaging world and story can provide the player with direction.
Portal 1 is one of those games that I've heard lots of people enjoy that don't usually play games and it ticks all those boxes.
The Super Mario jumpNrun games are also great as an introduction as the controls are very intuitive and explorable. Plus it's fun to move around and traversing the world.
Minimalist puzzle games like Monument valley can also do the trick for some folks.
I love Journey and recommend it for all ages
Stardew Valley or Minecraft.
Minecraft is also my go to. You have the initial hurdle of teaching them to walk with one stick and look with the other, but if they can get past that it tends to pull people in for hours.
Well, I would definitely recommend Java edition, which is only for desktops, laptops or Android over bedrock, but it is still a good game in either edition.
If you really want to fuck them up just make them play WoW.
The correct answer is the original Peggie and Peggie Nights.
Pong, walk them through the generations.
IDK it kind of depends on what they might be into. Maybe something like Minecraft, Portal/Portal 2, or Skyrim where the mechanics aren't too complicated. I think multiplayer can be a big way to keep people interested too. I've gotten my parents who dislike video games to enjoy Golf with Friends and Jackbox games.
If they like puzzles that's also kinda easy there's tons of low barrier to entry stuff.
I've been thinking Cocoon would be a good candidate for that.
While maybe not kid friendly due to themes in the game, but i think The Binding of Issac is a pretty good place to start.
It is easy to learn, but provides enough space for skill growth. It offers a nice mysterious progression of enhancements and curses to amplify that core gameplay. Furthermore, the gameplay loop with randomly generated levels, item tables, and shuffling boss rosters, the game really offers so much for someone to get new to games excited about.
My wife never grew up with video games, where i was the opposite. we dated for about 3 years and one day she asked me about BOI. I showed her how to play it on my PC and the rest is history. i think she had clocked almost 1000hrs in the game. Now, she plays games more than I do! She bought an Xbox and plays whatever is on game pass. I am almost certain she is close to perfecting Hades.
A close second would maybe be the Aliens arcade shooter with the big ol guns you point at the screen!