#baby's first dnd i was not good but it was fun to participate and watch everyone do their thing! : - D
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robogart · 1 year ago
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Drew my little DnD guy, Frank! Up for patrons! 💖✨ Got to play my first campaign - a one-shot - yesterday and it was really fun!! 💖 I played very vanilla because I was overwhelmed lmao but!! Today I let my character marinate for a bit and just made him this adorable little creature! Now I can put him in a jar, I'm so happy! ^ w ^ 💕💖
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dauntlessdiva · 5 months ago
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i wish my stranger things Huge hyperfix was still around :( i miss having brainrot over steddie and such yk? but it’s still lovely to see it on my dash depsite not participating as much anymore. and the fic idea is so good??? i think i’ll go and add some of your fics on ao3 to my read later list! :]
i have tried to watch d20 and specifically fantasy high… i think i got to, like, episode 2 or 3 of season 1. my brain can’t comprehend all of the talking and trying to keep up with story. i love dnd so much and i’d love to delve into d20 more and also critical roll. feel free to talk to me about it anytime! who’s your favorite fantasy high characters??
i also have never watched bridgerton! i’ve seen posts on here about it but i really have no clue what it’s about! i’m guessing it’s british but i’m not even sure about that lol. it’s lovely to watch something with your family like that, it’s really sweet
OH SAME!! i love minecraft and i love baking and i love watching crochet stuff but i don’t participate in the hobby. tell me some of your favorite things about minecraft, your favorite things to bake, your favorite crochet project possibly?
i love music so much AHHH!!! who’s your top 3 artists? or what are some of your favorite songs right now? personally, there’s a new album coming out soon that i’m really excited for! and new music actually released tonight for me as well, just has been a great music month for me ^w^
(hope this is okay, i mean, to send multiple asks as conversation!)
I love this, it's like getting letters but online.
(This is what email wishes it could be)
I also have a hard time concentrating on the words with d20, but also woth podcasts and audiobooks too, so I typically find another task to do to keep my ears engaged. Like I'll listen to Dimension 20 while I bake! Or I'll draw in my sketchbook while listening to an audiobook.
In terms of my favourite character from Fantasy High, it's a tie between Fig and Gorgug. My angry little sweethearts.
Bridgerton IS British! And if you like regency era romance vibes but don't care so much about the historical accuracy, then you'd probably like it. There's a lot of sex scenes though so do with that what you will.
My favourite Bridgerton character is Anthony Bridgerton. He's the eldest and he's so stubborn that I wanna box his ears sometimes, but he is also a sweetheart.
My dad likes to hog the tv for the majority of the week, and we have family movie nights all together on Saturday nights. But on Friday nights, my dad invites his buddies/our neighbours over to hang out in the garage for some beers and good conversation, and me, my mom, and my sister will all go watch something on Netflix together.
We've been doing it since Stranger Things season 4 part 2 came out, and we will just sit and binge entire shows a few episodes at a time.
I may be aging myself with this one, (and that feels so odd to say as someone who just turned 25 last month) but my favourite minceracft youtuber has got to be Vintagebeef. I started watching him when he was in his second season playing on the Mindcrack server (it was their 3rd season I believe), back when I was 12.
I love watching him on the Hermitcraft server these days, and it's nice to see him interacting and having fun with minecraft legends of old and new. I also love any Team Canada (Vintagebeef, Ethoslab, and PauseUnpause) videos. It's as fun as it is chaotic, and it's always very chaotic.
I found a recipe online to turn cake mix into cookies by modifying the wet ingredients, and I have been having so much fun getting creative with those on my days off work since I discovered it sometime last fall.
(My favourite ones so far would have to be the marbled cookies. They are to die for)
My favourite crochet projects, to date, are the baby blanket I made for my best friend's little boy, and the dice bags I recently made for my friend and I (she invited me to join my first ever dnd campaign with her)
My top three music artists right now would be Noah Kahan, Chappell Roan, and Hozier (with a shout out to Benson Boone)
But my all time faves? Marianas Trench, Fall Out Boy, and AC/DC
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witchthewriter · 2 years ago
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omg hi!! firstly i just wanna thank you for doing these in the first place! i perked up so fast lol, you’re doing the lord’s work and i am nothing if not so so grateful!
Level: four! (pls only do the moodboards if your feeling the energy, i know that’s a lot and they take time, completely up to you! same goes for all 3 fandoms!)
basic info: i’m 5’3, use she/they pronouns, im bisexual, and am a virgo sun (bday at the end of the month! 🥳), leo moon and scorpio rising. i’ll throw in INFP and hufflepuff into here too bc why not. appearance wise i have shoulder length hair w curls and bangs w a gap between my teeth and a nose ring.
i can be stubborn and v childish but i love my loved ones so fiercely and would do anything for them, i’ve recently gotten into spirituality, like tarot card readings and crystals, it’s really helped me out a lot recently through some moments in my life and im grateful to have it.
i love reading and i write when i can, im always leaving barnes and noble w one of those blind dates w a book bc they’re so fun and my starbucks order is usually a dragon drink, if that helps w giving you an idea of who i am as a person? lol i also love to sing and do it pretty decently if i do say so myself, i enjoy getting to feel the emotion of the singer when listening to a song , im a cat person and want a kitty sm once i have the means but i also adore dogs as well, dog person turned cat person, evern! am getting into dnd and im so excited about it, i love to watch movies and tv shows and as a writer i tend to delve deep into whatever i can, i LIVE for it!
can listen to all kinds of music but especially love pop, indie, rock and have been more into 70s and 80s stuff more recently (guess why lol). im usually dressing comfortably w some leggings and a crop top or band tee but i also like breaking out the shirt flowy dresses or fish nets and combat boots, it just depends on what im feeling that day, love expressing myself w make up and have lots of fun w it!
this got long but basically a lil queer, spiritual baby that’s still learning how to find themselves and says fuck capatilism and loves her friends and getting to use her creativity to deep dive and dissect media in any way she can
Want to be shipped? Here be the instructions 🦋
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I am so happy we’re mutuals, you’re such a gorgeous person. Thank you for participating! 👑
What each ship has in common:
⋆ Out-going ⋆ ENFP’s ⋆ Unforgettable ⋆ Enthusiastic ⋆ Humorous 
𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥
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𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
You and Kate would be such cuties together. From best friends to lovers, you always have each other’s backs’. I also think she would teach you everything she knows and would want to spend all her time with you. 
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠
・Very intune with each other - I really think you would fight bad guys together and you wouldn’t have to talk because you know exactly what the other will do. 
・Getting tipsy together and not being able to stop giggling 
・Buying piercing tools from amazon and piercing her ears 
・Getting to know Hawkeye and you’re star-struck but you try to play it off
・Relationship Tropes: 
  ✧ Crime Fighting Duo
  ✧ Make Each Other Better
  ✧ “I’m Gonna Do A Crime” + “NO!”
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢
She loves your courage. Your courage to be yourself, to stand up for what you believe in and how loyal you are. Not many people have stood by her, so it feels like she’s been 
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑
Yelena! I think you would have a background where you’re related to one of the Avengers and you met Yelena during Natasha’s funeral. You became good friends and are emotional support for each other. 
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
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𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
I SHIP YOU WITH EDDIE MCEFFIN MUNSON. You guys would have sucha wholesome relationship; no toxicity, no feeling alone or left out. He would invite you everywhere, he’d want you to play DnD, this man wants everything to do with you. 
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠
・Making each other mixtapes of your recommended playlists. 
・Asks you to do a tarot reading for him like all the time - I feel like he would get the Death, Tower and Star card a lot (catalyst for change, re-birth, unique)
・Kisses are VERY VERY passionate. I’m talking breath-taking, legs wobbling. But he does use a lot of tongue. 
・Very tight hugs, you feel so loved when he gives you one. He always wraps his arms around your waist so yours are around his shoulders. 
・Relationship Tropes: 
  ✧ Forever Honeymoon Phase
  ✧ Absolutely Adoring Each Other
  ✧ “I’m Gonna Do A Crime” + “YES!” 
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢
Would be aspects of your personality - the fierce love you have for those you care about blows his mind. Eddie’s only family is his Uncle, and he isn’t very affectionate. So Eddie loves how you show your love. 
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑
Robin!!! Robin would be your best friend for sure; she would always be ready to talk about anything and everything. She just loves speaking with you - you guys have such in-depth conversations. She’s also so energetic and you feed off of it, it’s so uplifting to be around Robin. 
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲
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𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
You and Klaus together are like a chaotic entity that will leave people with smiles on their faces. He would totally experiment with you, go to new places, and help you figure out what you like. 
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠
・Always encouraging you to do anything you want. Even pushes you out of your comfort zone. But he knows how it feels when people are too pushy, so he knows exactly when to stop. 
・He hates whoever you hate. Even if he’s never met them, seen them, or know who they are. He’ll just agree with you. 
・Klaus is actually pretty wise and he’s experienced a lot. He doesn’t tell you what to do, and will let you experience things for yourself. But if you want advice, and ask him for it, then he’ll gladly advise you. 
・Likes to wear matching clothes, or matching socks/jewelry etc
・Relationship tropes: 
  ✧ Idiot (Klaus) x Idiot in Progress
  ✧ Fish Out of Water (You) x Person Whose Seen It All (Klaus) 
  ✧ Chaos Duo
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢
Klaus loves how you see the world. He loves that you have hope and that you want to know yourself. He has a bleak outlook on life, and you give him a light in the darkness. 
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑
You get on well with Luther. Your Scorpio placement understanding his sensitivity and emotions. I think he would be very protective over you as well, and is super happy that you and Klaus are together. 
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irrevocably-delicious · 6 years ago
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Cultivating an enjoyable video games experience with non gamers aka How do I get my non-gamer significant other to play games with me?
Video games.
Once a niche hobby of adult programmers in the 70s, before targeting 10 year old boys in the 80s and 90s, video games are now a mainstream hobby and entertainment product that has shown tremendous growth in the past 30 years. While films and serialized shows have shown some developments, with new technologies and the invent of streaming, the gaming industry has undergone a complete transformation in only a few short decades. Entire genres have been created, along with improved graphics, mechanics, and storytelling.
But with more people getting into video games now more than ever, the age-old question continuously resurfaces:
“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”
And it’s an understandable question! Games are an important hobby to some, and it’s nice to be able to share in that passion and joy with the person you love most. I completely understand this. I’m a cosplayer and I’ve definitely conned my boyfriend into pressing seams for me or sitting in hour long panels about EVA foam. It’s not exactly his number 1 priority, but we have fun together doing it, and he’s able to appreciate my craft a little more because of it.
Similarly, he’s not an artist, but he always helps me table in Artist Alley, gives advice on new prints to make (“If you’re going to make a niche DnD print, at least display it near the DnD stuff to be a conversation starter”) and stays up til 2am cutting stickers with me. It’s exhausting, but we have a lot of good memories from doing it together.
It’s nice to include your significant others in activities that bring you joy.
So how the hell do you convince your partner to engage with video games… if they never have before? And what kinds of games are going to give you the best experience?
Hi. Welcome. This is where I come in.
I’m not a gamer. At all. I’m awful at video games. Whilst my boyfriend was growing up and devouring every console he could convince his parents to buy, I was being a horse girl. No Halo for me today, sir, I have a showjumping class to attend. The only video game I would willingly participate in was Singstar during sleep overs, and that was because I was a musical theatre kid and knew this would be the only video game that I could completely decimate my peers with. Street fighter? No thank you. But I will wreck your shit with Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne.
But somehow, even though this is my upbringing, I have to acknowledge the fact that over the past 10 years I’ve actually played… a lot of video games. I think I’ve figured out the key. I think I’ve distilled the answer. Now obviously this is purely based on my experience, and everyone will have slightly different results, but I will now present you with my scientific anthropological findings of how you may be able to repeat this process.  
“How do I get my significant other to play video games with me?”
Now I think there are two ways to go about this.
1.       Play a video game together where both of you are holding a controller and in charge of some aspect of the game. Ie. Character, assistant, the right foot, etc.
Now I realize this seems obvious.
“You mean I can play a video game with my significant other by actually playing a game with my significant other??? Uhhhh yeah…. I WOULD THINK SO”
But hear me out. Out of the two ways you can go about this, I actually think this is the hardest way (I’ll explain why soon). My partner and I do not often play games together like this. What we usually do, and what I would be more likely to recommend is:
2.       Play a game where you (the gamer) have the controller, and your SO participates or watches from the couch.
This is what my boyfriend and I usually do, and it’s the less likely of the two options to cause arguments, fights, and tears.
But let’s first look at option 1.
Playing a game together
Do you remember when you were in high school and you had to do a film study for a semester? And your teacher would explain all the different camera shots and angles and what they meant? A low angle shot where a character towers above makes them seem intimidating. A character cloaked in shadow indicates that the character is sneaky.
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Your teacher told you all this, but in reality, all of these meanings were probably pretty obvious to you. You intuitively knew what they meant because you had been raised on watching movies. You were already familiar with this language of film because it had always been present in your life.
Well guess what? Video games have a language too.
And just like film, if you have played video games your whole life, you might be surprised at just how much of this language you have absorbed, and how much of this literacy is REQUIRED to play a modern video game.
The fact that triangle is always jump, x to interact, L2 to aim, R2 to shoot, circle to crouch, square to reload… all of that is assumed knowledge that you would probably have ingested over time, so it comes completely natural to you now.
Your SO doesn’t know any of this. They probably don’t even know that the L and R buttons exist. I didn’t. I still forget.
This is why choosing a game to play together is so difficult. When you finally do choose one? You have to be patient. You cannot get annoyed when your SO has to ask every five minutes what jump is again. They may have difficulty navigating around menus and UI. They may have difficulty moving around in game. Side scrollers are pretty intuitive, but games that require you to position a camera? Ie. Most third person or first person anything? Oof. That’s hard. They might fall off a lot of bridges or stare at the ground a lot. This is a skill you have to build up. You have it already. They don’t. It’s important to remember that saying anything like “You can do it, it’s easy!” or “Why are you having so much trouble with this?” is NOT HELPFUL. It’s only going to make your SO feel stupid/bad. Remember, they don’t give a shit about video games. Their life has been just fine without them until now, and it will continue to be just fine without games. They are only doing this FOR YOU. So why would you want to make someone feel stupid for just trying to make you happy?
Treat them like a baby deer. Gently. Tentatively. You are slowly drawing them into the clearing. Any harsh comment will send them running.
Based on all this, here are some recommendations on games that work well to play with your SO.
1.    Games you are SUPPOSED to be bad at.
You know how I just talked about how there are general conventions over controls? And that it can be frustrating for your SO to learn these whilst they come intuitively for you?
Well what if you eliminated that disparity by playing games where the controls intentionally make no goddamn sense? By playing a game with whacky controls, it evens the playing field. Your SO is learning and struggling with controls, but so are you! This way your stupidity is not humiliating, it creates a sense of comradery. There’s no shame, just silliness and fun. The game I played with my partner that made me first realise the genius of this was… Octodad.
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Octodad is collaborative. It’s an absolute nightmare to control, but for once my boyfriend’s muscle memory was actually a detriment. He would instinctively go to move like he would in other games, but that’s not how Octodad works. So he was rewiring his muscle memory whilst I was just a blank slate.
“Trigger to grab things? Yeah sure. Why not? I don’t know any better.”
It also hits that sweet spot of being short enough that the silliness doesn’t grow stale, and has a sincere enough story that you do become invested in the fate of the octopus in your hands.
10/10 Octodad. Highly recommend.
Other games in this genre that I feel would be worth a look:
-          Man Fall Flat
-          QWOP
-          Surgeon Simulator
-          Super Bunny Man
 2.    Hey! It’s Nintendo!
Ah Nintendo. It’s where most children start, so it seems like a logical place for a burgeoning gamer to begin. But specifically, what I want to recommend are the range of excellent Nintendo party games that are simple to navigate, fun, and often cooperative. I can’t play an FPS, but Mario Kart comes very easy to me…. Or as easy as it does to anyone. Similarly, Mario Party requires almost no video game literacy, and you can introduce it to your SO as “It’s just a board game that happens to be a video game”.
Although we do joke about Mario Kart and Mario Party being “friendship killers” because of their competitive nature and how easy it is to sabotage other players. If you are worried about these games maybe causing to much distress, I would also recommend the tried and true Wii Sports or the more modern 1-2-Switch. It has a cow milking game! It’s fun! And you can laugh at one another as you make terrible dick jokes.
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I DO NOT RECOMMEND SUPER SMASH BROS. THAT IS NOT AN INTRODUCTORY GAME.
If you really want, play it on co-op team mode.
 In summary, when picking a game to play with your SO my general recommendations are:
- make sure the game has very simple controls and linear movement (if any at all)
- or have a game with bonkers controls so you can learn them together
- avoid competitive games to start. Or play competitive games that require no video game literacy. The best FPS or Tekken player is NOT going to win Mario Party. It’s just luck.
Playing games this way with my partner is fun, but not how we usually play games. This is because if I want to play a AAA title, or maybe a great JRPG I’ve heard about, I have to move on to the second method.
 Playing games where the gamer has the control and the non-gamer watches/participates via other means.
This is how my partner and I generally play games. Because my partner is the one holding the controller, navigating the game, combat and menus, I am not required to have any of that assumed knowledge I mentioned earlier.
But how can you make watching a video game compelling?
It’s actually not as difficult as you might imagine, but you’re right in that it does rule out a chunk of games. If you have grand dreams of your non-gamer girlfriend fawning over your sweet League of Legends skills… then I think you need a bit of a wake-up call. Competitive online games, FPS and sports games (such as FIFA) are generally not fun to watch. This isn’t a blanket statement! Some non-gamers could find these fun. But generally, if you don’t know the skill it requires to perform certain moves or strategies, or are unfamiliar with even the basic rules… these games just look like a mess.
Me watching someone play Overwatch: “Wow… I suddenly have motion sickness”
I find the most compelling games to watch are: Narrative driven
Think of all the games that are basically movies with some gameplay thrown in. Uncharted and the Tomb Raider reboot are just long form Indiana Jones movies. The Last of Us is a survival, drama, horror movie that makes you question your morals and how far you are willing to go to help humanity. The Witcher captures a rich narrative and lore comparable only to the Lord of the Rings films. The Yakuza series might be the best mob movie I’ve ever seen. All of these games are great and as engrossing to watch as they are to play. Lovable characters, compelling obstacles, and a good dose of spectacle keep them entertaining. Narrative driven games are my favorite to just sit and watch whilst my partner plays.
However, “narrative driven games” encapsulates thousands of titles, with some being more suited to watching than others. To help narrow down games that are enjoyable without a controller, I’ve narrowed it down into 3.5 sub categories.
1.       Games with a looser/more predictable narrative, but the visuals are just so damn appealing
2.       Choice based games – with the sub category of puzzle games
3.       Mediocre games, but they’re fun
 Each of these categories creates a uniquely different gaming experience, ranging from a cinematic “sit and watch” style, to a higher participation, more co-operative team based style. Let’s start with the first as it’s the easiest to define.
 1.    Games with a looser narrative, but engrossing visuals
Sometimes games will have a good story, but you’re just not sure if it’s good enough to sustain someone’s attention for 20+ hours. Maybe it’s a little predictable. Maybe you know the hero is destined to save the day. Will this be enough to hold my SOs attention?
And I think you are really the only one to answer that.
But let me first tell you about one of my favorite games, and probably only the second game I ever played with my partner.
DMC.
I fucking adore this game.
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Eat my ass. It’s great.
But is the story that great? I mean it’s cool. Half angel, half demon boys. Long lost twin brothers. An evil demon who killed your father and has now essentially become a mob boss and corrupted your city. It’s cool. It’s interesting enough, but at the end of the day, you know Vergil is going to betray you. You know your cardboard cut out girlfriend(?) is going to be a liability. You know you’re going to defeat that demon boss with your big sword.
But god damn, if it isn’t a riot to watch. Devil May Cry has some of the most stylish and slick combat, that it’s really entertaining to just witness. You can cheer on your SO on as they climb up to a SSS ranking and maintain their combo over 5 whole minutes. The soundtrack is blasting. The level design and art direction are stunning. Watching Dante get dragged into Limbo is always an experience, and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to walk into this time. DMC still has one of the most inventive boss fights I’ve ever seen and I’m honestly waiting for another game to top it.
So, I think if your visuals are captivating enough… that can definitely save a game with maybe just a good to average story. It’s just a treat for the senses.
Other games I would put in this category would be:
- The Arkham games, particularly Arkham City and Arkham Knight. God the combat is just great to watch, with each punch really feeling brutal and heavy. The spookiness of Gotham is eerily beautiful, and finding all the easter eggs in the world is a real treat.
- The latest Spider-man game from Insomniac games
- Breath of the Wild – I just like… being in this game
-Nier Automata – this one is a bit weird. I wasn’t sure which category to put it in, but felt because of the interesting mechanics and gimmick of playing over and over again to reveal more of the world and story, I decided to put it here.
 2.    Choice based games
This is definitely my favorite type of game to play, and the one that I think is the easiest to engage with, despite the lack of controller in my hand.
The whole reason I started playing games with my partner is because he was playing a game and after a while I just… sat down… and started watching.
The game was Mass Effect 3, and I just became really involved in the story and the choices my partner was making. We have since gone back and played the entire Mass Effect series multiple times, and I feel it really exemplifies what is so fantastic about playing a choice-based game with a non-gamer.
Choice based games still allow your SO to be heavily involved. If you are letting your SO make choices, then they are still playing the game. Just because I wasn’t the one actively shooting Collectors does not mean I had no impact on our game experience. It was my choice to cure the genophage. My choice to spare the Rachni queen, and you can be damn sure that it was my choice to romance Garrus across the series. Choice based games are fantastic for keeping your SO engaged and the two of you can cultivate your own story and endure consequences together.
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Obviously I love Mass Effect, but some similar games in this style would be:
-          Until Dawn
-          The Witcher
-          The Persona series – but be careful! These games are long so may not be great as an introductory game
 Visual Novels! – Visual novels are excellent for this! They’re purely choice based, and it doesn’t matter who is clicking the next button. For an added amount of goofiness, take on roles and do stupid voices. Do it. It’s great. Nothing makes me laugh harder than romancing an anime schoolgirl with an old man voice.
 They’re short, but can be replayed for a different ending if you wish. My partner and I played Dream Daddy together multiple times and were avid about who our favorite dads were. I liked Robert and Craig. My partner liked Damian and Brian. 
 My partner and I have actually just started playing a new visual novel, but along with it being choice based, I would also classify it as a puzzle/problem solving game.
 2.5  Puzzle/problem solving games
Puzzle games are great for a similar reason as choice-based games, as they keep your SO involved. Only this time they are helping to problem solve. Many times I’ve been able to figure something out before my boyfriend, so I can go “ohhhh take that, drop it here, then move that here” and it’ll work!
Currently we’re making our way through the Danganronpa series, which is a bit of a hybrid between a visual novel and puzzle game. It’s not a difficult game to control or navigate at all, so I could play it on my own, but I like playing it with my partner as we bounce theories off of one another and work together to solve a crime. I’ll remember certain pieces of evidence he doesn’t, or he’ll remember one throw away line from the opening 3 minutes of the game that is now an alibi. During free time, we’ll each pick a character to talk to, so we both get to learn more about our favorite characters.
“I wanna talk to Sakura because she seems sweet and I want her to have friends”
“Ok, then I’ll talk to Mondo because he seems funky.”
And so on. The process is collaborative.
Some games of a similar genre that might be fun:
-          Catherine from Atlus
-          Portal 1 and 2
-          The Phoenix Wright series
-          Resident evil 2 – this one is a bit odd, but resident evil 2 is almost a memory game as you work to remember all the things you’ve picked up, the pieces you need to unlock doors, and prioritize the weapons you’ll take with you. “No take the grenade rounds. If we’re going in the offices, we left that face hugger there, remember?”
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Finally this brings us to our third category, and also the most difficult to explain. So I’ve just called it:
3.    Average Games, but there’s just something enjoyable about them
Sometimes games are just… fun. Sometimes the story is alright, the gameplay is repetitive, but the characters and writing are just so inherently likeable or interesting that you can keep watching. For me, this whole category was created as a way for me to justify my fondness for the Saints Row series.
Saints Row is, on paper, pretty unremarkable. It’s a ridiculous series of games about a street gang coming into fame and eventually political power, and the outlandish things they have to do to climb that ladder. Often cited as a “GTA clone” the gameplay is repetitive and almost boring at times, with most of the missions falling into the “Go here, kill people” category. The world isn’t particularly pretty or interesting. It’s just a city. One that you’ve seen a million times if you’ve played any city-based open world game.
So why do I love this unremarkable series? Why am I oddly attached to these characters?
Ultimately, I think it comes down to the characters being written with a certain amount of honesty, and the interactions between them feel genuine and oddly heartfelt. I don’t really care about rival gangs or accumulating money, but if it lets me ride in the car and have another sing along with Pierce, then I’m going to do it.
I like the weird sexual tension between the Boss and Shaundi, which only seems to become more prominent if you play as the female Boss. I love Matt Miller and him ranting about his Nyte blayde fan fiction. I like finding out the Boss has read Jane Austen.
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It’s just silly and fun, with a good amount of ridiculous spectacle. It’s definitely not a series that I could recommend. It just kind of appealed to something in me. I think there are lots of games that could fit this category. Most people will say that the Borderlands series is “Alright” but it has a lot of fun dialogue and characters who keep it entertaining. Similarly, despite lack luster reviews, I know a lot of people really enjoyed the 2013 Deadpool game because Deadpool was written just like he is in the comics.
This category is the hardest to nail, and you may go through several games that you think are “hilarious” or “crazy fun” that just don’t gel with your SO. That’s ok. As you play more, you’ll eventually be able to develop a sense of each other’s tastes and what will appeal to you.
 General Advice in closing
TL;DR, here are some good parameters to stick to until you reach a consensus of what games your SO might enjoy.
-  Games with a good story and compelling characters will always be entertaining
- If the combat is long and takes up a good proportion of the game, it should be visually interesting to look at. If the combat is repetitive or boring to watch, it should clip along at a good pace and only come in short bursts. Bonus points if there’s party banter!
- Start with shorter games, then build up. It’s a big demand on someone to sit through a 60+ hour game for your first few attempts. Maybe put that Tales game on the shelf for now.
I’ve tried to keep this advice general, but obviously you and your SO will have different interests, and you should appeal to those. I love anime. I love hot boys. Due to these factors, I am more than willing to sit through a long form JRPG about two rival noble boys, as it appeals to my weeb sensibilities. This is not something I would expect others to be able to do.
I generally don’t like films about heists or organized crime. It’s just not a genre that appeals to me, so asking me to sit through Grand Theft Auto is probably not the wisest choice. I have played GTA5 for those that are curious, and it’s not my favorite. It’s definitely not bad, and I do expect other non-gamers would be entertained playing through the story of it. There’s definitely a good story there! It’s just not one that satisfies all of my needs. Just like how I don’t expect every person to love sitting through God of War or Jak and Daxter.
Getting to learn each other’s likes and dislikes takes time. Favorite movies can be a bit of an indicator, but transferring to a different medium complicates things. The most important thing is to listen to each other and be respectful. If your SO doesn’t like your favorite game of all time, that’s not a personal insult. You are likely just experiencing the game in a different way than they are, and they can’t relate to that.
Along with being respectful, obviously don’t pressure your SO into anything. Sometimes you’ll find that your SO might not want to play games with you because they had such an awful experience trying to play with their exes or other friends previously. I know I was really hesitant to ever pick up a controller again after an incident where I couldn’t navigate my character over a log, because I was not used to controlling a camera, and was made to feel really stupid and useless. I threw up my hands and said “Fuck this shit” for a long time. Your SO might be hesitant to play games with you because they worry that you’ll just get frustrated with how bad they are. You can reassure them that this won’t happen, but it’s still their choice to say no.
At the end of the day, it’s ok to have different hobbies. You don’t have to share everything. If you are lucky enough that your non-gamer SO might want to try playing games with you, then be kind, and be patient. When picking games to play together, try to pick something you can both enjoy. Go on a journey together. Have fun!
It’s a game after all.  
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