Topic: Game Recommendations for a Sister

Hey folks! Fizza here. Over the past few days, I learned that one of my sisters recently managed to nab a Switch over the Christmas season thanks to a very lovely friend of her's. As a result, I've been thinking about getting her a game for it as both a small token of gratitude for all the nice things she's done for me and an early birthday present (as her one isn't very far away as of the time I'm writing this). So, that leads me into my main question then: what games would you recommend I grab my sister?

I do have a 2 little stipulations I'd like to lay out before starting though, as I'm looking for two things in particular:

• Something on the simpler side (i.e. games that don't require too much of a learning curve in order to have a good first impression)
• Something that isn't too intensive (i.e. games that don't require constant attention in order to play through as my sister has a pretty active job at the moment)

I have a couple games on the shortlist for what to get her at the moment, including:

• Kirby (can't decide which Switch game to get though am leaning towards Forgotten Land)
• Animal Crossing New Horizons
• Super Mario RPG

I'd be glad to take whatever suggestions you guys have so fire away with as many as you want. Thanks for listening and have a great day!

Mario Kart is perfect for people who want to play for 10 mins for 10 hours and is accessible for non-gamers.

Super Mario Wonder, Captain Toad, Smash Bros, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Mario 3D World, Tony Hawk, Lego Star Wars, Warioware, Doom (2016), Arms, Mario Strikers, Pokemon Snap etc come to mind too.

Maybe Splatoon but perhaps it’s too competitive for a casual gamer.

I would recommend Kirby for sure.

The 2D one is probably easier to get started in someways, the 3D one probably requires a bit more skill (moving in 3 dimensions), but both are excellent and forgiving.

Paper Mario Origami King is very good too if they like the reading and can get on with the logic/battle puzzles.

I feel like we probably need a guide/article "best easy switch games" here on @nintendolife

@jump Yeah, the only reason I didn't list Mario Kart is that I'm 99% sure she got it with her console and wouldn't want to accidentally double up on anything she might already have. Definitely going to take your other recs into consideration though (3D World and Warioware especially are very good choices).

@antdickens I think a 'Best Easy Switch Games' list would be a great idea personally! Also cheers for the Origami King mention; putting that on the shortlist as we speak!

Kirby and Animal Crossing for sure - personally I'd put forward AC, as it does a great job in allowing creativity to run wild and gives solid player agency

Just a thought, I’d be weary about overly worrying if a game is too hard or not. As they have a job I’m assuming they aren’t a small child so as long as there isn’t a silly difficult spike most games do a good job of introducing the mechanics and then slowly building up the challenge. Whilst giving them an easy to play game sounds good in theory it’s also kinda insulting if you assume they as an adult would be too dumb fuddled to play anything too complex.

So it should be more about eliminating impossibly hard games like Dark Souls and Cuphead rather than only shortlisting the easiest of easy games.

Since it hasn't been mentioned, why not a Yoshi game? They tend to be on the easier side, and Switch has Yoshi's Crafted World. I didn't find it to be too hard, yet it was a lot of fun IMO. It can be played level by level. I'd like to suggest that game.

It's been awhile since I've played it, so going by memory on this one.

Agree with everyone saying Kirby (totally unbiased, of course )

Also Pokemon Snap could be a good one

@Fizza Do... girls play video games?🤔 Jk<3 😉

The favorite games of my three nieces:
Mario Odyssey
Lego City Undercover
Miitopia
Untitled Goose Game
Fall Guys
Lego Star Wars - the most recent Skywalker one
Spot the Differences Party!
Mario Kart 8 (they like the battle modes)

My suggestions would be Stardew Valley, Mario Odyssey, Kirby Return to Dreamland, Mario Maker 2 (if she's the creative type).

Never knowingly seen a female say they didn't like Stardew Valley.

Seconding the nomination for Yoshi.

Any of the Pokémon games, but especially Legends Arceus.

Not saying you are wrong but I don’t actually know any ladies who play Stardew. Everyone I know either plays Mario and Pokemon or Wolfenstein and GTA.

@WoomyNNYes Lego City Undercover is a great time!
Even when you beat the game its fun to just mess around around the city if your playing with someone else

Thanks so much for all your suggestions guys! In the time since, I've actually learned what games she managed to nab for her Switch, being both Super Mario Bros Wonder and Nintendo Switch Sports. I originally planned to go with Kirby (either RtDL DX or Forgotten Land) but given how she already has a platformer in SMBW, now I'm not so sure. Animal Crossing seems like it might be a very good shout, though some RPGs could be decent choices as well. I'll let you know once I have a game finalised in my mind!

Thinking of the handful of lady gamers in my life, I think probably Hogwarts Legacy is the most common ground. I'd say it's probably not the best pick for Switch but of the three that are deeply into Hogwarts Legacy two are playing on Switch, one is playing on PS5. So there's that. But that may just be because they're all a bit bookish and are all around the age bracket where Harry Potter was a big deal

Outside of Hogwarts Legacy? I mean, Animal Crossing has a fair bit of love. Most of the years since launch Animal Crossing has been the go-to game, it was arguably THE game some of them got a Switch for. Though it's also the second best selling game on Switch in general and my most played game. So... probably just a good pick in general. Stardew Valley as mentioned above? Another fairly popular game amongst that group

Although as others have said, a person's gender doesn't really tell you much about what games they're into. Some of the lady gamers I know are into turn based RPGs, some are into the Kirbys and Yoshis, some are into puzzle games. All sorts. One of my colleagues is more of a gamer than I am, I'm pretty sure the only game she plays is Valorant so.... I could do the same thing as above with "man gamers" and I'd end up suggesting Civilisation because that's just one of the more popular games amongst the male gamers I know

Honestly, the best sellers are generally the safest picks. Again Animal Crossing and Mario Kart are easy picks. Smash Bros is a tad less "casual" so, I find it a bit more hit-and-miss compared to Kart which is just universal. Zelda? I mean, can't go tooo wrong but it's a bit more of a gamers game. If you want to roll the dice on a Zelda Link's Awakening HD is probably a bit more universal. Super Mario Odyssey is a solid pick I think, as is 3D World. Super Mario Maker 2 is also a good pick. Then if you know they're into puzzles Captain Toad is a solid pick

Should be enough to start

@gcunit I don’t like stardew valley.

@Fizza As a woman who has been gaming since she was a toddler(so over 30 years) I also second the advice that you focus less on what is “easy” and more on what aligns with her interests. Few things imo are more insulting than getting stuck in the pink ghetto just because you are a girl. If a game is fun one will learn how to play (since you can’t read a manual anymore). A buddy of mine got into gaming playing monster hunter (a series I bounce off of but I would be considered the hard core gamer between the two of us) and final fantasy. My game library is all over the place. And that is even with genre bias. I always liked watching trailers or I suppose lists on YouTube to spark my interest in games. So if you know a youtuber you think she would find amusing that might be useful for her to learn what is out there.

I am gonna toss ace attorney into the pile for recommendations. Also don’t dismiss board game video games. My mom and I have a long standing monopoly tradition and I play chess and shogi on switch because I don’t have others to play with. Other than that I would need to know what she is into/personality.

@skywake @Ryu_Niiyama @Wolfleaf Oh 100%: I'm definitely being wary to not let stuff like that influence my decision. The friend who got her the Switch is already going to be getting stuff like Hogwarts Legacy so I'm intentionally looking for a game as different as possible from what she already has yet one that she could still pick up and enjoy pretty much right out the gate.

If you're wondering about her interests (and apologies for not laying them out to begin with 😅), she'd mainly be into fantasy and mystery stories in stuff like movies and books so Ace Attorney is definitely a good shout (though I'm not sure whether she has any interest in making a Nintendo Account for stuff like NSO or the eShop so digital-only releases may be an impossibility for right now). Another Code is another one that could be right up her alley alongside a Zelda title, though I'm not sure which one (maybe BOTW?). I'm currently narrowing down a shortlist of titles into what I think she'd enjoy the most so we'll see how things end up panning out in the end XD

@Ryu_Niiyama I see. I will (mentally attempt to) note that.

I have never played it much, there are a few fundamentals that annoy me, but I wouldn't say I don't like it - it's one of those games that's on my (seemingly eternal) 'One day I'll break through that barrier and love it' list.

Curious about what you don't like about it.

@Ryu_Niiyama I see. I will (mentally attempt to) note that.

I have never played it much, there are a few fundamentals (e.g. speed of in-game clock and forced return to bed each night) that annoy me, but I wouldn't say I don't like it - it's one of those games that's on my (seemingly eternal) 'One day I'll break through that barrier and love it' list.

Curious about what you don't like about it.

@gcunit haha, so not attempting to be contrary because when I first tried it I thought it was amazing for low bar reasons. “Oh look I can play as a woman off the bat and marry another woman, oh look I can have a skin color that matches my own!” (Finally having skin color options was why I finally started playing animal crossing). Devs are starting to realize that character creators suck if you can’t create characters that feel familiar. Finally.

But once I got into the game… the world size in comparison to the day length not a good ratio. A good farming sim usually has a world that you can navigate easily enough that you can have a loaded farm and still socialize. Despite finally having a game where I wanted to socialize it was either neglect my farm or talk to villagers. That’s why a lot of sos games slap the farm near the center or make the town the hub the next screen over. Or increase movement/make the day longer. Now I get it, SV is lifting from the first bokumono that had the same issue….but I don’t replay that one either. That snowballs into making the game overwhelming (and I don’t have anxiety issues…not related to money lol) so it shouldn’t feel that way but it does. Souls games don’t make me sweat the way SV does. And I am sure that is old school intentional, but it isn’t fun. Also SV seems to love all the things I don’t like in bokumono (large arse mines…modern games simplify the mines…and if I wanna fight and farm I can play Sakuna or rune factory or harvestella) As a long time bokumono player I just move on to a game that provides that gameplay loop sweet spot instead as SV isn’t the only farming game. Also many of the community center items are hard/annoying to get. All and all the game feels like work. Not a good feeling for a game like this. And now that bokumono or coral island meet my low bar reasons and look better and (to me ) have a better game play loop, I haven’t touched SV in years. Folks complain about olive town but it actually meets my needs for the things I don’t like in SV. It still needs polish but is my second favorite bokumono now.

When you play a lot of games , a game (especially endless games) has to hook you because you have an entire library to move on to. SV after the initial “I have been seen/representation!” Doesn’t cut it for me.

IMO SV is best for lapsed bokumono players. It feels novel as heck if your last farming sim was ages ago.