I'm teaching my dad to play video games

[Legend]

He's recovering from an injury so he has lots of free time. So far he has played:

The Beginner's Guide
The Stanley Parable
Superliminal

I don't know if it's the post surgery pain killers, but this is how he reacts to basic video game stuff like picking up objects.

(the video is not an exaggeration, he'd talk out loud lol)


He still doesn't have any spatial awareness. Can't look and move simultaneously, can't properly jump, etc.

I think I'll have him play botw next. It's a huge step up, but also the third person perspective and open ended world might push him to improve his skills.



Anyone else have any experience with novice game players?

[Dr. Pezus]

He's recovering from an injury so he has lots of free time. So far he has played:

The Beginner's Guide
The Stanley Parable
Superliminal

I don't know if it's the post surgery pain killers, but this is how he reacts to basic video game stuff like picking up objects.

(the video is not an exaggeration, he'd talk out loud lol)


He still doesn't have any spatial awareness. Can't look and move simultaneously, can't properly jump, etc.

I think I'll have him play botw next. It's a huge step up, but also the third person perspective and open ended world might push him to improve his skills.



Anyone else have any experience with novice game players?

Hehe well yeah, my daughter. The pushing one button at a time thing can get annoying

[the-pi-guy]

I haven't really had that experience, at least in a long time. Probably did with my younger siblings.  

My parents played games way before I did. Dad would even beat me at Mario Kart sometimes.

[kitler53]

ah,..  the memories of that time in the wii era where a mom looked at a video game and said "what!  running and jumping!?!  I don't think I'm ready for that"


1. starting in 3d is probably a bad idea.  grab some retro 2d games like Mario world to start.   reduce the degrees of freedom until he is better adjusted to the concept of a controller.

2. the only games my kid can play (still after playing for a few years) are the Lego games.  the camera does not require the player to move it.  the lack of death makes him not feel frustrated even when he's sucking.

that's a bit of an overstatement.  we did play untitled goose game which he loved.  I did most of the puzzle solving but I could tell him what to do.  camera is top down so he was able to play right away.

my kid has kind of picked up Mario kart Wii.  he will only play time trials because he hates getting hit my other players but in general driving games are probably a good place to start too.  we play the coop mode of cars: driven to win as well.  it's basic but who doesn't enjoy blowing up other cars.

imo botw is a bad idea.  I tried with my kid (Wii zelda) and it made him Soo frustrated and mad he quit gaming for a week.

my key point is 3d camera controll is a hard skill but so is clicking a button without looking down to see where the correct button is.  get him just comfortable with a controller before you try a game the requries fast and complicated interactions.

[Legend]

ah,..  the memories of that time in the wii era where a mom looked at a video game and said "what!  running and jumping!?!  I don't think I'm ready for that"


1. starting in 3d is probably a bad idea.  grab some retro 2d games like Mario world to start.   reduce the degrees of freedom until he is better adjusted to the concept of a controller.

2. the only games my kid can play (still after playing for a few years) are the Lego games.  the camera does not require the player to move it.  the lack of death makes him not feel frustrated even when he's sucking.

that's a bit of an overstatement.  we did play untitled goose game which he loved.  I did most of the puzzle solving but I could tell him what to do.  camera is top down so he was able to play right away.

my kid has kind of picked up Mario kart Wii.  he will only play time trials because he hates getting hit my other players but in general driving games are probably a good place to start too.  we play the coop mode of cars: driven to win as well.  it's basic but who doesn't enjoy blowing up other cars.

imo botw is a bad idea.  I tried with my kid (Wii zelda) and it made him Soo frustrated and mad he quit gaming for a week.

My dad played 2D games back in the 70s and 80s so luckily we're not starting from scratch. My primary goal is to get him good enough to play Hapax casually so that's why I've been focusing on first person games.

He's already good enough at walking simulators. He doesn't move smoothly and he almost always hits door frames, but he finished the Stanley Parable without ever getting frustrated. His biggest issue right now is spatial awareness. I think botw could help with its 3rd person cam. (plus it's on switch so I can just hand him the controller and walk away).


Wii Zelda sounds horrible for a kid haha. I was a young teenager when I played Twilight Princess on Wii and it was still so confusing and hard to get into. Never finished.

[kitler53]

Wii Zelda sounds horrible for a kid haha. I was a young teenager when I played Twilight Princess on Wii and it was still so confusing and hard to get into. Never finished.

yeah, I know.  it was akward to play for me too.  I never got used to the waggle for sword.  it frankly was even less intuitive then a button press. 

it was mostly an experiment in 3D traversal.  he's able to do Lego but there is quite a bit of fixed camera angles in that game.  

I also gave him ratchet and clank to try out.  that was, as you can imagine, even worse.  he walked into a wall and couldn't get "out". 

he's only 7 but I feel like he's got to be about old enough to figure this out soon right?

[Dr. Pezus]

My daughter loves playing Mario's hat in Mario Odyssey lulz. I've already "finished" the game but she keeps asking for it.

Tried Overcooked but that gets complicated very fast  

[Legend]

yeah, I know.  it was akward to play for me too.  I never got used to the waggle for sword.  it frankly was even less intuitive then a button press.

it was mostly an experiment in 3D traversal.  he's able to do Lego but there is quite a bit of fixed camera angles in that game.  

I also gave him ratchet and clank to try out.  that was, as you can imagine, even worse.  he walked into a wall and couldn't get "out".

he's only 7 but I feel like he's got to be about old enough to figure this out soon right?

I was around 7 or 8 when I started playing free cam 3D games, but I can only imagine how bad I was from an adult perspective.

My daughter loves playing Mario's hat in Mario Odyssey lulz. I've already "finished" the game but she keeps asking for it.

Tried Overcooked but that gets complicated very fast  

Haha I had to do the same thing with my sister. She was over during Christmas or lockdown or something and enjoyed playing Mario's hat.