Help me choose a game

May 17, 2009 5:17 AM

I would like some suggestions for a game to play with my girlfriend. On the computer would be nice, for free would be great and there can be no killing of stuff.

I'm trying to find a game to play at home for 2 players. Cooperative play would be a plus, so i thought of computer games where we would face the AI. I know many such games, but it seems they are all about killing and destroying stuff. Nothing wrong with that but it is not what my girlfriend wants, not even in very abstracted forms like Moonbase Commander (great game, try it out!). I guess board games could do but we would have to buy those and that would be a disadvantage. We play Monopoly and she is playing Sudoku right now, but Monopoly is getting old and Sudoku is single player and not my kind of game.

posted by CautionToTheWind to sports, hobbies, & recreation (22 comments total)

Just about every board game is available online somewhere for free. Yahoo games has lots of free 2 player games.
posted by COD at 5:39 AM on May 17

Flock? The goal is to herd animals back to your ship using a flying saucer. Animals can die if you accidentally herd them off a cliff, and much later wolves try and hunt them - but your goal throughout is to save them, not hurt them. Even the wolves, you only scare off, not kill. Plus it's very cute.
posted by ArkhanJG at 5:40 AM on May 17

Virtual NES hosts a variety of classic 8-bit console games you can play in your browser. Recently my girlfriend and I have been having fun with Dr Mario and Bubble Bobble. The latter is co-op and immensely fun (but be sure to check the manual for how to ride bubbles).
posted by Orchestra at 5:55 AM on May 17 [1 favorite has favorites]

My most recent addiction is a fairly old project by Tale of Tales studio, called The Endless Forest. It's a really interesting mmoish sort of game - with absolutely no killing, and no verbal communication either!

I've never played it but Alien Adoption Agency is the obsession of one of my friends.

Another that I've never played, but hear wonderful things about is A Tale in the Desert - an entirely combat free MMO.

Hope this helps!
posted by strixus at 5:57 AM on May 17

Chess?
posted by fire&wings at 6:21 AM on May 17

My wife and I have great experiences playing World of Warcraft together. With the killing aside, you girlfriend may enjoy playing a priest, which is a healer and can off-set the massive amount of killing I am sure you will do.
This suggestion does not meet your "free" criteria however.
If you are interested in trial accounts, email me at the email addy in my profile.
posted by strangelove at 6:26 AM on May 17

My girlfriend and I are playing through a bunch of old Sierra adventure games, starting with the Quest for Glory series. She enjoyed them when she first played them in the early 90s, though,so I'm not sure the interest would be there for someone who didn't grow up on them. You can find most of them either on Abandonware sites, or legally for download cheap, though. Also, the emphasis is on puzzles, not fighting, although there may be some (minor) swordplay here and there.

Also: The Sims. I don't really understand the appeal, but she loves the various flavors of Sims II.

In both cases, the gameplay is slow enough that even though only one person is controlling the PC at a time, there can be discussion about what's going on.

Doesn't meet your "free" qualifier, but we've also had fun playing through some console RPGs together. In this case, one person plays, the other does other work nearby, and we both watch the cinematics. :P Again, this one may be specific to her background/interests, so YMMV.

Are board games or computerized versions of boardgames okay? If so, try some German board games? There was a great post in the blue on Catan an while ago, but I personally enjoy Ticket To Ride. There are online versions of Settlers, and if you buy any of the Days of Wonder games (including Ticket to Ride), you get access to the online multiplayer version too.
posted by Alterscape at 7:15 AM on May 17

its too bad PS3 isn't any option as little big planet, for my wife and I, is absolutely worth the money. we have a great time, its cute, challenging, absolutely devoid of violence....
posted by chasles at 7:25 AM on May 17

Gin Rummy
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 8:30 AM on May 17

FreeCiv There's 'killing', but in the sense of 'my knight pokes at your knight'. Nothing graphic at all.
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:12 AM on May 17

Not free, but: Games for couples. I like "Fjords." Calm, nice, no killing, fun.
posted by mecran01 at 9:27 AM on May 17

PEGGLE (seriously, just check it out--you have to experience it to appreciate its appeal)! It's not free, but it is worth the small amount of money it costs, because you'll get a lot of play hours from it.
posted by so_gracefully at 9:35 AM on May 17

Fantastic Contraption! It's not really a two-player game, but you could certainly try to figure stuff out together. It's free for the first 20 levels or so. There's no killing. It's a physics-based game; you build machines and structures.
posted by kestrel251 at 9:46 AM on May 17

My husband and I play Lexulous (version of Scrabble) via Facebook, but you can also play it for free on the web, not through Facebook.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:52 AM on May 17

We Love Katamari, FantaVision, and while Myst does not offer a cooperative gameplay mode, I found it to be mesmerizing and could probably have used a second brain on some of the puzzles.
posted by EnsignLunchmeat at 10:33 AM on May 17

Something where you can solve a problem together, like Plants vs. Zombies, would be good. ISC.Ro has online scrabble, where you can both play against an online opponent, or if you have two computers, against each other,

If you want to play a more traditional game, we really like Fluxx and Carcassone.
posted by mippy at 11:22 AM on May 17

Play the old King's Quest games!! Those were so much fun to play with friends. I'm sure you can find them for free...
posted by Cygnet at 11:23 AM on May 17

Kdice is a risk-based MMO, very engaging. No violence at all, just a lot of dice.

Astrologic on Whirled is another fun competitive puzzler. It involves running balls through tumblers.

I enjoyed playing Starport GE co-operatively with my boyfriend for a while there. It's a space colonization game. Just be aware that the older the universe, the more hard-core your competitors. PAX servers prevent player kills altogether, but even in agressive servers you only wind up in an escape pod, not dead.

Those three are all free to play.
posted by Jilder at 11:58 AM on May 17

For almost two decades now, my wife and I have been playing both board and video games together. Myst and Settlers of Catan (video and board game, respectively). More recently, Portal was a huge hit (on PC, via Steam). She helps with the puzzles, I deal with the twitch-work. On the board-game side, we both enjoy "Race for the Galaxy", "Dominion", "Roll Through the Ages", "Space Alert", and our old standby, Cribbage.
posted by dylanjames at 1:04 PM on May 17

ATITD is free and has no combat but it's also a full time job. I played the last Tale and it is intensive. But it also has some really lovely things about it and it's compelling.

Nile Online is also free; it's like a very very lite version of ATITD. There is no killing if you do not build a monument, which is entirely possible, and one of the things the people who play it tend to universally like is the lack of any PvP or combat. If you sign up simultaneously, you'll be neighbours and that can be a huge advantage. The wiki is very instructional and has great guides for beginners. If you're looking for a longer term game where you can play together but not against each other, try it.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:52 PM on May 17

Puzzle Pirates? Free and paid options, combat is puzzle-based, and it's both cute to look at and a devious timesink.
posted by catlet at 6:27 PM on May 17

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. It will take some time to look through what was posted, which is great.
posted by CautionToTheWind at 3:06 AM on May 18