Game suggestions for an injured wife

[Plotinus]

My wife's just broken her leg and faces weeks of enforced inactivity on the sofa. She needs some games, but I'm out of ideas of what would be best.

She loves exploration and climbing games of the Tomb Raider mould, especially with lots of atmospheric graphics, and she doesn't like games with lots of fighting. One of her favourites is Tomb Raider Underworld, and she also loved Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands. But she didn't like the earlier Prince of Persia games, as they look a bit primitive by today's standards, and she didn't like the new Tomb Raider game, as it was far too combat-focused and all a bit depressing looking. (She loves the Uncharted series too, apart from the gun fights.) In a nutshell - beautiful scenery, minimal combat, good graphics, and if there are lots of puzzles involving pressure plates, so much the better.

(Assassin's Creed might have been a good idea, but she's watched me play through the Ezio games and doesn't like the look of the others!)

So that's a rough idea of the sort of thing she likes. Does anyone have any suggestions for some new games of this kind? I'd be very grateful for any ideas, especially on PS3, but also Wii, Mac/Windows, or iPad.

 

[coanda]

Portal and Portal 2? Scenery is fairly bland, but otherwise it seems to line up pretty nicely.

 

[Synobun]

There would be a lot of games she'd enjoy if she weren't so against violence. I question if there are any mods for things such as Fallout 3 that completely removes combat but I doubt it.

If she wants something relaxing with scenery, Flower for the PS3 might be alright. There is no combat in it. Journey is an art game with some nice visuals but no exploring.

If she likes watching you play games, you could play something like Red Dead Redemption so she doesn't have to deal with the violence and can focus on the scenery and exploration, but not very many people are a big fan of just watching.

 

[Mosher]

You could check out The Bridge, which is a neat little puzzle game involving manipulating physics. No combat that I've seen yet (though I haven't advanced that far in the game) and it has interesting graphics.

 

[Maniacal]

Stacking is only about 4 hours long but its a pretty fun adventure/puzzle game.

Mirror's Edge is mostly running, with the only part where you "have" (its just a LOT easier) to use guns being a couple of areas at the end.

NyxQuest is a side-scrolling physics puzzle game and is available on the iPad.

Scribblenauts Unlimited is a neat word puzzle game.

To the Moon is a pretty good story game, it doesn't have much gameplay, but it makes up for it in music and story.

There are lots of adventure games by Tell Tale, although their quality varies.

 

[civvver]

There's a brand new game called Gone Home where you explore a house set in 1990s. No action or violence just exploring an entire house to figure something out.

 

[Machinegunkenny]

For the PS3 Uncharted series is pretty darn good. As suggested above Fallout 3 and New Vegas are incredible (aside from bugs, but you gotta expect that from Bethesda). Hard to think of any non-violent video games. You could always get her Civ Revolution. It's great for people new to the series. My 8 year old son now loves Civ due to revolution. The game is not as bad as people say, especially for those who are not familiar to the series.

On ipad I strongly recommend Plague Inc. I have it for Android but Have got a couple others addicted who have iphones. It is on the market for like a buck.

 

[Samez]

Portal games have already be mentioned by coanda.
How about Kerbal Space Program?
Other games which were recommended to me without a focus on violence:
Dear Esther, Limbo and perhaps Papers, Please
also L.A. Noire (well it has violence...) might be interesting

 

[carmen510]

If cartoon violence is not objectionable, the old Naughty Dog games are good.

The Crash Bandicoot series and the first Jak & Daxter game. The other Jak games are more violent and gritty.

 

[Rub'Rum]

Some good suggestions here.

Miasmata is purely about exploration and beautiful landscape, with the occasional creature creeping on you... But you mustn't fight it, you have to flee and hide from it when it shows up.

 

[Kyriakos]

Most of the exploration/climbing & puzzle games i know of are quite old.

What about some regular point & click classic adventure games? Gabriel Knight 3 is in a 3d environment that looks quite good, in a french small town with museums and a dark secret. It might be too horror-oriented though...

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Dishonored is pretty good. You're an 'assassin', but you can complete the game without combat (and without assassinations, but the non-lethal options are a lot of work) and it's primarily a stealth game with optional exploration and good atmosphere. The graphics are quite underwhelming and would have been pretty good in 2008.

 

[Plotinus]

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. She's watched me play some of these (Red Dead, Dishonored, LA Noire) and she's played some of the others (Flower). Journey is a great idea and I think Portal 2 could be really good too (I have Portal on the laptop, but I'm thinking that console games are likely to be easier to manage with the leg). Civ Rev is inspired. Some of these others - Misamata, Gone Home - I have never heard of but could be very promising. I will look into the others too.

All much appreciated!

 

[sanabas]

The Last of Us is very good. Similar to Uncharted/Tomb Raider, with similar amounts of violence, though a bit more emphasis on stealth rather than going in guns blazing.

Heavy Rain should be available relatively cheaply on PS3, and is excellent. There is minimal violence of the 'kill all these enemies' type, but there are some other violent scenes.

Disgaea, either 3 or 4, might be appealing. There's combat, but it's more puzzle based and strategic than simply shooting things. It's an RPG with an excellent sense of humour.

Catherine is another one that has lots of puzzles, is sort of platformesque in places, and an interesting story. Definitely not a traditional game, was a lot of fun.

 

[Antilogic]

How about Kerbal Space Program?

Lot of good suggestions here, but I'd like to second especially this one. It's pretty easy to get hooked on, and it's all about sandbox exploration. It's only violent if you intentionally make it so for your poor kerbonauts.



I'm also a huge Portal/Portal II fan.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Get her started in Skyrim. She can wander the world at her leisure; have a fancy house and pet dog; hang out in bars and taverns. Add a few mods and anything is possible.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Civilization ?

 

[scheva007]

Surgeon simulator

Portal 2 in co-op is awesome if you have a way of getting that. Too bad she doesnt like AC. They have an excellent story and setting.

 

[Lheim]

Why not try an MMO?

The Secret World might be just the thing - free to try, at least. It has plenty of combat but it's of a relatively more strategic sort, not the twitchy point-and-shoot fps type stuff but more RPG-y.

Can't beat it for an intriguing theme and cool exploration, though. Some of those quests are *fiendish*.

 

[Plotinus]

Heh, she's spent far too much time watching me play Skyrim to want to play it herself, but that was a good idea (oddly, she thinks Belethor is the best character in it). An MMO is a good idea - though I wouldn't want to lose her to it...

Thanks again for the suggestions. We'll look into them.