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Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

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Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#361

Post by kule »

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #309

I'm struggling myself to find videogames for my daughter (almost 4). She played Kirby star allies and Yoshi's Crafted World (both finished now), but after that I've been struggling to find any meaningful game that had the right difficulty, right theme and didn't have the requirement of being able to read. I avoid all tablet games because there is too much garbage. Anyway, depending on the age of your kids, those two…

FYI some games my son has enjoyed that had reasonable difficulty and/or co-op so we can play together:

* Super Mario Odyssey

* Sackboy: A Big Adventure

* Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

* Paw Patrol Games (gameplay maybe a bit too simple though)

* Overcooked 1 & 2

* Untitled Goose Game

* Ultimate Chicken Horse

* Astro's Playroom

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#363

Post by obphuscate »

The Swapper is a unique experience that has stayed with me for years. I think of it often and the feelings it evoked in me. Everything is just absolutely perfect: the puzzles aren't so hard as to be annoying but challenging enough to get a good dopamine kick after completing. The music is calming, ethereal, moving and tense all at the same time. The story and endings are contemplative and ask deep questions about identity. It is amazing. I can't recommend it enough.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#364

Post by aerovistae »

hyperman1 wrote: post #327
aerovistae wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand this comment. For the record I downvoted it because I don't think it makes any sense.

OK retry: Portal is a great game, with a good story. But part of this greatness is the psychological games it plays with you. Hence people need to have enough maturity to deal with this. Hence this is not a good game for playing with younger kids, even if there is almost no graphical violence in it.

That's much clearer, thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#365

Post by aerovistae »

jtode wrote: post #329
aerovistae wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand this comment. For the record I downvoted it because I don't think it makes any sense.

When I was young but not too young I watched Monty Pythons Meaning Of Life movie. There's an extremely violent scene in that movie that I find very funny, now, but which disturbed the hell out of me as a kid. That's what he's saying, some kids might not get the humor aspect of Portal and just perceive the paranoia and violence.

Which scene was it? The dinner scene? (Out of curiosity)

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#366

Post by havblue »

notriddle wrote: post #184
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #10

Portal and Portal 2 are absolute classics which I cannot recommend highly enough. The story in the second game is fairly detailed, and the way that it tells that story through gameplay is absolutely phenomenal. Life Is Strange is a well-done adventure game. It's not quite *zero* violence in that the story takes some turns, but you're fundamentally a high schooler in a relatively normal setting, I wouldn't expect you…

Does Portal really count as “non-violent”? You commit murder at least once.

I'm pretty sure she's still alive at the end.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#367

Post by orangecat »

scott_s wrote: post #121

Outer Wilds. (Not to be confused with Outer Worlds which came out around the same time.) While the game is non-violent in that you never actively harm anything, your character will die, a lot, in maybe concerning ways (crushed, out of air, crashed, etc). It also has a story with themes that may be over your kids’ heads. Look up reviews to see more.

I seem to be the only person who was less than thrilled with it. The concept is clever, but always being on the clock quickly became frustrating. I kept spending half the available time getting to the area I was investigating, then frantically running around trying to find something new, and if at any point I made a wrong turn or the timing wasn't right I'd have to wait until the next cycle and redo everything.

Re: Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?

#369

Post by loeg »

indrora wrote: post #323
loeg wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portal has turrets that shoot at you, though.

Counterpoint: there is no penalty for failure other than the puzzle restarting.

No penalty for failure other than that in most shooter single-player campaigns, either, but OP asked for “non-violent.”
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