Is she familiar with Animal Crossing? If so check out Dinkum. Other suggestions: Terraria, Core Keeper, Minecraft, and there is always classic FPS games lol. I learned WSAD in Quake
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
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Minetest.
My SO went from learning the controller with Fall Guys to Minecraft WASD. I think Fall Guys is was close to perfect, low amount of inputs, high amount of engagement.
Minecraft.
The Stanley Parable, and similar "walking simulator" type games.
This is probably the best choice. There is basically no failure state, so there is no impetus to act under pressure, which is probably the biggest demotivator if someone is at that stage of learning how to play video games.
Slime Rancher would probably be a good introduction to fps controls.
Great suggestion. Great game. Very chill.
It is a great game but shame there is no multiplayer.
...any of the traditional action platformers.
Portal, Spyro etc.
I'd go down the route of so called 'Walking Simulators'* though I use the term First Person Experiances, such as Dear Esther, Gone Home or maybe even Firewatch. Games were you can take you time and practice the feeling of movement. From there if you are looking to get into shooter style games go for something Co-Op. My wife and I started on Time-Splitters where she basically stayed back as a sniper whilst I ran in. (This was back in 98/99) From there we ended up going through Halo, Gears and eventually Borderlands as they came out. Anything where you have a bleed out / respawn mechanic is great.
*For me a walking simulator would be more like Octodad where you actually have to work at the walking! :D
I was gonna say portal but you already had that idea hah
The other option is start her off with dark souls and tell her it's one of the easy games, to really test the strength of your relationship /j
Oh and minecraft if you own that :3
That's also pretty simple controls wise.. just play on peaceful to start
Edit:
Oh maybe something like stardew valley too, though that does have combat in the mines which may be a challenge :3
I suddenly remembered all the games only after making my first comment hah x3
Minecraft is pretty mechanically complex if you're at the "need to learn how to move in a video game" stage
Moving around in "peaceful" should be ok as a playground for learning the controls.
I don't think it's that complex? I mean.. most of it is just wasd + space, and the 2 mouse buttons which I'd consider to just be the basic controls for any game really, short of just walking simulators that require no mouse clicks, or VNs that require no keyboard
Mechanical complexity as in the amount of stuff to learn to "actually play" Minecraft, aside from the controls. For example, which resources are which, what crafts into what, and how to find and gather everything. Its easy enough to punch wood, but trying to figure out (and then remember) how to craft tools or farm food while also trying to remember how to position your fingers on the keyboard is a much bigger ask.
Crafting doesn't actually require remembering anything since they added the recipe book. Also on peaceful you don't go hungry, so no farming for food :p
I mean.. I taught people how to play video games with minecraft, and it's not that hard.. the only way I see this failing is if you plan on doing nothing to help learn the game and you just want something to boot up and leave your partner to figure it out
Yeah, Portal really seems like the perfect choice for this
Son wanted to play Minecraft, here's your mouse and keyboard
Terraria on Journey or Classic mode fits all of those
DOOM (1996)
Firewatch
Blue Prince just came out a week ish ago and it's fantastic. It's a puzzle/clue game with lore and a charming aesthetic. Controls are simple, wasd and left click and sometimes E. It's addictive, but can be a slow burn if you don't get engaged right away.
As a fellow Blue Prince addict I will take any chance to recommend others to join my obsession. Game is absolutely wonderful and everyone should play it!
GTA/RDR? Shooter where you're not pressured to do much, explore at your own pace, shooting but without the "stress" of doom or something similar. And no need for quick aiming or whatever. Pretty chill game to learn controls in, imo.
Modded Skyrim (to make is very easy, or even invincible). How best to learn to move in a 3D world than by giving them the best game world to discover.
I always use controller but I recently played Oxenfree and it was much easier with keyboard and mouse.
I'd consider what kind of game she finds fun and compelling--that's more likely to engage her to become familiar with the mouse/keyboard combo.
That being said, Minecraft on peaceful mode would fit and is generally approachable. Stardew Valley is pretty relaxed as well, though I don't remember whether it uses WASD specifically.
Oh! And if she's into puzzles, look at Islands of Insight. First person with puzzle solving as the main mechanic, but also some exploration and a bit of mystery to it.
Pineapple on Pizza is a short one shot game, it's cutesy with a twisted ending. Uses WASD and Mouse
This might sound weird but the first game that came to my mind was cod. If the goal is only to familiarize her with the controls then you don't even need to play online. Just load up in a private lobby alone and learn how to walk while looking around, add in sprinting and jumping, then figure out how to aim and shoot at stuff (stationary if necessary). I imagine that if she's able to get comfortable with all that then she'll be fine with literally anything else.
Other than that just play games that you're both interested in and the controls will come with it
phasmophobia
Are not difficult or punishing
Oh. So, not Noita...
There is Portal: Flash, a browser-based Flash game, if you can run it. Tons of fun. Also Minecraft (BUT maybe use version 1.13 or earlier in order to cut out some harassment, Illagers and raids might deter new players. Mainly they just piss me off. Go 1.12 or earlier to avoid Drowned and Ocean Monuments/Guardians) and The Room 1-4
Minecraft
2D: Survivors/Bullet Heaven type games. Most are WASD to move, mouse to aim (if at all).
3D: Vampire Hunters. Since it auto shoots the focus is on movement: strafing, aiming, and avoiding getting hit by mobs. Dying early is expected, so no pressure on getting a perfect run.
Halo CE
What game would you try to insist a particular control style on?
You can teach them how to play whatever game, but it's more or less up to them to set up their control settings.
Its going to be a lot harder to play Deep Rock Galactic or Portal 2 together if she sticks with her current perfered movement method: click and drag with the mouse.
Go basic Doom, it's not terribly hard on the easy levels.
Maybe Valheim? You could turn the settings to peaceful mode if you don't want to deal with combat quite yet - although combat at the beginning isn't super in-depth - but it doesn't have a ton of buttons and the start of the game is a lot of basic "walk around and find things to interact with."