shmups.system11.org

In the action/arcade space, I second the recommendation of Bubble Bobble: straightforward controls and simple rules, strictly cooperative and easier as a team, low-pressure with a gentle learning curve. Bubble Bobble sequels, Pang and Snow Bros are fairly close in spirit. Then there are more complex but somewhat forgiving platformers, like New Zealand Story.

While "the difficulty is the whole point" genres like shmups, fighting games, and Dark Souls are probably off the table, I think there's a surprising number of games that have a far more broad appeal than we typically give credit for.

Games with lots of social interactions, dialog, story, or ways you can influence the world.

Games like Hades or The Witcher have a lot of crossover appeal. Hades has an excellent easy mode for new players. The Witcher has a TV show, so you can start with that too. There's that new Harry Potter game that dropped recently. That might be a good one.

I should probably add in that I know atleast two ladies who got into gaming through The Witcher III, but the initial appearance of a heavily combat focused game can be a turn off.

I was talking about the Bloody Baron quest early in Witcher III with Mrs. To Far Away Times, and the dialog options and how that shapes the world, and that was a big selling point. She enjoyed it, didn't finish the game but got pretty far into it. Talks about the characters and memes alot.

Also, I have a close friend who's spouse is a professional Witcher artist/streamer/cosplayer, so make of that what you will.

The games don't have to be two button games with bright colors. Subject matter is 80% of it, avoid dudebro FPS mechanics and "git gud" games and you are golden.

Next on the list is to get Mrs. To Far Away Times into my personal favorite - fighting games - but i've only known a couple ladies who ever got into that genre. Definately a hard sell. One of my buddies was damn near a professional fighting game guy, his sis was pretty damn good too. Traveled to Vegas for Evo and all that. I could beat him *sometimes.* Thousands of matches played over the years.

The most important thing is finding what's enjoyable, don't worry about mechanics or bright colors, or number of buttons. Find an in route. Find a community. You'll go deep in the rabbit hole no matter what.

May from Guilty Gear is cool? There's you're opening to introduce fighting games... That sort of thing.