Did you know that more than 160 million adults in the United States play video games? Video games are no longer a niche market, and they’re certainly not just for kids. People of all ages are playing videos.
With lockdowns happening around the world due to the Coronavirus pandemic, people are looking for things to do. And many people who are bored and stuck inside are searching for gaming tips as they start playing video games again for the first time in years.
Video games won’t just keep you entertained. They even come with health benefits including increased coordination, enhanced memory, and improved brain speed. So if you’re looking to learn how to start gaming, you’ve come to the right place.
Whether you’ve never played before or you’re starting over again, we’re here to help. So keep on reading and we’ll take you through the top gaming tips you need to know about!
A Beginners Guide to Gaming
1. Know What You Need to Play Video Games
The video games that you’re able to play are going to depend on the device that you’re playing them on. If you’re just starting to get into gaming, then you should probably begin by playing games on a device that you already own. However, you might have more fun buying a dedicated gaming device.
Let’s look at the different devices and see how they compare.
Smartphone or Tablet
If you already own a tablet or a smartphone, then you’ve already got yourself a good gaming machine. The latest Windows, Android, and Apple mobile devices feature big displays, powerful chips, and expansive app stores that are full of games. The newer your device is, the more gaming options you’ll have.
If you’re looking for a new device, the latest Android and iPhone models are the best. Windows isn’t as well supported by game developers.
PC
If you want to have the most advanced gaming experience with the best graphics, then you’re going to need to get yourself a PC. Running the latest AAA action games at the absolute peak of their abilities, and making sure that you can play them for the next few years, is going to require a lot of power. That includes specs that are in the region of 16GB of system memory, an Nvidia GTX 980 graphics card, and an Intel i7 4790 CPU.
However, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to have a fun time on your personal computer. You can get a pretty decent gaming experience with some reduced specs. Even an old computer with Windows XP and 512MB of RAM is going to allow you to play a variety of smaller games and older titles.
Vintage shooters and strategy games are also cheap and easy to find on the internet. And you don’t need the latest hardware to play them either.
If your head started to spin at the mention of graphics cards and processors, don’t worry. You can always get to a computer vendor and have them build you a system that fits your budgets and needs.
You’ll have to develop some knowledge of operating systems and computers, though. Especially if you intend to upgrade your memory or graphics card at some point.
In the end, you should have fun when you find a new gaming laptop, as long as you do your research and know what your budget is.
Console
For the majority of people, a console is a great alternative to a computer. These devices are cheaper and you can play them right out of the box. And you don’t need to worry a whole lot about graphics settings and hardware compatibility problems.
PlayStation and Xbox are both extremely popular and also fairly similar. You can also buy the Nintendo Switch which has seen increasing popularity during the pandemic. Nintendo devices tend to have more cartoonish and innocent games while Xbox and PlayStation tend to have games that are better suited for mature audiences.
Even buying an old PlayStation or a Sega console and a bunch of games at your local thrift store might give you an idea if you like gaming or not.
2. Best Games for Total Beginners
In general, it’s best to stay away from action games and go for ones in which you don’t need to master a whole bunch of different button combinations in order to have fun. On smartphones, touch controls make most games easy to play.
Florence is a short, narrative game that takes the player through a young romance. You go through the meet-cute to moving in together to having bitter fights.
The Room is a series of atmospheric puzzle games where you can poke and prod at weird trinkets in order to learn new secrets. 80 Days is a literary game about a magical journey around the Earth. And if you’re looking for simple and fun action, then you can surf across vast sand dunes in Alto’s Odyssey or help a chicken cross a road in Crossy Road.
On a PC or console, you should try playing the Tetris Effect. This is a modern and trippy version of the classic block puzzle game. A silly and very popular game is the Untitled Goose Game where an annoying goose terrorizes gardeners in an English town and steals people’s beer.
You can also try your hand at Kentucky Route Zero. This is set in a magical-realist work where you just walk around and listen to people talk. But it’s a lot more fun and strange than it sounds!
3. Play With Friends
Practically every multiplayer game now lets you play with your friends online. So if we go into another lockdown, distance isn’t something that you’ll need to worry about.
Perhaps the most talked-about game during the lockdown was Animal Crossing. This is a very relaxing game where up to eight people can hang out on the same island together, trading furniture, catching fish, and chatting.
If you’d like to play something with a bit more competition, then you should play Fall Guys. This is a funny knockout-style gameshow parody that you and your friends can all play together.
If you want to be more adventurous, then why not play Sea of Thieves? In this game, you play as pirates where you sail around the ocean, fire cannonballs at each other, and hunt for buried treasure.
Another wildly popular and classic game is Minecraft. This is a low-pressure kind of game where you can explore and build things.
With the game Rocket League, you get to play football with remote control cars. And the results are as funny as you might imagine.
Nowadays, you can even play party games like Mario Kart while in different homes.
4. Turn Reality Into a Game
If you’re already posting photos and videos of yourself on Facebook and Instagram, then you’re already turning your life into a game. After all, what are views and likes but points that you’re racking up?
Pokémon Go is a great way to turn your daily walks into games as you find new creatures in all kinds of places. Even though this game was wildly popular a few years ago, it’s still played by people all over the world.
There’s also the game Zombies, Run! This game lets you turn your morning runs into rescue operations where you’re stuck in a twisted post-apocalyptic world.
5. Know the Different Kinds of Games
Just because you end up not liking one kind of video game doesn’t mean that you’ll dislike all of them. Let’s go over the main kinds of games so that you can better find the right game for you.
A first-person shooter is a shooting game where you see the world through the eyes of your avatar. The goal is usually to run around different environments and shoot the bad guys.
A third-person shooter is like the above except you can see your character on the screen instead of seeing from their point of view.
A role-playing game (RPG) is an adventure game where your character gains new abilities by fighting enemies and accomplishing missions.
Using These Simple Gaming Tips for Beginners
Hopefully, after reading the above article, you’ve now learned from our gaming tips and are ready to start playing. It’s important to start small so that you don’t get overwhelmed.
Are you looking for other helpful gaming articles? If you are, then make sure to check out the rest of our site today for even more!
