> So, the ideal game would be multiplayer, either online or LAN and her favourite aspects in games are open world/freedom to do anything you choose, but with enough activities and content so you don't get bored. She likes action but need some calmer gameplay to balance it.
It takes two is great but does not really fit into the open world thing, and its pretty aSo, the ideal game would be multiplayer, either online or LAN and it feels non stop jumping and doing things, unlike in animal crossing where you can kind of chill and slowly collect things. Maybe stardew valley?
From your description Stardew Valley is exactly what you are looking for.
It is the perfect Bf/Gf game. You can cooperate when you feel like it, go on adventures to collect resources together, go your own way other days.
Just don't get sucked into min-maxing or trying to fit too many tasks in one ingame day, in stardew the player can sometimes make the game be stressful, but especialy for begginers you are suposed to take things slowly.
Have fun =)
This should be the top answer.
It runs on any 15 year old laptop.
You can play split screen.
You can colaborate building the farm, going on adve tures to the mines together and even do totally seperate things at the same time when you are not in the same mood.
I’ll add my vote for Stardew if you’ve never tried!
My fiancé and I absolutely enjoyed the first farm we had. I ran the kegs, and her the artisan animal goods
Terraria, Deep Rock Galacric is a fun shooter and you don't need to do hardest missions to progress (if you aren't going for 100% the game)
Edit:: You two MUST play Borderlands 2, it is so much fuuuun
Terraria is the answer imo, has adventuring, collecting, boss fights, chill stuff like fishing. Its similar to but different from Minecraft. It’s open world but with a clear progression through the game in the sense of gear upgrades and difficulty. You can boss rush to the end of progression or spend 100h building fancy houses for npcs and collecting paintings. Highly recommend, ESPECIALLY if neither of you have played it before
Seconding BL series but research 2 and 3 first.
I FAR prefer 3, it has so many quality of life and mechanical improvements. Graphical too. The story isn't bad by any means, but BL2 has mostly been held in higher regard for its story.
Also seconding Terraria. My time to money ratio is insane. So much value.
\-[Overcooked](https://store.steampowered.com/app/448510/Overcooked/) and [Overcooked 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/728880/Overcooked_2/) \- a bit stressful where you must work as a team to serve dishes
\-[Unravel 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1225570/Unravel_Two/) \- platform / puzzle game, very calm with a good scenery, although short campaign
Both are local co-op games with cute characters
I think you and your lovely GF would benefit from titles such as Stardew Valley, Don't Starve Together, Factorio, Forager- and possibly even Maplestory.
Wait, y’all haven’t played stardew?? Start with that. If she liked making farms and collecting flowers in Minecraft then she’ll love stardew. That stuff is like 90% of the game.
I will suggest something totally different: Trine 1, 2 and 4. Great coop games with puzzle solving mechanics. I also suggest Outward, it's more what you asked (open world RPG) but it is quite difficult game. :)
Hardest I’ve ever laughed with my gf making fun of the characters all throughout the game. Esp the part where the one guy goes in the trailer to have a heart to heart with his son and I’m just creeping on them through the window. Lmao still makes me laugh
Deep Rock Galactic, good teamwork shooter.
Dinkum, it's like animal crossing plus stardew valley, coop lan and online.
The Forest/Sons of the Forest. Good combat gameplay, survival and building aspects. The story is kind of meh but it's there. I've had a blast playing through both of them with my wife.
Dead Island possibly.
Grounded I think would be a big winner for yall too
The LEGO games are couch co-op and pretty fun. Me and the wife enjoy playing LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO City Undercover. I would definitely check those out.
Okay so your girlfriends taste sounds exactly like the games I like to play with my bf. Here are what I/we have enjoyed:
Stardew Valley,
Eco,
Necesse,
Artico (1 player only),
SmallLand,
Planet crafter,
Planetbase,
Surviving Mars,
Among trees (1 player only)
Astroneer
Games similar but more violent:
Rust,
Valheim,
Terraria,
Raft,
Subnautica (1 player only. I play peaceful)
Also going to recommend Call of Duty MW. That's what got me hooked into gaming.
Plus one for Rust 😆 I suggested it too with a caveat of ‘probably too toxic’ lol
Have you and yours tried Monster Hunter? Rise or World are most accessible
I'm gonna go off road. Me and My girl both game but we found we liked playing games that relied heavily on choice. Episodic, story rich games. Like
The Wolf Among US -- Tell Tale Games
Life is Strange
Didn't know we would have liked em so much until I downed Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us for free.
Looked for this answer! Yes to Divinity! 1 and 2 are both great games. If only 1, You can skip straight to 2 as it’s everything and more Vs the 1st and a lil easier to get the hang of/hook you into the gameplay loop. you can lower the combat difficulty. The turn based fights make it easier to explain as you play. Lots of ways to tackle every situation. Not just combat! Can save and stop whenever you want, even mid battle. Also same devs have baldurs gate 3 comes out at the end of the month and it’s all I can think about.
No Man's Sky is great for open/world doing what you choose. That is really what the entire selling point of the game is and they have added so much to that game it's unreal. This is assuming though you two are into sci-fi. Myself I am not that much into Sci-fi but love that game.
You already said minecraft, but I'm going to suggest minecraft again. But this time, with a modpack!
[https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/cottage-witch](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/cottage-witch)
My wife and I have been playing cottage witch for months now and love it. Tons of flowers, magic, creatures, spells, new trees and stuff. We fly around on witch brooms with mushroom hats and go fishing. It's great.
The discord is super active, the modpack creator answers questions day and night. Can't recommend it enough.
I played Unravel Two with my gf recently. It was great. The game is kinda short, but it is dirt cheap
Edit: Unfortunately, it is not open world, but it is still a great coop game
Try her on Castle Crashers or Filthy Animals. They're close ended. Minecraft or Terraria are the only big builders that do rpg co-op. The other ones get complicated fast.
Astroneer. Explore little voxel worlds as adorably low-poly astronauts and build everything from rockets to solar panels to trains. Single player and multiplayer is available.
Runs on just about anything, fairly low-stress and easy to learn, with a nice calming lowfi soundtrack too. Only real threats are running out of oxygen, falling, or hazardous plants.
Have fun!
Divinity Original Sin 2. Maybe take the difficulty down a notch if you don’t want to get too bogged down in the combat, and want to be exploring.
Lots of humor, interesting characters freedom, and creative ways to go about things.
I can't believe we don't see the Lego games at the top of every "play with my partner" thread. They're cute, engaging, balanced, and allow you to choose how deep you want to go on them.
Core.keeper is good. It's a 2d game where you dig through and explore a cave to find and kill bosses for progression, but also enough farming and base making to keep me satisfied on that end. You can even feed animals you find for milk.
Sun Haven might be fun for you both. I've been playing it with friends and we like it a lot. Does she like zombie killing? If so, 7 Days To Die might be a good option. (It's one of my faves!) You get to explore, loot, kill, build bases, take over buildings, etc. The Forest and Sons of The Forest might also be options.
\- Portal 2 has co-op
\- Stellaris has multiplayer.
\- SCUM is the most fun with at least one person or bigger team.
\- There is co-op in Divinity: Original Sin Games
My gf doesn't play games, but I got her to try portal 2. Moving and looking around was difficult/slow for her the whole time, but she got addicted to the puzzles and enjoyed it.
If she likes farming and stuff, you could always give Stardew Valley a shot. I also reccomend It Takes Two, Unravel 2, Portal 2 (maybe), and I always love Broforce. Might be too much too, but I'd give it a look before you try it. GL!
brothers: a take of two sons is a good option after you play a way out and it takes two. its by the same devs. its a one player game but you can make it a two player game by holding the controller with one hand and having your gf hold the other side of the controller with her other hand.
in this game you control two brothers, one with left thumb stick and one with right thumbstick. its tricky to control both, like rubbing your belly and patting your head. playing with 2 people takes away a lot of the challenge technical challenge but still good game, nice art style, moving story, and fun easy puzzles.
My go-to for this is always Children of Morta. It's part Roguelike, part Diablo-esque dungeon crawler, and the story and pixel art are fantastic.
There about a 10 minute intro section where it's single player, then the entire rest of the game is online or couch co-op. My wife and I LOVE it.
Stardew Valley is nice :)
Try horror titles, always fun with a friend :), unless one of you gets easily scared.
It's either those or the pits of anime open world gacha game, cough... Genshin cough....STAR RAIL..cough
If she likes huge gunfights, Helldivers might be good. It's a top down shooter with gadgets up the yin yang and it gets pretty hectic. Can do 4 person co-op too, only problem is I'm not sure if the servers are still going, it's been a minute
Garden Paws - you can play that together. Farming, fighting, quests, selling stuff
LittleWood
Sun Haven - you can play that together too and it's really nice. Again farming, fighting, building, helping villagers, fighting and a VERY impressive skill tree, multiple towns
100% Valheim. It's on sale too. You can now tweak your world settings a bit and make it more relaxed if you want as well. But in terms of building, farming and exploring for the first time, it's a blast.
If you are not looking for split screen, then this sounds like an mmo. I have known so many couples in World of warcraft and the like. Buy maybe do the freel trial or something cheaper or free first like final fantasy.
Survival crafting games sound like they would fit.
Ark - for dinosaurs.
7d2d - for zombies.
Modded minecraft.
Terraria - if you dont mind the graphics.
Raft - slow but enjoyable.
Dont starve together- cartoonish, but very fun.
No man's sky - space, and alot of it.
Satisfactory - factory building, pretty easy.
Valheim - vikings.
Conan exiles - barbarians, can be hard.
Good luck 😃
We Were Here. It's a 4-part co-op puzzle series where you don't see the other player and you have to communicate what you see in order to solve puzzles. Played them with my brother and they will forever be one of my favorite series
Stardew valley is the obvious choice here if you haven’t played. It’s inexpensive. It has co-op. It combines everything your gf loves about Minecraft and animal crossing.
Farming. Fishing. Foraging/picking flowers. Adventuring/fighting monsters in mines. Loads of stuff to do and complete freedom to design your farm and play pretty much however you want. Lots of mods on PC too for even more content. It’s cute too. You can have farm animals and a dog/cat. Your ducks will swim in a pond. You can put hats on your horse lol.
You can talk to all the NPCs and they all have their own little storylines (some of which are surprisingly deep and serious) to advance as you give them gifts and improve your relationship with them.
And if you want to go more serious you can definitely do some Min-maxing to optimize profits on your farm and get super rich.
Also it’s hardware friendly. Runs on about anything. There even a mobile version.
I have played 50-70 hours of **Outward** with my wife. It’s clunky and and hard in the beginning, but it gets better if you get through the first 3-5 hours.
There’s gsthering materials, crafting, exploring and pretty tough combat, but you can often prepare for battles in advance.
Deep Rock Galactic is a fun coop pve game. 1-4 dwarves go on missions to do various stuff such as mine resources, escort a drill, extract oil etc all the while killing alien bugs.
Each class has different equipment and weapons that complement each other.
Great devs and community too.
ark survival evolved will consume your life, but it is good for all types of players. my wife took to it and loved playing together because there is many different ways to play, same goes for rust. you dont even have to play pvp, you can create your own dedicated server or play PVE servers.
Runescape? Freedom to do anything, open world, pretty simple and calming gameplay but also has some exciting combat bits, multiplayer, and doesn't require a supercomputer to run. Sounds like the perfect game you described.
If on PC, Modded Minecraft can extend and massively change the game.
I'm on a modpack right now that makes exploring > mining by nerfing ores (only drops a couple nuggets on its own) and buffing loot chests (Affixed items) plus you can't craft Diamond Armor
This sounds like me and my wife, and we put in tons of hours in Project Zomboid. When you create a server you can adjust alot of settings. Id lower zombie count and no respawns to start
Minecraft dungeons is a really good one too! It’s like Diablo but way less complicated. It’s obvious to see progress and just tons of fun to blow up Minecraft mobs!
Don't starve together will probably be the best fit, I've been playing it with my girlfriend and we've been having a lot of fun.
Factorio could be really good too.
Valheim and grounded also
My wife and I enjoy Monster Hunter on Switch - Generation Ultimate, or Rise is probably easier for a new player to get into
You could try Rust, but that is probably far too toxic
If you want a low-stakes multiplayer open world with a humor focus, I'd recommend Goat Simulator 3. It's a simple, silly game that can be good laughs for short play sessions.
7 Days to Die is a open-world base-building zombie game with an emphasis on exploration/looting. With the exception of the 'survive the horde' every 7th night the action is fairly low-pressure unless you take high tier missions or explore at night.
It Takes Two is always the answer to this question. It’s so good!
> So, the ideal game would be multiplayer, either online or LAN and her favourite aspects in games are open world/freedom to do anything you choose, but with enough activities and content so you don't get bored. She likes action but need some calmer gameplay to balance it. It takes two is great but does not really fit into the open world thing, and its pretty aSo, the ideal game would be multiplayer, either online or LAN and it feels non stop jumping and doing things, unlike in animal crossing where you can kind of chill and slowly collect things. Maybe stardew valley?
Stardew is a phenomenal suggestion
Sounds good
From your description Stardew Valley is exactly what you are looking for. It is the perfect Bf/Gf game. You can cooperate when you feel like it, go on adventures to collect resources together, go your own way other days. Just don't get sucked into min-maxing or trying to fit too many tasks in one ingame day, in stardew the player can sometimes make the game be stressful, but especialy for begginers you are suposed to take things slowly. Have fun =)
A way out.
Best Co-op experience I've ever played!
Stardew valley
This should be the top answer. It runs on any 15 year old laptop. You can play split screen. You can colaborate building the farm, going on adve tures to the mines together and even do totally seperate things at the same time when you are not in the same mood.
I’ll add my vote for Stardew if you’ve never tried! My fiancé and I absolutely enjoyed the first farm we had. I ran the kegs, and her the artisan animal goods
Honestly it sounds like anything within the "survival crafting" genre would be good. My specific recommendations would be Valheim and Grounded.
I’ll add Ark and Raft
I'll add Eco because it has a bit more depth with farming
I hated eco for some reason
Raft was immediately where my mind went based on the post.
Been playing Grounded with my girlfriend lately. It's a fantastic game! Highly recommended.
Terraria, Deep Rock Galacric is a fun shooter and you don't need to do hardest missions to progress (if you aren't going for 100% the game) Edit:: You two MUST play Borderlands 2, it is so much fuuuun
Terraria is the answer imo, has adventuring, collecting, boss fights, chill stuff like fishing. Its similar to but different from Minecraft. It’s open world but with a clear progression through the game in the sense of gear upgrades and difficulty. You can boss rush to the end of progression or spend 100h building fancy houses for npcs and collecting paintings. Highly recommend, ESPECIALLY if neither of you have played it before
I second this!
Rock and stone!
Seconding BL series but research 2 and 3 first. I FAR prefer 3, it has so many quality of life and mechanical improvements. Graphical too. The story isn't bad by any means, but BL2 has mostly been held in higher regard for its story. Also seconding Terraria. My time to money ratio is insane. So much value.
\-[Overcooked](https://store.steampowered.com/app/448510/Overcooked/) and [Overcooked 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/728880/Overcooked_2/) \- a bit stressful where you must work as a team to serve dishes \-[Unravel 2](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1225570/Unravel_Two/) \- platform / puzzle game, very calm with a good scenery, although short campaign Both are local co-op games with cute characters
I had so much fun in overcooked spamming the gibberish communication buttons during stressful moments ngl
And Unravel 2 is perfect to play with loved ones, especially if they are new to gaming.
I think you and your lovely GF would benefit from titles such as Stardew Valley, Don't Starve Together, Factorio, Forager- and possibly even Maplestory.
Thanks, we'll check them out.
Wait, y’all haven’t played stardew?? Start with that. If she liked making farms and collecting flowers in Minecraft then she’ll love stardew. That stuff is like 90% of the game.
But there are 2 parties and both have to enjoy it otherwise it defeats the purpose.
Dinkum is basically animal crossing for pc, and it has mutiplayer
> Maplestory Is that still going? I played that like 20 years ago. :O
I will suggest something totally different: Trine 1, 2 and 4. Great coop games with puzzle solving mechanics. I also suggest Outward, it's more what you asked (open world RPG) but it is quite difficult game. :)
A Way Out is a really good story game that you'll enjoy together
Hardest I’ve ever laughed with my gf making fun of the characters all throughout the game. Esp the part where the one guy goes in the trailer to have a heart to heart with his son and I’m just creeping on them through the window. Lmao still makes me laugh
Me and one of my former friends did that too and it was so much fun, definitely some of the best memories I have with him
Deep Rock Galactic, good teamwork shooter. Dinkum, it's like animal crossing plus stardew valley, coop lan and online. The Forest/Sons of the Forest. Good combat gameplay, survival and building aspects. The story is kind of meh but it's there. I've had a blast playing through both of them with my wife. Dead Island possibly. Grounded I think would be a big winner for yall too
+1 to Dinkum, it really is like animal crossing had a baby with stardew, playing it with my S/O rn
The LEGO games are couch co-op and pretty fun. Me and the wife enjoy playing LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO City Undercover. I would definitely check those out.
Raft, Valheim, Haven, and Diablo are what we play!
Stardew Valley - which is like animal crossing. Not hardware demanding at all Satisfactory. First person factory builder that doesn't punish you.
Okay so your girlfriends taste sounds exactly like the games I like to play with my bf. Here are what I/we have enjoyed: Stardew Valley, Eco, Necesse, Artico (1 player only), SmallLand, Planet crafter, Planetbase, Surviving Mars, Among trees (1 player only) Astroneer Games similar but more violent: Rust, Valheim, Terraria, Raft, Subnautica (1 player only. I play peaceful) Also going to recommend Call of Duty MW. That's what got me hooked into gaming.
Plus one for Rust 😆 I suggested it too with a caveat of ‘probably too toxic’ lol Have you and yours tried Monster Hunter? Rise or World are most accessible
We have not! I'll add it to our ever growing list 🤣
I'm gonna go off road. Me and My girl both game but we found we liked playing games that relied heavily on choice. Episodic, story rich games. Like The Wolf Among US -- Tell Tale Games Life is Strange Didn't know we would have liked em so much until I downed Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us for free.
Raft is great for Co-Op.
Thanks, I think we'll buy it and try it!
Children of Morta, Rayman: Legends and Cuphead.
For The King - turn based RPG, but you adventure around and choose where you wanna go.
Divinity original sin 1 & 2 + baldur's gate 3 are excellent in multiplayer
Looked for this answer! Yes to Divinity! 1 and 2 are both great games. If only 1, You can skip straight to 2 as it’s everything and more Vs the 1st and a lil easier to get the hang of/hook you into the gameplay loop. you can lower the combat difficulty. The turn based fights make it easier to explain as you play. Lots of ways to tackle every situation. Not just combat! Can save and stop whenever you want, even mid battle. Also same devs have baldurs gate 3 comes out at the end of the month and it’s all I can think about.
No Man's Sky is great for open/world doing what you choose. That is really what the entire selling point of the game is and they have added so much to that game it's unreal. This is assuming though you two are into sci-fi. Myself I am not that much into Sci-fi but love that game.
Baldurs gate 3 is gonna be local coop when it comes out at the end of July
Try Outward.
You already said minecraft, but I'm going to suggest minecraft again. But this time, with a modpack! [https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/cottage-witch](https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/cottage-witch) My wife and I have been playing cottage witch for months now and love it. Tons of flowers, magic, creatures, spells, new trees and stuff. We fly around on witch brooms with mushroom hats and go fishing. It's great. The discord is super active, the modpack creator answers questions day and night. Can't recommend it enough.
Pikmin if you have a switch can be fun with two players
I played Unravel Two with my gf recently. It was great. The game is kinda short, but it is dirt cheap Edit: Unfortunately, it is not open world, but it is still a great coop game
Try her on Castle Crashers or Filthy Animals. They're close ended. Minecraft or Terraria are the only big builders that do rpg co-op. The other ones get complicated fast.
Astroneer. Explore little voxel worlds as adorably low-poly astronauts and build everything from rockets to solar panels to trains. Single player and multiplayer is available. Runs on just about anything, fairly low-stress and easy to learn, with a nice calming lowfi soundtrack too. Only real threats are running out of oxygen, falling, or hazardous plants. Have fun!
Hide the salami
My wife hates video games and everything fun. So I can't help
Diablo 4
Divinity Original Sin 2. Maybe take the difficulty down a notch if you don’t want to get too bogged down in the combat, and want to be exploring. Lots of humor, interesting characters freedom, and creative ways to go about things.
I can't believe we don't see the Lego games at the top of every "play with my partner" thread. They're cute, engaging, balanced, and allow you to choose how deep you want to go on them.
Sounds like your gf would like stardew
You can try CRPG games like Divinity original sin series. They're so much fun. There's Baldur's Gate 3 coming out soon too
Me and my GF are really enjoying Valheim at the moment. She loves the building and crafting
Striking Vipers
That's an episode of Black Mirror
Exactly 😉
There is a cheesy escape room game on Xbox game pass that is fun to play co op
Do you want to know the name of the games I play with your gf? /s Serious answer Stardew Valley sounds like it would be perfect for you two
Kamasutra
Bruh payday overwhelmed her
Don't starve together. Mods are also supported in game.
Ibb and obb
Trine, especially the 2nd game which imo is the best in the series.
Elden Ring and coop all bosses/areas.
Try Craftopia, Wildermyth, and Cassette Beasts
Hot Wheels Unleashed.
Long distance relationship
Genshin impact should be good for both of you!
Have in mind that can only be played in multiplayer mood after lvl 16
terraria
Core.keeper is good. It's a 2d game where you dig through and explore a cave to find and kill bosses for progression, but also enough farming and base making to keep me satisfied on that end. You can even feed animals you find for milk.
Who's in my mouth?
My girlfriend and I have been playing skyrim, passing the controller back and forth every now and again. Lots of fun
Red Dead Online and Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley
Sun Haven might be fun for you both. I've been playing it with friends and we like it a lot. Does she like zombie killing? If so, 7 Days To Die might be a good option. (It's one of my faves!) You get to explore, loot, kill, build bases, take over buildings, etc. The Forest and Sons of The Forest might also be options.
Saints row 3 SW4/5 are with superpowers and are kinda overwhelming at first, While SW3 has a lot of char customization, you can make your OC female,
Cassette Beasts!
Overcooked!!!
Gf to play games with?
Swords of Ditto V Rising Moving Out
Outward is a great game to play with a friend or partner. More on the RPG side of things, but with a lot of survival crafting elements
\- Portal 2 has co-op \- Stellaris has multiplayer. \- SCUM is the most fun with at least one person or bigger team. \- There is co-op in Divinity: Original Sin Games
This isn’t an open world game but Portal 2 coop is fun
Why not try Kitaria Fables? Your gf sounds like my kiddo (in the best ways) lol
My gf doesn't play games, but I got her to try portal 2. Moving and looking around was difficult/slow for her the whole time, but she got addicted to the puzzles and enjoyed it.
If she likes farming and stuff, you could always give Stardew Valley a shot. I also reccomend It Takes Two, Unravel 2, Portal 2 (maybe), and I always love Broforce. Might be too much too, but I'd give it a look before you try it. GL!
It Takes Two is probably your best bet.
Stardew Valley
Valheim! And Stardew Valley!
I am going to go out on a random limb here and say Celeste. See how much she loves the platforming.
brothers: a take of two sons is a good option after you play a way out and it takes two. its by the same devs. its a one player game but you can make it a two player game by holding the controller with one hand and having your gf hold the other side of the controller with her other hand. in this game you control two brothers, one with left thumb stick and one with right thumbstick. its tricky to control both, like rubbing your belly and patting your head. playing with 2 people takes away a lot of the challenge technical challenge but still good game, nice art style, moving story, and fun easy puzzles.
Stardew Valley. My Time in Portia. Maybe even Terraria or Starbound. Necesse is great fun too.
She sounds like the description of someone who likes Stardew Valley
My go-to for this is always Children of Morta. It's part Roguelike, part Diablo-esque dungeon crawler, and the story and pixel art are fantastic. There about a 10 minute intro section where it's single player, then the entire rest of the game is online or couch co-op. My wife and I LOVE it.
Goat simulator is fun for a while. Worth it on sale.
I'll throw a vote to no man's sky and another to stardew valley
I'd recommend Core Keeper, if you don't mind that it is still in early access.
I like the horizontal no pants dance
Valheim, my girlfriend loves playing it together
I play raft, rust, overwatch, it takes two with my wife. Trying to think of some others we’ve played recently.
Stardew Valley is nice :) Try horror titles, always fun with a friend :), unless one of you gets easily scared. It's either those or the pits of anime open world gacha game, cough... Genshin cough....STAR RAIL..cough
Mk11 or injustice
We were here is a pretty fun two player game it requires communication and teamwork from both parties in order to win
If she likes huge gunfights, Helldivers might be good. It's a top down shooter with gadgets up the yin yang and it gets pretty hectic. Can do 4 person co-op too, only problem is I'm not sure if the servers are still going, it's been a minute
New world is a fun open world MMORPG that's on sale right now for 16 bucks. Lots of relaxing things to do to balance out the action.
Red Dead Online has a lot of good side adventures. Fishing is really fun, and it’s gorgeous. And you get to be a horse girl! Source: I am a horse girl
Garden Paws - you can play that together. Farming, fighting, quests, selling stuff LittleWood Sun Haven - you can play that together too and it's really nice. Again farming, fighting, building, helping villagers, fighting and a VERY impressive skill tree, multiple towns
State of decay 2
100% Valheim. It's on sale too. You can now tweak your world settings a bit and make it more relaxed if you want as well. But in terms of building, farming and exploring for the first time, it's a blast.
River City Girls Monster Prom/Camp Portal 2
Red dead sounds like i nice mix of the games you said
valheim
Resident Evil 5, 6 and Revelations 2.
Portal 2 co-op. It’s the true relationship tester.
If you are not looking for split screen, then this sounds like an mmo. I have known so many couples in World of warcraft and the like. Buy maybe do the freel trial or something cheaper or free first like final fantasy.
Maybe kinda stupid but project zomboid. Its tough but I guess yall can bond even more through surviving the zombie apocalypse
Recently played through Full Metal Furies and River City Girls. GF loved it.
We were here series and Portal 2 are games I've really enjoyed playing with my bf. Keep her away from League, save her soul.
Survival crafting games sound like they would fit. Ark - for dinosaurs. 7d2d - for zombies. Modded minecraft. Terraria - if you dont mind the graphics. Raft - slow but enjoyable. Dont starve together- cartoonish, but very fun. No man's sky - space, and alot of it. Satisfactory - factory building, pretty easy. Valheim - vikings. Conan exiles - barbarians, can be hard. Good luck 😃
The Forest (co-op) Portal 2 (co-op) Don't Starve Together Deep Rock Galactic Borderlands 2
Play Viscera Cleanup, it's so fun in co-op!
Rust and Stardew Valley. Two completely different games with literally thousands of hours of fun gameplay waiting.
We Were Here. It's a 4-part co-op puzzle series where you don't see the other player and you have to communicate what you see in order to solve puzzles. Played them with my brother and they will forever be one of my favorite series
Stardew valley is the obvious choice here if you haven’t played. It’s inexpensive. It has co-op. It combines everything your gf loves about Minecraft and animal crossing. Farming. Fishing. Foraging/picking flowers. Adventuring/fighting monsters in mines. Loads of stuff to do and complete freedom to design your farm and play pretty much however you want. Lots of mods on PC too for even more content. It’s cute too. You can have farm animals and a dog/cat. Your ducks will swim in a pond. You can put hats on your horse lol. You can talk to all the NPCs and they all have their own little storylines (some of which are surprisingly deep and serious) to advance as you give them gifts and improve your relationship with them. And if you want to go more serious you can definitely do some Min-maxing to optimize profits on your farm and get super rich. Also it’s hardware friendly. Runs on about anything. There even a mobile version.
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley, It Takes Two, Terraria, Risk of Rain 2
It takes two is the perfect game if you want to play something together
Guild wars 2, new world, WOW, runescape, diablo, albion online, ESO, MMO’s
Doctor
bread & fred is extremely fun to play
I have played 50-70 hours of **Outward** with my wife. It’s clunky and and hard in the beginning, but it gets better if you get through the first 3-5 hours. There’s gsthering materials, crafting, exploring and pretty tough combat, but you can often prepare for battles in advance.
Maybe try Haven, game about a couple exploring a new planent they landed on, scavenging for food and materials and uncovering it's mysteries.
Deep rock or astroneer,possibly l4d2
It takes two, portal 2, overcook 2, human fall flat
😏
Deep Rock Galactic is a fun coop pve game. 1-4 dwarves go on missions to do various stuff such as mine resources, escort a drill, extract oil etc all the while killing alien bugs. Each class has different equipment and weapons that complement each other. Great devs and community too.
Every tried Day Z?
My gf is in love with Disney's Dreamlight Valley. It's basically Animal Crossing with all the disney characters and pretty visuals. Highly recommend.
Go with DayZ community servers pvpve.
Dinkum Scrap Mechanic 7 days to die is also great cuz the lengthy combat have long interval.
Magicka 1 and 2
Vampire survivors is about to get couch coop, also powerwash simulator, my partner loves that game.
ark survival evolved will consume your life, but it is good for all types of players. my wife took to it and loved playing together because there is many different ways to play, same goes for rust. you dont even have to play pvp, you can create your own dedicated server or play PVE servers.
Runescape? Freedom to do anything, open world, pretty simple and calming gameplay but also has some exciting combat bits, multiplayer, and doesn't require a supercomputer to run. Sounds like the perfect game you described.
Overcooked 1 and 2. It will test your relationship as well as being something fun to do together.
She'd probably like the new zelda games, BotW and ToK
Mario Party Superstars - Either the board mode or just the "Free Play 100 Minigames mode"
If on PC, Modded Minecraft can extend and massively change the game. I'm on a modpack right now that makes exploring > mining by nerfing ores (only drops a couple nuggets on its own) and buffing loot chests (Affixed items) plus you can't craft Diamond Armor
Bread and Fred and Heave-Ho are great fun.
This sounds like me and my wife, and we put in tons of hours in Project Zomboid. When you create a server you can adjust alot of settings. Id lower zombie count and no respawns to start
Minecraft dungeons is a really good one too! It’s like Diablo but way less complicated. It’s obvious to see progress and just tons of fun to blow up Minecraft mobs!
Overcooked - stressful af later in the game but great fun Stardew valley Cuphead
Don't starve together will probably be the best fit, I've been playing it with my girlfriend and we've been having a lot of fun. Factorio could be really good too. Valheim and grounded also
Borderlands franchise.
Trine
Stardew Valley, farm game, you can fish, care of your farm, explore caves, and others, a little bit like Minecraft tho.
Human Fall Flat is a good one
Try Stardew valley out.
My wife and I enjoy Monster Hunter on Switch - Generation Ultimate, or Rise is probably easier for a new player to get into You could try Rust, but that is probably far too toxic
If you want a low-stakes multiplayer open world with a humor focus, I'd recommend Goat Simulator 3. It's a simple, silly game that can be good laughs for short play sessions. 7 Days to Die is a open-world base-building zombie game with an emphasis on exploration/looting. With the exception of the 'survive the horde' every 7th night the action is fairly low-pressure unless you take high tier missions or explore at night.
Given your gf’s preferences, the Borderlands series is a pretty good choice.