I would vote for Stardew Valley as a universally "good" introduction to gaming. There's a lot of charm, it's low intensity, it's obviously a labor of love, there are frequent rewards, and it incentivizes planning/engagement but not in a way that makes a new player fail.

Honestly though I'd rather know what kind of preferences a person has and tailor the game to that because gaming is so diverse.

The Portal games. They show how games can build alternative realities in a fundamentally more tangible way than other mediums while not assuming previous experience with games.

Untitled Goose Game

Dark Souls

It doesn't directly answer your question, but this playlist of videos is tangentially related. It's showing the experience of trying various games/genres of games for someone who is not at all a gamer. It was really interesting to see some of the things that gamers might take for granted which are completely foreign to someone who hasn't been steeped in gaming.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLordXx8iNEyStcX_WzqM0JCpiJYgqhinc

Movie-like games where you pick choices? Life is Strange, The Walking Dead and similar, Heavy Rain.

Also Lego, Thrine, EDGE for easy platforming.

I find Nintendo games are great for people that don't play games much.

If they're very young, one of the most recent yoshi games are very easy to play.

Or else a nice 2D platformer like Mario wonder. You can play with them and help if necessary.

If you want them to get used to 3D style games Mario Odyssey or Astro's playroom on ps5 are very fun to play.

Meadow

You get to be an animal, and run around and explore an expansive but uncomplicated world. You meet other animals (players), and try to communicate with only animal noises and emojis. And you run around together collecting resources, that unlock more animals or animal things to use.

It's wonderful.

There isn't one single answer to this, it depends on the person's predilections. But good beginner games have in common that they have simple controls, start out easy and introduce new elements piecemeal. An engaging world and story can provide the player with direction.

Portal 1 is one of those games that I've heard lots of people enjoy that don't usually play games and it ticks all those boxes.

The Super Mario jumpNrun games are also great as an introduction as the controls are very intuitive and explorable. Plus it's fun to move around and traversing the world.

Minimalist puzzle games like Monument valley can also do the trick for some folks.

I love Journey and recommend it for all ages

Stardew Valley or Minecraft.

The correct answer is the original Peggie and Peggie Nights.

If you really want to fuck them up just make them play WoW.

While maybe not kid friendly due to themes in the game, but i think The Binding of Issac is a pretty good place to start.

It is easy to learn, but provides enough space for skill growth. It offers a nice mysterious progression of enhancements and curses to amplify that core gameplay. Furthermore, the gameplay loop with randomly generated levels, item tables, and shuffling boss rosters, the game really offers so much for someone to get new to games excited about.

My wife never grew up with video games, where i was the opposite. we dated for about 3 years and one day she asked me about BOI. I showed her how to play it on my PC and the rest is history. i think she had clocked almost 1000hrs in the game. Now, she plays games more than I do! She bought an Xbox and plays whatever is on game pass. I am almost certain she is close to perfecting Hades.

A close second would maybe be the Aliens arcade shooter with the big ol guns you point at the screen!

Pong, walk them through the generations.

IDK it kind of depends on what they might be into. Maybe something like Minecraft, Portal/Portal 2, or Skyrim where the mechanics aren't too complicated. I think multiplayer can be a big way to keep people interested too. I've gotten my parents who dislike video games to enjoy Golf with Friends and Jackbox games.

If they like puzzles that's also kinda easy there's tons of low barrier to entry stuff.

I've been thinking Cocoon would be a good candidate for that.

• Super simple controls.
• There is no fail state.
• Figuring out the rules is part of the puzzle gameplay. As such, it also uses very few unwritten video game conventions.
• The game pushes you towards the right solution, while making you feel smart for it.
• No unprovoked violence.
• The art style is gorgeous and, perhaps more importantly, unique.