Video games are a fun way to pass an hour or two (or three or five), but what about your significant other? What are they supposed to do when you're off saving a virtual world? Easy, play with you. This can be a difficult task if your partner does not understand the joy of completing virtual tasks.
Here are a few tips to get your significant other to play a game or two with you.
1. Cater the game to their interests. Say your fella likes sports, but would never be caught playing Little Big Planet with you. Get a copy of one of the many sports games out there. Sure, you may not be interested in picking football plays, but I'm sure he'll appreciate your attempt. Plus, this could make him more open to trying one of your games.
2. Do not make the game about competition. If there is one thing I hate more is a game that forces me to compete with my man. I always lose and it can get very discouraging to keep playing. Try playing a game with co-op such as Pixel Junk Monsters instead of Legend of Zelda Four Sword Adventures. Seriously, that game pissed me off. I will throw you off the cliff for your rupees.
3. Play with other couples or friends. By getting more people involved, your significant other is more likely to play with you rather than be the odd one out. Sure, this may sound devious, but it could open their eyes to playing more games. So bust out that Wii that's been gathering dust, call up two people and play some tennis in Wii Sports.
4. Play online. This may seem like a bad idea when you consider all those stories about people who abandon their normal lives to live virtually or run away with their MMO friends. But! It can be a good idea when you set up rules and boundaries. Henrir and I play World of Warcraft all the time together. The only way I've been able to play the game is because I've had someone who can play with me. We try not to play (or at least progress level wise and content wise) without each other. That way we can spend time together while having fun. This has worked really well when we spend long chunks of time apart. It helped to know that we could still do stuff together even if we couldn't see each other. Another bonus to playing online is that you can meet other couples with similar interests. It's always good to have couple friends that you can hang out with in-game and sometimes out.
5. Don't nag! This is probably the most important thing to remember. If you keep pushing for your guy or gal to play games with you it could be a deal breaker. No one likes being told what to do. I know Henrir would hate it if I pressured him to go yarn shopping all the time. I'd hate it if he pushed me to play Mega Man 9 all the time. Casually suggest that it would be fun or that you would appreciate it if they would play with you. Better yet, tell them you'll go do whatever they wanted to do tomorrow or that night, if they play with you. You never know, you might both find joy in each other's hobbies.
Now go boot up your system and spend some quality time together!
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