Online gaming can be an overwhelming experience for newcomers, especially if you don’t play video games regularly. There are dozens of genres and hundreds of games to choose from, with most games requiring at least some form of prior gaming experience.
If you want to play bingo online, there isn’t much that stands in your way of doing so. However, if you want to level up your gaming skills and gain some valuable experience, you’ll need a game with a higher skill ceiling. With that in mind, here are eight online games that are ideal for new gamers.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Following its release in 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was met with instant praise from critics and consumers alike. It was nominated for over a dozen awards, sold nearly 40 million copies, and holds the record for the most copies of a game sold in a month.
The game itself is a social simulator with story elements. You can gather resources and craft items, with the aim of growing your community over time. It’s a relaxing game that doesn’t ask too much of the player, making it a great choice for novice gamers.
Apex Legends
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale that will get your adrenaline pumping with its fast-paced gameplay. The concept is simple; 60 players are dropped into a map in teams of two or three, and the aim is to be the last team standing at the end of the match.
Battle royales remain incredibly popular, but many of them lack the sheer accessibility of Apex Legends. You can play it on almost any gaming device, against players who match your skill level, with the added bonus of being able to rope in a friend or two.
Hearthstone
If cards and numbers are more your styles, Hearthstone should definitely pique your interest. It’s a digital collectible card game featuring characters that are all based on Blizzard Entertainment’s highly popular Warcraft series.
Players compete against each other in a variety of multiplayer modes, but there are also multiple single-player adventures. This is a game built for all kinds of players, and no matter which model you prefer, you can play at your own pace and learn as you go.
Mario Kart
Nintendo’s Mario Kart series has been around for three decades. The latest entry, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, released in 2020, is yet another example of Nintendo’s ability to create revolutionary technologies for video games.
Home Circuit uses real toy cars that are remote-controlled via the player’s gaming device. These cars stream video from their cameras into the video game, essentially giving gamers a form of augmented reality (AR) gaming far sooner than anyone expected.
Minecraft
Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, and for good reason. It’s got compelling gameplay loops, and rewarding mechanics and its capacity for replayability is as close to infinite as we’re ever likely to get.
It’s fun on your own or when you’re playing with friends. You can build absolutely anything you want, and the game has even been used to teach chemistry and computer science. Ultimately, Minecraft is the type of game every gamer should experience at least once.
Overcooked 2
Unlike most other games, Overcooked 2 doesn’t have monsters or weapons. All the game expects is for you to perform routine culinary tasks, yet it manages to turn that mundanity into a recipe for comedic gold.
The game throws up to four players at a time into absurd kitchen setups, expecting everyone to work in unison and execute increasingly complex food orders. As you might imagine, this often leads to chaos and disaster, with a side order of hilarity for dessert.
Paladins
Fancy a bit of casual shooter gameplay? Paladins is just the game for you. It’s a hero shooter with a fairly expansive roster, much like other games in this genre. However, it’s also free-to-play, which makes it useful as a test for whether or not you’ll enjoy the genre.
Every match in Paladins consists of two teams of five players. There are several game modes to choose from, such as Siege, Onslaught, and regular Team Deathmatch. The gameplay is well-balanced and there are no complex mechanics to worry about.
World of Warcraft
As far as massively multiplayer online roleplaying (MMORPG) games go, World of Warcraft (WoW) remains the quintessential online gaming experience. The game first came out back in 2004, but numerous expansions have been added to it since then.
New players will be glad to know that the game caters well to beginners. The game starts off slow, the mechanics are explained in a straightforward manner, and most importantly, the skill curve is quite lenient compared to other MMORPGs.