Can you recommend a few video games for beginners?

Here are a few welcoming video games that have gentle learning curves, forgiving controls, and low-pressure gameplay:

• A Short Hike
  Genre: Exploration / Adventure
  You play as a little bird on vacation, hiking to the top of a provincial park to get cell phone reception. There are no timers, no combat, and no penalties for wandering off. It’s charming, short (about 2–3 hours), and a wonderful way to get comfortable with controlling a character in a 3D space.

• Untitled Goose Game
  Genre: Comedy / Puzzle
  You play as a mischievous goose tasked with causing mild, harmless trouble in an English village (like stealing a gardener’s keys or tracking mud onto a rug). The controls are simple, the goals are listed clearly on a to-do list, and failing a task simply means trying again.

• Stardew Valley
  Genre: Farming / Life Simulation
  You inherit an overgrown farm and build it up at your own pace—planting crops, raising animals, fishing, and befriending the local villagers. It’s relaxing, open-ended, and lets you decide how you want to spend your days without demanding quick reflexes.

• Portal
  Genre: First-Person Puzzle
  If you want to try a first-person perspective without the stress of a fast-paced shooter, Portal is a masterpiece. Armed with a device that creates two connected portals on flat surfaces, you solve physical puzzles to progress. It teaches you its mechanics step-by-step and is famously funny.

• What Remains of Edith Finch
  Genre: Narrative Adventure
  Often called an interactive story, you explore an eccentric family home to uncover the stories of past generations. The gameplay is almost entirely focused on walking, looking, and experiencing short vignettes, making it ideal if you want a rich, cinematic story without mechanical challenge.

Do you have a specific device (like a Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, or Xbox), or a genre you usually enjoy in movies or books? That can help narrow down the best starting point.