My friend hated a game I recommended
I just need to get this out of my system and help people see things right because I am kind of overreacting right now I guess. I (23M) have a friend (23F) I met at uni and is pretty much the only friend I have who plays video games. She primarily plays gacha games and Overwatch but has enjoyed watching youtubers play many singleplayer games (couldn't play them themselves because her parents didn't support her playing games and they were pretty broke as a family).
Since I met her we've talked about games a lot, we played some stuff together and she expressed regret over not playing more singleplayer games as a kid so I got her some as the more privileged friend. We played It Takes Two, which we both enjoyed, and I got her Portal 1&2 which she enjoyed but I don't think she loved as much. I also got her Outer Wilds like two years ago at this point, but she hasn't been in the right mood to play it yet I guess. She also got me to watch Chainsaw Man and play Until Dawn, both of which I enjoyed immensely.
One of the games she enjoyed watching back in the day was Little Nightmares, so I decided to get her Inside when it was on a deep sale last summer because it is pretty similar to LN in terms of genre AND it is very short, so she could finish it in one sitting, which I thought was less stressful than starting a whole new 20 hour game.
Two days ago she told me she wanted me to see another anime and I said sure and suggested she plays Inside too. She agreed and she texted me this morning if I wanna watch her play tonight.
It was painful. She enjoyed the first like 30 minutes of the game and then the rest she kept complaining about how hard the puzzles were and how she kept dying. It was just part of the learning process to me but she seemed to get extremely upset at the slightest hint of failure. She soon started saying that she hated the game. Then she said nothing made any sense (the game is a very atmospheric, show don't tell type of experience) and that if the story doesn't get explained she's not playing a game I recommend ever again. I'm assuming she was just upset and didn't mean it but that hurt me. I just pretended I was fine from then on. I tried telling her she didn't have to keep playing and that it's fine to quit a game but she insisted on finishing it. She kept asking me if she was close to the end, more about how this was a horrible experience, and asking for solutions for the (very simple) puzzles when she got stuck for a second. When she finished the game she ended it saying "this is the worst game I've ever played." She asked if I was happy at the end and I said no. I said she's allowed to not like a game and that it's fine and she went to play Genshin Impact.
This is the same person who complained to me a few months ago about people who shit on things you enjoy in front of you. Same person who claims she stands for the integrity of art and yet I'm getting this feeling that if there's no flashy colours filling up the screen and numbers going up she's not entertained. I guess I can't really blame her for not being as open minded about media or having different taste than me. But it really bummed me out, especially the "I don't want to play anything you recommend to me ever again" comment. I'm not sure if I want her to play Outer Wilds anymore. That game means so much to me and now I feel like she's just gonna hate it since it requires quite some patience and she's gonna ruin it for me.
I really thought she would like Inside. I had no idea it would end like this. I'm just so sad right now.
Posted Feb 11, 2026, 10:12 PM UTC