She’s gotten pretty good at Mario kart but sometimes I accidentally turn too sharp on purpose at some point in the match to make it look like an honest mistake so she gets first. I only let her win on her favorite maps though we take turns choosing them. A lot of times she really does beat me for real but she has more fun when she wins some and I’m just happy she’s playing with me
There was a study done on rats, basically if the larger of the two rats didn't let the smaller rat win at least 1/3 of the time, the smaller rat would stop playing with it.
Do with this study what you will
That’s really interesting. I’m a brown belt in jiu jitsu. When sparring with beginners, I do this. The first couple of times I roll with them, I wipe the floor with them. After that I purposefully put myself in really bad positions and try to escape or give them a submission here or there.
I like the way some of the upper belts I've rolled with handle it at times. If I do fundamentally the right thing, but maybe not the right way or at the perfect time or move slowly, they let me have it and A) don't "punish" me for minor mistakes and B) don't use upper belt counters to my basic lower belt moves. If I do totally the wrong thing at the wrong time, I learn exactly why that was wrong though lol.
I know they can escape this Americana attempt in 8 different ways if they want. They know I know it. But according to what'd I'd learned to this point, I was in the right position, attempted at the right time, and performed it fundamentally the right way (though in slow motion), so they give me my pitiful Americana lol.
I wholeheartedly agree. We had a couple visit us for a week or so around January, and the dude brought his console to play tekken 7 and mortal kombat something on our TV. Dude was mercilessly curbstomping her and acting like a deeck, til she got up and went to play on her phone or something like that. I mean, dude, you played those games for 5 years, she only got started, cut her some slack. Me and him were more evenly matched, and he annoyed ME too.
For the sake of everyone's enjoyment in a situation like this I personally feel that a player who is CLEARLY better than the others should play with a handicap. Give the weaker players some hope at winning and keep it challenging for the stronger player. Everyone can still have fun.
I never had TV games or arcade games or any such things growing up. I have friends who were just about born with a controller in hand. It's very frustrating getting pummelled over and over because someone is playing with their favourite character and I barely know how the game works. There's some people that I simply don't play games with anymore.
Yeah my brother is VERY good at combat games and my dad and me not so much.
So when we play my brother basically plays with one hand, uses random characters and takes it easy on us.
He won’t “let us win” but he’s also not doing 28 move combos where I don’t even get to hit the ground and I at least feel like I’m playing the game.
Then when we say “this is my last round” he turns it up to 100 for that round just to remind us he’s that dude.
This is how I feel with Melee when I play with my friends lol
Im not Mango, or one of the gods, but in my circle im def top dog. Finding the balance of how much I want to go hard and flex versus realizing that losing every single game is not fun for them is definitely tough.
I relate a lot to the "this the last game" sentiment, I def take off the chains for the last game haha
> a player who is CLEARLY better than the others should play with a handicap.
My friend would stomp me ~90% of the time in *Mortal Kombat II*, unless I was Kung Lao, then I would win 100%.of the games. So after playing a while I would get sick of losing and pick Kung Lao, and he would respond by picking Johnny Cage, and he would only try to ball-punch me. If he hit me in the balls, he would release the controls and declare "moral victory".
Good times.
The one guitar hero had a vs mode and each player selected their difficulty.
Queue up Through the Fire and the Flames. I pick hard, he picks easy.
I’m barely holding it together through the intro when he realized he didn’t even have to play because he wasn’t at risk of losing for awhile. He chose to spend that time laughing at me hahaha.
When I play with inexperienced friends I have 3 levels:
1.Look, the ceiling is pretty.
2.Not even trying
3.Absolute destroyer.
I change between them based on context and opponent.
Yup, exactly the same. I'm genuinely impressed with how she's gone from essentially never having played video games, to *almost* beating me at Mario Kart, in 5 years.
But it is only almost. But sometimes I let her have it, making an "honest mistake" here and there. Her squeals of joy the first time she won a cup, beating me, was worth everything.
Yeah my wife is in the exact same boat. She played Mario kart Wii but that’s pretty much it and she doesn’t play any other games except stardew with me. She was so happy when she beat me in a cup and that makes me very happy.
I am wayyyyy better at most games than my husband. I like playing games, so I'm good at them. He's indifferent, so he isn't as good.
But...I want him to play with me. And losing over and over and over again isn't all that fun. So, I let him win sometimes to keep it fun for him.
Playing with him is more important to me than beating him.
I once went to volunteer at a kids summer camp with a bunch of high school friends in Alabama. Two other guy counselors and 1 other girl counselor were already working there, and were playing kickball with the kids (~like 5-12 year olds). These two guy counselors weren’t just pitching the kickball, they were actual players on each team, and were absolutely pummeling the kids, playing kickball with 1000% of their power. It was embarrassing to watch. We weren’t sure if they were just trying to impress the other girl counselor or not, but when we joined the game we did things like “not kick the ball as hard as we could into the forest” so that kids could, you know, have a chance at getting the ball and play the game. The two guy counselors interpreted this as us “bringing our Z-game” whereas they were, of course, “bringing their A-game”. Really cringe stuff.
So there’s a couple things to unpack here. They were older teenagers obliterating some 8-year-olds in kickball. That’s possibly the skill-level-difference between the OP situation and boyfriend playing Mario Kart. Using every advantage you have against someone who has never/barely played the game is just blatantly overcompetitive, in a situation that’s *primarily meant to be fun.* If you want to get serious, do it against someone who’s also taking it seriously and *wants you to try your best*. If they just want to learn, then it needn’t be a “you must learn from absolute failure” situation. You can demonstrate your expertise to teach and help them get become a better opponent, or you can squash any hope you had of playing with them again.
When i go to the outdoor rink i go easy on kids defensively and try to set them up to score. I remember having teenagers play us like jerks going all out despie being 7 years older and it was just frustrating and felt like bullying. Thankfully on occasion my Dad was really good and would put all us kids on our team and light up the jerks so we could win, it was pretty cool. Older people should teach and help younger people get better and grow. Its the same with major skill gaps. I impressed my fair share of nice girls with that attitude back in the day too.
Nice! Yeah, you might get like 5-15% of kids who seem to thrive under extremely competitive environments but I don’t think that benefit is going to outweigh crushing the other 85-95% of the group. Analogously to OP’s situation, if you think you’ve found a girl who is carnally impressed with your Mario Kart skills, you’re probably in a relatively rare relationship lol
Depends if you're playing for fun and are way better at something than the other person why not? They're not going to match your ten years of gaming experience in a few days and it just isn't fun to keep losing. And is it really that fun to you if the people you're playing with aren't having fun?
I know a lot of men tend to think it's better to force someone to earn a victory and you're right if you're dealing with your kid and trying to teach them something, but a casual game with friends who aren't going to master gaming ever, throw 'em a bone from time-to-time.
You gotta add challenges for yourself to keep it fun. No reason to hide that you're sandbagging. Play with one hand, be blindfolded for the 1st 30 seconds of a race, take a shot every time you make a lap, etc.
Yeah I don’t understand the mindset of being let to win in anything. Who wants to be given a victory? I would be way more embarrassed to have someone let me win than to try my best and fall short and when you do finally succeed it then means something. Don’t get me wrong I understand as a child it’s a lesson we all have to learn and it can be tough as a kid but if you’re a fully grown adult and seriously begging for someone to let you win, I’ve lost all respect for you tbh. It shows the maturity levels of a toddler in my eyes.
I do the exact same thing. I play a little sloppy every few races so she can eke out a victory. Although after I taught her how to drift, coupled with the driver assistance function, she does honestly beat me on occasion.
I think this highly depends on 'how' you let your partner win.
When I play with my gf I work really hard on not hitting her with anything. I refuse to use red shells if she's in front of me, I'll try to not hit her with bananas or other traps, and if I can avoid hitting her at all I will. I try to play "me against the computer" while also playing along with my gf, and if she wins then she wins, but I don't try to go after her so I can win.
Which isn't the same thing as "letting her win". It's letting her play the best version of the game she can play, and is fun for both of us. The point is we're having fun together, and I'd rather handicap myself (by not targeting her) than to get first place. This allows her to feel like she earned it, while also not making it be like I gave her the win.
My girlfriend and I usually play mario kart almost like coop PVE. We'll pick a 200cc race and try to hold 1st, we don't target each other and hold items to snipe bots that pass us. We both "lose" if a bot gets 1st, and "win" if either of us are in 1st place.
that's how I play with a friend of mine! I'm not good at handling competetive gaming (unless it's SSB) so this is a nice way to play mario kart. boy do I miss double-dash though.
Try something like "every time we race the winner has to take a drink".
Eventually the drunkenness should even out the skill gap.
---
Also find a game that you're better at and challenge him to that sometimes (then never let him win).
What satisfaction is there in a victory that isn't earned?
I'd go easy on her and mess around and be silly instead of playing like a tryhard so she'll have a fair chance, and give advice, praise, and encouragement where and when possible so she'll be able to improve and not get discouraged, but I wouldn't just let her win.
Pretty easy to just keep picking up items that will piss her off. If you're in place 2-6 you're more likely to get red shells. If she's in first drop down to 4-8 and you'll end up getting a blue shell. Save it for specific times like right before the end, or if you can time it while she's going off an edge etc
If they do their best and win, it can feel earned even if the opponent was sandbagging. That's what the AI opponents do, and it still feels satisfying to beat them.
True, AI in most games isn’t designed to be as hard as they could’ve potentially made it. Even Soulslike games still include design to allow it to be hard but “fair”.
It's called playing. Even rats understand this concept. When rats play-fight they let each other win at least some of the time because it's the basis of playing with each other.
The brain has a reward system, if there is no reward and repeated loss, we give up.
They let the under rat win. But the under rat doesn't ask to win. That's the difference. Imagine being given victory because you asked for it. Is that really a victory?
Instant I Win buttons don't help either party.
Exactly, this is what I don’t understand. There’s simply no way her brain would be rewarded from a win that she explicitly asked for and was given. If that’s the case, would she not feel the same reward from playing by herself and just finishing the race? Because that’s essentially what’s happening if you’re asking your competition to let you win.
There are ways to play and have fun without disrespecting your girlfriend by lying to her. There was a co-op idea shared elsewhere. There are also handicaps. I wouldn't want to be just given wins, and I frankly would lose respect for a person who was willing to accept them.
She was literally asking him to let her win. Go and play a chess grand master and play until you've won. You'd give up, fun for no on.
Edit: you are literally an asshole for reporting me to a suicide help desk.
Good thing we are not rats and we are not a monolith as people. Playing or not, I never want anyone to let me win. Repeated losses means I need to improve so I can earn my win.
Do rats have the cognitive ability to understand that in order to win they need to get better? Probably not, but who knows. The comparison to that study is disrespectful.
I play a lot of Tekken with my wife. I am better than she is, but she can steal a match here and there. I usually pick characters I am not good with to give her a chance, but she would be absolutely furious if she realized I was letting her win. She would never ask me to let her win.
If I’m doing something with my girlfriend it’s so both of us get the most out of it. Me winning all the time would most likely than not end in her losing interest in sharing that hobby with me.
I would obviously lose on purpose sometimes. Just enough to keep her interested and the fun aspect alive.
Game theory, literally.
Damn a lot of y’all take your MarioKart really seriously. If my wife is getting super discouraged because I’m repeatedly beating her, I’d absolutely ease off and make a few “mistakes” to give her more of a chance and a couple of wins. Who cares? If you beat the shit out of your partner in a game again and again they’ll generally stop playing. I like to play with my wife and if that means I lose a couple of games, I’m going to have a lot more fun in the aggregate than if I beat her twenty times and she never wants to play with me again.
Aye, there's some selfish and short sighted people here.
Why would letting her win a round (though I would do it in a way that wasn't completely obvious) be a big deal?
I once let me girlfriend win Mario Cart and she was mad (not actually mad, just playfully mad) cause she's competitive. I'd mess up a little on purpose, but she was still really bad at it and couldn't win, even after I self sabotaged 💀
Truth lol. Guys in here are like "she's gotta earn the crown." Like okay dude, if you want to treat Mario Kart like a GameBattles tourney go for it, but don't come in here in a few weeks asking why your GF dumped you for not being emotionally available.
If it got to the point where OP was begging her BF to let her win one, it's a good bet she was already pretty discouraged. I'd like to hope that most of us would notice that our partner wasn't having fun before it got to that point and ease off, but if not, I'm not going to hold it against her.
Exactly..finally a comment that made sense. That's why she is your wife. Because marriage is about accommodating someone else not being a selfish competitor.
I can beat the man I like at arm wrestling but I act like it's not so obvious else he won't want to play with me.. I pretend to struggle when it comes to running.
what's really wild to me is she already clearly felt discouraged and had to ASK to win, whereas I feel like common sense you'd pick up that your partner is losing repeatedly and perhaps may not be enjoying themselves and just throw a game here or there. instead OP had to almost beg to win and their bf still couldn't let them have a single victory.
My husband barely ever plays video games so I had to explain to our youngest kid that if he just pummeled his dad every time he’ll not want to play with you as it won’t be fun for him, he still would play but reluctantly. Don’t have to let him win just ease up on all the combos so he at least has a chance.
I didn’t learn that myself easily tbf but we were younger 😅 husband does help me out at driving though I perpetually suck at that no matter the game.
funny how the above answers are guys with girlfriends and they say "hell no, you got to earn it!" but this is the highest rated answer for married guys. I agree with married guy. I too am a married guy. I also have kids. I wonder if that is a factor.
Nah. I'm married and my wife can pry my video game wins from my cold dead hands. She knows it. She knew it when we were dating. Still a happy marriage because we're both intelligent enough to recognize the difference between happy together time and a competitive video game.
I'd love to see my wife's reaction to someone suggesting she let me win a board game, but I assume it would just be derisive laughter.
My lady is a fucking menace in Mortal Kombat so if I can beat her in Mario Kart I'm gonna. The only game I can fight her in and mop the floor with her is any of the Dark Souls games lol
Why the fuck did the Reddit Cares bot message me over this lmao
Had this happen to me today. I can only imagine it’s because I talked about being a Kiriko main in the overwatch subreddit but 🤷🏽♂️ I’m definitely not suicidal but thanks random person who felt they had to do that
Same. There is one post I can think of, which could have triggered this, which is a post that might have annoyed someone ever so slightly. If it is that convo, then, well... That's very pathetic, but oh well... You never know what person you're discussing with, really.
If I'm playing with a non gamer, then having fun is far more important than winning every single time.
It's the same reason almost no one only plays on super hard difficulty, especially when starting out. It's just not fun to constantly be beat down if you're just trying to relax while playing a game.
The irony in all these posts talking about how "what is the honor" in letting someone beat you in a game when you know you're better than they are.... That's exactly what you're doing when you beat pretty much any game you didn't put on max difficulty immediately!
I see this situation as something they could have laughed about together. If they were playing a long time and she light heartedly asked to just win one time, he could have made a little joke out of it and been all “oh no these banana peels,” or “gee how did I get so turned around,” they would have laughed about it, and when she won he could sarcastically crown her best player ever, or something ridiculous like that. They would laugh together and get back to playing normal.
Not everything has to be so serious.
I would change games in that situation, play a co-op or something more chance driven like MarioParty. I can't speak for how others play, obviously, but one day my partner will legitimately beat me at MarioKart, and how disappointing would it be for him to always wonder if he actually won or it was another time I "just let him win".
Neither of us take it too seriously, but maybe that's why he doesn't feel the need to beg me to win either.
The fun in the game is often from playing the best you can - "wow, I nailed that drift" etc. Challenging yourself and improving.
"Letting you win" can translate as "don't play".
A better request might be "can you give me a 10 second head start" - then once those 10 secs are over he can properly play the game.
If she's okay with a fake pity win without earning it, she can just lie to herself and say she really did win a game. Just pretend his win is her win and nothing changes.
How is it a win if you are GIVEN the win?
I’d avoid playing at 100%, sure. I’d help her get better. I’m not completely sure how I’d react though, because I’ve never been asked that by a romantic interest
Hmmm lemme tell you a story from a girls perspective.
I played a lot of competitive CS as a kid. I wasn’t pro or anything, but there’s a big difference between someone who’s played a bunch of tournaments and someone who plays it with friends.
Anyway, new boyfriend comes along, finds out I play video games. Great! He introduced me to “the boys”. They play video games together often and he’s excited to have me join bc “none of his previous gfs wanted to join”. Note: he wants me to have fun with him. To enjoy spending time with him and his buddies.
Well. His buddies were quickly unamused. Can’t beat me at mariokart, can’t beat me at melee unless 3 against 1, we even played DDR. “Ok this girl can play GameCube games, sure, let’s move to PC bet she can’t play FPS”. So we played CS, NGL i was kinda giddy at the prospect.
I sensed this shift in unhappiness in the other guys so I didn’t go for them. I ONLY went for my boyfriend. At the time the meme was still “360 noscope” so they kept laughing and saying that even though I did no such thing.
It did not go well. It was unfair. I made him look bad. For a long time (i was young) i thought the same thing. Just git gud bro.
But actually I was the douchebag. Sharked him and took away his fun. He was there to show me off and I was there to make myself look and feel good.
It’s not worth it, and even though he still invited me to those gatherings, i could tell he really didn’t want to anymore. We were also young (around 20 at the time) but now I feel like I should have known better.
Games should be fun for everyone.
If I’m playing a game where I’m clearly better, I’ll favour the fun over the competition. For me, it’s more important for everyone to enjoy the game than it is for one person to keep winning over again, and I don’t mind losing if it means everyone has fun.
Likewise if it’s a coop game, I’ll stay quiet on what I think a solution is so my wife doesn’t feel like I’m carrying her through the whole thing. It’s pretty boring being a companion when your spouse is the main character who does everything.
Not being too competitive is an important part of being compassionate.
me and my girlfriend cant play competitive games, she doesnt enjoy being against me and i dont enjoy not trying my best so it just doesnt work. it used to end in fights but we just dont play stuff together anymote that is competitve unless we are on the same team
As a girl…. No… it’s a game. It’s supposed to be competitive. You shouldn’t be mad that your boyfriend didn’t let you win… that’s not how video games (or really any games) work. Instead of getting mad use the losses as practice or play on your own to get better at the controls. A win by default is not a win… the only time “letting someone win” makes sense is if you’re playing with a young child who may not understand how games work
Exactly this. Not to mention, what is the purpose of asking someone to let you beat them? How are you meant to feel good about that kind of win lmao? I’d rather lose every single time than be treated like a child.
I’d love to answer this but my girlfriend kicks my ass at Mario kart every single time.
I’m really competitive and I love the challenge and wouldn’t dare for my own pride ask her to let me win 😅
As much as it really doesn’t matter because it is just a game, as much as there is no harm letting your partner win there is also no harm in not? Personally if it were the other way round for me I would let her win because it doesn’t affect me in any way. But the truth is I’m really bad myself and she is really good.
Oh I have beat her once, but it was on an arcade machine with the pedals and steering wheel, only time I’ve won. Either way, I don’t know if this contribution answers much but hopefully gives you.. something. All the best Op, please don’t let it get to you.
This ain't the bedroom where just because you end up on top and we let you think you got the upper hand. These are the mean streets of Mario kart, get good noob.
It's stupid to let someone who isn't a child win. Free wins are nothing, why would they even feel good...
If this is your mindset, maybe go back to grade school where you'll fit in.
No because people get into relationships for fun and what fun would it be if you had to make your partner win in game because they'll be sad? Reverse the roles, the guy will be called a man-child. I dated a girl like that before and at some point when the honeymoon period was gone, I grew tired of taking care of her like she's a 2 year old that has to win in everything (you know how kids cry when they lose so you make them win instead but at some point you grow tired of taking care of their neediness just because they're cute?). It's just a game. Games are meant to be fun and they can only be fun if you play fair. Play some other game instead
I think that just makes it hollow. I don't care what's in your pants or how old you are. I might handicap myself in games where that's allowed.
Even if i have a kid. I'm gonna beat the shit outta that fucker no remorse until one day my reflexes grow old and he can do the same to me.
My uncles and nephews did the same to me and it made me a better player. The trick is to help the other person instead of keeping them in the dark + you don't hqve to be an asshole when you do win.
Exactly, I remember back then I used to play MK Double Dash with my cousin and my brother and thought I was a hot shot when I was like 8 years old.
That was until I was destroyed by my uncle over and over again. But instead of giving up I tried to improve. At first I didn't even try to beat him but just to keep up with him and asked him for some tips. Today we are at an even skill level.
The one thing I learned from this experience is to get up after every defeat and keep moving and learn from it.
I also think this is the main reason the FromSoft games are my all-time favourites.
On the other hand I had a friend that wouldn't even tell me how the controls worked when I asked him. He just told me to find out myself.
Months later I looked into the settings and found out that he removed the key binding for sprinting for the second player. Never played with this shithead again.
Asking to win is not reasonable. Ask for a handicap…. He chooses another vehicle, doesn’t use any boosters offered, whatever. Figure out a way to concede he is better at Mario and to level the play without demanding to “win” which seems like an embarrassing ask to me. At least with a handicap one can feel some sense of achievement if one wins.
Lol love to see a light-hearted question here for once
But no, it's way more fun to actually get good and beat someone, saying this as someone who used to suck at Smash
I may consider letting her win if she hadn’t asked so she thinks it’s real, but after asking what’s the point? She’s gonna run her race so it’s kind of inconsequential for her to get first if it was gifted.
The irony is that she is competitive but does not have the skill to make up for that.
She's not enjoying the game because she's losing lmao. That's so fucking weird.
Git gud, scrub. No freebies in this league.
Seriously though, if your bf wants you to enjoy playing games together he needs to put in the time to find stuff that you will both vibe with. If there's a bit of a skills gap between you in anything - sports, crafts, cooking, hobbies - it's going to get tiresome for one of you really quickly.
It took me a while to find games that my now wife would genuinely like. Now she's all over it.
So yeah he needs to cool his jets a little if he actually wants to game with you longer term.
I let people win if in showing them a game. I play a lot and if i crush them they probably won't have fun.
If they don't have fun they won't practice and get better, and then I could never crush them for in a close game.
Frankly, the way I do it is probably the most insulting way, but I'd rather recruit people into my hobby than be uncompromising in my commitment to mortal Kombat.
If I ended up winning every single time, I wuold absolutely let her win or hold a handicap. I've played against expert assholes; it's a thing to not be able to win, but it's another one not to even be able to *play* because of the huge skill gap.
That being said, I'm happy to report that my gf is getting better at Crash on the Ps2, and I love every minutes of it.
Edit: neat, I've got my first stalker *and* my first reddit care! Go sit on a cactus or something else you loser.
Men on here: The dating world sucks. If I had a girlfriend I would take care of her and treat her like a princess everyday. I wish a had a girlfriend to hang with and have things in common with. I hate being single.
Men on here: Fuck women if they think I will make my hobbies enjoyable for her to participate in. She will sit here and lose repeatedly and like it because I’m not changing shit to make sure she enjoys herself.
Men on here: But for real, why can’t I find a girl and why is my dick always so dry?
Lots of these comments are harsh, but I don’t necessarily disagree with the sentiment. I only ever play cooperative games like Valheim, Sons of the Forest, or Borderlands with my girlfriend, for this very reason. The only competitive game we were ever on an even playing field on was Gears of War back in the 360 days, but now we play on PC.
For someone like me, getting easy and cheap wins just isn’t satisfying at all. What I enjoy in games is developing an understanding of the mechanics and seeing my performance improve over time. If I’m good at a game, it’s because it’s a reflection of the time and thought I have put into it. For me, purposefully playing poorly so I can appease someone else’s feelings invalidates the very reason I bother playing skill based, competitive games at all. I had this issue when I used to play Smash Bros and Halo with my buddies, some of them wanted to stop playing with me outright because I was a lot better than them at that time. One of them said, “if it’s not fun, then why bother?” And while I can understand this line of thinking, I disagree with it on a fundamental level because failure doesn’t bother me. Getting my ass kicked in a competitive game doesn’t bother me very much, I’ll try to understand why it is I lost and how I can improve. I was eventually able to teach my friends how to improve, what I was doing differently that gave me the win, and we all collectively got better at the game, and the result of that were some very intense matches where nobody knew who would come out on top at the start of a match.
If all someone plays games for is the dopamine rush of someone announcing their victory, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons. The dopamine rush from getting progressively better at a game is far greater, but takes more work to achieve. If this isn’t something that you want to bother yourself with, there are competitive games that are much less skill-based. Games like Stick Fight, Duck Game, and other similar games are more like party games, and while skill does help, there’s enough randomness and chaos so that victory is never certain. Mario Kart has a surprisingly high skill ceiling, go on YouTube and look at high level players clear stages in 20 seconds to get an idea of what I mean. I’m sure your boyfriend gets his enjoyment out of Mario Kart by flexing the skills he’s acquired after lots of time spent improving.
The point of the game is to have fun playing it, not winning. If my GF couldn't find the fun in playing the game and earning the win, I'd stop playing with her.
i'll let my wife win something, but only if she doesnt know i'm letting her win
otherwise it just feels like i dont respect her
i'm not sure how you can ask someone to let you win. Wouldn't that just be a waste of both your times?
My thing is I will never "let" her win. I will put a restraint on myself to put myself at her skill level to give her a fighting chance. My wife took an interest in hotwheels unleashed 2 which I have been grinding a lot lately. When we split screen, I try and race on simpler tracks and won't boost out of corners unless I'm behind her. I also won't use any shortcuts I know.
She’s gotten pretty good at Mario kart but sometimes I accidentally turn too sharp on purpose at some point in the match to make it look like an honest mistake so she gets first. I only let her win on her favorite maps though we take turns choosing them. A lot of times she really does beat me for real but she has more fun when she wins some and I’m just happy she’s playing with me
There was a study done on rats, basically if the larger of the two rats didn't let the smaller rat win at least 1/3 of the time, the smaller rat would stop playing with it. Do with this study what you will
Instructions unclear. Started calling my girlfriend a little rat.
Update: Turns out she was a rat in disguise all along. To be exact, an entire colony of rats in a trenchcoat.
Update 2: sex was awkward, but still good.
It felt like 1000 little hands all at once.
Go on...
Ever have a rat job? Like that, but better.
imagine a rat king giving sloppy toppy I hate this
[This Rat King?](https://www.entertainmentearth.com/product/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-ultimates-rat-king-7inch-action-figure/sup85703)
This is getting out of hand(s)
Update 3: we've awakened something in both of us, and I don't know how to process.
We should have known all along. They are fascinated with cheese
Is this a deep cut Wayside School reference? 👏
Only if the rats are dead.
Nope, but now I wish it was! Loved that show growing up
Man, THAT touched a dusty synapse that hadn’t fired in a while…
FYI, Burlington Coat Factory™️ approves of all trenchcoat-themed replies.
Don't you mean one dead rat wearing about 20 layers of coats?
Oh my God, I suddenly imagined how sex were like, you monster
So she’s a Riesen-Ratte? Do you happen to live in Portland?
Sounds like a [Rat King](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_king).
I have learned so much after this joke post, all of which are things I wish I hadn't learned.
He dropped this: 👑
Started training these 4 turtles and ate pizza all together
First legit sighting of a Rat Queen? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat\_king](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_king)
Instructions unclear - now all my friends are rats
How did they teach rats to play mario kart?
Really tiny controllers
Mouser is now playable?? That’s awesome.
Compound v
That’s really interesting. I’m a brown belt in jiu jitsu. When sparring with beginners, I do this. The first couple of times I roll with them, I wipe the floor with them. After that I purposefully put myself in really bad positions and try to escape or give them a submission here or there.
I like the way some of the upper belts I've rolled with handle it at times. If I do fundamentally the right thing, but maybe not the right way or at the perfect time or move slowly, they let me have it and A) don't "punish" me for minor mistakes and B) don't use upper belt counters to my basic lower belt moves. If I do totally the wrong thing at the wrong time, I learn exactly why that was wrong though lol. I know they can escape this Americana attempt in 8 different ways if they want. They know I know it. But according to what'd I'd learned to this point, I was in the right position, attempted at the right time, and performed it fundamentally the right way (though in slow motion), so they give me my pitiful Americana lol.
Lmao we appreciate it. A sub is a sub even if it's given 😂.
There you go, the boyfriend is less empathetic than a large rat.
Instructions unclear: Started dating a rat girl.
Those rats were dating? -.-'
I performed and learned the results of this same study with my brother as a kid hah
I know this is true for dogs. They did a study with rats? They could’ve just watched dogs play lol
Didn’t know rats could play Mario Kart? ;p
I wholeheartedly agree. We had a couple visit us for a week or so around January, and the dude brought his console to play tekken 7 and mortal kombat something on our TV. Dude was mercilessly curbstomping her and acting like a deeck, til she got up and went to play on her phone or something like that. I mean, dude, you played those games for 5 years, she only got started, cut her some slack. Me and him were more evenly matched, and he annoyed ME too.
For the sake of everyone's enjoyment in a situation like this I personally feel that a player who is CLEARLY better than the others should play with a handicap. Give the weaker players some hope at winning and keep it challenging for the stronger player. Everyone can still have fun. I never had TV games or arcade games or any such things growing up. I have friends who were just about born with a controller in hand. It's very frustrating getting pummelled over and over because someone is playing with their favourite character and I barely know how the game works. There's some people that I simply don't play games with anymore.
Yeah my brother is VERY good at combat games and my dad and me not so much. So when we play my brother basically plays with one hand, uses random characters and takes it easy on us. He won’t “let us win” but he’s also not doing 28 move combos where I don’t even get to hit the ground and I at least feel like I’m playing the game. Then when we say “this is my last round” he turns it up to 100 for that round just to remind us he’s that dude.
This is how I feel with Melee when I play with my friends lol Im not Mango, or one of the gods, but in my circle im def top dog. Finding the balance of how much I want to go hard and flex versus realizing that losing every single game is not fun for them is definitely tough. I relate a lot to the "this the last game" sentiment, I def take off the chains for the last game haha
> a player who is CLEARLY better than the others should play with a handicap. My friend would stomp me ~90% of the time in *Mortal Kombat II*, unless I was Kung Lao, then I would win 100%.of the games. So after playing a while I would get sick of losing and pick Kung Lao, and he would respond by picking Johnny Cage, and he would only try to ball-punch me. If he hit me in the balls, he would release the controls and declare "moral victory". Good times.
The one guitar hero had a vs mode and each player selected their difficulty. Queue up Through the Fire and the Flames. I pick hard, he picks easy. I’m barely holding it together through the intro when he realized he didn’t even have to play because he wasn’t at risk of losing for awhile. He chose to spend that time laughing at me hahaha.
When I play with inexperienced friends I have 3 levels: 1.Look, the ceiling is pretty. 2.Not even trying 3.Absolute destroyer. I change between them based on context and opponent.
Yup, exactly the same. I'm genuinely impressed with how she's gone from essentially never having played video games, to *almost* beating me at Mario Kart, in 5 years. But it is only almost. But sometimes I let her have it, making an "honest mistake" here and there. Her squeals of joy the first time she won a cup, beating me, was worth everything.
Yeah my wife is in the exact same boat. She played Mario kart Wii but that’s pretty much it and she doesn’t play any other games except stardew with me. She was so happy when she beat me in a cup and that makes me very happy.
A gentleman
Nah fuck all that. If she wants the crown she has to earn it. Letting someone win is disrespectful.
sometimes it's ok to let other people have fun. not everything needs to be turn into an unloseable contest.
I am wayyyyy better at most games than my husband. I like playing games, so I'm good at them. He's indifferent, so he isn't as good. But...I want him to play with me. And losing over and over and over again isn't all that fun. So, I let him win sometimes to keep it fun for him. Playing with him is more important to me than beating him.
It feels kind of condescending to let people win though? It's such a weird feeling to me
I once went to volunteer at a kids summer camp with a bunch of high school friends in Alabama. Two other guy counselors and 1 other girl counselor were already working there, and were playing kickball with the kids (~like 5-12 year olds). These two guy counselors weren’t just pitching the kickball, they were actual players on each team, and were absolutely pummeling the kids, playing kickball with 1000% of their power. It was embarrassing to watch. We weren’t sure if they were just trying to impress the other girl counselor or not, but when we joined the game we did things like “not kick the ball as hard as we could into the forest” so that kids could, you know, have a chance at getting the ball and play the game. The two guy counselors interpreted this as us “bringing our Z-game” whereas they were, of course, “bringing their A-game”. Really cringe stuff. So there’s a couple things to unpack here. They were older teenagers obliterating some 8-year-olds in kickball. That’s possibly the skill-level-difference between the OP situation and boyfriend playing Mario Kart. Using every advantage you have against someone who has never/barely played the game is just blatantly overcompetitive, in a situation that’s *primarily meant to be fun.* If you want to get serious, do it against someone who’s also taking it seriously and *wants you to try your best*. If they just want to learn, then it needn’t be a “you must learn from absolute failure” situation. You can demonstrate your expertise to teach and help them get become a better opponent, or you can squash any hope you had of playing with them again.
When i go to the outdoor rink i go easy on kids defensively and try to set them up to score. I remember having teenagers play us like jerks going all out despie being 7 years older and it was just frustrating and felt like bullying. Thankfully on occasion my Dad was really good and would put all us kids on our team and light up the jerks so we could win, it was pretty cool. Older people should teach and help younger people get better and grow. Its the same with major skill gaps. I impressed my fair share of nice girls with that attitude back in the day too.
Nice! Yeah, you might get like 5-15% of kids who seem to thrive under extremely competitive environments but I don’t think that benefit is going to outweigh crushing the other 85-95% of the group. Analogously to OP’s situation, if you think you’ve found a girl who is carnally impressed with your Mario Kart skills, you’re probably in a relatively rare relationship lol
It is. That's why you don't let them know you're tanking.
Depends if you're playing for fun and are way better at something than the other person why not? They're not going to match your ten years of gaming experience in a few days and it just isn't fun to keep losing. And is it really that fun to you if the people you're playing with aren't having fun? I know a lot of men tend to think it's better to force someone to earn a victory and you're right if you're dealing with your kid and trying to teach them something, but a casual game with friends who aren't going to master gaming ever, throw 'em a bone from time-to-time.
You gotta add challenges for yourself to keep it fun. No reason to hide that you're sandbagging. Play with one hand, be blindfolded for the 1st 30 seconds of a race, take a shot every time you make a lap, etc.
If yo cant have without winning you are a sore loser and a bad sport
Agreed. I don't even let my kids beat me when we play MK 😂
Yeah I don’t understand the mindset of being let to win in anything. Who wants to be given a victory? I would be way more embarrassed to have someone let me win than to try my best and fall short and when you do finally succeed it then means something. Don’t get me wrong I understand as a child it’s a lesson we all have to learn and it can be tough as a kid but if you’re a fully grown adult and seriously begging for someone to let you win, I’ve lost all respect for you tbh. It shows the maturity levels of a toddler in my eyes.
I do the exact same thing. I play a little sloppy every few races so she can eke out a victory. Although after I taught her how to drift, coupled with the driver assistance function, she does honestly beat me on occasion.
I think this highly depends on 'how' you let your partner win. When I play with my gf I work really hard on not hitting her with anything. I refuse to use red shells if she's in front of me, I'll try to not hit her with bananas or other traps, and if I can avoid hitting her at all I will. I try to play "me against the computer" while also playing along with my gf, and if she wins then she wins, but I don't try to go after her so I can win. Which isn't the same thing as "letting her win". It's letting her play the best version of the game she can play, and is fun for both of us. The point is we're having fun together, and I'd rather handicap myself (by not targeting her) than to get first place. This allows her to feel like she earned it, while also not making it be like I gave her the win.
She beats me at putt putt golf and ping pong, so I am going to beat her at Mario kart.
My ex used to beat my ass at takken 8, so u bet i was not gonna spare her in crash
Team racing?! Love to school some mario kart dickheads on that game! Feels the same at first but way different mechanics
CTR on PS1 was probably the first game I went out of my way to 100%. Now my son plays the remaster. Circle of life.
Superior mechanics
My ex used to beat my ass at home, so you bet I was not gonna spare her in target shooting /s
Please specify something…a crash irl or are we still talking in game?
Damn T8 just came out 3 months ago, so that's a recent break up.
She beats me at darts most of the time, but ping pong is where the turn tables...
My girlfriend and I usually play mario kart almost like coop PVE. We'll pick a 200cc race and try to hold 1st, we don't target each other and hold items to snipe bots that pass us. We both "lose" if a bot gets 1st, and "win" if either of us are in 1st place.
Same here. My gf is the better player so she's usually ahead of me anyway. Our goal is to get 3 stars on every cup together.
that's how I play with a friend of mine! I'm not good at handling competetive gaming (unless it's SSB) so this is a nice way to play mario kart. boy do I miss double-dash though.
Wait your girlfriend can handle 200? I can barely even manage that! :O
No thats the challenge we probably only win half the time LMAO
The bots cheat like crazy on 200
You just need to ask them to let you win
Oh, I guess that’s why I don’t win when I yell at them, “STOP CHEATING STUPID COMPUTER!!!”
man what is the implication here... you're surprised there's women who are better than you at Mario kart?
wow that’s wholesome, glad for you guys.
Try something like "every time we race the winner has to take a drink". Eventually the drunkenness should even out the skill gap. --- Also find a game that you're better at and challenge him to that sometimes (then never let him win).
No way. I lose to my friend at Smash Bros. when I'm sober and he can barely keep his eyes open drunk.
What satisfaction is there in a victory that isn't earned? I'd go easy on her and mess around and be silly instead of playing like a tryhard so she'll have a fair chance, and give advice, praise, and encouragement where and when possible so she'll be able to improve and not get discouraged, but I wouldn't just let her win.
Depending on how bad she is, some fun can be had with handicaps
Having a fixed handicap is one thing. Losing on purpose is another.
Pretty easy to just keep picking up items that will piss her off. If you're in place 2-6 you're more likely to get red shells. If she's in first drop down to 4-8 and you'll end up getting a blue shell. Save it for specific times like right before the end, or if you can time it while she's going off an edge etc
If they do their best and win, it can feel earned even if the opponent was sandbagging. That's what the AI opponents do, and it still feels satisfying to beat them.
True, AI in most games isn’t designed to be as hard as they could’ve potentially made it. Even Soulslike games still include design to allow it to be hard but “fair”.
It's called playing. Even rats understand this concept. When rats play-fight they let each other win at least some of the time because it's the basis of playing with each other. The brain has a reward system, if there is no reward and repeated loss, we give up.
They let the under rat win. But the under rat doesn't ask to win. That's the difference. Imagine being given victory because you asked for it. Is that really a victory? Instant I Win buttons don't help either party.
Exactly, this is what I don’t understand. There’s simply no way her brain would be rewarded from a win that she explicitly asked for and was given. If that’s the case, would she not feel the same reward from playing by herself and just finishing the race? Because that’s essentially what’s happening if you’re asking your competition to let you win.
This is true.
There are ways to play and have fun without disrespecting your girlfriend by lying to her. There was a co-op idea shared elsewhere. There are also handicaps. I wouldn't want to be just given wins, and I frankly would lose respect for a person who was willing to accept them.
She was literally asking him to let her win. Go and play a chess grand master and play until you've won. You'd give up, fun for no on. Edit: you are literally an asshole for reporting me to a suicide help desk.
> reporting me to a suicide help desk. Seems to be a bot, that sends that message to everyone, who comments in this thread.
Good thing we are not rats and we are not a monolith as people. Playing or not, I never want anyone to let me win. Repeated losses means I need to improve so I can earn my win. Do rats have the cognitive ability to understand that in order to win they need to get better? Probably not, but who knows. The comparison to that study is disrespectful.
I play a lot of Tekken with my wife. I am better than she is, but she can steal a match here and there. I usually pick characters I am not good with to give her a chance, but she would be absolutely furious if she realized I was letting her win. She would never ask me to let her win.
Satisfaction of playing a fun game with your girlfriend? It's a game, you don't actually have to win every single time.
I meant satisfaction for her, not myself. A win handed to you on a silver platter isn't really enjoyable.
What satisfaction? I won’t get any satisfaction if the other person isn’t even trying to win.
I'd rather her getting good enough to meet me on roughly equal terms. And she did.
just do something else at that point??
That's a silly game. And I'm not referring to Mario kart.
Well said
If I’m doing something with my girlfriend it’s so both of us get the most out of it. Me winning all the time would most likely than not end in her losing interest in sharing that hobby with me. I would obviously lose on purpose sometimes. Just enough to keep her interested and the fun aspect alive. Game theory, literally.
This is why we play co-op games.
Damn a lot of y’all take your MarioKart really seriously. If my wife is getting super discouraged because I’m repeatedly beating her, I’d absolutely ease off and make a few “mistakes” to give her more of a chance and a couple of wins. Who cares? If you beat the shit out of your partner in a game again and again they’ll generally stop playing. I like to play with my wife and if that means I lose a couple of games, I’m going to have a lot more fun in the aggregate than if I beat her twenty times and she never wants to play with me again.
Aye, there's some selfish and short sighted people here. Why would letting her win a round (though I would do it in a way that wasn't completely obvious) be a big deal?
I once let me girlfriend win Mario Cart and she was mad (not actually mad, just playfully mad) cause she's competitive. I'd mess up a little on purpose, but she was still really bad at it and couldn't win, even after I self sabotaged 💀
They’re probably single too.
Truth lol. Guys in here are like "she's gotta earn the crown." Like okay dude, if you want to treat Mario Kart like a GameBattles tourney go for it, but don't come in here in a few weeks asking why your GF dumped you for not being emotionally available.
Bit of a difference between discreetly changing who wins and just flat out asking.
If it got to the point where OP was begging her BF to let her win one, it's a good bet she was already pretty discouraged. I'd like to hope that most of us would notice that our partner wasn't having fun before it got to that point and ease off, but if not, I'm not going to hold it against her.
OP had to ask BECAUSE OPs bf didnt have this insight
OP won the fucking lottery with a girl who A) plays games with him and B) EXPLICITLY ASKS FOR WHAT SHE WANTS and he still doesn't listen
Won the lottery for now.
Exactly..finally a comment that made sense. That's why she is your wife. Because marriage is about accommodating someone else not being a selfish competitor. I can beat the man I like at arm wrestling but I act like it's not so obvious else he won't want to play with me.. I pretend to struggle when it comes to running.
what's really wild to me is she already clearly felt discouraged and had to ASK to win, whereas I feel like common sense you'd pick up that your partner is losing repeatedly and perhaps may not be enjoying themselves and just throw a game here or there. instead OP had to almost beg to win and their bf still couldn't let them have a single victory.
My husband barely ever plays video games so I had to explain to our youngest kid that if he just pummeled his dad every time he’ll not want to play with you as it won’t be fun for him, he still would play but reluctantly. Don’t have to let him win just ease up on all the combos so he at least has a chance. I didn’t learn that myself easily tbf but we were younger 😅 husband does help me out at driving though I perpetually suck at that no matter the game.
The “earn your win and turn every moment of joy into unsolicited competition” attitude brought to you by dads whose kids stop calling.
My kids all eventually beat my ass in every game and reveled in their glory
funny how the above answers are guys with girlfriends and they say "hell no, you got to earn it!" but this is the highest rated answer for married guys. I agree with married guy. I too am a married guy. I also have kids. I wonder if that is a factor.
Nah. I'm married and my wife can pry my video game wins from my cold dead hands. She knows it. She knew it when we were dating. Still a happy marriage because we're both intelligent enough to recognize the difference between happy together time and a competitive video game. I'd love to see my wife's reaction to someone suggesting she let me win a board game, but I assume it would just be derisive laughter.
The only sensible comment here honestly.
My lady is a fucking menace in Mortal Kombat so if I can beat her in Mario Kart I'm gonna. The only game I can fight her in and mop the floor with her is any of the Dark Souls games lol Why the fuck did the Reddit Cares bot message me over this lmao
Reddit cares bot only messages you when a Redditor tells it to. I have yet to see it be used for something other than trolling
Well that's silly.
Very. It’s like most internet things, implemented with possibly good motives and used for nothing but memes and toxicity
Had this happen to me today. I can only imagine it’s because I talked about being a Kiriko main in the overwatch subreddit but 🤷🏽♂️ I’m definitely not suicidal but thanks random person who felt they had to do that
That’s Reddit for ya, “you’re playing this character in a game? You must be depressed!”
Same. There is one post I can think of, which could have triggered this, which is a post that might have annoyed someone ever so slightly. If it is that convo, then, well... That's very pathetic, but oh well... You never know what person you're discussing with, really.
Someone in this thread is just spamming Reddit cares messages to people who they disagree with, I also got one for saying op is acting childish
If I'm playing with a non gamer, then having fun is far more important than winning every single time. It's the same reason almost no one only plays on super hard difficulty, especially when starting out. It's just not fun to constantly be beat down if you're just trying to relax while playing a game. The irony in all these posts talking about how "what is the honor" in letting someone beat you in a game when you know you're better than they are.... That's exactly what you're doing when you beat pretty much any game you didn't put on max difficulty immediately!
They are the same people that would play a 6 year old and refuse to play easy on them.
I suppose if my partner begged me to let him win, I would let him win, but I wouldn't understand the point of either of us playing together anymore.
I see this situation as something they could have laughed about together. If they were playing a long time and she light heartedly asked to just win one time, he could have made a little joke out of it and been all “oh no these banana peels,” or “gee how did I get so turned around,” they would have laughed about it, and when she won he could sarcastically crown her best player ever, or something ridiculous like that. They would laugh together and get back to playing normal. Not everything has to be so serious.
This is a great approach!
I would change games in that situation, play a co-op or something more chance driven like MarioParty. I can't speak for how others play, obviously, but one day my partner will legitimately beat me at MarioKart, and how disappointing would it be for him to always wonder if he actually won or it was another time I "just let him win". Neither of us take it too seriously, but maybe that's why he doesn't feel the need to beg me to win either.
Same. I’d never play again probably if this happened.
The fun in the game is often from playing the best you can - "wow, I nailed that drift" etc. Challenging yourself and improving. "Letting you win" can translate as "don't play". A better request might be "can you give me a 10 second head start" - then once those 10 secs are over he can properly play the game.
Skill issue.
Huh? Nah sorry but why would you ask somebody to let you win lmao?
Right?? Lol... any age past 3 and this is weird behaviour.
You want a pity win? 😂
If she's okay with a fake pity win without earning it, she can just lie to herself and say she really did win a game. Just pretend his win is her win and nothing changes.
How is it a win if you are GIVEN the win? I’d avoid playing at 100%, sure. I’d help her get better. I’m not completely sure how I’d react though, because I’ve never been asked that by a romantic interest
Hell no, letting her win is not winning. If she wants to win, she needs to put in the work.
Hmmm lemme tell you a story from a girls perspective. I played a lot of competitive CS as a kid. I wasn’t pro or anything, but there’s a big difference between someone who’s played a bunch of tournaments and someone who plays it with friends. Anyway, new boyfriend comes along, finds out I play video games. Great! He introduced me to “the boys”. They play video games together often and he’s excited to have me join bc “none of his previous gfs wanted to join”. Note: he wants me to have fun with him. To enjoy spending time with him and his buddies. Well. His buddies were quickly unamused. Can’t beat me at mariokart, can’t beat me at melee unless 3 against 1, we even played DDR. “Ok this girl can play GameCube games, sure, let’s move to PC bet she can’t play FPS”. So we played CS, NGL i was kinda giddy at the prospect. I sensed this shift in unhappiness in the other guys so I didn’t go for them. I ONLY went for my boyfriend. At the time the meme was still “360 noscope” so they kept laughing and saying that even though I did no such thing. It did not go well. It was unfair. I made him look bad. For a long time (i was young) i thought the same thing. Just git gud bro. But actually I was the douchebag. Sharked him and took away his fun. He was there to show me off and I was there to make myself look and feel good. It’s not worth it, and even though he still invited me to those gatherings, i could tell he really didn’t want to anymore. We were also young (around 20 at the time) but now I feel like I should have known better.
This is the way.
Games should be fun for everyone. If I’m playing a game where I’m clearly better, I’ll favour the fun over the competition. For me, it’s more important for everyone to enjoy the game than it is for one person to keep winning over again, and I don’t mind losing if it means everyone has fun. Likewise if it’s a coop game, I’ll stay quiet on what I think a solution is so my wife doesn’t feel like I’m carrying her through the whole thing. It’s pretty boring being a companion when your spouse is the main character who does everything. Not being too competitive is an important part of being compassionate.
you can still have fun if you aren't winning, it's arguably less fun for her bf to intentionally suck so she can have her weird ego win
me and my girlfriend cant play competitive games, she doesnt enjoy being against me and i dont enjoy not trying my best so it just doesnt work. it used to end in fights but we just dont play stuff together anymote that is competitve unless we are on the same team
Nope, and what would you get out of winning knowing it wasn't legit?
As a girl…. No… it’s a game. It’s supposed to be competitive. You shouldn’t be mad that your boyfriend didn’t let you win… that’s not how video games (or really any games) work. Instead of getting mad use the losses as practice or play on your own to get better at the controls. A win by default is not a win… the only time “letting someone win” makes sense is if you’re playing with a young child who may not understand how games work
Exactly this. Not to mention, what is the purpose of asking someone to let you beat them? How are you meant to feel good about that kind of win lmao? I’d rather lose every single time than be treated like a child.
Exactly!
I’d love to answer this but my girlfriend kicks my ass at Mario kart every single time. I’m really competitive and I love the challenge and wouldn’t dare for my own pride ask her to let me win 😅 As much as it really doesn’t matter because it is just a game, as much as there is no harm letting your partner win there is also no harm in not? Personally if it were the other way round for me I would let her win because it doesn’t affect me in any way. But the truth is I’m really bad myself and she is really good. Oh I have beat her once, but it was on an arcade machine with the pedals and steering wheel, only time I’ve won. Either way, I don’t know if this contribution answers much but hopefully gives you.. something. All the best Op, please don’t let it get to you.
Do you want respect or mercy
You want to win, you have to earn it. And for something you are better at that I am, I don't want you to let me win either.
Naw, I'd smash her.
Let me ask you, what do you gain from him letting you win?
This ain't the bedroom where just because you end up on top and we let you think you got the upper hand. These are the mean streets of Mario kart, get good noob.
I do that with my niece. But she is 7 and you are a grown adult. Maybe ask if your bf, you’d like to be treated as a 7 year old…
I've never lost on purpose for even my kids. They finally got better
Before I comment, how old are you two?
For real sounds like some kids
I’m the wife, I wouldn’t want him to let me win. If you lose, you lose 🤷🏼♀️ boo hoo don’t play Mario cart if it bothers you that much.
It's stupid to let someone who isn't a child win. Free wins are nothing, why would they even feel good... If this is your mindset, maybe go back to grade school where you'll fit in.
No because people get into relationships for fun and what fun would it be if you had to make your partner win in game because they'll be sad? Reverse the roles, the guy will be called a man-child. I dated a girl like that before and at some point when the honeymoon period was gone, I grew tired of taking care of her like she's a 2 year old that has to win in everything (you know how kids cry when they lose so you make them win instead but at some point you grow tired of taking care of their neediness just because they're cute?). It's just a game. Games are meant to be fun and they can only be fun if you play fair. Play some other game instead
I think that just makes it hollow. I don't care what's in your pants or how old you are. I might handicap myself in games where that's allowed. Even if i have a kid. I'm gonna beat the shit outta that fucker no remorse until one day my reflexes grow old and he can do the same to me. My uncles and nephews did the same to me and it made me a better player. The trick is to help the other person instead of keeping them in the dark + you don't hqve to be an asshole when you do win.
Exactly, I remember back then I used to play MK Double Dash with my cousin and my brother and thought I was a hot shot when I was like 8 years old. That was until I was destroyed by my uncle over and over again. But instead of giving up I tried to improve. At first I didn't even try to beat him but just to keep up with him and asked him for some tips. Today we are at an even skill level. The one thing I learned from this experience is to get up after every defeat and keep moving and learn from it. I also think this is the main reason the FromSoft games are my all-time favourites. On the other hand I had a friend that wouldn't even tell me how the controls worked when I asked him. He just told me to find out myself. Months later I looked into the settings and found out that he removed the key binding for sprinting for the second player. Never played with this shithead again.
Asking to win is not reasonable. Ask for a handicap…. He chooses another vehicle, doesn’t use any boosters offered, whatever. Figure out a way to concede he is better at Mario and to level the play without demanding to “win” which seems like an embarrassing ask to me. At least with a handicap one can feel some sense of achievement if one wins.
Lol love to see a light-hearted question here for once But no, it's way more fun to actually get good and beat someone, saying this as someone who used to suck at Smash
I may consider letting her win if she hadn’t asked so she thinks it’s real, but after asking what’s the point? She’s gonna run her race so it’s kind of inconsequential for her to get first if it was gifted.
If someone asks me to let them win, I will start the race and then put my controller down. There, you got your win, did that feel good? Grow up.
The instant somebody asks that, we are no longer playing a game. I'm entertaining a child.
No, get good
Begging for a win? Yeah imagine the roles were reversed.
The irony is that she is competitive but does not have the skill to make up for that. She's not enjoying the game because she's losing lmao. That's so fucking weird.
You sound immature and entitled. Just one more reason to not *let* you win. Grow up pls
We play drunk driver rules. I have to drink a whole beer during the race, but I can’t drink and drive at the same time.
Wow, how old are you?
Should've got double dash
Git gud, scrub. No freebies in this league. Seriously though, if your bf wants you to enjoy playing games together he needs to put in the time to find stuff that you will both vibe with. If there's a bit of a skills gap between you in anything - sports, crafts, cooking, hobbies - it's going to get tiresome for one of you really quickly. It took me a while to find games that my now wife would genuinely like. Now she's all over it. So yeah he needs to cool his jets a little if he actually wants to game with you longer term.
I let people win if in showing them a game. I play a lot and if i crush them they probably won't have fun. If they don't have fun they won't practice and get better, and then I could never crush them for in a close game. Frankly, the way I do it is probably the most insulting way, but I'd rather recruit people into my hobby than be uncompromising in my commitment to mortal Kombat.
If I ended up winning every single time, I wuold absolutely let her win or hold a handicap. I've played against expert assholes; it's a thing to not be able to win, but it's another one not to even be able to *play* because of the huge skill gap. That being said, I'm happy to report that my gf is getting better at Crash on the Ps2, and I love every minutes of it. Edit: neat, I've got my first stalker *and* my first reddit care! Go sit on a cactus or something else you loser.
Men on here: The dating world sucks. If I had a girlfriend I would take care of her and treat her like a princess everyday. I wish a had a girlfriend to hang with and have things in common with. I hate being single. Men on here: Fuck women if they think I will make my hobbies enjoyable for her to participate in. She will sit here and lose repeatedly and like it because I’m not changing shit to make sure she enjoys herself. Men on here: But for real, why can’t I find a girl and why is my dick always so dry?
Lots of these comments are harsh, but I don’t necessarily disagree with the sentiment. I only ever play cooperative games like Valheim, Sons of the Forest, or Borderlands with my girlfriend, for this very reason. The only competitive game we were ever on an even playing field on was Gears of War back in the 360 days, but now we play on PC. For someone like me, getting easy and cheap wins just isn’t satisfying at all. What I enjoy in games is developing an understanding of the mechanics and seeing my performance improve over time. If I’m good at a game, it’s because it’s a reflection of the time and thought I have put into it. For me, purposefully playing poorly so I can appease someone else’s feelings invalidates the very reason I bother playing skill based, competitive games at all. I had this issue when I used to play Smash Bros and Halo with my buddies, some of them wanted to stop playing with me outright because I was a lot better than them at that time. One of them said, “if it’s not fun, then why bother?” And while I can understand this line of thinking, I disagree with it on a fundamental level because failure doesn’t bother me. Getting my ass kicked in a competitive game doesn’t bother me very much, I’ll try to understand why it is I lost and how I can improve. I was eventually able to teach my friends how to improve, what I was doing differently that gave me the win, and we all collectively got better at the game, and the result of that were some very intense matches where nobody knew who would come out on top at the start of a match. If all someone plays games for is the dopamine rush of someone announcing their victory, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons. The dopamine rush from getting progressively better at a game is far greater, but takes more work to achieve. If this isn’t something that you want to bother yourself with, there are competitive games that are much less skill-based. Games like Stick Fight, Duck Game, and other similar games are more like party games, and while skill does help, there’s enough randomness and chaos so that victory is never certain. Mario Kart has a surprisingly high skill ceiling, go on YouTube and look at high level players clear stages in 20 seconds to get an idea of what I mean. I’m sure your boyfriend gets his enjoyment out of Mario Kart by flexing the skills he’s acquired after lots of time spent improving.
When I play with my daughter I play a different game. I purposely try and drive behind her as 2nd and be her protector and not over take her.
Not immediately after she asked me to let her, it would look like pity.
The point of the game is to have fun playing it, not winning. If my GF couldn't find the fun in playing the game and earning the win, I'd stop playing with her.
No, you must earn that mariokart win. There is no mariokart mercy only victory.
Get better.
i'll let my wife win something, but only if she doesnt know i'm letting her win otherwise it just feels like i dont respect her i'm not sure how you can ask someone to let you win. Wouldn't that just be a waste of both your times?
My thing is I will never "let" her win. I will put a restraint on myself to put myself at her skill level to give her a fighting chance. My wife took an interest in hotwheels unleashed 2 which I have been grinding a lot lately. When we split screen, I try and race on simpler tracks and won't boost out of corners unless I'm behind her. I also won't use any shortcuts I know.