My wife is interested in pc gaming but wants to start with something similar to Free Realms, but not online.

Any ideas?

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I thought it was a general rule that all chicks liked the Sims.

The Sims

Bejeweled? :p

plants vs zombies all day every day

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Yeah she already has Bejeweled, and understandably rolled her eyes when I mentioned the Sims.

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Yet you asked for something similar to Free Realms.

If she's into RPGs which it sorta sounds like, try easing her into the medium with a casual action/lootfest RPG. Diablo 2(for the old school!), Titan's Quest, or Torchlight are decent starting points imo. Easy, point and click interfaces but with enough depth in gameplay/character-building to keep it addicting. It always struck me as a decent gateway genre.

Can't really say anything there like Free Realms; Hopefully not picky about the whole 3D immersive aspect of gaming(not that Free Realms is... but... 3D and all, you know).

Puzzle Quest is basically Bejeweled with RPG elements, maybe she'd like that.

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Why "no online"? Surely she'd love playing a Night Elf in WoW.

I'll bite at the obvious bait.

She started playing free realms and liked the various things there were to do. However, being 110% noob to the whole concept of gaming, she'd often get frustrated/confused when she'd see an item to use and by the time she figured out how to interact with it (what keys etc) someone else had taken it.

She wants to get some experience on something relatively cheap and without having to worry about other players before she moves onto bigger and better things. Trust me I'd love to have her get interested in almost any mmo as she'd be more inclined to play a healer than anything else =)

Thanks for the ideas, I have Titan Quest so maybe I'll dial that up for her and see how it goes.

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It wasn't bait, I was serious. I know a few girls that I'd never in a million years consider gamers, and they love playing WoW (and they all play Night Elves for some reason).

Start her off with ToonTown. My daughter did at like 3 and now at 7 she's making 8 Death Knights in WoW because she likes the questline there.

Plants vs Zombies isn't a bad recommendation either, it's popular with all brands of gamer. Just try not to go with the ole "Here's a puzzle game since you're a girl" or you'll likely get the eyerolling again.

Another vote here for PvZ. It introduces the Tower Defense concept and teaches basic strategy. The whole family played the crap out of it before we got a Wii. =)

what about something old like baldar's gate?

It's online but simple, Runescape.

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Musnicki

What about something like KOTOR Kae?

That might be a good starter game that would be appealing to nearly anyone.