Good PC games for a brand new gamer?

[Dunther]

Plants Vs. Zombies.

There's no way to describe the game without making it sound stupid. It's very easy to get started, and it quickly grows more complex, but always at a good pace. $10 on Steam ($20 retail), and it's probably the best value I've ever gotten from a game for what I paid for. I'm sure that game will run on anything.

Braid, perhaps? Manipulating time and such... Hard to go wrong with Audiosurf... As other suggested, Heroes of Might and Magic could be good. World of Goo sounds like it would be very good for him...

All the people that I've saw trying PVZ loved it almost immediately, so it's a nice suggestion IMHO.

Braid...is a masterpiece. But a little not for everyone...

[Vivi22]

King's Quest

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/king%E2%80%99s_quest_4_5_6

[Citan]

I'd recommend:

Aquaria

Sid Meier's Pirates

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Puzzle Quest

[BardicKnowledge]

Both Diablo games hold up very well imo, and are easy to get started. In some ways the first is better as the drop rates are reasonable, and with the SP quest rewards he is guaranteed to always have enough equip to make it without having to grind for gear.

Civ IV is so good it's worth yet another mention -- everyone with a pc should have it, basically.

Finally, Morrowind is my choice for best single-player RPG, and it should run on the laptop (Obvilion may not). 200 hours for $15 is very hard to beat -- be sure to get the GOTY edition though as it comes with the expansions. I can't say enough good things about this game...it still has the best-developed setting of anything I've ever played.