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I need casual, easy going games to help me relax. So, Tildes, what you got?
I like to play games. So I guess I'm a "gamer"? But: I'm not into arena shooters, MMORPMRPORG grinders, anything with endless cutscenes of exposition and absolutely nothing that needs a "pass" to play... so where's my games? I feel like there's nothing for casual-but-not-candy-crush-or-clash-of-clans players like me out there.
I want something that takes me back to the days of Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City 2000 or more recently, Stardew that's not going to make my blood boil or nickel-and-dime me to progress. That doesn't mean it needs to be cute or easy, but more... meditative? Or goofy?
Given the crowd here I figured you lot would probably have some good recommendations. So: fire away!
Meditative? With that word I'm thinking Tetris Effect: Connected (epilepsy warning). Yeah, it's "just" Tetris, but the presentation is what makes this one unique.
As for Tycoon games, I've been enjoying Transport Fever 2 for railroad construction and Cities: Skylines for city building. (Cities Skylines 2 has recently been announced.)
Cities Skylines I've heard of but never realized it had a Mac version. As a mac-only guy, Im' in the frost-bitten wilderness of desktop gaming. On the wishlist it goes.
Cities Skylines is so god damn good. Mods not required but strongly recommended. Start watching youtube videos if you're interested.
I'll vouch for Tetris Effect, it does a great job of training you to zone out and get into a meditative flow state. The soundtrack is also fantastic.
For most of my life I've never been very good at Tetris... maybe that's because I'd never really got the chance to play it consistently, but I'm pretty sure I've been worse than average ever since the Game Boy days. However, I've always envied people who are good at it, and when Tetris Effect came out I knew that was the one that would hook me. I often play short sessions when I get home, and my playtime is at 58 hours now over the course of the past three or four months; while I'm not lighting the Tetris world on fire I did get to player level 50, which only 3.4% of players on Steam have apparently done. I'd say I'm satisfactorily competent at this point.
Seconding Transport Fever 2, so incredibly satisfying. I've been experiencing a lot of pressure at work lately and this has been my go-to game to de-stress.
The game has some great mod content on the Workshop as well! Very easy to sink hundreds of hours in to.
And Linux native! Oh my god I'm so excited to never leave the house again!
I don't usually like dialogue-heavy games, but DE is absolutely worth it. Plus the dialogue presentation is excellent, and you never face a monolithic wall of text.
I wrote about this game not long ago: https://tildes.net/~games/15fq/what_games_have_you_been_playing_and_whats_your_opinion_on_them#comment-7veb
Just a reminder to pirate Disco Elysium instead of buying it. The creators of the game got bamboozled out of their company. So any dollar you spend buying this game will not go to those that poured all that work and love into creating but rather to capitalist leeches.
My wife already plays this, I'll give it a shot! Thanks for the breakdown.
I recall it was on the "front page" of tildes yesterday, right? Something like "the OTHER most philosophical game ever made" or similar. Definitely made me want to play it!
Edit: here is the link to the post
Dorfromantik and Tile Cities
Seconding. I would also add ISLANDERS to that list too. Similar genre, also super casual, super relaxing/meditative, and still quite fun.
Dorfromantik gets surprisingly difficult! Very fun little game
I think Satisfactory meets those requirements. Low threat, complex but chill.
Looks extremely chill. Added to my "when I get a steamdeck" list :)
Another one similar is Factorio. Same general concept but from a top down approach vs. FPS.
I want to add that if you give Factorio a shot and you want to dial down the intensity, I believe it has a pacifist mode where you can remove all the pressures of the default game so you can just focus on building and resource management. It’s a very stimulating game; people that are into that sort of thing easily sink hundreds of hours into the game!
Satisfactory only supports KB/mouse (last I checked), and doesn’t have a good way to translate into even the Deck controls. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it may not be a great experience.
But Satisfactory overall I highly recommend, if you’re into those sorts of games. Very chill, low “risk”. You can die to predators, but usually get your gear back (or craft more). The resource nodes never run out, so even if you have a super inefficient factory, you can progress with enough patience.
Dang! I’ll hope for a Mac version but won’t hold my breath. Thanks!
I just want to chime in to say that I can run Satisfactory on my Steamdeck. It certainly takes a toll on the processor and hardware, but it does run, and controlling the game is also ok. Sure, it's more enjoyable to run it on KB/M, but it works. Also, there is always the option to run the Deck docked to a monitor and peripheries.
All in all, no need to despair :)
Thanks! I JUST got an Apple m2 so while it’s literally the fastest computer I’ve ever owned… I’m now locked out of the Intel gaming world for good …unless I go ROG / Steam / Win600, which makes more sense than an entire second desktop / laptop just for games
I've run it on Steamdeck but it absolutely chuggs the processor and graphics.
And if dealing with the wildlife is not your thing, I believe you can turn it off entirely.
Yup! Although it's so sparse and not random at all, you can essentially predict it after a little bit of playtime.
Spoiler
... Except on the narrow land bridge on the easy map. I didn't see that one coming when I got punted to my death.Seems like most people I talk to that have played the game remember that specific bridge for one reason or another lol
Just turn on the Arachnophobia mode on. Or turn the monsters off, I guess.
Not 100% sure if this fits your definition of "easy going" but Outer Wilds is easily the best game I've ever played in its genre, and probably one of the best games of all time (not an exaggeration).
The mechanics are pretty simple, its got a bit more too it than a traditional "walking simulator" but the barrier of entry is not high at all, I'm fairly confident my mom could figure it out eventually.
Sorry if this isn't the type of game you're interested in, but its definitely worth a shot if it looks interesting to you! Its one of those once-in-a-lifetime games you'll only be able to experience once.
Totally my vibe! Thanks for sharing this!
Just a note on Outer Wilds - try not to Google anything when you’re stuck as it’s easy to spoil the ending, it really can only be played once. Posting on ~games for some spoiler-free clues would be safer!
I heavily agree with you on this. About the only way to experience the game again is to get someone else to play it with you. (Albeit with you staying silent, but watching their reactions and/or process about how to do things.)
Would like to add that the soundtrack is amazing, but that too has spoilers. Don’t look it up until after you’ve beaten the game.
Outer Wilds is one of my top 5 game experiences of all time, I wish I could erase my memory and play it for the first time again. I love watching other people play it so I can live vicariously through them.
Reading comments like yours and OBLIVIATER's really confound me. I really want to like Outer Wilds. I've tried starting it multiple times. I just can't get into it, I find it so tedious and boring. Different strokes I guess.
Yeah, unfortunately not every game can be for everybody. I'm sure there are plenty of games out there that are hugely lauded but I just don't like. That being said, Outer Wilds is very unique and special, and if you have any interest in the idea of immersive story and worldbuilding I encourage you to try it again and see if it clicks this time. The beginning can seem a bit slow if you don't know what's coming.
Or if you don't feel like playing it, check out SovietWomble's playthrough here: https://youtu.be/xdLnsslkcaE
He does a good job at being immersed into the game and is funny as well
This is a category of games I call "Audiobook gaming." Basically stuff that's good to mindlessly keep your hands busy while you listen to a book or podcast.
Terra Nil has pretty good gameplay, but it's far too short for the price, in my opinion. That's definitely one to pick up on a good discount though.
I thought Jurassic World Evolution 2 does better with its tutorializing, and adds quite a lot of interesting gameplay mechanics. It's one of those sequels that pretty much makes its previous installment obsolete. If the concept intrigues you, I'd recommend picking that one up instead.
It's free if you have a Netflix subscription IIRC. But only the Android and iOS versions.
JWE2 just went live as one of the free monthly games for PlayStation Plus subscribers. After not-great experiences with console versions of Planet Coaster and Cities: Skylines, I wasn't expecting much. Some genres of game are just better suited for a PC with keyboard and mouse, than holding a controller across the room from the TV.
But I was pleasantly surprised with JWE2! Its UI is carefully thought-out and easy to use. I'm not far into the game yet but so far I'm finding it really engaging and fun. The pace is relaxing, it feels grounded and like you're running a real zoo (apart from the dinosaur thing). Big focus on conservation and the health, diets, and comfort of the animals. There are moments when the dinos escape or a natural disaster wrecks a bunch of stuff. Even then you can pause time and strategize your response, so the game remains pretty chill. Maybe it gets harder later on. I like it like this, though.
I was surprised that they got Jeff Goldblum and Bryce Dallas Howard to reprise their movie roles with voiceovers in the game. Owen Grady is a main character too, but they cast a dodgy sound-alike instead of Chris Pratt.
Goldblum was in the first one. I can't remember if they got Howard for that one as well.
All in all, I think Planet Zoo is better to scratch that "I want to run a zoo" itch, but JWE2 is good if you're looking for a slightly more casual experience.
I'm glad someone else has this category too (though I have them marked "Casual Games" on Steam). Some of my favorites are:
Oh yeah your mentioning Coloring Game reminds me I should add the NYTimes daily vertex puzzles to the list. It's got the general satisfaction of completing a coloring book.
I've cleaned maybe six things/places in Powerwash Simulator so far and am a big fan! It's incredibly satisfying. Plus, it seems like there's still tons of things to wash which is awesome!
Though the entirety of Minecraft is not chill/casual, I love doing nothing but strip-mining. As long I don't accidentally fall through a hole in the floor or mine into lava, etc., it's mellow and also so satisfying!
I'd never heard of Coloring Game until reading your comment; it sounds right up my alley so thank you for this knowledge, lol!
Timberborn. You build a city utilizing dams in a ongoing flood cycle. It sounds much more stressful than it is, but even I, who struggles with city builders, have a good time with it. It's not like Rimworld or Dwarf Fortress where they're brutal and random, but even those are relaxing if you just accept loss as part of the experience. Those other two are worth mentioning as well as you can have completely chill plays with them.
OpenRCT2 is great, as you called out RCT. It uses RCT2's data as a base, and you can also add RCT1, and even comes with some new built-in coasters.
I saw Simutrans and wanted to suggest OpenTTD. With no AI the only pressure is profitability and meeting subsidy deadlines, but that's just chill anyway. You can play with friends even for more fun, but solo/no AI is great.
Factorio, no biters/peaceful is just building a factory to research stuff and send a rocket to space. Good fun.
Shapez (formerly Shapez.io) is another good, relaxing but stimulating factory game where you need to build shapes by extracting, cutting, painting, gluing and stacking other shapes.
Going to second OpenRCT2 as a great option. The game itself is available on Steam and probably Gog and others, often pretty cheap. You just download OpenRCT2 and launch that to run the game. It will also handle RCT1 as well. Loads of fun for building out amusement parks and watching them run. The bonus with OpenRCT2 is that you can speed up time if you're in a lull where the park is running fine but you need more money or research to complete.
Along those lines, there's also Planet Coaster which is the modern take on a theme park game. I've got only a small bit of time in there. It's fun but seems like it can get into a time sink real quick since it allows you to customize a lot of details. For more RCT2 style, there's Parkitect which I haven't tried. The RCT2 crowd do seem to enjoy it for the park management systems in place.
I think of Planet Coaster and Parkitect like this:
Planet Coaster is an extension of RCT3 with an emphasis on micromanagement and an amazing coaster designer.
Parkitect is more like RCT1/2 with its emphasis on the bigger picture and design. It gets into detail on how pathing is done, such as requiring blocking employee paths and supply infrastructure which affect guest mood, but it doesn't go as deep into managment as Planet Coaster does, I think for the better.
I've yet to play Parkitect so I've got no info on how it really plays out.
The oddball that I've watched a video on is Indoor Land where you're building a park but everything's indoors. The fascinating aspect was that you can create your own flat ride out of various moving parts. The video I saw was going for absurdity but it looked neat. The obvious strange factor there was noticing people glitching through the paths at times.
Not enough time to burn through them all, though. I'm doing through the RCT2 + expansion scenarios right now. After that, I might fire up Planet Coaster. I don't have the others to try at the moment but that should keep me busy a while.
If you like SimCity, Cities Skylines is a pretty good replacement for that. Two of the old PS2 Katamari games got re-releases on Steam and Switch recently and those are super relaxing to play, too.
And while this one can be stressful sometimes, if you like base building style games I'd definitely recommend RimWorld. Stick it on a low difficulty, turn off bugs, and have fun with it. A bit of a learning curve but kinda chill and has a ton of different options for how to play once you get the hang of it.
Katamari is definitely my jam. Will check the re-releases.
They're called "Katamari Damacy Reroll" and "We Love Katamari Reroll"
Monument Valley is always a go-to.
Already played, re played and re re played!
Rimworld. It can be intense at the higher difficulty settings, but at normal or casual difficulty it is a super relaxing base building, story generating game that will steal your time like its nobody's business. There is always something to do and never a lull in progression.
Seconding Rimworld here, and for a more hardcore experience: Dwarf Fortress (the game which inspired Rimworld).
https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/
Looks very cool, and I always love to see Canadian games in the wild.
I've seen in your other posts that you seem open to complexity and difficulty. So while I wouldn't necessarily consider most of them casual, have you considered classic roguelikes? The term has changed in its modern conception to mean basically any game with permadeath and randomized or procedural dungeons, and that's part of it, so if you consider permadeath frustrating it may not be up your alley. But we seem to have similar tastes and "classic roguelike" or "traditional roguelike" is one of my favourite genres.
The main thing for me that defines a classic roguelike is that everything occurs in turns, and turns seem simultaneous. Actions don't occur until YOU do something; you make your move and then everything else in the world updates according to what you have done. Some games may represent speed with a ratio - like maybe an enemy might only move 2 times for every 3 times you move - but generally it's you act -> world reacts -> you act...
So you have infinite time to decide to do each turn. This allows for lots of complex systems, which are another hallmark of the genre - lots of items, lots of interactions, lots of possible character builds. Sometimes you might get really bad luck but that's inevitable, you just kind of have to take it in stride as part of the double-edged sword of getting a fresh experience every run and the fun of improvising and adapting to it. You also don't succeed by grinding to improve your stats: it's you, as a player, who improves and I find that very satisfying.
The games also tend to be pretty story light, with most quests along the lines of "get the Magic Orb" or "Defeat Lord Badguy".
OUTSIDE of that, some more ACTUALLY chill/casual games I like are:
Damn homie, what a list! I feel after this thread cools I need to post a guide sourced from you fine Tilderinos for future reference.
What a great list! I'll definitely check several of these out. I'm a huge fan of picross puzzle too - Pictopix, Picross Touch, and Voxelgram (3D picross) are a few of my favorites on Steam.
Came here to make some of these same suggestions, glad to see you offered a comprehensive list like this!
I know that it just came out, but tears of the kingdom has some fantastic, almost Minecraft like elements to it. You can just chill, cruise around and build things, and then look up guides if you wanna fly through things (that’s what I’ve been doing for Zelda temples forever). So, it may be worth a shot. ACNH is mellow too. I’ve got like 600 hours in that…
Spiritfarer is a cozy management game where you build and upgrade the boat you use to ferry souls to the afterlife. It's not edgy or grim, rather thoughtful and charming, Werth you growing and cooking their favorite foods, furnishing their rooms, and helping them make peace with their lives. It's what I'm playing right now when I want to cool down after a stressful day.
Sounds perfect, checking it out!
I particularly enjoy Slime Rancher. I hear Slime Rancher 2 is either out or coming soon. I can't play SR2 though, because I'm stuck on a Mac.
I like the game PotionCraft on steam.
You are an alchemist running a shop. Every day different plants and fungi will grow in your garden to harvest, and 3-5 customers or traveling merchants come by the shop with different requests.
The main mechanic is a puzzle where all the possible potion effects exist on a big map, and each ingredient makes you move along a certain path depending on how much you process it. So you figure out recipes by finding combinations of ingredients that get you to your goal effect without running into obstacles that will spoil the brew.
The game stays somewhat dynamic, because even though you can save recipes and reuse them to instantly recreate potions, you won't always have the same ingredients so you'll have to make up new recipes on the fly as well.
There's no time limits and no permanent consequences to messing up, so its very laid back. If you want to try and achieve the Magnum Opus of creating a philosophers stone you can, but its more like a side quest to work on when you have extra resources.
I just played Above Snakes recently, story driven survival crafting. . . Map tile builder? I cant accuratey describe it, but very chill!
Okay this is definitely where I was hoping the thread would go.
So this is a bit out of left field, but for a meditative, zen-like gaming session, I highly recommend Snowrunner. No time limits, no pressure. Just you, four wheels, and the mud, trying to get from A to B. It's my go-to zone-out game.
There's a million DLC, but the base game still has 100+ hours of content.
This is my favorite type of game, so I've collected many examples over time. Other than the obvious answer of Animal Crossing...
Open-Ended Games:
Two Point Hospital - fun and silly hospital sim. It can get a little grindy and difficult but I usually just space out and build hospitals in sandbox mode.
0 A.D. - free and open source RTS of ancient warfare (I really missed Age of Empires, this helped!)
Littlewood - Stardew Valley lite, this is very easy to play on a laptop with just a keyboard.
Games With An Ending:
Strange Horticulture - collect plants! Moral choice system, many endings.
Unpacking - pixel game where you unpack boxes. Very relaxing and way too short.
Luna's Fishing Garden - go fishing and plant... plants! Also on the shorter side.
Cinders - visual novel retelling of Cinderella. (Visual novels in general are a great, relaxing genre, but there are so many different styles and stories that it's hard to recommend them!)
Awesome list! Thanks for this!
Simutrans is fantastic! As you wrote, the graphics might look "not good", but they are very detailed and charming to my eye. It even goes as far that the pak designers discus how many pixels a sprite has to be to reflect the vehicles real life size :-) Although they may look simple at first, they are very detailed and have a lot of charm.
You mentioned it already, but it is important to clarify that the "pak sets" not only alter the graphics, but also how the game plays (the balancing and available industries).
I played tons of Transport Simulators since they became a thing, and Simutrans for me is the best of all of them. What looks simple (graphics wise) unfolds as a very in-depth simulation of not only transport networks, but also cities. Cities grow and new industries emerge as you fulfil their demands. If you play long enough it happens often that industries that were way out of town get surrounded by the town as it grows. Just as in real life where you sometimes wonder why a huge factory is in the middle of a city, it can happen here if it is an early industry and the city just grows if you do a good job. The interface is well thought out and gives you all the information and statistics in real time you need to evolve your transport networks. The train signaling system allows you to build super complex train networks if you like (you have all kind of block signals, switching etc.), there are trains for freight, passengers, trams, trucks etc.
Under the pixelated surface it has a great simulation and the more you improve your transport network, the more you appreciate the UI with all the statistics that always help you to find bottlenecks and optimize routes.
It also has a very good multiplayer. I played hundreds of hours with my partner on the same map and a lot of solo.
Wow, that´s awesome to have you here! Thank you very much for taking care of the Forum!
And nothing is silly! I love that you can play it as you want with all the options we can choose. That is also a strength of Simutrans. You can tailor it to your likings and have fun your way. Everything is right if it is fun :-)
I find Hardspace: Shipbreaker extremely meditative if you turn off the time pressure mechanics (which the game does allow for). It's very zen floating around in space, trying to figure out how to best disassemble disused ships.
It's not entirely a cake walk. You will have to look out for explosive elements in the ship, but that just forces you to take your time and pay attention.
Valheim, really relaxed game with building aspect as Minecraft but the Viking lore and explore biomes. It's cheap and available for streaming with GeForce Now.
I didn't find the combat and monsters aspects of Valheim very relaxing. :D Turning around and seeing a pair of glowing eyes coming at you in the middle of the night can be heartpounding.
Lol yeah the troll is always frustrating to deal with.
It isn’t very long, but Gorogoa was a great game. Very outside the box and puzzly.
ok THIS is downright beautiful, thanks for the heads up. I also love this thread is surfacing "older" games that may be drowned out by the AAA releases taking up all the gaming press.
It's a bit of an older title and it's sequel just got announced but The Talos Principle is very meditative or at least it was for me. A really fun and interesting puzzle game with loads of cool mechanics, hidden items to collect and easter eggs with a story that delves into the philosophy of what it means to be human.
I was going to recommend The Talos Principle as well. The complete isolation you're in is oddly comforting, and the occasional philosophical chat conversations you have at the computer terminals make the mood of the game feel very introspective. Really looking forward to the sequel.
Yeah, the philosophical chats with Milton are absolutely some of the best parts of the game. It's also chock full of Easter eggs and hunting them down is incredibly fun!
You might enjoy Wildermyth. It's a party-based tactical RPG, but where it really shines is the (often hilarious) procedurally generated story and connections to the characters. It's hard to pin down exactly what makes it work so well, but it's the only game with procedural story generation where I've ever actually cared about the characters.
You said casual and easy going, and you also liked Katamari Damashi and Monument Valley so...
Monster's Expedition -- no narration, no noises, no fighting, just one guy walking through an interactive museum gallery using puzzles. It's the kind of game that refreshes the soul.
To be clear though, while the main game is a good difficulty for a puzzle game, reaching 100% is notoriously difficult. If you want something easy-going, but you're also a completionist, this might not be for you.
I've seen career puzzle gamers struggle with some of the puzzles in this game for days. Longer than they struggled on even end-game Baba puzzles.
All that said, IMO, these are good things, so I recommend it too :)
Thanks for the heads up. :) I'm a Baba player as well and ....ah I was thinking maybe there was something wrong with me for not blowing through this one quickly.
Along the same vein, The Witness is a gorgeous chill puzzle game that's also hard-ish to complete. But sadly I can't play it due to motion sickness.
The Witness is the first game I've experienced motion sickness from, and by far the strongest cause. I love so much about it but haven't found a good way to solve that effect. I'll probably end up trying it again eventually and then end up on the floor in exchange.
What part of The Witness made you motion sick? I get dizzy from everything, but not that game.
Honestly the only things I could think of as a cause the lack of any sort of crosshair and the way the movement feels very disembodied without any sort of 'real' connection to a body. The only other game I've experienced notable motion sickness from is Sea of Thieves which shares some aspects of its movement with The Witness.
Mixolumia is a lot of fun. It's sort of a unique take on Tetris, and has a similar aesthetic to Tetris Effect.
My main issue with Mixolumia, which while is a great game, is that the speed/difficulty curve really ramps up once you get to about 350pieces in the marathon mode. Almost makes it luck based whether or not you can finish without topping out.
There is also the whole zen/relaxed mode too, but that is almost too slow. Its a great way to learn the patterns and how to manage pieces, so I would suggest messing around for a bit there.
If you have a Steam Deck, the game works wonderfully on it as well.
Seconding Mini Metro (and Mini Motorways). I still play them often on my phone and tablet. But there are PC versions now too:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/287980/Mini_Metro/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1127500/Mini_Motorways/
I can't seem to find Sky Corps anywhere though. Googling it, even in quotes and with + game, just brings up a ton of unrelated stuff. Do you happen to have a link to it?
Ooooh love love love mini metro. So cute!
Kerbal Space Program! There are no specific ways to play the game and there are no official goals. Its fun and you get to blow stuff up and learn. It really got me into space.
I fear this one may become less "relaxing" and more "addiction" very quickly.
For me "Into the Breach", FTL, and Dungeon Deathball. All 3 are fairly simple turn based roguelike games where you aren't really expected to win every time and you can just chill out and see how far you get
Okay y’all I cannot thank you enough. I’m cooking dinner right now (taco night) but I WILL reply to everyone asap.
I like and occasionally replay "Flower". It's rather old, I played it on PS3 back in 2010, iirc. Basically you are a flower petal flying on the wind with some control over your path. Other flowers will bloom when you fly near them and more petals will join your swarm in the gust of wind you're riding on. There is something like - well, a story would be said too much, but a development throughout the playtime. I find it very meditatative, there is minimal GUI and the soundtrack is just perfect and fits the effortless gliding as you advance through the world.
By now, it's been ported to PC as well.
Yes to Flower! I still play flOw aaaallll the time, as I had it on PSP first, then found it plays LOVELY upscaled to 4x on a big tv with Emulation.
I highly recommend ABZÛ. It's incredibly relaxing and also has a seriously minimal learning curve.
Honestly I've always enjoyed the Civilization series on lower difficulty levels for that kind of thing. Turn-based so I don't need to give it my full attention at any time but it's easy to get into a flow of "research until I get this technology, try to get a settler over to this spot before someone else claims it" and the like with new goals coming along naturally over time. One more turn...
I'm quite fond of GeoGuessr, which is a game built around Google Street View. While there are competitive/multiplayer modes, there are plenty of singleplayer modes that can be played without a time limit.
Try a game called Dave the Diver. It's a 2D game where you dive to fish during the day, and you use the fish you catch to sell as sushi at night. It's weirdly relaxing, with lots of quirky fun.
The Long Dark (in sandbox mode anyway) always struck me as a very meditative game. It's a survival game, but very exploration-based with snippets of stories hidden here and there. It can get a little tense at times, but most of the time it's very relaxing. And the art style is gorgeous, from what I heard they went with the "every frame a painting" mindset when designing it.
i love this. surreal is good. this weirdly reminds me of the game where you pushed a guy down stairs, which I loved lol.
Tavern Simulator, it's a game where as the name implies you build your own Tavern. You have a research tree and as you develop your tavern you unlock new Beers & Wines. I got a solid 10 hours of it it so it's solid fun. It can get a bit grindy going for 100% completion but it's a great little casual game. There's 3 difficult settings so you can decide how hard you want to make it. You get multiple floors to work with and there's plenty of customization options.
Do you mean Tavern Master, or Tavern Tycoon, or is there some other game with that exact name?
In a similar vein though, I found Graveyard Keeper to be reasonably enjoyable.
Sorry I meant Tavern Master, it's been a while since I played it. I hadn't heard of Tavern Tycoon before! Graveyard Keeper had slipped under my radar but looks like my sort of game!
Seems like we have similar tastes in gaming.
If you're into South Park, I highly recommend their 2 games Stick of Truth and Fractured Butt Whole (think they are working on a third). I've played through a bunch of times and still enjoy replaying them. Available on pretty much any platform.
Another game I really, really enjoyed was Golf Story. A very cool mixture of genres and very relaxing to play. This is a Switch exclusive, but you can play this via emulation if that's your cup of tea. They also have a new one called Sports Story (haven't played yet), but is on my list of play next games.
Other honorable mentions are Eastward, Shipwreck, Sam and Max Beyond Space and Time, Destroy all Humans, and Leisure Suit Larry. I also go down the emulation route quite often to play old arcade favorites and consoles like SNES.
Love the inclusion of SCUMM type games, those are sadly being lost to the ages it seems!
I'll recommend a title from the occasionally maligned clicker/idler genre, Orb of Creation. You have a magic orb that fills with energy, which you can use to do basic magic. You them expand the orb's capacity and fill rate until you start to unlock other resources. You then use those resources to unlock other resources and the cycle continues. The game is still in development, so there isn't really an "end game" yet. It's a very chill, almost zen, experience, building out your magical research machine.
4/5 Orbs
I'll also recommend the game Roll. You start with a single six-sided die. You collect the pips that you roll as both your score and as a currency. Those pips can be spent in the shop to add/upgrade your di(c)e, with simple numerical boosts to a side, multipliers, rerolls, increments, and more. But, you only have so many rolls, so at some point you have to stop spending and use your remaining rolls to max out your score as much as possible. In the end, it's very chill with no time limit except your remaining roll count, and you are free to play as blase as you'd like.
5/5 Dice
Pan'orama is a lovely chilled city building game. Similar to Dorfromantik which is also a beautiful game.
Glass Masquerade 3 has just released, so I'd take the time to mention the entire franchise.
Very calm and relaxing and really pretty pure puzzling games. One of the best "podcast games" I've played, especially because you can just play a level, stop, do something else, and come back later.
A classic puzzler, nice! It's on the wishlist!
I’d recommend Dyson Sphere Program (with resources set to infinite if you just want to chill). It is very mediative to play, I just focus on the optimisation problem in front of me and forget everything else.
Not to mention building planet-spanning conveyor belts is just a visual delight.
I'm not sure I understand the boundaries of your "filter", but some suggestions:
okay but how do I explain this one to my wife, when I've accidentally stayed up an extra hour late to drive semi trucks?
As /u/NaraVara I have a "audiobook/podcast/passive gaming" category, in which I place:
Otherwise, A Short Hike is so like a distillation of cozy and chill vibes concentrated in a short exploration game.
When I have some downtime, I enjoy a few rounds of Desktop Dungeons (really old) and its remake Desktop Dungeons Rewind (recently released a couple of months ago). The reviews on the remake are mixed, but I find it fun nonetheless. It's a puzzle game with somewhat roguelike aspects. It's definitely goofy.
What helps me relax is Stardew Valley
One of my friends talks about Derail Valley a lot.
It should release on 30th June from early access.Edit: apparently the 30th June is just a big simulation update, and not a release.
It's not much, but I find House Flipper quite relaxing.
You mentioned SimCity. Recently I started replaying SimCity 4 Deluxe - it's still on the Steam store. I believe you can buy it at other shops too, like GOG. There's a surprising amount of mods out there for it, and some YouTubers have some decent videos that show recommended mods to make it more playable and enjoyable. I've really enjoyed stepping back into the silliness of old school Maxis, while also dipping my toe back into city building.
You might want to look into "cozy games" in general. You sound a lot like me when it comes to gaming tastes, and those are probably exactly what you're looking for. Ranges from farming games to more relaxing platformers.
For some specific recommendations: I haven't played these two myself yet, but I only hear good things about Roots of Pacha and Sun Haven. They're both Stardew Valley-inspired, and according to their pages they should work on Mac.
One I have played that you might like is Moonlighter. You run a shop during the day and at night venture into dungeons to get stuff to sell. The combat is pretty simple, doesn't have a super cumbersome upgrade and equipment system. The gameplay loop with running the shop and going to dungeons is pretty nice and calming. It's also apparently on sale right now, only $3!
One more that might interest you: Omori. It's based on old-fashioned RPGs like Earthbound. I need to warn you that it's technically a psychological horror game. It goes into some really heavy topic matter (death, suicidal thoughts, depression, etc.). That said, it's also incredibly upbeat and fun in a lot of areas, and has me laughing a lot. I have yet to beat it myself (had to start a new file when I got a Steam Deck), but it's a great game and easily one of my favorites.
And while not a game, one more suggestion to expand your options even more since you're on Mac: if you don't mind emulators, look up OpenEmu. So many good games from older systems are out there~ Just note it doesn't have any newer systems.
Great list, thanks I’m going to check these out!
I'm really curious to know what that stands for :P
Anyway, Classic WoW (specially Classic Era Vanilla servers) is incredibly simple and chill if you approach with the right mindset, and I'm technically correct because WoW is an MMORPG, not an MMORPMRPORG :P
It does have a subscription but everything is included with it.
thanks but that's gonna be the opposite of chill for me lol.
Why's that?
Having to be online, subscriptions, fighting stuff, grinding for stuff, other people.... I just want to hang out somewhere while solving low-stakes problems.
That is fair. Vanilla WoW has all of that.
I was a WoW addict for a long time. I will admit sometimes I just sat at the edge of a lake and fished for a while. It doesn't have to be stressful. Just don't go raiding, lol.
I recommend Stellaris. It’s a 4x strategy game that has beautiful soundtrack. You can get immersed very quickly, and while it can get intense with the management, you can always pause the game and do everything you need to do. My first game took me around 70 hours. It’s sort of similar to Civ games but it’s not turn based.
Another one is Rimworld, I’ve seen that mentioned here already though.
Both of these tick the boxes for me personally, I have ADHD and for some reason they just tickle my brain.
I can see this one becoming a total time vampire, thanks!
Myst and everything that came after it including Obduction. Oh crap, just realized Firmament dropped!
I can't handle fast-paced games anymore or anything that requires really careful timing. I want to go at my own pace, which is usually slow AF. Myst, Riven, et al are perfect for that. I got really into the larger puzzle genre recently after 100%-ing all the Cyan Worlds games. One of them got close to my love for Cyan Worlds games and that was The Witness. But warning, it got way too hard for me halfway and I gave up. You might love it, though.
Oh, almost forgot Amanita Design's catalog!
I loved Myst 1-3 back in the day, even read the books (yes, huge nerd) and I’d totally forgotten about it! Time to dig it up!
Factorio would be my suggestion. It scratches all those itches for a good casual building game. Can be quite complex, but in a very good way and the overall difficulty is up to how you want to play the game. Options are easily configurable, and there is a great mod community if you want to change things up.
I've been playing exclusively cozy, relaxing games this summer! These are the games that I've played in the last month or so (links to some videos of me playing them) with brief descriptions; maybe you'll like them too!
Cloudpunk - Great pixel-art cyberpunk game where you drive/fly around making deliveries and talking to people. No violence. Besides the cyberpunk vibes, the heart of the game is a story about the immigrant experience in large cities.
Behind the Frame - Nice point and click game where you learn about two people, paint paintings, solve simple puzzles. May make you want to constantly hug your spouse.
Planet of Lana - This came out just recently, and I'd say it's my GOTY 2023. A girl and her pet/friend try to save her sister by journeying across a planet. There is no active violence in this game, but the main character can die during puzzles. If you're into language and conlangs, I had a great experience trying to decipher the meaning of the conlang used in this game!
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure - I just started playing this one. It's such a playful, joyful game. I can't help but smile every time I start it and hear the music. You are a little girl who goes around an island identifying the wildlife and trying to save the nature reserve while getting to know people in the town. SO CUTE!
Thanks, another great list! I appreciate the effort everyone is putting in here! I’m crafting a grouped mega thread to capture them all… coming soon :)
Have you tried out any of the Sid Meier Civilization games? It is a turn-based strategy 4x game where you lead a civilization in developing its technology, government, trade, and military. You can play the game slow, where choices are impactful and you can plan out cities to gain the most use of the resources and land around your city. You interact with nearby civilizations by either being a great trading partner or be a warmonger and declare that their land now belongs to you. You can take as much time as you want to decide your actions when playing against AI. On normal mode of the game, a session lasts can last around 8-9 hours but its definitely one of those games that makes you go, "Just one more turn..."
Refunct - Very short game. VERY short game. But it's just.. relaxing. You can literally just play through and beat the whole game in one sitting and it's a nice experience.
Superflight - It's something you can kind of get into a flow state on if that makes sense? No goal other than just get points and fly around.
Taking things up a step, Crypt of the NecroDancer is very fun. Move and attack to the beat of the music. Goes from very simple to pretty hard towards the end, but I just stopped playing before getting to whatever the hardest difficulty is and I still totally had a great time.
It's VERY early access, but I've had a lot of fun with Starship Troopers: Exetermination so far. 16 player online coop. Shoot bugs, build a base, defend the base for a set amount of time, then extract. Don't leave a man behind! Again, early access, so not sure how it will build up, but I'm having a good time for now.
I found Snowrunner to be usually quite relaxing mixed with really tense moments when trying not to get stuck in the mud. I would put a podvast on and just chill out while playing it.