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What are your favorite “chore” games?
A loose definition of a “chore” game would be:
A game in which you repeatedly do relatively unexciting tasks to work towards a larger goal. The fun often comes from:
- A sense of progress/completion that builds over time
- Fighting entropy/restoring order
- Converting effort into currency
- Unlocking quality of life features over time that make the tasks easier/more engaging
A perfect example would be PowerWash Simulator. In fact, these games are often called “simulator” games or have the word in their title (though not always, and not all “simulator” games are specifically “chore” games).
Which ones are your favorites? What do you enjoy about them?
Satisfactory/Factorio.
Start small. Build by hand. Eventually, automate the universe.
I will spend an inordinate amount of time just hovering over my factory, marveling at the horrible monstrosity I have created.
I have never made it to "automate" stage at those games. I love the beginnings but I never have the patience or determination to make it deeper.
The key, at least in Factorio (which is somewhat the founding game for that genre), is to stop crafting stuff in hand. As soon as you unlock assemblers, make the factory build everything for you. Put the output products into wooden boxes, or whatever. When you've learned enough to move to the side and make the real factory, all the parts are already being made for you.
There is a saying in the modded Minecraft community:
I made it to the third or fourth science packages in Factorio by automaking them, then stopped playing. It's the on and off game for me but one I have to start over everytime.
Have you purchased the Space Age expansion yet? I really want to try it out (I've been watching Dosh Doshington's Factorio content, it's fantastic) but... I know me. I really can't afford for my work productivity to take a hit right now, and Cracktorio did me no favors in that regard when it first came out. Good stuff. :D
Described by Yahtzee in Zero Punctuation a few years ago as a "post-dad game", Hardspace: Shipbreaker has you dismantling spaceships for parts in a dystopian capitalist scifi future.
It’s both relaxing and engaging. The joy comes in learning the most efficient way to scrap ships and score those sweet credits to slowly chip away at your crippling debt.
hardspace is one of the few games Ive 100%ed achivements on, and still continued to play. Its great to start and just zone out for a few hours.
Got any more good "post-dad" games? Preferably Steam Deck compatible?
I wish so bad Shipbreaker had a native VR, it's one of the few games I've played that I felt could thoroughly benefit from it and I would actually buy a VR headset for it. I haven't played it in two years so not sure if VR has been added yet, if it has guess I'm buying myself a VR headset for Christmas lol
Maybe not what you had in mind, but I think Dwarf Fortress fits this definition for me. When you first start a fortress there are so many things the player must immediately do to establish a stable settlement. Off the top of my head:
Long list of chores
There's probably another dozen or two individual items you need to cross off before you can say your fortress is sustainable. Broadly, you will need to:
While you're doing all that, there's tons of "entropy" that can happen:
If you're fortress can survive the major external threats like goblin invasions and basic internal threats like tantrum spirals or starvation, then you get to move on to the special internal threats like vampires randomly killing dwarves, nobles issuing ridiculous mandates, spies trying to steal your artifacts, managing the justice system, and loyalty cascades.
It's... a lot, and I love it. You start out fighting for survival. Then, once you get past the vulnerable early stages of a fortress, the gameplay shifts to trying to keep the place from destroying itself, rather than be destroyed.
And then finally, once you have mastered your fortress within and without, well... there are things far more valuable than gold deep in the earth, and things far more terrifying than forgotten beasts too.
I can't recommend the game enough. It has become much easier to get into since the Steam release. Blind has an excellent tutorial series on YouTube for anyone interested in learning the game:
Dwarf Fortress - Tutorial Lets Play (Weathermountains)
The Steam version also has Workshop support. I recommend the Interface Tweaks mod and, for beginners, the Dry Mines mod to turn off aquifers.
Also, because I've been itching to mention it for a while now and here is as good a place as any, if you've played Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead before and liked its NeoDays tileset, someone is working on a version for Dwarf Fortress: NeoDwarf. It's beautiful, and on GitHub if you want to contribute.
I liked Rimworld more than DF (steam version) because it scratches much of the same itch as a far simpler (but still extremely complex) game. I stopped playing DF because I kept breaking bases with water (framerates tanking).
My issue aside, it's a great game and I don't regret contributing to the Adams brothers' fortunes buying it on steam . It's definitely top of its class in the genre.
I find certain aspects of Rimworld to be much more complex (sometimes in good ways, sometimes bad). I find it far easier to play Dwarf Fortress without immediately focusing on combat, for instance, which is not my favorite part of Rimworld (though I'm sure for others it's one of the highlights -- different strokes).
I've also had more framerate issues on Rimworld than DF so far, but I haven't made any mist generators or anything super intense with the fluids side of things in DF so far.
Wait until you have a panicking, thirsty dwarf stuck in a tree, trying to pathfind its way down but someone took their stool away while they were up in the tree picking fruit.....
I love the game, but by the gods it's horrible in the best and worst kind of ways. Didn't realise that was my issue until I found a dwarf listed in the deceased, and they couldn't put him in a coffin because it was up in the branches of a fruit tree.
oh god yeah I'd heard of problems with them getting stuck in trees because of other dwarves moving stepladders. I just never bring stepladders and only harvest tree fruits when they fall to the ground.
I absolutely love Dwarf Fortress and I love this genre of game (my favorite in this genre atm is House Flipper) but they fill different niches in my mind. Dwarf Fortress has a lot more active planning and experimentation going on, whereas this genre is a lot more "the task is simple but you find joy in executing it". Much like some of my dwarves doing when crafting, come to think of it! This genre can be a lot easier to do while multitasking, at least for me.
And for a visual demonstration.... The Saga of Bronzemurder. I think just about every DF player who gets very far gets deja vu from this.
Smells like Dwarf Fortress.
DF is absolutely 10/10 but I always find it's fun to start a fortress, but not fun after it grows to about 120+ population assuming the basics of the game have been mastered. I find that I have to intentionally take stupid risks or try something different just to push the boundary and make my own fun at that point. But more often than not, I abandon the fortress and deploy a new one in a different biome with different limiting factors or challenges to mix it up.
You can limit both the number of adults in your fortress (when no more migrants will come, and no babies are born), and the total number of inhabitants (also includes babies, which the former does not so you might go over that number due to births).
I don't know how to do it natively, as I've only done it through the third party Lazy Newb launcher.
It's in the game settings for the steam version, at least.
I like Unpacking. It's more of a Zen type of game, but you are unpacking after moves - many times. I'd call that a chore. Very good game to play on a Steam Deck.
I think this is the first one that I agreed with being a "chore" game. The other games have chores in them, and sometimes they can be chores more than games, but aren't a chore-based game. Maybe I'm just projecting based on the example, but I was expecting things like Unpacking where it was based on a real-life chore.
I'll also second Unpacking as a suggestion - it is a very soothing game. Some other similar games could be A Little to the Left and PotionCraft.
Stardew Valley comes to mind immediately as a good example. None of the minute to minute gameplay is really all that great, but the vibes are perfect and that comes together to be super satisfying.
Time moves way too fast in that game.
There's mods to alter the speed of time, if that's your only complaint about the game. But I've grown to appreciate the limitation.
If you're looking for something slightly similar without the timer, there's a game called Littlewood that is a spin on the genre that only progresses time with each of your actions. So you effectively have X number of actions a day, though some may take less energy than others as you progress through the game. Granted, it's much similar than other games in the genre, but I found it to be a charming and somewhat unique game.
Wylde Flowers let's you adjust time, your speed and onlt.has the seasons advance when you cast a spell.
Also you're a witch. And some of the townsfolk get real salty about summer not starting...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/951240/Obenseuer/
Holy shit no way. This is the... Sequel? To Infra! I saw "Open Sewer" and was like "hold on a second I know that place!"
These developers are totally insane, if this is their next game I have to see what they are doing. Thanks for the heads up!
yes, yes it is :) it's still early access but there is a good 40 hrs of bottle collecting and cabbage planting and apartment robbing in there plus however long you want to build out your tenement building and become a slumlord.
I don't know how this flew under my radar, but it looks so up my alley. I scour Steam lists all the time looking for stuff exactly like this. Thanks, stranger!
It's such a niche game, steam only suggested it to me because I've played INFRA before. From the same developer in the same creative universe but vastly different type of game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/251110/INFRA/
I'm going through Stardew right now with tons of mods, its great. I could literally play all day
Which mods do you recommend?
I'm using too many to list right now (unless you're really interested, I could send a screenshot of my mod list)
But the biggest recommends so far are:
Stardew Valley Expanded (this may be too overwhelming for new players, it adds LOTS of extra content)
Better Chests/crafting (Nice QOL storage tweaks for those who hate digging through chests for items)
Tractor mod (only really necessary with the big farms from SVE expanded)
Look up anything (in game wiki so you never have to tab out to look up something)
There are more like I said but those are the ones I find most useful.
Might not match exactly but Euro Truck Simulator 2. You start by borrowing trucks and trailers but eventually own your own, with garages everywhere and employees that generate passive income. A job takes maybe 30 minutes and it's peaceful to just drive and enjoy the changing scenery. Plays well on Steam Deck but also is great on a big screen.
My friends just recently picked up RuneScape again now that group ironman is a thing. The grind doesn't really get better in that game though, but you can do it at your own pace.
Another along this vein that I enjoyed and need to come back to since they have added a lot recently is Big Ambitions. Start with a gift shop where you're buying the furniture, product, and running the place alone out of your Honda Civic. Then build up to running a bunch of fully staffed businesses with all of the supply chains automated. It's paced pretty well to always feel a sense of growth and accomplishment but you can also be as hands-on as you want even when things are automated. If you like things like Supermarket Simulator but want more depth, this game is way deeper.
Maybe The Planet Crafter? I found it pretty satisfying making the terrformation index slowly increase.
Have you played the new dlc? I was wondering if it was worth a replay so soon after 1.0
I bought it, but have not played yet. I think it will be worth it though, as it is more than just a new map. There are brand new resources, and new mechanics for turning those resources into the products that are useful. It also seems like they rebalanced the early game to be a bit more challenging to reward returning players a bit with a more "new game +" sort of feel.
I just recently started playing forager on ps5, and it hits where stardew valley used to hit. Plus it has an endearing creation story behind it.
I'm surprised no one has suggested House Flipper (or its sequel House Flipper 2 -- they're both still being actively developed) yet! They're very similar to power wash simulator imo (though I haven't bit the bullet and actually bought power wash simulator for myself yet, just watched others play it).
Any paradox game really but Crusader kings 3 hits that special nerve of satisfaction. Starting as a no one unlanded hideous character and slowly snowballing into an unstoppable juggernaut empire with a whole court of genetic freaks of nature just feels good. I also love the joyous chore of Factorio and now Planet Crafter (mentioned earlier) can scratch my terraforming itch that I’ve had since childhood especially with mods it’s incredible how complex you can go.
By the way if anyone has recommendations for games with terraforming mechanics I’m always looking.
IdleOn is an idle RPG, but it's much less "idle" than I first thought it was going to be. I've been playing it for months now and there's ALWAYS something I could be actively doing to pump my numbers up. It also has cross-play between mobile and PC.
You start with one character but eventually unlock 10 total, and every second of every day all 10 of your characters are doing something, whether it's gathering materials or working to boost one of the many skills that boost your account. The skills are all very different, and each time you progress to a new world it unlocks at least three more to learn and work on.
Tips I wished I knew from the start:
Dome Keeper is a fun little game that fits the bill! Dig deeper to mine resources, unlock quality-of-life improvements, upgrade your base to defend against waves of attackers. Lovely visuals, satisfying playstyle, small and easy enough to quickly pick up but can keep you occupied for a long time.
For longer games I recommend the following. These are mostly resource-gathering base-building games that you can sink hundreds of hours into:
One simulator game I've played recently that fits this description is Gas Station Simulator. It's a little wacky but in a good way. Though once I hit the ending point, I felt "done" with the game and don't really want to go back. And that's completely fine - not every game has to keep you coming back forever!
I've been playing through RDR2 again and trying to 100% it.
I've just been chilling in chapter 2 unlocking all the outfits, satchels and camp upgrades while working on the challenges. It's definitely a chore simulator, but in a great way. The environments are just too good. As someone who has spent a lot of time in some the biomes found in the game, they did a really great job at nailing them.
Maybe Farming Simulator, if that counts. You start off with pretty basic equipment and have to go through the whole farming process before working your way up to better multi-purpose equipment and automation. I did enjoy Shipbreaker as well but haven't played it in a while.
Littleroot is a simplification of the concept with a short story and plenty of fun distractions. It's clock is effort-based rather than time based. Like, you get tired that's the end of the day.
Graveyard Keeper: all chores, sleep is even sorta optional since time marches on in a week-long cycle. You harvest parts from corpses and manage the graveyard while trying to leave this world you found yourself in.
American/Euro Truck Simulator: take jobs, drive, buy a fleet of trucks, hire drivers, give them jobs while doing your own, repeat. Perfect low-key sort of grind, and you can take long pan-continental hauls with enough DLC (regions cost money but are worth buying as you can afford it, a lot of effort goes into it and it's worth the $15 per as they come, or cop them on sale).
Warframe is my daily chore game. As well as something I enjoy. Many of the warframes (kinda like classes) take work to unlock, same with just about everything from weapons, pets, rep. Lots to collect and do whilst also having a great story
ive been spending some time in red dead online lately. i pretty much stopped playing a few times <lv40 because of other players, but found out you can run a text file to create private lobbies in under a minute, and ive been enjoying playing my cowboy mmo all alone ever since. theres also some big buffs going on for the month related to the trader role, which ive been stuck on for awhile. so thats helping to hold my attention. also the dailys have been super ez to streak, theyve mostly also been relating to the trader role this month so far.
ill also mention Mad Max since im going for a 100% replay and they built the damn thing like a ubisoft title. so many checkboxes.
I’ve been playing NGU Idle for a few years. It takes at least a year to complete, assuming you spend a few minutes a day. I finished it once and started again. I’m not sure why lol. Progress is very slow but constant, there are some puzzles to solve and some walls to progress that take some effort to overcome. It’s free on steam with some optional purchases.
It was in development for several years. I started playing near the time of the last update that will ever happen. Parts of the endgame seem slightly unfinished. It’s very clearly an indie game made by one person with modest artistic skills. That’s part of the charm I guess. It used to be playable on the web but I think that’s been shut down. There are quite a few strategy guides online and a wiki that is complete and informative.
Harvest Moon 64, loved this game as a kid and I've kept an N64 emulator and a ROM file of it on pretty much every device I've owned. I love the early Harvest Moon games and I also really like that this one has a a more "realistic" tone to it. There's marriage disputes, people have problems, not everyone wants to be your friend right off the bat. I spent a good amount of time in a few small towns growing up visiting relatives and helping them with thing ranging from roofing, plumbing, gardening, to cattle farming and a whole lot more in between). This game really captured that feel of moving into that small close knit community and being an outsider that people warm up to.
The funny thing is I hardly play it because of the fast pace of the game and I know that once I get started I'll just want to sit down and play it constantly. The game speed is incredibly fast when you're outdoors, but pauses when you're inside. I've added the pause inside to Stardew Valley before since this behaviour was also in other early Harvest Moon games and it just feels like how they should play to me.
The gameplay itself doesn't have a lot of extras to it, but there are a good amount of secrets to discover and events that can happen when you take specific actions. It has rival marriages and there are some events that continue after the "ending" where you receive your rating. Unless you get the worst ending you can continue to play on your farm indefinitely, but I always preferred to start over after an extra year.
I do always like to point out to people that if you're playing it on a non-CRT display fishing can be a challenge as it was designed with that display in mind. Thankfully fishing is only needed for a couple of things, so if you want to min max you can avoid it. You can also rotate the camera on the farm if the diagonal view makes things difficult. There's also several threads on the Harvest Moon subreddit where people give great tips for people starting out.
There's also a fantastic strategy guide made by a fan of the game that he released for free as a PDF which you can find in the link below. If you're a fan of the game, or know someone who is, this is a fantastic gift for them. I'd mentioned it in passing that I regretted not getting one during the first print run as it was unclear if he'd make more and my wife picked one up for me as soon as a new run started without telling me and held onto it to surprise me a few years ago during Christmas.
Strategy guide link: http://blog.gerrysguides.com/merchandise/
Also, there's several things that were cut form the English release due to memory constraints and budgetary reasons. One of these is the variety channel TV channel. You can find a fan project to translate this content with lots of great context here: https://lostinlocalization.com/projects/hm64-variety/
It is hard for me to imagine any game fits this description better than old school RuneScape. The entire early/mid game is chores and slow incremental progression.
For me it's Voices of the Void. Really relaxing, until it isn't. :P
SnowRunner is one of those games where you slowly crawl your way through mud, snow and dirt roads to pick up logs and stuff to haul around in a slightly less than ideal environment. It's a lovely slow churn and very rewarding to upgrade to bigger trucks.
I do recommend Hardmode since once you unlock a few things in the regular game mode money just starts pouring in and unlocking things really snowballs quickly and makes the game a little too easy in my opinion. Hardmode keeps you on edge yet is fairly forgiving.
Sadly I haven't really played the game in a while, I have some complicated history with the person who bought it for me and we aren't on speaking terms and I do feel a lot of guilt playing it without him.
Diablo II somewhat fits the definition of a chore game. I play an old version (1.09) on a private server called Diablo09 with about a dozen other semi-active players.
Most of my time playing the game is doing the same old cow runs, boss runs and gold farming over and over again when I have spare time, want to game and don't particularly want to use my brain. All for the goal of finding better equipment so that I can PVP with the other handful of players once a year...
The game is a nostalgic comfort-food slot machine of sorts to me. Though these days even when I do hit a jackpot the elation only lasts for a fleeting moment. I think part of that is the realization that our tiny community is fading away.