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Fun, Relaxing, Singleplayer Games
Hello, I am fairly new to the gaming world and I am looking for just some fun and relaxing games to play by myself. I play almost exclusively FPS and action games and I want to branch out. Although, I found Civ V which is super addicting and I love it.
Anyways, thank you!
If you like addicting games, I highly recommend Factorio. It's almost like someone took modded Minecraft and made it it's own game. You start off on an alien planet, and you have to mine resources, build machines, and progress through the tech tree until you can build a rocket ship and leave the planet (which is how you "win" the game, although you can just keep playing if you want).
I also recommend Stardew Valley. It's more casual than Factorio, and a bit less addicting. I love the Harvest Moon and Rune Factory series, and Stardew Valley basically took that formula and perfected it. You can put as much effort in as you want: you can try to keep your farm running at max efficieny, and optimizing your time to earn as much money every day as possible, or you can farm more casually and focus on other things as well, like interacting with villagers.
Factorio gets compared to (Modded)Minecraft too much and I just want to point out the only similarities are that you need to get basic resources and make them into more complicated resources. As someone who has made very complicated bases in MC and Factorio I really dislike the link between the two.
Minecraft is set up for much more of a sandbox experience where Factorio is very set in the gather resources and make the gathering more efficient.
Factorio was inspired by buildcraft and industrialcraft, but became it's own thing. Here's Kovarex talking about it
Minecraft with very technical, industrial mods is very similar, in my opinion.
I'd have to argue against that.
As @Eylrid posted, Factorio was inspired by it, and if you compare it with modpacks like Sky Factory, Project Ozone, Agrarian Skies, Blightfall, and especially Crash Landing, which use the hardcore questing mod, you have an experience very close to Factorio. You pretty much get a tech tree, and most of these packs turn the sandbox factor down a notch.
In terms of the machinery, I think they're very similar. Machinery in modded Minecraft is the same thing: making factories to gather resources (with quarries, mining turtles, tunnel bores, etc.) and process them. It's all done by placing machines and connecting them with pipes and sometimes trains.
Will look into them. Many have mention Stardew Valley also. Thanks a lot!
There's also an upcoming game called Satisfactory which is kind of like a 3d version of Factorio.
Thanks!
I respect that they never do sales but it painfully made me realize how much I'm conditioned to wait for sales to try new games. It's kinda bullshit since I barely even get to play the games I buy and owning one game, deliberately bought full-price is a way better deal than owning 20 for $5 each I never play. Also knowing I won't regret paying full when it goes on a sale one week later is comforting. I might get this! All I need to do is finish the 5 other games I already started!
Considering how many hours of entertainment you can get out of Factorio the price is well worth it.
Agreed - $35 seems pretty expensive for an indie game, but thinking about the hundreds of hours of gameplay that I've had, that actually puts the dollars/hour pretty cheap.
The Civilization series was going to be my recommendation based on just the topic title, so you're already off to a great start.
Others I'd recommend for single-player relaxation are Stardew Valley, Besiege and Poly Bridge.
Since you say you're new to the gaming world - if you've never played it, the original Portal is an absolute must-play.
Definitely gonna get Portal. As for the other games, I've seen some of those mentioned in other comments, so I will give them a look! Thanks a lot!
Be aware that stardew valley feel like lacking a purpose in the long run.
If you want something close to it but with actual goals, try graveyard keeper. Released a couple days ago.
Okay, thank you!
IMO first portal is nice, but second is way better :)
In the first one GLaDOS has a too much robotic voice, at least at the beginning
if you enjoy games like stardew but want more ethical dilemmas and lovecraftian style consider graveyard keeper.
As much flak as it's recieved in the past, I'd like to suggest No Man's Sky. The creators have patched 99% of the issues that plagued the game for the past two years and have completely overhauled the core mechanics. There is a multiplayer option if you want, but it's single-player for the most part. Imagine a less block-y space-based Minecraft with gorgeous graphics.
I got into quite the argument with a friend about NMS right after launch. I refused to pay full price for an unfinished game. He argued that the game was playable and provided what he wanted for enjoyment. Two years later(has it been that long?) I picked up the game at half a AAA price because of rumors that the recent patch fixed what was wrong.
The reports were right and now I am hoping to have that friend give me all sorts of good stuff so I can skip the midgame grind. lol
Bottom line, I will always give a studio a chance if after two years they manage to fix the train wreck. Ive done it to MMOs and I have done it to random Kongregate games. NMS is just one of the most recent that I have revisited because I was secretly hoping they would pull off what they originally envisioned.
Total agreement.
I still don't think it's AAA-quality. It's now like a Minecraft. You pay <30, and you can get hundreds of hours out of it. But it'll always be missing some polish. And that's ok because you didn't give your entire paycheck for it.
I highly agree. It's a great game to throw on music to and to get lost in the micromanaging and the sights
Honestly, the in-game music is pretty dang good by itself. It's procedural too, so it's never the same and doesn't really get stale and is a good match for the pace/mood/aesthetic of the game.
I think this is the game he was referring too, but my good friend told me it's really open world and has so many planets. Is that right? Gonna look into this. Thanks a lot!
The game definitely improved but it's still terribly optimized unless you have an high-high end computer.
And even then, there are random fps crash that are unexplainable.
I can't speak to the PC experience but it's playable and fun on PS4. I'm sure the graphics are downgraded from what the big rig gamers are getting, but console peasants like me don't know what we're missing.
I need to restart every 4-5 hours of play due to FPS drop on my PS4. I've had that several patches in a row.
Have you had the same? If not, I wonder why.
No, nothing like that has happened even once for me. I’ve had zero crashes and only moderate but brief and tolerable FPS drops. This is only my first game (normal mode), created after the NEXT patch was released, and I’m only about 18 hours in, FWIW.
Totally agree. I gave this one a hard pass after the initial release but finally picked it up after the NEXT update dropped. I haven't played the previous incarnations, but I can say in its current form this game is a lot of fun. I really like the balance between structured missions and open-ended creative play. It's a little grindy, but I think that's just because of the goals I've set for myself. Nice way to zone out at the end of a long day, regardless.
@cfabbro turned me on to Rimworld a while back. Love that game. It's less about 'winning' and more about how long you can hold out. There's a mountain of great mods for it to customize the experience, and it's a mature modding community like Skyrim's where there are unification/compatibility mods so you can run hundreds together if you like. Steam's ratings are a practically unanimous 10/10 and I have to agree with them. Independent developer, game's just made it to 'beta' after four years, regular updates and new features.
A big +1 for Rimworld. It can be incredibly difficult and hectic, but it has a number of different game modes, including a peaceful mode, so the gameplay can be tweaked for whatever the player is in the mood for - it's everything from a peaceful base-builder (coincidentally the name of the "peaceful" difficulty) to an all-out nigh-impossible rampage of death.
If you find Rimworld starting to be a little boring and easy then start watching some tutorials for Dwarf Fortress. If you are able to get through some of the basic 2 hour start videos then you are already probably futilely grabbing at the scree and are lost to the abyss. Nothing left besides striking the earth.
That sounds super interesting and probably going to get it. I think a good friend plays it so I'll ask him some stuff. Thanks a lot!
Rimworld is a must. Mods are aplenty, as well.
Yeah, MANY people have recommended this one. Will for sure try.
In a similar vein, although much more complex, is dwarf fortress
Stardew Valley is very relaxing as long as you don't over exert yourself trying to make bank. Games like God Save the Queen and Princess Maker are a good way to chill for a couple hours, I guess the raising aspect is what does it for me in many games.
Will look into them! Thanks!
Minecraft is pretty good. I usually turn off mob destruction and explosions so I can adventure and build things without worrying about a creeper wrecking my stuff.
Minecraft is one of the few games that I can keep coming back to every few months. I like vanilla, but mods are what keeps me back, they’re addicting and add so much new content.
If you want something relaxing, I suggest the Sky Factory (I think 3 is the latest?) modpack. It’s essentially a singleplayer campaign.
It’s based on the original skyblock map: the world is completely empty, expect for the tiny floating island you start on, with a tree, a chest with some items, and nothing else. From there, you have to work your way to expanding the island, building machines for automation, exploring the nether, etc. Sky Factory adds a quest book that basically guides you from start to finish, so it’s a great introduction into modded Minecraft, as you’ll always know what you should learn and do next (but don’t be scared to veer off and try to make some random cool machine you find!). Most modpacks have a few shared “essential” mods (such as IndustrialCraft, Buildcraft, Thermal Expansion, and more), so your knowledge will transfer over if you ever play a different modpack.
That was a bit of a rant, but modded Minecraft and especially Sky Factory is some of the most fun I’ve had in a game :)
I know right. Minecraft is just one of those games I only play every few months, but when I do, I play really intensively lol.
Minecraft is by far my favorite game, just for the shear replay value it has. I also play modded, and have played SkyFactory. The thing to note about that one is that when you start, you literally only have 4 wood blocks, 34 leaves, and 1 dirt.
There’s also a Stardew Valley modpack that a friend of mine had me play with him for a bit, but I’m not too big on diverse crops. cough ^(pam’s harvestcraft) cough
What’s your favorite modpack? Right now I'm doing the Direwolf20 pack for 1.12 :)
My favourite modpack would have to be Crash Landing (it's an older one).
Your ship crashed on a desert planet, and you have to survive. It uses the quest book mod, and you only get 1 life. To get more, you have to build shells (basically clones of you that sit in a little glass box), and when you die you get transferred into it. If you run out of shells and die, game over.
It adds a really interesting dehydration and heat mechanic, so you always have to generate water to keep from getting thirsty, and stay in shade or drink water to cool down.
Eventually, you get to explore pretty far from your ship and there's a cool abandoned city. The sense of progression is great in this pack, and the quest book guides you really well.
Edit: I should add, it's very difficult. There's a good chance you'll mess up and have to restart at least once.
Edit 2: I don't know why, but now I can't stop thinking about Crash Landing and kind of want to play it again :P
At the beginning it'll be hectic: you're racing against the sun going down, so you pretty much can't stop being productive at the beginning. Eventually things settle down and become more relaxing, but I really enjoy that beginning where it's almost like you're trying to get a "perfect run" where you maximize what you accomplish.
I’ve played this one! It was a ton of fun but I played it before I really knew anything about the mods in it, and the changes it made to them, so it didn’t really stick. I might go back some day
The classic.
My most played game. Might remain that way for the rest of my life.
I don't know what it is about Minecraft. When I think about all the hours I sunk into into Warcraft, I feel bad. I never feel that way about the time I spent in Minecraft.
I've built a number of long term friendships through Minecraft. Modding the game helped me learn Java. Redstone taught me binary logic. As far as addictive games go it's been pretty good to me.
Writing Bukkit plugins taught me Java too. Some of the best (and worst) times I've had in an online community is writing plugins for people.
I wanna pitch Mount and Blade: Warband if you haven't played it, which is one of my favorite RPGs. Sometimes has a little bit of a curve at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it you can just get lost in building up your group and going on raids and maybe even forming your own country! It's been one of my relaxation games for a long time.
I also wanna suggest more story-oriented choice stuff like Telltale's The Walking Dead, Life Is Strange, and The Wolf Among Us. I don't like all of these but they all share the similar format of being choice-centered games with maybe a few button-mashing and time-sensitive sequences, but mostly it's just going along for the ride and making choices when prompted. Someone else could probably explain it better than I am. They're not really relaxing in the sense you can boot them up and run a game if you need relaxation at any time, but you can put it on and kind of treat it like a movie if you want.
I love Life is Strange, if you're the type of person who can let yourself get emotionally invested in a story, I'd highly recommend it.
To the list of story-based games, I'd also recommend Firewatch. It's beautiful, has a great story, and I quite enjoyed the gameplay (navigating with a map and compass).
Will look into that as well!
Interesting. Will take a look at them. Thank you!
I'll second Endless Legend and Endless Space 2. Both are great 4X strategy games.
That is a really great comment of different games. I will look into all of those when I have the time. Thank you so much!
If you're willing to learn a bit, Kerbal Space Program has some pretty limitless possibilities, from boats to aircraft to interplanetary missions. Or, if you don't want to learn you can just make some big explosions!
Another one of my favorites is Cities: Skylines. Don't worry about all the DLCs the base game with some mods eventually is more than enough. Build your city how you want it to look, and puzzle through traffic and other city problems at your own pace.
You sound like Planet Coaster is right around the corner for you :)
Those sound extremely fun. The type I like. Thanks for showing those to me!
If you are stuck on the 4x/Civ/"Just one more turn dammit!" then you may want to check out Endless Legend. It is different enough from Civ to be something different enough to scratch that itch while being almost the same game. Its something best experienced rather than explained.
Yeah, someone else recommended this game. If two people said I should check it out. I will most surely will. Thank you so much!
One of the best parts is if your friends have the expansions and youre playing with them you can play with the expansions experience even if you dont have them.
EDIT: They sell the game on almost word of mouth alone. They are working on a sequel.
Awesome
I'm gonna throw out World of Warcraft, if you're not opposed to a monthly subscription fee.
WoW is one of those games that you get out of it what you put into it. And by that I mean, there is absolutely zero requirement to be a hardcore raider or M+ dungeon player. If you want to play it strictly as a single player RPG, that is absolutely possible. I've played up until 114(Working through BfA now) and have never felt a need to actually play with anyone else. I'll play with my best friend, of course. I've done the occasional raid and dungeons just to wrap up a story line or maybe take a crack at a mount. But there's so much to do in WoW that there is not a single thing that's really required.
Some days, I just sit off a dock and fish. Fill up a bag or two of fish and head off to a vendor or the Auction House to sell my catch.
Others, I may run around a zone, mining nodes for crafting materials to sell on the AH.
I can do Pet Battles, which are a sort of WoW Pokemon game of catching pets and battling them against other trainers
Run old dungeons and Raids for mounts. The older stuff, once you outlevel it, can be easily soloed for transmog items and mounts.
A lot of times, when I'm doing something kind of mindless in WoW, I'll have my other monitor on Netflix/Hulu/Plex and just watch an anime or movie like Grandmas Boy, something I've seen so much that I don't HAVE to pay attention to it but can know instantly what's going on
Will take it into consideration! Thanks!
I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea - but The Sims franchise has provided me with hours of relaxation and creative flow. I love building and could honestly spend more time than I'm willing to admit perfecting a house! There are also a lot of options outside of the game, such as photo-editing and graphic design, that the community tends of celebrate and share. I don't really endorse EA's business model so I wouldn't recommend this game unless I really liked it!
Agreed, The Sims is great despite EA. There's a thriving community of mods and unofficial custom content creators. Just bypass the whole microtransaction BS and enjoy the base game. I'm only familiar with Sims 2 and 3, but at least for those most of the full expansions offered enough additional game mechanics to be worth looking into too.
Totally. For me, if all you're looking to do is zen out on building, you can totally just get base game TS4 (my preferred version, I think the building tools are much more optimized) and supplement with custom content. They've actually added several patches that include free content so the base game includes much more now than it did when it was released!
Yeah, I have to try it out. Friend plays it I think.
I find stealth runs of the deus ex games to be fairly relaxing. I've been stealthing mankind divided lately and it's incredibly satisfying getting the ghost and smooth operative xp multipliers.
Cool!
Any kind of actual simulators (Goat Sim and the likes are out) fit. Euro Truck Simulator 2, PC Building Simulator & Car Mechanic Simulator are a few names that I can think of.
Will take it into consideration! Thanks!
Euro Truck Simulator 2 is my go to relaxation game. I put on my favorite podcasts and cruise all over Europe.
It annoys me so much that this game doesn't use real world data. I want to drive a big truck around and learn road layouts.
Will take it into consideration! Thanks!
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Firewatch
Telltale games: The walking dead
What Remains of Edith Finch
Life Is Strange
Others also recommended some of these. Will look into it especially. Thanks!
Anything from Zachtronics is fantastic. All their games run along a shared theme of using a palette of tools to built a machine to do some kind of job. Sometimes it's a physical machine like in Magnum Opus or Infinifactory, sometimes it's a computer program made with an in-game programming language like in TIS-100 or Shenzhen I/O. But they're all great brain-stretching games where the puzzles have no fixed solution. It's just a matter of whether your solution gets the job done, and then you're compared to other players in how long it took, how many resources you used, and how much space it took up.
If you're used to FPS, I'd recommend starting with Infinifactory since it's the only game of theirs that takes place in a 3D environment.
Thanks!
You might like FTL. It's a strategic game based on spaceships that is different every time. Tough game that can be unforgiving but it's really addicting and fun to play.
If you get it I strongly recommend you go in blind and don't use a guide.
That looks super fun. Will look into it more! Thanks a bunch!
You didn't mention a particular platform, so I'm going to strongly recommend Animal Crossing for 3DS. It's hard to describe this game. You move to a new village, which is a house in a sort of forest inhabited by animals. You do some lightweight tasks to earn money which you use to upgrade your house and buy furniture. You make friends with the animals. You collect bugs and seashells and fish and fossils and artwork. You can donate these to the museum, or keep them, or sell them. You can spend a few minutes a day on this game, or a few hours.
My description sucks. You probably need to find some good reviews, but I love animal crossing.
Yeah, others recommended these also. Definitely gonna look into them even more. Thanks!
Here's a couple of great relaxing games I enjoy:
The Witness is a beautiful singleplayer puzzle game where you explore a mysterious island and solve these grid based puzzles that get increasingly harder throughout. It encourages a lot of exploration and keeping an eye on your enrviornment.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Is a an incredible top down RPG that gives you a lot of options for character creation and features one of the most well developed and immersive worlds I've experienced in a game. It's got strategic turn based combat which I think you'd enjoy a lot, and it's the kinda game you can sink many many hours into. It's getting an enhanced version later this year too I think? But anyone who buys the base game gets the enhanced version as a free upgrade too, so you can play it whenever.
Reigns Is a game that made a monarchy simulator out of Tinder essentially. In both the first one and its sequel Reigns: Her Majesty, you play as a king or queen and you have to make decisions by either left or right swiping. You have to try and please the church, the military, your people, and keep your country financially afloat through these decisions. It's really really addicting! It's also fun seeing what happens when you mess up since it has a lighthearted tone to it.
VA-11 HALL-A is a game where you play as a bartender in Glitch City, which is basically a crazy dystopia full of government / corporate strife. You get to experience this setting through the lens of the bartender listening to the woes of the patrons as you give them their drinks. It's got great music, a fantastic PC-98 inspired art style, and some really solid writing.
West of Loathing is a game that looks really unassuming since all the characters are stick figures, but my god it's one of the funniest games I've ever played. It's got a really surreal western world full of absurdity and witty humor and it surprises you in a ton of ways while you play. Has some pretty fun turn based combat too!
Some other people recommended these to you as well, but I can also super recommend any of the Zachtronics games, Cities: Skylines, The Sims, and Stardew Valley. Hopefully you enjoy some of these!
Okami : The game looks like a canvas came to life. Add some beautiful music, humour, and a heart-tugging story, you'll have a blast as you paint life back into the world. Okami is available on multiple systems.
Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale : This is a short (2-4 hours) game on the 3DS life-simulation game where you collect cards and card battle friends, explore the town, see Kaiju fights. It's a nostalgic trip to the joys of childhood and the game has a sweet story that may leave you scratching your head wondering whether there really are Kaiju.
Klonoa : Door to Phantomile : A short, fun, platformer game on the original PlayStation with a catchy soundtrack, cute visuals and a surprisingly emotional story.
Shenmue 1 and 2 : The legendary games on the Dreamcast are now available on PC, Xbox One, and PS4. The games are like a slice of life from Japan, and Hong Kong. The attention to detail is insane, the combat system plays more like a fighting game than a traditional action-adventure, gorgeous visuals (for the time but damn, do they still look good) and excellent music. The games might be slow paced for some, and sure, some of the gameplay mechanics are dated, but don't let that stop you from playing Yu Suzuki's masterpiece.
Costume Quest 1 and 2 : Short, funny turn-based RPGs about kids who fight monsters on Halloween. The games are perfect for all ages (heck, some of the jokes will shock you) and are worth spending time on.
I play on both.
which consoles?
Xbox