Nowadays I find a lot of games feel like too much work and/or anxiety when I just want to relax for like, 30 minutes to an hour after a long day. On the other hand, the games specifically designed to help you unwind just feel boring imo.
In the past I’ve felt like Outer Wilds scratched this itch, cause the whole experience was engaging but generally relaxed. There was a mystery that kept me hooked and the exploration and movement was fun in and of itself. I also felt like Subnautica filled this role since it was very much at my own pace, with anxiety producing portions which could for the most part be avoided or minimized, and also there was a clear objective to fulfill, get off the planet.
So what games do you play when you just wanna relax?
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Skyrim. I played vanilla a bunch and now I’m working through the Living Skyrim 4 mod. I had to tweak a bunch of the settings, but I really enjoy it. I also love the Witcher 3, both actively playing quests and just wandering across the map listening to the howling wind and the soundtrack. I’ve loaded into that game after a long day with every intention of playing and just sat there with my headphones on and stared into space while the trees crackle together in the wind and the music plays.
Potion craft is great for this, just running a little potion shop making potions to order.
Either ACNH or TotK
Why use acronyms when people are looking for suggestions? What did you do with the 30 seconds you saved by typing acronyms instead of just typing out the name?
Are you not familiar with Animal Crossing New Horizons and Tears of the Kingdom?
I had to look up Animal Crossing by the acronym. But it’s not just about ME, or YOU. You’re attempting to HELP someone, why would you post something that they then have to go look up? Just type out the words for fucks sake.
Gonna cry about it?
Chill bruh. Maybe play some ACNH.
I can’t name a specific game because they all get old, boring, and unsatisfying after a while. However in terms of genre, it tends to be roguelites and poker.
Roguelikes.
I played Rogue Legacy 1 and 2 for the longest time. Some dead cells. Enter the gungeon, and currently testing the humble roguelikes bundle, really digging Wall World.
Are roguelikes chill? I haven’t played much in that genre but hades made me situp and focus every time.
Hades is an action game most roguelikes aren’t
Yes, Shattered Pixel Dungeon is chill.
Once you learn to surprise attack from behind doors and kite the mobs, it is pretty much on rails.
Calm and Zen.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.shatteredpixel.shatteredpixeldungeon/
I’m just getting into Enter the Gungeon. I heard it was good but I had no idea
Could someone please cure me of my Dredmor addiction? 12 years later and I’m still rolling random builds. Diggles are my only friends.
I’m going to go with Satisfactory.
I hear a lot about this one and it does interest me, but whenever I look at the Steam page I just don’t end up feeling it. What is it about the game that keeps you personally coming back to it?
On this kind of games, I have a preference to Factorio (and the game is released, not in beta). They propose a free demo. So you can rest and see if you have the good feeling. It is definitely not a game for everyone, but it is one of my favourite.
It’s all about how you play in my experience. If you want to get a basic factory up and go slug hunting, super chill. If you want to sink your spreadsheet teeth into optimizing every resource available and build a non-spaghettified factory, plenty of room to go hard core.
Also the graphics are fantastic for all the massive machinery
Factorio for me, the interesting part is that I usually want tonlay the game after a day of mindless tasks at work.
On the other hand if I’ve been busy at work and had to solve a lot of issues I’m prefer other games.
It’s my brain gym
I got deeply into this (genre?) when I burned out on a combination of playing big/tough games and the stresses of life. I also enjoyed the pace of Outer Wilds and Subnautica. Some other favourites:
- Supraland 1/2 (low combat, light hearted metroidvania, I loved it)
- Psychonauts 2 (amazing adventure game, big but not hard. I loved collecting everything, it was a great balance)
- Tinykin (similar adventure, a bit like Pikmin, which is also great. Lots of chilled collecting)
- Spiritfarer (lots of freedom, loose plot, not overwhelming)
- Breath of the Wild (do what you want, very nice discovery elements)
- TOEM, A Short Hike, GRIS and Cocoon (light adventure / puzzle games, peaceful but could be boring if you want action)
- Yokus Island Express (lovely metroidvania, chilled gameplay, not overwhelming)
- It Takes two (humour, light combat - played with my young son)
- Unravel 1/2 (easy-ish puzzles)
- Weirdly, I found Sniper Elite 4/5 fairly chill, lots of scoping out areas
- Overcooked 2 (zero stress if you play practice mode a ton before attempting a level. I found it a very zen/flow game)
- Peggle 1/2 (can be frustrating, but is very low stakes and arcadey. Lovely for short sessions)
- Wilmots Warehouse (can be stressful if you take the timer seriously, but I loved all the organising. Very satisfying)
- Vampire Survivors (can get a bit much, but pretty simple and disposable)
There are tons more, I deal with a lot of anxiety!
Some games I was recommended for this purpose that didn’t land for me:
- Powerwash sim / other simulators (these feel like a second job for me. Constant grind and focus on perfection wasn’t helpful)
- Tetris Evolution / Lumines (either gets too fast / hard, or gets boring)
- Stardew / Terraria (in theory these look great, but I find huge sandboxes too overwhelming. Always feels like I should be doing more stuff / doing it better)
- Roguelikes (I like Hades, Dead Cells, etc, but they’re very stressful and frustrating when so much hinges on survival)
Finally, I’d suggest trying a solo board game. More tactile and relaxing alternative to screen time.
I saw you mention peggle and rouge lites. If you haven’t checked it out yet you should try peglin - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1296610/Peglin/.
Its a great peggle based rouge lite with a good amount of replay ability (plus there is an excellent android app too).
Might I recommend Alba and Lil’ Gator Game? Both will fit fairly well into your list.
Civilization. While it CAN be a stressful game if you crank up the difficulty to Deity, at prince or king, it’s just so much fun.
With the advanced setup options, you can set up a game for however you are feeling at the time, explore a large world (however full or empty you want it), expand and watch your empire cover the map, learn and find all the new stuff in the world, conquer everybody, be a neutral power broker, launch into space.
It just feels nice.
I don’t play Tetris usually but when I get bored or just wanna relax then I play Tetris[Highest Score: 500k in 8 Hours]
World of Warcraft Retail.
Especially in the winter,I like to fire up The Long Dark. I put on the exploration setting where the wildlife doesn’t attack. You still have to deal with the need for food and warmth, so there are still stakes. Just not the anxiety inducing animal attacks. There’s a sort of bleak beauty to the game.
I’ve forgotten about this! I played it way back when there wasn’t even a real story, but I believed that’s changed.
Constantly finding resources to survive was quite anxiety inducing, lol.
I just realized, if there was ever a wildlife photography mode in that game, I would play the shit out of it. RP-ing as an ‘extreme’ wildlife photographer trying to shoot around blizzards and keeping your gear in working order would be a really cool way to shake up the gameplay. Would easily get another 200 hours of play out of me.
Top shelf game
Im going to hijack op post.
Im looking for game to chill just like OP described, but im looking for something with online multiplayer. Ideally something like a builder like minecraft or no man sky, where I can just connect and find randomly people and help them build shit. I dont want to have to search for specific servers to interact with people, something that would randomly put me in worlds with other people.
Dorfromantik
Factorio, Minecraft, and… Counter Strike. I exclusively play with a full squad of friends and even if we have a bad game, at least I’m spending time with my friends. Keeping contact with your friends is super important and getting harder every year. So it’s quality time.
Terraria. I started a new character/world probably 200 times. Music is also bang on.
