Hi all,
Recommend me a game! I’m looking for something casual (to play for 20-30 minutes from time to time), challenging (like in difficult to master), not super complicated (I don’t want to spend hours learning all the rules), but not super simple (when it’s too repetitive the patters get ingrained in my brain. anyone else has this?), cheap (don’t want to spend $30 on a game I will play from time to time). Must work on Linux and on an integrated GPU. Games I enjoyed previously:
- Fistful of Frags
- smashcarts.io
- xevil
What I did a lot years ago was to play single levels of games over and over until I totally crashed it even if I wasn’t that interested in the entire game. I guess what I like most is figuring out the smallest details of a game, not getting into long campaigns.
So, what can I play?
Edit: Thanks for all recommendations so far but I see I need to add one more requirement: no levels. I’m looking for something quick, in and out, skirmish, death match, melee type of game. Not something where you build a character, solve puzzles and so on.
ShellShock Live. Fits every one of your criteria.
ShellShock Live.
I bought it and returned it. I’m being very picky here but I didn’t like the idea that a lvl 99 player can just massacre lvl 1. I think that’s why a lot of people were playing the rebound mod which is more random and levels the playing field but it’s also very long. I would prefer if advanced players had it more difficult, not easier.
This one looks great. Definitely will give it a try.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth sounds like what you’re looking for.
came to reccomend this ;)
Looks interesting (and cute) but I’m not sure how I feel about levels. Anything more death match like?
Slay the Spire ! If you like card game and roguelike
Love rougelike (played some nethack back in the day), card games not so much. More agility, less reading.
Then you have short session roguelikes like :
- Vampire survivors
- Brotato
- Noita
Noita
Wow, this one looks amazing. I will add to a list.
I highly recommend it! It can be really brutal but if you get a good run going it’s really satisfying. The depth the mechanics like wand building offer is amazing
Also 20 Minutes Till Dawn
Have you tried Double Action Boogaloo? It is probably right up your alley if you like Fistful of Frags.
You might enjoy Quake or other arena shooters like Warsow or Ratz Instagib.
If you want to try something new that still fits the bill I’d go with Enter the Gungeon or Dead Cells. Both are easy to pick up but incredibly challenging to master. Both are roguelikes with a short time per run, so the game already does the job of breaking itself into short play periods. And both are action heavy.
Yeah, I played some Warsow and liked it. I will give Dead Cellsa try.
I play Tetravex - the 4 x 4 version. It’s available for free in the games section of Linux Mint or Gnome.
There’s also a free android game on the Play Store.Dead Cells is a game I always have installed just to pick it up in bursts of 30 minutes or an hour.
It’s a roguelike, it’s challenging and it’s easy to pick up any time.
Even though it has levels, the intended way to play it is in runs. You start the game, start a new run, and try to go as far as you can, you die and repeat.
Multiple paths to choose, so it never becomes boring, and the levels are generated, so you can’t memorize everything.
Looks interesting. Adding it to a list.
Hollow Knight is a masterpiece worth recommending. Furthermore, it satisfies most of your criteria. But you might need one of the better integrated GPUs to run it smoothly on your system.
Hades is another masterpiece worth recommending and perhaps satisfies even more of your criteria. Though, once again, it requires you to have one of the better integrated GPUs.
I don’t think hk is that demanding tbh.
If you are going to play it then you need to complete the 2D indie game trifecta with Celeste and Rain World though
Super smash brothers melee
Looks nice but I have to get a disk and AppImage and so special runners? Bah. But it’s interesting idea. I never really played melee games but it does sound like something I would enjoy. I will do a steam search.
Rivals of Aether is like a PC smash brothers knockoff but it’s actually really fun and has a lot of mods for community made characters. I really recommend it.
maybe I’m not cultured enough, but I find rivals more fun than smash
It’s windows only, right?
Nah you go to your local college and find a group a guys there who are huddled around an ancient artifact called a “GameCube” and are vigorously moving their joysticks on a controller back and forth.
HoloCure. It’s on itch.io and Steam. For free.
Any of the Portal Series. You can slowly progress through the game (first one ain’t long at all) and it has a great story.
OpenTTD. You can play it for 20 minutes if you want but I usually end up around 20 hours 😅
I tried it some time ago and after some time it’s just gets too complex. Looks to much like work :)
Thats fair. It basically is a business budget and logistics simulator.
I also usually throw in the towel when the money in the corner spins so fast I can’t even really track it 😅
Tetris is one of the games that fucks me up a bit. It’s all comes down to automatic responses and after some time it just gets inside my head and when I close my eyes call I can see are falling blocks. Can’t play it.
I understand! I personally dont suffer too much from this but I get that. I am not very automatic when playing tetris, I am often looking to do T-spins and that kind of stuff so I actively think about the setups I want to build
3 different genres:
- Serious Sam
- Running with rifles
- Baba is you
Running with rifles is so good, yet so underrated. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
I can definitely recommend FTL: Faster Than Light. I still play it after many years in the exact same way you describe, that is short sessions. t’s all based on battles that last minutes at most while part of an overall campaign. You can quit anytime, even during battle, and it will just saw the state. You can pause during battle to think as well.
it also has simple rules but with a lot of depth. You upgrade your ship from time to time and also get new weapons or defences. It actually sounds like a perfect fit for what you want. It’s cheap too.
Yes, played and liked it. Never managed to beat the final boss. Maybe I should try again…
there is also a significant modding community, with FTL Multiverse being a complete overhaul/expansion
Into The Breach by the same devs
A friend recommended mi this some time ago. Will check it out, thanks.
It’s free on Android and iOS if you have a Netflix account.
Good to know, thanks!
Definitely try again because there’s so much depth when you unlock new ship designs that are manned by other races than just human. Every time I boot it up I’m surprised how quickly 3 hours zaps by.
I think I did unlock new ships but it was ever harder to play with them. Do you have to win the last fight to get new ships?
Definitely. Just start on easy mode and make sure you upgrade your engines. :)
Sounds like you’d enjoy Nuclear Throne or Enter the Gungeon. Both are very similar, they are roguelike in 2D top-down view with enemies that shoot a lot of projectiles and gameplay is about using dodge rolls and taking cover
Nuclear Throne
This one looks nice, adding to my list.
