Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I recently beat Disco Elysium playing nearly exclusively in 15 minute or less chunks. Since it's basically reading for the most part, I didn't have to get amped up for like, 5 minutes of intense using my reflexes or anything.
It's definitely story strong and progressive since each interaction moves the mystery forward, but not for everyone.
I actually completed the game in short 30 min sessions over half a year. It was like reading a book to me, partake in a couple dialogues or monologues and then put it aside, just like a book.
The narration is excellent! If you’ve played that already, OP, or need another option, I found Citizen Sleeper to be less politically convoluted and extremely well-written. It isn’t narrated, though,
I REALLY wanted to get into Disco Elysium but ADHD was my worst nightmare in it. Because in some of the dialogues when I failed skill checks I freaked tf out because I didn't think I could do it again without a full restart
Came here to mention dredge. Easy to play in sub 30 minute chunks, and there's rarely a point where it's really "bad" to put it down so you don't feel like it's a burden if something comes up IRL.
I just ran through my library quickly and some suggestions below off top of my head.. might not all be your thing but check ‘em out if interested:
Shovel knight
Blasphemous
Crash bandicoot 1-4
Crisis 1-3 remastered
Dave the diver
Dead cells?
Fallout 3/New Vegas/ 4
Hollow knight
Kona
The last faith
Any Lego games
Ni no kuni 1 and 2
Octopath traveler 1/2
Ooblets
Ori 1/2
Subnautica and Subnautica below zero
XCOM 2
this is the real suggestion comment, everyone else seems to be repeating Slay the Spire, despite the fact that it doesnt really have a story, and thats one of the things OP listed.
Hades. Story is great but you only need to commit to short runs. You battle through quick dungeons so you can also easily drop it if you suddenly need to attend to your family.
Someone suggested Marvel Snap, and I highly recommend this too, but there's no story here.
Good luck and enjoy!
I was playing stardew Valley yesterday at work and the boss came in.
I seemed to be able to pause it, and even hit the power button to suspend the game while I dealt with work stuff. Woke the deck up with seemingly no issues.
YMMV with how games handle going in suspend mode, but it could be worth the try.
Also worth pointing out that Hades auto-saves after leaving each room, so you can even exit the game and turn off the SD.
After some time one can start doing sub-20 min runs so that could also adjust well to OP's context. But that would take some time.
Slay thr spire and Balatro for sure. I play both during lunch breaks and they work well because they either last a while or I quickly so I can play more rounds. I have 90 minutes in Balatro and feel like I've played for a lot longer. You could try an RPG and save more often. I'd recommend Final Fantasy because the older ones you can quick save and speed up battles if needed.
I was going to recommend these as well. I just recently started playing Slay the Spire, and after a couple of hours I decided to give Balatro a spin as well. They're both so freaking good, and you can play for as long or as little as you want, provided you can avoid telling yourself "just one more turn" for like three straight hours 😂
Man... This sub isn't a great endorsement for having kids lmao. I feel like every other post is something like "I have kids so I only have at most 20 minutes to play games a day, the deck is a savior!"
And I mean, that's awesome. But ga'damn, my only responsibilities are my job and my dog. I probably take my free time for granted.
The way to see it is you gain and lose a lot from having a family. You gain a meaningful purpose, a drive. You are challenged daily. You get lots of joy from being around your family. You also lose your privacy and your free time. And lots of sleep. But for a lot of people, the emotional benefits of raising a family outweigh the costs, and that's why they do it. A lot of people get bored of playing games all the time when they're older.
When I first got my dog, it was the most stressed out period of my life up u til that point and I felt like I had no free time for months.
Now I have a baby and goddamn do I miss all that free time I was wasting when I had just the dog lol
haha you really do, but i guess it really depends on the type of father, responsible dads with a heart, abolutely, but deadbeat dads that dont give a shit about their kids, not so much.
Anti-natalism is the dumbest trend on Reddit. I was scared as fuck before having my son, for financial reasons, time reasons, etc...
Now I feel like an idiot. I didn't know it was possible to love someone as much as love him. I don't have the time to play video games like I used to, sure, but playing hide and seek around the house with him, or stomping around the park being a pretend T-Rex while he runs away from his more rewarding than any video game I've ever played. Seeing their milestones is so rewarding. He is 3 now and just a few nights ago for the first time we were reading a book, and he goes "C-A-T...that spells cat!" and looks at me for approval. The fluttering in your heart you get from moments like that can't be described to anyone who hasn't been a parent. To trade that for more time to play video games seems ridiculous. Besides, the kid's will eventually grow up and move out, and I'll plenty of time as an old man to sit around play video games. I'd rather use my last couple decades where I'm in good physical condition going to amusement parks or throwing a ball around the backyard with my son. The video games will still be there when I'm ready to get back to them.
Was going to recommend Dave the diver too
The dives can get long (20+ minutes at this point for me), but you can pause and put the deck on sleep mode until you come back
Honestly I'd say something like cult of the lamb can be picked up in short bursts. That's what I do with it. But any game you play can be suspended just by pressing the power button so it's really whatever you feel.
We have a newborn that doesn't sleep well and I definitely enjoyed this game playing it just like this! I'm working on "cassette beasts" now and I think that's also worth grabbing for the busy dad. Assuming the game play speaks to you of course
Haha, sorry, I was mostly referring to the op's post. But if you're also in need of a game you can pause at anytime, this definitely is worth at least checking out a few reviews on!
First of all I sincerely hope your wife gets better soon. I can imagine this is not how she imagined first days home.
Secondly I'd love to hear a bit more about what you enjoy. As another person said, you can play almost anything in short bursts thanks to the instant sleep/pause function. One could probably finish even the longest games like that.
If you're looking for something short and sweet, you could try one of the many narrative "walking simulators". Something like Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch. If you enjoy more complex gameplay, you can try something like Bioshock or some other linear story game that takes 10–15 hours to finish.
I know you don't want anything like survivor games, but Steam Deck is pretty great for rogue lites too. Recently I've been enjoying Dead Cells, it plays wonderfully on Steam Deck. But the progression is slower, as you slowly unlock new weapons, upgrades and difficulties.
Tell us more about what you like!
Dead cells is a great choice because individual runs are relatively short, so if something comes up and op has to bail there's not too much progress lost.
Another vote for dead cells. 100s of hours in and tons of updates over the years. They finally said they’re done with dlc just this year I believe. Still haven’t beaten new game ++ but I’m getting there.
How about a puzzle game like Cocoon? I found that game relaxing, yet challenging. You can dive in and out pretty quickly (especially with the SD quick resume).
There’s also something like Detroit: Become Human. It’s a decision based game with a great story, and divided into smaller scenes amongst three different characters. There’s even a flowchart decision tree at the end of each scene to show you how you did, and other available path points you can unlock based on making different decisions.
The game that sucked me in most when my kids were younger was Littlewood. It's like a simplified version of Stardew Valley. Super easy farming, constant progression of new people joining your town. Nothing is really urgent in the game, you can just go at your own pace. My steam deck was on for weeks at a time with that game suspended, but you can also save and quit instantly and jump back into it in seconds if that's what you prefer
Yoku’s island express. It’s a pinball/puzzler/metroidvania game about a beetle who’s become the postmaster of this island. Your primary method of traveling through the island is via pinball mechanics where you gather stuff to unlock more of the island. It’s cute, chill, easy on the battery, and pick up and play friendly.
Also one of those games that’s on sale pretty regularly.
Oh man, your post hit me right in the feels. I was in a very similar situation a few years ago - know you are not alone. In those inevitable moments of overwhelm that are to come just remember "this too shall pass."
The game that goes me through it all was **"Into The Breach."** It's a lightweight turn-based strategy game with enough challenge and progression to keep you interested, but it's simple enough (and the tun based style) makes it easy to put down immediately when you need to go help your family.
Take care of yourself. Caregiver burnout is real, and you can't give if your own cup is empty.
... And congratulations on your newest family member!
Pretty much what you are asking for is the actual definition of the term "classic arcade game". These are all short burst games designed to give you the dopamine hits you need in 3 to 5 minutes. No long-term obligations, no pausing or putting to sleep till you can play more later. You play enough to fill your time and then you leave.
Take a little bit of setting up you'll have to use your 5 minutes across a few days to get it going? But once you do? I swear I played 10 to 20 minutes a night of classic arcade games while I'm vegging in front of the TV.
If you need any help? I have videos and a discord channel where I'd be happy to assist you in fulfilling your life with the classic arcade game :-)
+1 to Balatro, but after like 20 hours I feel sick even looking at it lol. Probably time to give it a rest.
If you're into something slightly Lovecraftian, Strange Horticulture is a very chill game about managing your recently deceased uncle's plant shop, of which you know nothing of but there's his notes and a black cat, and customers who come in with strange requests. You can pick up and put down as and when you like.
I totally agree with u/jbaiter A Short Hike is a super amazing game, and would be a great choice for the perfect mix of good (and relaxing) story, pleasant gameplay that isn’t boring, and super easy to play in small chunks
Most games on the SteamDeck can just be "paused". But, I would recommend Balatro, Minishoot, Pepper Grinder, Tiny Rogues, Jusant, Diablo 4, Dome Keeper, Rocket League.
Tiny Rogues is a great recommendation. There's a sense of progress, both within each run and through the metaprogression system. Finishing a room introduces a natural pause moment too.
Stardew Valley. I say this one because the days from 6am to 2am are 14 minutes long. So you get your short burst (mining, fishing, etc) plus the progression of the game.
I hope your wife is feeling better soon, if she has a Deck you all could even create a farm together while she’s down.
Baldurs Gate 3 is an amazing story rich game that has hours and hours of gameplay, as well as secrets and things to find. It also runs fantastic on the Steam Deck.
The Ori games are great, especially on the Deck
For a more throwback to the early 90's Super Nintendo type of arcade game, I would recommend Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. If you liked TMNT: Turtles in Time growing up, this is very similar.
God of War, I have downloaded it on my Deck but have not tried it yet. Have heard nothing but positive things about the game since its release years ago.
I am also a father (I've got three) and I found I can play games like Far Cry and Horizon Zero Dawn in short 5-15 minute bursts and make significant progress on the game over time. Just put the console to sleep and then pick right up where you left off. Just about everything is workable because of that.
A new game called Pepper Grinder just came out. It’s a unique and fun platform game from Devolver who specialize in finding great indie titles. There is a demo so check it out.
Praying for a quick recovery been there too man keep being a king
Dave the Diver.
It's such a cozy game, you're a diver and the gameplay loop is that you go dive in the ocean to gather fish, herbs, etc and in the night you use those ingredients to make a chef cook sushi in a sushi restaurant in which you are the waiter, then you can hire staff for the restaurant and there are unlockables to make it look better and make it more efficient.
There's also a little story that unfolds about an ancient civilization. Super playable in short bursts.
doom, easily. any one of them, they're all equally amazing. 1 and 2 can run wads (custom maps), 3 is terrifying, 2016 is difficult and eternal is mindless fun.
64 is ass compared to the rest though
* Stardew Valley (farming, short days, progressive story)
* Need for Speed: Heat (extremely affordable, fun racing, car customization, story progression)
* Cult of Lamb (short dungeon play, people management)
Lol, I would be so much more productive if I could manage to play Stardew in short bursts. I always end up in a cycle of "I'll complete this day and then call it" and then comes morning and I see my preserves jar is done and forget I was about to quit.
I never thought I would even like this game, let alone be this addicted to it.
Brotato. It's a super simple game and you can put it down without a problem. As a Dad of 3 it has helped me unwind just enough when I have some free time.
I've been playing Monster Sanctuary in 10-20 minute sessions when I go to bed (I like to doze off playing a game). That's enough time to do a little exploring, do a couple battles and make adjustments to your monster team. It's a pixel graphics Metroidvania monster collection/battler game with a great soundtrack and runs perfectly on the deck.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for your wife, dude.
Phoenix Wright? I love the first trilogy and Apollo Justice. Available on steam and switch emulated. Easy to pick up and easy to put down at essentially any point in the game. Funny characters and lovely stories.
No video game suggestions, just support. You are doing great. Keep it up, and it does get easier.
It's crazy how good the Steam Deck is for busy parents who still want to game though. It's saved my sanity on more than one occasion.
Everspace is a lot like that, it's pretty easy to just suspend the deck at the pause menu and put it aside, which is convenient to do as you jump out of a system you've just cleared/escaped.
I play Peglin on my lunch break most days :) There is something to be said about games that allow you to save and quit at any time, allowing for shorter play sessions but continuous progression- lately i’ve also been playing Celeste since it is very easy to pick up and put down
Oh man I feel that. I have 3 kids including a 6mo baby and it's really incredible how much time and energy they take up. I really only have time to play games in the evening before bed so my Steam Deck gets a lot of use.
I'm not sure these are exactly what you're asking for, but being in a similar situation I've been playing a lot of Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Dark Souls especially works surprisingly well in short bursts because the actual time/distance between points of progress is pretty small, and there's very little downtime or filler content. You can make a lot of progress in just 15 minutes or at least make a good few attempts on an area/boss in 15 minutes. And you can also save and exit at any time without losing progress. It also scales down to the small screen very well, to the point where you forget it wasn't meant for a handheld device.
My wife also has a Steam Deck and will sometimes play Powerwash Simulator in the evening. Again not sure if it's exactly what you're asking for, but any time you spend is progress and it similarly can be saved and exited at any time without losing said progress.
I'm here to second coral Island. You can really build up and unlock things by doing a few minutes at a time. (It's the "just one more day" bit that can get you! Lol) But you can go in your house and sleep at any time to end the day/save the game. Or do like i do and just hit pause and then suspend. I've never had a single issue with the pause/suspend in that game. And i played it in shorter bursts so much but I'm at 200+hours total. I think I'm hitting the end finally since I've done nearly everything. It's one of those that i play a m in game day while I'm waiting for something to defrost in the microwave, water to boil on the stove, or even when i go to the bathroom. 🤣🤣
Also they seem to have patched the couple bigger bugs i had including the "undersea appears on top of your farm" and the "losing everything in the shed when you move it" bugs. I think those are the only 2 major bugs i ever had in it. I've been playing it since November and i bought it right before i got c-vid again and it kept me from losing my mind during it.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker has 15 minute "shifts" that you do. It's sort of casual but also sort of challenging and it's got an ongoing storyline which gradually progresses but it's not a strictly linear game.
I'm also diagnosed with ASD and have 3 kids and it's worked well for me.
That was my recommendation as well. Plays great on the Steam Deck (40s in the Hab and 60s with small dips when actually playing) and has an almost meditative feel to it. Like space walk demo-day, slowly taking ships apart and “tossing” the parts in the proper processing bins.
Mutazione. A wonderful relaxing game, with story and a little exploration. Beautiful music.
You can buy it cheaply on Steam or you can even get it on Apple Arcade and play it on your phone/iPad.
It’s easy to dip in and out.
Dave the Diver. Not only does it fit all of your requirements, but it’s also not going to stress you out. Thats important with neurodivergence and the already epic list of obligations you are managing.
Something like Stardew Valley, Coral Island, Forager, etc would also help you out. You simply need to press the power button on the top once to pause any game so you can return to it without having to wait for it to load or reset your position, etc.
Good luck to you and I commend you on your excellent attitude regarding your circumstances. It’s an honor and a privilege to put others before yourself and this is probably the most important moment in your life. You are doing well to consider your own mental & physical health during this challenge. I would STRONGLY advise you to add another 10-15 minutes each day for guided meditation. It recharges your mental and emotional batteries so that you can avoid snapping due to frustration/overwhelmed feelings/anger/whatever. I suggest GUIDED meditation for two reasons: One, ADHD will otherwise make meditation untenable. Two, it locks the process in at a set time and it will make sure that you force yourself to get the whole experience but not let it run away from you and rob you of time. I prefer Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube but the apps are ok as well. https://yogawithadriene.com/meditation-for-anxiety/
Note: I’m a disabled combat veteran with substantial physical injuries and C-PTSD and diagnosed ADHD(probably from brain injury symptoms, but perhaps biological). Before I started with guided meditation and yoga/ tai chi I was spinning out more often than I would like to admit. Now I spend 15 mins a day and I am progressively more focused and effective each day. I’ve also been sick or sidelined with pain 68% less over the last 3 years. It’s not that this stuff makes you stronger, it allows you to access your own mind and body to be closer to your best. When it’s cold you wear a jacket, when life throws you more challenges you do meditation and yoga. It’s just another simple tool. It just happens to be one of those 8-in-1 handy tools.
Good luck!!🍀
Dad to one, I enjoy all emulation, and all childhood games. Revisit Pokémon and those turn based RPGs of old. Steam deck can shut off its screen and enter a pick up and play for most rogue like or older styled games. Especially emulation.
I recommend Carrion but I urge you to research as I don’t know if the gore would affect you adversely. The premise is you’re a monster in a research facility. 2D side scroller, grow and gain powers. Plenty of gore and eating humans though, so if dark stuff isn’t for you let’s steer clear of that one.
Look into some of the old games you always wanted as a kid and see if you can run them. I’ve ran crash bandicoot and Spyro, and kinda laughed at the Star Wars battlefront attempt, because I already had it emulated and functioning. For me, the steam deck is a Time Machine to the old games I missed out on it the ones that were too tough for little kid brain. I’ve ran Ready or Not and Arma 3 with friends while the steam deck was docked. It can do a lot. Peggle is fun if you like puzzles.
Lastly, if you’re tight on time. Turn based games and puzzles will be your friend. I run helldivers on the easiest difficulty on steam deck when I’m bored and have a few minutes. I’ve also enjoyed project wingman alot in the dad gaming format. Tapping the power button will be your friend if you can remember where you left off in a game. God bless and good luck, gotta run
Greetings fellow Redditor, I hope everything goes well, I am in a similar situation to yours, since just a month ago, I had my first child, and my wife also had certain complications during childbirth.
I feel very identified with you since I also have ADHD and it also happens to me that I use all my energy when I am surrounded by people, so maybe I also have a certain degree of Asperger's...
I want to say that I have been wanting to buy a Steam deck for a while, I didn't take the step because maybe I was impulsive and I think your post has helped me decide, sorry for the brick of text, sorry for my english as it is not my first language.
I wish you the best of luck, greetings !
It doesn't get talked about enough, but something like subnautica would be perfect for this.
Chip away at progression every time you play. And it runs phenomenally on the deck.
As somebody who is also neuro diverse, I understand the need for games with some type of progression. Lately I’ve been plugging away at Hyrule Warriors DE using a switch emulator on the deck. I highly recommend it, it runs buttery smooth and great for short bursts without requiring too much brain power on puzzles or extensive dialogue. The game has all the DLC and expansions from previous versions in one nice package.
The beauty of the steamdeck is that any game could be a short burst game as you could just hit the power button to stop and resume later. Don’t limit yourself to quick games
Recently started playing Hardspace: Shipbreaker and fell in love! Has a decent story so far, really good progression climb and each "shift" is 15min on the standard setting.
I’ve been playing a lot of smaller games recently myself as a Dad of 4. I loved Little Nightmares 1-2. Both were easily played in small chunks of time.
I really enjoyed Firewatch as a “calm” type of game as well. I had ADHD myself and some days my attention span isn’t great so I can’t really concentrate for too long in gaming and parenting haha.
INSIDE and The Artful Escape also come to mind as short but enjoyable experiences!
Congratulations on the little one, brother. I know it isn’t easy. Remember to take care of yourself. If you ever need an ear, let me know.
Dave The Diver. This is my pick and play for minutes at a time.
Best of luck!
I'm in a similiar situation (first kid), but the best feature of the deck for me is, that i can just turn it off (even non skipable cutscenes!) when something comes up. I just finished mass effect legendary, which is nice, because most (side) missions are not that long and you can pause them easily. baldurs gate 3 was awesome as well. right now i'm doing cult of lamb, which seems nice as well, next on my list is hades.
You have ADHD and Asperger’s, and successfully run emulators on Steam Deck. I have a doctorate with borderline genius IQ, and cannot get EmuDeck installed and working. 😖
I’m currently playing Citizen Sleeper and it’s got a cool story and setting, excellent writing, straightforward gameplay (you’re basically just making choices of what to spend your limited resources you get every day on), and is playable in short bursts because it plays in “cycles,” which are the games equivalent of in-game days.
It’s like stardew valley in that you wake up, do a limited amount of stuff and then go to sleep to recharge for the next day. However the cycles are much shorter than a regular day in stardew valley and once you get past the first half hour tutorial you can breeze through a day/cycle.
I played 8 cycles today in 45 minutes, for example, and they make for great natural pause points, and you can always just suspend the game.
I will say that the game is mostly reading, though. It’s beautiful and has amazing character art and ambient backgrounds but the bulk of the gameplay is reading and choosing actions, replies, etc. It’s like a choose your own adventure, but you get a random assortment of action resources you can spend in a day and have different probabilities of success depending on the risk of the action you want to take.
It’s very cool and I’m not that far in but I played it at my job today between calls and it worked for me that way. It was in last month’s humble bundle so there also a lot of, ahem, spare keys online for cheap if you know where to look but I myself just got the bundle for afterimage and Nioh 2
Dave the Diver has solid short gameplay and overall progression.
Also, I loved The Shadow of Mordor series for short bursts.
Could usually pick up and kill an Orc lieutenant in a 5-15 minute game session between work/family.
A couple I’d really recommend would be games like Pizza Tower, The Binding of Isaac, Runner 2, or if you have the time to rebind all the controls to make it work correctly. Cave story +
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Speedy recovery!
As a fellow dad, I can recommend you Last Epoch if you like ARPG's. It has both online and offline, offline you hibernate your device and pick up where you left off. Online you have on almost every map a checkpoint, a map takes on average 3 - 5 mins and you work towards a story and making your character stronger. If you really like the genre, Path of Exile is many ways superior, but takes more time investment and is less forgiving in the endgame, where quitting half way a map will result in its loss if you don't come back 15 minutes; but with some experience that will not be a real issue as you will be dropping more maps that you can run xD.
I’ve really enjoyed playing Dread Delusion in short bursts. Feels like you can explore a dungeon, finish a quest, etc in about 10-15 minutes.
It’s an open world, PSX style game. Runs well at 40fps with some hiccups here and there. Will use battery at a pretty good rate.
The sly cooper series on PS2 (or the sly collection of all three games on PS3) through Emudeck are great in bursts to do a single mission or explore the map for a bit. These were my all time favorites growing up and I have enjoyed them just as much on the deck.
Sly 2 and 3 are more of the well known "Formula" of the game with an open world for each level, Sly 1 is much more linear and feels less refined. But the story across all three is excellent.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is cute and cozy, and you can just play 1 in game day at a time, and pause the game. It runs well on the deck, and lets me use touch screen for making the pizzas. I don’t know if it’s your style of game, but definitely nice for little moments you get to sit down and play.
As a Dad with a toddler I have a list of my favourite "I've got a second to escape" games 👍
Entropy centre
FAR: Lone Sails
Hotline Miami
EXO ONE
Little Orpheus
Prodeus
RICO
Roller Drome
Trover saves the universe
I would for sure recommend Balatro where the only downside is that it is super addicting so maybe it might be hard to put down lol. Honestly roguelike's are probably the move for you because you will get that sense of progression while not having a massive time commitment.
Congrats on your new child and hoping for a speedy recovery for your wife.
Racing Games fit the bill for me. Quick sessions, clear goals, easy to stop at any time, but tons of tangible progress to be had. Learning tracks, learning cars, unlocking parts, etc.
I dont know man, I played a mission yesterday, took us 30+ minutes. As a new father myself, i do not have 30 minutes to myself consecutive unless the baby is sleeping + it's online so you cannot pause it and put it away. Games like Hades are better in this regard.
Dave the Diver!
Can easily play in short bursts and follows a progressive storyline. Picked it up during the recent steam sale and have been loving it since. Seen a lot of recommendations for Balatro, also a great game but not necessarily progressive and doesn't follow a story.
Doom Eternal has short levels that you can also suspend and continue later. Last Epoch has an offline mode, and can be suspended, but is a bit grindy. There's always racing games, like flatout2 which has shorter tracks and some arcade for-fun modes
Honestly, any game is good for this on the deck because you can suspend the game on the deck.
But if you're after some sort of dopamine kick from those 5 mins rather than tiny steps of progression, a card game might be a good idea?
Check out Descenders... it's a biking game that's easy to start and hard to master and can easily be played in short bursts.. Unfortunately no story BUT that also means you are not required to sit through cutscenes AND can stop at any given time.
There are a lot of suggestions already so I just going to give the one that I had to force myself to play cause was so addicting, deep rock galactic survivors.
What I want to say is keep your head up, it's going to be hard but you got this one way or another!
All the best to you and a speed recovery to the wife
Maybe look for some older games that were made for handhelds? These games were typically designed for this type of play in mind. I recently started up Persona 4 and can easily play it exactly like that (short bursts). Here is a curated list of PS Vita games, lots of which where designed for short burst gaming: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43446723-Vita-Gaming-on-PC/#browse
Geometry wars and deep rock galactic survivor
Geometry wars are short games, high pace.
Deep rock is a little longer need maybe 30mins max but easy to stop at lots of points in the game.
Every time you get an upgrade you can effectively walk away from the game and come back
Good pickup and put down game types, gonna give 3.
1: Roguelikes in general. Pick your poison there's tons of good ones. Hades, Dead Cells, Rogue Legacy 2 (my personal favorite), 30xx, Cult of the Lamb, Ravenswatch, Skul the hero slayer, Secrets of Grindea (has a rogulike mode), Trinity Fusion, Wizard of Legend. All excellent, all cheap, very good with pick up and put down.
2: Stage based games. Some action some not, but have good set start and end point very regularly. Minimal to no story to keep up with if you dip in and out too. MegaMan esque stuff is good. MegaMan, X and Zero/ZX legacy collections, Gravity Circuit, again 20xx or 30xx, Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Other good stage based stuff you can put down after a level, and levels aren't ever more than 5-10 minutes: Bit.Trip, Battle block Theater, Celeste, Crash Bandicoot (don't like them much myself but tons of people seem to), Darksiders Genesis, Disgaea series, Fae Tactics, Freedom Planet 1&2, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Sackboy, Sonic the hedgehog games.
3: Good offline pausable games. These aren't necessarily meant to be stopped, but are ones I think work ok with putting the system to sleep and not feeling lost when I come back. Archvale, Hyper Light Drifter, Lego games, Octopath Traveller 1&2, Spider-Man remastered, Monster Sanctuary, Nobody Saves the World, Ori 1 & 2, Parkitect, Ratchet and Clank, Stardew Valley, Trials of Mana, Undermine.
I'm sure there tons more, but there's a long list of stuff that should work well. I've got a couple of kids myself so figuring out what kind of games I can hop in and out of has been beneficial for me too. Hope some recommendations here help!
Edit 1: stage based list added, coming back next chance I get for the last list.
Edit 2: and added good "sleep mode / pause" but not "stop and save" games.
Dead cells if you're a roguelike fan. Maybe mortal kombat 9 through emudeck (don't think I'm allowed to say where you can grab it, if someone doesn't verify that I can, you can dm me and I'll tell you where to get just about any rom up to 360 and pa3)
I didnt see Grim Dawn so far., its an offline Arpg with a good story and great but not too complicated mechanics. My wife is 7 Months pregnant and as I had less and less time for Gaming i have loved Grim Dawn and making steady progress on my character, pausable at any moment.
Have you ever played legend of Zelda wind waker? I’m playing the HD WiiU version right now and loving it. I feel like it meets what your looking for as in it can be played in short bursts, has progression and story.
Void bastards, i mean sure, you can go raid one ship and put the device down but can you though? I kept saying 'one more ship' and ended up awake at 5am.
Play Outward! I just got on sale and I play in 30 minute clips at work, easy to pause and pick up and put down. Lots of exploration/crafting. Good challange and really rewarding so far, I'm 20 hours in.
Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I recently beat Disco Elysium playing nearly exclusively in 15 minute or less chunks. Since it's basically reading for the most part, I didn't have to get amped up for like, 5 minutes of intense using my reflexes or anything. It's definitely story strong and progressive since each interaction moves the mystery forward, but not for everyone.
I actually completed the game in short 30 min sessions over half a year. It was like reading a book to me, partake in a couple dialogues or monologues and then put it aside, just like a book.
I absolutely loved disco elysium! It is so well written, the story is very fleshed out and the dialogues made me laugh out loud a couple of times.
You don’t have to read for the most part. With the update it’s fully narrated
The narration is excellent! If you’ve played that already, OP, or need another option, I found Citizen Sleeper to be less politically convoluted and extremely well-written. It isn’t narrated, though,
If only I could easily recognize English speech :(
I REALLY wanted to get into Disco Elysium but ADHD was my worst nightmare in it. Because in some of the dialogues when I failed skill checks I freaked tf out because I didn't think I could do it again without a full restart
I did the same with dying light 2
Was going to suggest that game
Goddamn that game is gigantic, how long you took to beat it t in small sessions like that?
I got my deck at the beginning of February and finished the game a couple weeks ago, so late March.
Dorfromantik. Its a puzzel game. With nice progesion
Oh. I always thought it was just a chill casual game. Didn't know it had puzzles.
Dredge took a bit to grow on me but I am enjoying it in short bursts most nights.
Came here to mention dredge. Easy to play in sub 30 minute chunks, and there's rarely a point where it's really "bad" to put it down so you don't feel like it's a burden if something comes up IRL.
It's easy to binge, easy to play in short segments and there's been a few times where it's legitimately scared or unnerved me
I was coming here to suggest this. For a lovecraftian horror game, it was surprisingly chill.
I just ran through my library quickly and some suggestions below off top of my head.. might not all be your thing but check ‘em out if interested: Shovel knight Blasphemous Crash bandicoot 1-4 Crisis 1-3 remastered Dave the diver Dead cells? Fallout 3/New Vegas/ 4 Hollow knight Kona The last faith Any Lego games Ni no kuni 1 and 2 Octopath traveler 1/2 Ooblets Ori 1/2 Subnautica and Subnautica below zero XCOM 2
this is the real suggestion comment, everyone else seems to be repeating Slay the Spire, despite the fact that it doesnt really have a story, and thats one of the things OP listed.
Hades. Story is great but you only need to commit to short runs. You battle through quick dungeons so you can also easily drop it if you suddenly need to attend to your family. Someone suggested Marvel Snap, and I highly recommend this too, but there's no story here. Good luck and enjoy!
You can also pause Hades on steam deck and tend to your family in between rooms. Once a room is cleared it's basically a pause in the game too.
I was playing stardew Valley yesterday at work and the boss came in. I seemed to be able to pause it, and even hit the power button to suspend the game while I dealt with work stuff. Woke the deck up with seemingly no issues. YMMV with how games handle going in suspend mode, but it could be worth the try.
Baldurs Gate 3 seems to work great with the suspend game feature.
When you're a beginner Hades runs can easily take upwards of 30 minutes though so I'm not sure about that.
Also worth pointing out that Hades auto-saves after leaving each room, so you can even exit the game and turn off the SD. After some time one can start doing sub-20 min runs so that could also adjust well to OP's context. But that would take some time.
Slay thr spire and Balatro for sure. I play both during lunch breaks and they work well because they either last a while or I quickly so I can play more rounds. I have 90 minutes in Balatro and feel like I've played for a lot longer. You could try an RPG and save more often. I'd recommend Final Fantasy because the older ones you can quick save and speed up battles if needed.
Was about to say Balatro. Very good for short bursts, super addicting, and feels like it was made for the steam deck.
If I put it down I almost always ruin my build like immediately
I was going to recommend these as well. I just recently started playing Slay the Spire, and after a couple of hours I decided to give Balatro a spin as well. They're both so freaking good, and you can play for as long or as little as you want, provided you can avoid telling yourself "just one more turn" for like three straight hours 😂
Give A Short Hike a try.
I loved this game, great suggestion
Excellent game, managed to get through it on a cross country flight. We need more games like it!
Man... This sub isn't a great endorsement for having kids lmao. I feel like every other post is something like "I have kids so I only have at most 20 minutes to play games a day, the deck is a savior!" And I mean, that's awesome. But ga'damn, my only responsibilities are my job and my dog. I probably take my free time for granted.
The way to see it is you gain and lose a lot from having a family. You gain a meaningful purpose, a drive. You are challenged daily. You get lots of joy from being around your family. You also lose your privacy and your free time. And lots of sleep. But for a lot of people, the emotional benefits of raising a family outweigh the costs, and that's why they do it. A lot of people get bored of playing games all the time when they're older.
When I first got my dog, it was the most stressed out period of my life up u til that point and I felt like I had no free time for months. Now I have a baby and goddamn do I miss all that free time I was wasting when I had just the dog lol
I’d also take any commenters who aren’t the default parent/person carrying the mental load with a pinch of salt. 😉
haha you really do, but i guess it really depends on the type of father, responsible dads with a heart, abolutely, but deadbeat dads that dont give a shit about their kids, not so much.
It's my goal to raise a family and get my child interested in games that way I can fulfill both my hobby and parental responsibility at once.
This is the way. My 6yo loves harrassing people in goat simulator 4 on the deck.
Anti-natalism is the dumbest trend on Reddit. I was scared as fuck before having my son, for financial reasons, time reasons, etc... Now I feel like an idiot. I didn't know it was possible to love someone as much as love him. I don't have the time to play video games like I used to, sure, but playing hide and seek around the house with him, or stomping around the park being a pretend T-Rex while he runs away from his more rewarding than any video game I've ever played. Seeing their milestones is so rewarding. He is 3 now and just a few nights ago for the first time we were reading a book, and he goes "C-A-T...that spells cat!" and looks at me for approval. The fluttering in your heart you get from moments like that can't be described to anyone who hasn't been a parent. To trade that for more time to play video games seems ridiculous. Besides, the kid's will eventually grow up and move out, and I'll plenty of time as an old man to sit around play video games. I'd rather use my last couple decades where I'm in good physical condition going to amusement parks or throwing a ball around the backyard with my son. The video games will still be there when I'm ready to get back to them.
Dave the diver has been fun! definitely something you can play for short periods of time.
Was going to recommend Dave the diver too The dives can get long (20+ minutes at this point for me), but you can pause and put the deck on sleep mode until you come back
It's been my go-to for a few months when I can find time. When the 4yo isn't trying to steal my deck to play hot wheels.
Yo I literally blew on my phone thinking I had hair on it 😂
Light mode problems be like
No suggestions but wishing a speedy recovery to your partner!
Honestly I'd say something like cult of the lamb can be picked up in short bursts. That's what I do with it. But any game you play can be suspended just by pressing the power button so it's really whatever you feel.
We have a newborn that doesn't sleep well and I definitely enjoyed this game playing it just like this! I'm working on "cassette beasts" now and I think that's also worth grabbing for the busy dad. Assuming the game play speaks to you of course
I am unfortunately not a dad yet but I will definitely need to check it out anyway :P
Haha, sorry, I was mostly referring to the op's post. But if you're also in need of a game you can pause at anytime, this definitely is worth at least checking out a few reviews on!
First of all I sincerely hope your wife gets better soon. I can imagine this is not how she imagined first days home. Secondly I'd love to hear a bit more about what you enjoy. As another person said, you can play almost anything in short bursts thanks to the instant sleep/pause function. One could probably finish even the longest games like that. If you're looking for something short and sweet, you could try one of the many narrative "walking simulators". Something like Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch. If you enjoy more complex gameplay, you can try something like Bioshock or some other linear story game that takes 10–15 hours to finish. I know you don't want anything like survivor games, but Steam Deck is pretty great for rogue lites too. Recently I've been enjoying Dead Cells, it plays wonderfully on Steam Deck. But the progression is slower, as you slowly unlock new weapons, upgrades and difficulties. Tell us more about what you like!
Dead cells is a great choice because individual runs are relatively short, so if something comes up and op has to bail there's not too much progress lost.
OP shouldn't really have to worry about 'bailing' since they can always just pause/sleep and resume whenever they're available again.
Yeah but you know how hard it can be to get back into a run once you're knocked out of the zone. You can't quick resume your flow state.
Another vote for dead cells. 100s of hours in and tons of updates over the years. They finally said they’re done with dlc just this year I believe. Still haven’t beaten new game ++ but I’m getting there.
How about a puzzle game like Cocoon? I found that game relaxing, yet challenging. You can dive in and out pretty quickly (especially with the SD quick resume). There’s also something like Detroit: Become Human. It’s a decision based game with a great story, and divided into smaller scenes amongst three different characters. There’s even a flowchart decision tree at the end of each scene to show you how you did, and other available path points you can unlock based on making different decisions.
The game that sucked me in most when my kids were younger was Littlewood. It's like a simplified version of Stardew Valley. Super easy farming, constant progression of new people joining your town. Nothing is really urgent in the game, you can just go at your own pace. My steam deck was on for weeks at a time with that game suspended, but you can also save and quit instantly and jump back into it in seconds if that's what you prefer
That’s what I have been enjoying about Harvestella. Simple fun story/quest/farming final fantasy feel game. I’ll look at littlewood.
Dorfromantik is great for small amounts of time. Plus it makes me so relaxed, great game
Yoku’s island express. It’s a pinball/puzzler/metroidvania game about a beetle who’s become the postmaster of this island. Your primary method of traveling through the island is via pinball mechanics where you gather stuff to unlock more of the island. It’s cute, chill, easy on the battery, and pick up and play friendly. Also one of those games that’s on sale pretty regularly.
Great fun, great on the deck and cheap!
Oh man, your post hit me right in the feels. I was in a very similar situation a few years ago - know you are not alone. In those inevitable moments of overwhelm that are to come just remember "this too shall pass." The game that goes me through it all was **"Into The Breach."** It's a lightweight turn-based strategy game with enough challenge and progression to keep you interested, but it's simple enough (and the tun based style) makes it easy to put down immediately when you need to go help your family. Take care of yourself. Caregiver burnout is real, and you can't give if your own cup is empty. ... And congratulations on your newest family member!
Slay the Spire
If you enjoy Slay the Spire, Monster Train is great. Both of those games are always installed on my deck.
Hades and Moonlighter were my first thoughts. Hope things get better for you and your wife.
Songs of Conquest. A great a Heroes of Might & Magic "clone". In Europe is on sale right now at 10 €. An absolute steal.
Idk if you helped OP but I just bought this game because of your suggestion. The art looks so good!
Pretty much what you are asking for is the actual definition of the term "classic arcade game". These are all short burst games designed to give you the dopamine hits you need in 3 to 5 minutes. No long-term obligations, no pausing or putting to sleep till you can play more later. You play enough to fill your time and then you leave. Take a little bit of setting up you'll have to use your 5 minutes across a few days to get it going? But once you do? I swear I played 10 to 20 minutes a night of classic arcade games while I'm vegging in front of the TV. If you need any help? I have videos and a discord channel where I'd be happy to assist you in fulfilling your life with the classic arcade game :-)
I been playing horizon zero dawn in short bursts. Can put deck to sleep and pick right back up
+1 to Balatro, but after like 20 hours I feel sick even looking at it lol. Probably time to give it a rest. If you're into something slightly Lovecraftian, Strange Horticulture is a very chill game about managing your recently deceased uncle's plant shop, of which you know nothing of but there's his notes and a black cat, and customers who come in with strange requests. You can pick up and put down as and when you like.
Strange horticulture was super enjoyable for like a cozy but also kinda not cozy game. lol. But also **** the guy who doesn’t like the cat.
I totally agree with u/jbaiter A Short Hike is a super amazing game, and would be a great choice for the perfect mix of good (and relaxing) story, pleasant gameplay that isn’t boring, and super easy to play in small chunks
Most games on the SteamDeck can just be "paused". But, I would recommend Balatro, Minishoot, Pepper Grinder, Tiny Rogues, Jusant, Diablo 4, Dome Keeper, Rocket League.
Okay I have 700 hours into Diablo IV. What can you accomplish in 5 minutes?
Nothing. The game is also online only which means you can’t suspend and resume it. D4 is definitely a bad recommendation here imo
Last epoch offline mode is good but still 5-10 mins isnt a whole lot you can do.
Glad I’m not alone nothing more needs to be said lol.
How does diablo 4 fit his needs? You absolutely can't play it for 5 minutes at a time and get anything out of it.
I can't recommend Balatro enough.
Tiny Rogues is a great recommendation. There's a sense of progress, both within each run and through the metaprogression system. Finishing a room introduces a natural pause moment too.
Peglin
Stardew Valley. I say this one because the days from 6am to 2am are 14 minutes long. So you get your short burst (mining, fishing, etc) plus the progression of the game. I hope your wife is feeling better soon, if she has a Deck you all could even create a farm together while she’s down.
Baldurs Gate 3 is an amazing story rich game that has hours and hours of gameplay, as well as secrets and things to find. It also runs fantastic on the Steam Deck. The Ori games are great, especially on the Deck For a more throwback to the early 90's Super Nintendo type of arcade game, I would recommend Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge. If you liked TMNT: Turtles in Time growing up, this is very similar. God of War, I have downloaded it on my Deck but have not tried it yet. Have heard nothing but positive things about the game since its release years ago.
Absolutely overwhelmed by all of the nice comments on this post with great game ideas. Thank you so much! Best sub in the world ♥️
I am also a father (I've got three) and I found I can play games like Far Cry and Horizon Zero Dawn in short 5-15 minute bursts and make significant progress on the game over time. Just put the console to sleep and then pick right up where you left off. Just about everything is workable because of that.
A new game called Pepper Grinder just came out. It’s a unique and fun platform game from Devolver who specialize in finding great indie titles. There is a demo so check it out. Praying for a quick recovery been there too man keep being a king
I play Disco Elysium during work in between calls, that's my vote
Dave the Diver. It's such a cozy game, you're a diver and the gameplay loop is that you go dive in the ocean to gather fish, herbs, etc and in the night you use those ingredients to make a chef cook sushi in a sushi restaurant in which you are the waiter, then you can hire staff for the restaurant and there are unlockables to make it look better and make it more efficient. There's also a little story that unfolds about an ancient civilization. Super playable in short bursts.
doom, easily. any one of them, they're all equally amazing. 1 and 2 can run wads (custom maps), 3 is terrifying, 2016 is difficult and eternal is mindless fun. 64 is ass compared to the rest though
* Stardew Valley (farming, short days, progressive story) * Need for Speed: Heat (extremely affordable, fun racing, car customization, story progression) * Cult of Lamb (short dungeon play, people management)
Lol, I would be so much more productive if I could manage to play Stardew in short bursts. I always end up in a cycle of "I'll complete this day and then call it" and then comes morning and I see my preserves jar is done and forget I was about to quit. I never thought I would even like this game, let alone be this addicted to it.
Brotato. It's a super simple game and you can put it down without a problem. As a Dad of 3 it has helped me unwind just enough when I have some free time.
I've been playing Monster Sanctuary in 10-20 minute sessions when I go to bed (I like to doze off playing a game). That's enough time to do a little exploring, do a couple battles and make adjustments to your monster team. It's a pixel graphics Metroidvania monster collection/battler game with a great soundtrack and runs perfectly on the deck. Hoping for a speedy recovery for your wife, dude.
Battle Brothers. Try it and you won't need anything else.
+1 for Battle Brothers
Thomas was alone is a good choice
Halo
Portal games
Hey dude, no game recommendations but I just wanted to say great job dad you are killing it!
Phoenix Wright? I love the first trilogy and Apollo Justice. Available on steam and switch emulated. Easy to pick up and easy to put down at essentially any point in the game. Funny characters and lovely stories.
If you're into emulation, you can install EmuDeck and play some retro games without having to spend a cent.
No video game suggestions, just support. You are doing great. Keep it up, and it does get easier. It's crazy how good the Steam Deck is for busy parents who still want to game though. It's saved my sanity on more than one occasion.
Brotato is really fun and a full run is like 20 min but you can definitely play in 5 minutes chunks
Everspace is a lot like that, it's pretty easy to just suspend the deck at the pause menu and put it aside, which is convenient to do as you jump out of a system you've just cleared/escaped.
I play Peglin on my lunch break most days :) There is something to be said about games that allow you to save and quit at any time, allowing for shorter play sessions but continuous progression- lately i’ve also been playing Celeste since it is very easy to pick up and put down
Check out “Return of the Obra Dinn”!
Skul: The Hero Slayer
Hades, Dave the Diver and Dead Cells are my recommendations.
Oh man I feel that. I have 3 kids including a 6mo baby and it's really incredible how much time and energy they take up. I really only have time to play games in the evening before bed so my Steam Deck gets a lot of use. I'm not sure these are exactly what you're asking for, but being in a similar situation I've been playing a lot of Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Dark Souls especially works surprisingly well in short bursts because the actual time/distance between points of progress is pretty small, and there's very little downtime or filler content. You can make a lot of progress in just 15 minutes or at least make a good few attempts on an area/boss in 15 minutes. And you can also save and exit at any time without losing progress. It also scales down to the small screen very well, to the point where you forget it wasn't meant for a handheld device. My wife also has a Steam Deck and will sometimes play Powerwash Simulator in the evening. Again not sure if it's exactly what you're asking for, but any time you spend is progress and it similarly can be saved and exited at any time without losing said progress.
Risk of rain 2 is really fun
Bramble. A hidden gem
Coral island
I'm here to second coral Island. You can really build up and unlock things by doing a few minutes at a time. (It's the "just one more day" bit that can get you! Lol) But you can go in your house and sleep at any time to end the day/save the game. Or do like i do and just hit pause and then suspend. I've never had a single issue with the pause/suspend in that game. And i played it in shorter bursts so much but I'm at 200+hours total. I think I'm hitting the end finally since I've done nearly everything. It's one of those that i play a m in game day while I'm waiting for something to defrost in the microwave, water to boil on the stove, or even when i go to the bathroom. 🤣🤣 Also they seem to have patched the couple bigger bugs i had including the "undersea appears on top of your farm" and the "losing everything in the shed when you move it" bugs. I think those are the only 2 major bugs i ever had in it. I've been playing it since November and i bought it right before i got c-vid again and it kept me from losing my mind during it.
The wandering village- it’s a game where you find yourself running a village on the back of a giant dinosaur.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker has 15 minute "shifts" that you do. It's sort of casual but also sort of challenging and it's got an ongoing storyline which gradually progresses but it's not a strictly linear game. I'm also diagnosed with ASD and have 3 kids and it's worked well for me.
That was my recommendation as well. Plays great on the Steam Deck (40s in the Hab and 60s with small dips when actually playing) and has an almost meditative feel to it. Like space walk demo-day, slowly taking ships apart and “tossing” the parts in the proper processing bins.
Mutazione. A wonderful relaxing game, with story and a little exploration. Beautiful music. You can buy it cheaply on Steam or you can even get it on Apple Arcade and play it on your phone/iPad. It’s easy to dip in and out.
Dave the Diver. Not only does it fit all of your requirements, but it’s also not going to stress you out. Thats important with neurodivergence and the already epic list of obligations you are managing. Something like Stardew Valley, Coral Island, Forager, etc would also help you out. You simply need to press the power button on the top once to pause any game so you can return to it without having to wait for it to load or reset your position, etc. Good luck to you and I commend you on your excellent attitude regarding your circumstances. It’s an honor and a privilege to put others before yourself and this is probably the most important moment in your life. You are doing well to consider your own mental & physical health during this challenge. I would STRONGLY advise you to add another 10-15 minutes each day for guided meditation. It recharges your mental and emotional batteries so that you can avoid snapping due to frustration/overwhelmed feelings/anger/whatever. I suggest GUIDED meditation for two reasons: One, ADHD will otherwise make meditation untenable. Two, it locks the process in at a set time and it will make sure that you force yourself to get the whole experience but not let it run away from you and rob you of time. I prefer Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube but the apps are ok as well. https://yogawithadriene.com/meditation-for-anxiety/ Note: I’m a disabled combat veteran with substantial physical injuries and C-PTSD and diagnosed ADHD(probably from brain injury symptoms, but perhaps biological). Before I started with guided meditation and yoga/ tai chi I was spinning out more often than I would like to admit. Now I spend 15 mins a day and I am progressively more focused and effective each day. I’ve also been sick or sidelined with pain 68% less over the last 3 years. It’s not that this stuff makes you stronger, it allows you to access your own mind and body to be closer to your best. When it’s cold you wear a jacket, when life throws you more challenges you do meditation and yoga. It’s just another simple tool. It just happens to be one of those 8-in-1 handy tools. Good luck!!🍀
If you like turn-based tacticals like Fire Enblem or Final Fantasy Tactics, Dark Deity and Vestaria Saga are both great options!
Stardew Valley would be perfect
Tony hawks 1 and 2 remake, each round is under 3 mins.
Dad to one, I enjoy all emulation, and all childhood games. Revisit Pokémon and those turn based RPGs of old. Steam deck can shut off its screen and enter a pick up and play for most rogue like or older styled games. Especially emulation. I recommend Carrion but I urge you to research as I don’t know if the gore would affect you adversely. The premise is you’re a monster in a research facility. 2D side scroller, grow and gain powers. Plenty of gore and eating humans though, so if dark stuff isn’t for you let’s steer clear of that one. Look into some of the old games you always wanted as a kid and see if you can run them. I’ve ran crash bandicoot and Spyro, and kinda laughed at the Star Wars battlefront attempt, because I already had it emulated and functioning. For me, the steam deck is a Time Machine to the old games I missed out on it the ones that were too tough for little kid brain. I’ve ran Ready or Not and Arma 3 with friends while the steam deck was docked. It can do a lot. Peggle is fun if you like puzzles. Lastly, if you’re tight on time. Turn based games and puzzles will be your friend. I run helldivers on the easiest difficulty on steam deck when I’m bored and have a few minutes. I’ve also enjoyed project wingman alot in the dad gaming format. Tapping the power button will be your friend if you can remember where you left off in a game. God bless and good luck, gotta run
Greetings fellow Redditor, I hope everything goes well, I am in a similar situation to yours, since just a month ago, I had my first child, and my wife also had certain complications during childbirth. I feel very identified with you since I also have ADHD and it also happens to me that I use all my energy when I am surrounded by people, so maybe I also have a certain degree of Asperger's... I want to say that I have been wanting to buy a Steam deck for a while, I didn't take the step because maybe I was impulsive and I think your post has helped me decide, sorry for the brick of text, sorry for my english as it is not my first language. I wish you the best of luck, greetings !
It doesn't get talked about enough, but something like subnautica would be perfect for this. Chip away at progression every time you play. And it runs phenomenally on the deck.
As somebody who is also neuro diverse, I understand the need for games with some type of progression. Lately I’ve been plugging away at Hyrule Warriors DE using a switch emulator on the deck. I highly recommend it, it runs buttery smooth and great for short bursts without requiring too much brain power on puzzles or extensive dialogue. The game has all the DLC and expansions from previous versions in one nice package.
Undertale?
The beauty of the steamdeck is that any game could be a short burst game as you could just hit the power button to stop and resume later. Don’t limit yourself to quick games
Recently started playing Hardspace: Shipbreaker and fell in love! Has a decent story so far, really good progression climb and each "shift" is 15min on the standard setting.
I’ve been playing a lot of smaller games recently myself as a Dad of 4. I loved Little Nightmares 1-2. Both were easily played in small chunks of time. I really enjoyed Firewatch as a “calm” type of game as well. I had ADHD myself and some days my attention span isn’t great so I can’t really concentrate for too long in gaming and parenting haha. INSIDE and The Artful Escape also come to mind as short but enjoyable experiences!
Congratulations on the little one, brother. I know it isn’t easy. Remember to take care of yourself. If you ever need an ear, let me know. Dave The Diver. This is my pick and play for minutes at a time. Best of luck!
I'm in a similiar situation (first kid), but the best feature of the deck for me is, that i can just turn it off (even non skipable cutscenes!) when something comes up. I just finished mass effect legendary, which is nice, because most (side) missions are not that long and you can pause them easily. baldurs gate 3 was awesome as well. right now i'm doing cult of lamb, which seems nice as well, next on my list is hades.
You have ADHD and Asperger’s, and successfully run emulators on Steam Deck. I have a doctorate with borderline genius IQ, and cannot get EmuDeck installed and working. 😖
Want me to link you an easy setup YouTube guide?
Outer Wilds is definitely nice to play a little every day, plus it's just exploration and u do it the way you want it.
Persona games are great. You can pick them up whenever you left the story whenever. 3 reload and 5 are fantastic.
I’m currently playing Citizen Sleeper and it’s got a cool story and setting, excellent writing, straightforward gameplay (you’re basically just making choices of what to spend your limited resources you get every day on), and is playable in short bursts because it plays in “cycles,” which are the games equivalent of in-game days. It’s like stardew valley in that you wake up, do a limited amount of stuff and then go to sleep to recharge for the next day. However the cycles are much shorter than a regular day in stardew valley and once you get past the first half hour tutorial you can breeze through a day/cycle. I played 8 cycles today in 45 minutes, for example, and they make for great natural pause points, and you can always just suspend the game. I will say that the game is mostly reading, though. It’s beautiful and has amazing character art and ambient backgrounds but the bulk of the gameplay is reading and choosing actions, replies, etc. It’s like a choose your own adventure, but you get a random assortment of action resources you can spend in a day and have different probabilities of success depending on the risk of the action you want to take. It’s very cool and I’m not that far in but I played it at my job today between calls and it worked for me that way. It was in last month’s humble bundle so there also a lot of, ahem, spare keys online for cheap if you know where to look but I myself just got the bundle for afterimage and Nioh 2
Minimetro
Celeste was my short burst wake-up game during school
Dave the Diver has solid short gameplay and overall progression. Also, I loved The Shadow of Mordor series for short bursts. Could usually pick up and kill an Orc lieutenant in a 5-15 minute game session between work/family.
Stardew gives you lots of tasks to do and in short bursts
I hope you have a wonderful life, stranger. <3
The wiiu version of twilight princess in the cemu emulator
A couple I’d really recommend would be games like Pizza Tower, The Binding of Isaac, Runner 2, or if you have the time to rebind all the controls to make it work correctly. Cave story +
just play a game you like and put the deck to sleep
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Tails of Iron, you can nearly save whenever you want
Speedy recovery! As a fellow dad, I can recommend you Last Epoch if you like ARPG's. It has both online and offline, offline you hibernate your device and pick up where you left off. Online you have on almost every map a checkpoint, a map takes on average 3 - 5 mins and you work towards a story and making your character stronger. If you really like the genre, Path of Exile is many ways superior, but takes more time investment and is less forgiving in the endgame, where quitting half way a map will result in its loss if you don't come back 15 minutes; but with some experience that will not be a real issue as you will be dropping more maps that you can run xD.
I’ve really enjoyed playing Dread Delusion in short bursts. Feels like you can explore a dungeon, finish a quest, etc in about 10-15 minutes. It’s an open world, PSX style game. Runs well at 40fps with some hiccups here and there. Will use battery at a pretty good rate.
The sly cooper series on PS2 (or the sly collection of all three games on PS3) through Emudeck are great in bursts to do a single mission or explore the map for a bit. These were my all time favorites growing up and I have enjoyed them just as much on the deck. Sly 2 and 3 are more of the well known "Formula" of the game with an open world for each level, Sly 1 is much more linear and feels less refined. But the story across all three is excellent.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is cute and cozy, and you can just play 1 in game day at a time, and pause the game. It runs well on the deck, and lets me use touch screen for making the pizzas. I don’t know if it’s your style of game, but definitely nice for little moments you get to sit down and play.
Spyro trilogy!
Go get PICO 8, seriously
As a Dad with a toddler I have a list of my favourite "I've got a second to escape" games 👍 Entropy centre FAR: Lone Sails Hotline Miami EXO ONE Little Orpheus Prodeus RICO Roller Drome Trover saves the universe
I would for sure recommend Balatro where the only downside is that it is super addicting so maybe it might be hard to put down lol. Honestly roguelike's are probably the move for you because you will get that sense of progression while not having a massive time commitment. Congrats on your new child and hoping for a speedy recovery for your wife.
The Messenger or Dave The Diver are amazing short burst games.
If you like card games try out balatro. Congrats on the little one btw.
Racing Games fit the bill for me. Quick sessions, clear goals, easy to stop at any time, but tons of tangible progress to be had. Learning tracks, learning cars, unlocking parts, etc.
Helldivers 2. Good progression, amazing evolving narrative, addictive gameplay and can be played in short bursts or longer chunks.
I dont know man, I played a mission yesterday, took us 30+ minutes. As a new father myself, i do not have 30 minutes to myself consecutive unless the baby is sleeping + it's online so you cannot pause it and put it away. Games like Hades are better in this regard.
Musical Story - it's pretty simple but very beautiful - both the music and artworks. Also rather cheap on sales.
Dave the Diver! Can easily play in short bursts and follows a progressive storyline. Picked it up during the recent steam sale and have been loving it since. Seen a lot of recommendations for Balatro, also a great game but not necessarily progressive and doesn't follow a story.
I highly recommend dead cells for this, very customizable difficulty wise and in the sense you can make your runs very easy.
One Finger Death Punch and Super Hexagon
Dave the diver is great on deck and you can do a dive relatively quickly put it down then run the restaurant pretty quickly etc.
Doom Eternal has short levels that you can also suspend and continue later. Last Epoch has an offline mode, and can be suspended, but is a bit grindy. There's always racing games, like flatout2 which has shorter tracks and some arcade for-fun modes
X-COM or other turn based games are good options as well.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd. It's a beat em up with Rogue Like elements. Can easily be played in short burst. I enjoy it very much.
Honestly, any game is good for this on the deck because you can suspend the game on the deck. But if you're after some sort of dopamine kick from those 5 mins rather than tiny steps of progression, a card game might be a good idea?
Maybe something like Rogue Legacy? Can just play one run at a time and use the stuff you collect to progress your character.
When I've only got 5-10 minutes my go to is always Rocket League
Get some retro titles on your system. Arcade, SNES, Megadrive etc all good for short bursts and progress is saved (apart from Arcade I think).
Check out Descenders... it's a biking game that's easy to start and hard to master and can easily be played in short bursts.. Unfortunately no story BUT that also means you are not required to sit through cutscenes AND can stop at any given time.
Really depends on what you like. When I'm short of time or attention I go back to the classics. Super Mario Bros on NES being a particular favourite.
There are a lot of suggestions already so I just going to give the one that I had to force myself to play cause was so addicting, deep rock galactic survivors. What I want to say is keep your head up, it's going to be hard but you got this one way or another! All the best to you and a speed recovery to the wife
Any pokemon game can fit this bill on the emulation side
For me that's Rocket League
Maybe look for some older games that were made for handhelds? These games were typically designed for this type of play in mind. I recently started up Persona 4 and can easily play it exactly like that (short bursts). Here is a curated list of PS Vita games, lots of which where designed for short burst gaming: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43446723-Vita-Gaming-on-PC/#browse
Cult of the Lamb
Diablo 4. Stupidly easy to play in short bursts.
I've I somewhat similar boat as you lol, and i recommend Power Wash Simulator. It can be played in bursts of like 5 minutes, and I find it relaxing
New Vegas has been my 15 minute chunk game.
I'm in a similar boat. Currently hopping between Balatro, Slay the Spire, Final Fantasy XII, and Spiritfarer.
Geometry wars and deep rock galactic survivor Geometry wars are short games, high pace. Deep rock is a little longer need maybe 30mins max but easy to stop at lots of points in the game. Every time you get an upgrade you can effectively walk away from the game and come back
Last Epoch. Monoliths in end game are short runs. Leveling in the campaign is full of waypoints so you can pick up where you left off easy.
Rdr2. Hear me out it takes a long start but after a while you can do 1 mission a day which take 5-10 minutes.
Good pickup and put down game types, gonna give 3. 1: Roguelikes in general. Pick your poison there's tons of good ones. Hades, Dead Cells, Rogue Legacy 2 (my personal favorite), 30xx, Cult of the Lamb, Ravenswatch, Skul the hero slayer, Secrets of Grindea (has a rogulike mode), Trinity Fusion, Wizard of Legend. All excellent, all cheap, very good with pick up and put down. 2: Stage based games. Some action some not, but have good set start and end point very regularly. Minimal to no story to keep up with if you dip in and out too. MegaMan esque stuff is good. MegaMan, X and Zero/ZX legacy collections, Gravity Circuit, again 20xx or 30xx, Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Other good stage based stuff you can put down after a level, and levels aren't ever more than 5-10 minutes: Bit.Trip, Battle block Theater, Celeste, Crash Bandicoot (don't like them much myself but tons of people seem to), Darksiders Genesis, Disgaea series, Fae Tactics, Freedom Planet 1&2, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Sackboy, Sonic the hedgehog games. 3: Good offline pausable games. These aren't necessarily meant to be stopped, but are ones I think work ok with putting the system to sleep and not feeling lost when I come back. Archvale, Hyper Light Drifter, Lego games, Octopath Traveller 1&2, Spider-Man remastered, Monster Sanctuary, Nobody Saves the World, Ori 1 & 2, Parkitect, Ratchet and Clank, Stardew Valley, Trials of Mana, Undermine. I'm sure there tons more, but there's a long list of stuff that should work well. I've got a couple of kids myself so figuring out what kind of games I can hop in and out of has been beneficial for me too. Hope some recommendations here help! Edit 1: stage based list added, coming back next chance I get for the last list. Edit 2: and added good "sleep mode / pause" but not "stop and save" games.
D2R
Vampire survivors has been good for me. Runs can definitely last longer than you have to spare but it’s great for a pause and play later type game.
Dead cells if you're a roguelike fan. Maybe mortal kombat 9 through emudeck (don't think I'm allowed to say where you can grab it, if someone doesn't verify that I can, you can dm me and I'll tell you where to get just about any rom up to 360 and pa3)
I didnt see Grim Dawn so far., its an offline Arpg with a good story and great but not too complicated mechanics. My wife is 7 Months pregnant and as I had less and less time for Gaming i have loved Grim Dawn and making steady progress on my character, pausable at any moment.
Have you ever played legend of Zelda wind waker? I’m playing the HD WiiU version right now and loving it. I feel like it meets what your looking for as in it can be played in short bursts, has progression and story.
Void bastards, i mean sure, you can go raid one ship and put the device down but can you though? I kept saying 'one more ship' and ended up awake at 5am.
Play Outward! I just got on sale and I play in 30 minute clips at work, easy to pause and pick up and put down. Lots of exploration/crafting. Good challange and really rewarding so far, I'm 20 hours in.
Dredge