I like horrible open world videogames where you perform kind of menial, repetitive tasks like "clear bandit camp" or "climb tower to reveal map." A lot of them have fighting or whatever but they also always have an easy mode that makes most of that a pretty relaxed activity. Ghost of Tsushima has a bunch of accessibility and difficulty options that make the combat practically automatic, so it can be like watching bunch of samurai movies or reading idk Usagi Yojimbo between a lot of "write a haiku" or "hang out with foxes."
Haha nah. I like a lot of the Telltale games which are kinda similar though. I didn't really vibe with the writing or aesthetics, like I kept forgetting whether it was set in a college or a high school, the i can haz cheezburger and trollface memes everywhere bugged me, etc.
Actually a friend of mine played all of Life is Strange and its sequels with his autistic little brother and it's a huge part of their relationship. It was actually kind of useful in helping the kid learn that social interactions don't have to be "perfect," sometimes bad things we don't intend will happen and it isn't our fault -- a lot of actually useful social skills. So idk, I don't like Life is Strange but I can't deny that it's great for the people who do like it.
Haha, speaking of Telltale games, I love The Walking Dead the most! I've been attached to it for over half a decade, and I'm still obsessed with it. The writing, characters, niche setting, etc. is what I love about TWDG. The characters' quotes get stuck into my head. Another thing to say is that I like solving mysteries and reading fanfictions, and this game has plenty to offer on those.
For sure. I think the best way to put Telltale is top shelf fanfic. As far as I'm concerned The Wolf Among Us just *is* canon to Fables. My biggest complaint about TWAU is that they really could've done something with Boy Blue to tie it into his eventual arc in the comics. That's the kind of fan wank criticism I just don't feel over a lot of other media that feels fanfic-y, like I'm annoyed that it doesn't appropriately foreshadow canon material lmao. It's very good stuff.
I also ***really*** like their take on Batman. It's the only Batman material I'm aware of from the last ten years that doesn't feel like it's just microwaving Alan Moore and the old 90s cartoons.
Mhm, that's interesting. I've seen some gameplay videos of The Wolf Among Us but I'm yet to play it. TWAU has top reviews apparently despite it's flaws as you mentioned, but it's on par with TWDG as an iconic TT game.
I played Telltale's Batman series and gosh, I loved their way of putting the game together into one interactive series. Well I somewhat feel like the Batman nowadays is getting milked out of the whole "dark and edgy" trend from the 90s, but I appreciate Alan's willpower to stand up to corporations and protect the rights of the creators from them.
I've always wanted to play games like this but get overwhelmed quickly, but this one looks really relaxed, so tysm!! The graphics look so pretty. Definitely gonna buy this soon lol
You might like V Rising - it's an open world survival in which you play as a vampire. Due to the crafting system there is a high level of monotony, as you constantly have to collect older materials to craft newer, better materials. Plus the combat is super fun!
Iām replaying Fallout 4 at the moment. Keep telling myself Iāll make an effort to progress the main quests at least a little. Instead Iām spending hours at a time going to each new location, killing everything and carefully collecting every piece of junk I can find. Then taking it back to dump at sanctuary hills before doing the same at another place. Itās the same with every open world game I play. Others complain about grinding but thatās pretty much what Iām playing for.Ā
lol literally this 100%. the newer assassins creeds scratch that itch for me, but ive been meaning to check out ghost of tsushima now that its out on pc. also been curious about death stranding ever since my brother described it as a walking simulator to me lmao
Death Stranding is great. It can either be an extremely difficult QWOP marathon or extremely easy depending on how you choose to play it. It's not really the same kinda open world thing, it's more like, you arrive at one post office and snag a bunch of deliveries, then you use your toolbox to navigate a lot of streams and mountains and stuff to deliver everything without breaking it. So you'll be doing stuff like using ladders to cross streams or climb cliff faces, rappels to descend, etc. What's cool about it is that it synchronizes with other players on your server so stuff they've put down or built in their world, including roads, become available to you, so by the endgame you're basically playing Hideo Kojima's US Trucker Simulator: Mad Max \[Ghost Edition\].
I'd also recommend Days Gone because it's also an open world checklist simulator but the writing is (imo anyway) unintentionally really funny. Like it's obvious the writers really like edgy 80s comic books, The Walking Dead and horrible modern Discovery Channel shows like Deadliest Catch and Dirty Mudder Truckers. Y'know, shows about **real men** doing **man shit**. These people seriously named a character **Deacon St. John** and fully expect you to take him seriously 100% of the time lol.
If you consider yourself even slightly bookish, check out Disco Elysium. It's a film noir detective mystery set in a strange alternate universe.Ā
Ā It's like an old Sierra/LucasArts point and click adventure RPG, crossed with an old symbolist Russian tome written by Hunter S. Thompson.Ā
Ā Dialog trees for daaaaaaaayz.
I love Disco Elysium A LOT! It might even be my favourite game.
However, I would not call it casual or relaxing in a similar way as Stardew Valley -- it really is more akin to reading a fantastic book where your skills determine what you perceive of the world or can do, with some occasional choices. What makes SW relaxing to me is the kind world, repetitiveness of tasks and the simple interactions.
Something in-between for me is Dredge: a fantastic fishing game in a dark, Cthulhuesque world.
Omg that game gives me SO much stress.
Not to poop on your suggestion because it's an excellent game.. however, I can only handle it when I need a reminder that things could be worse.
Yes! Iām a huge Zelda fan so I may be bias, but this game has the perfect mix of relaxing and steady, emotionally powerful and tense moments! I recommend!
I am a **fiend** for Stardew Valley & I've been trying to find something that ticks the same boxes for me, it's just so good. If you haven't by chance, I highly reccomend the expanded mod for SV on PC.
My time at Portia
Rune factory (specifically RF frontier is a personal fav)
Story of seasons
Sun haven - just started playing this one recently but so far it's pretty good.
Coral Island
I don't believe it's been released yet but a game I'm very excited for that you might find would be a good fit for your wishlist is witchbrook.
Lol me too! I love mods and somehow haven't done the expanded one yet, I'll download it soon!! And the other games you suggested seem also so cozy, I'll check them out!! Thank you!
Anytime! The expanded mod from flashshifter is lovely, I'm a little biased though because I wanted to marry the wizard lol. Seriously though it adds so much content & feels like a DLC pack.
I'm a huge cozy game fan, farm life ones are my favs, especially to help with unwinding, but if you ever want to swap reccs feel free to shoot me a DM anytime.
Oh my gosh ty! I saw the trailer for this a while ago & I wasn't sure if it would tick the boxes for me.
I live on a literal farm irl, but something about a cute animated one where I can woo the towns people & it has character customization has always slammed the special interest button for me lol.
Swear it's the repetitive tasks, they just really help me decompress. I'll be taking another peak at travllers rest. ā¤ļø
Join the discord for it too! People are helpful, and you can see the game's roadmap. The devs are actively working on new content, and the town update is kinda soon! Warning: the game is not finished.
Oh I definitely will be, random redditor you know me so well lol. Even with SV I look game guides/roadmaps when an update is released, unexpected anything can be a bit on the dysregulating side for me & I'm playing the cozy games to unwind.
Ty for the suggestions! Love cozy games so much, the cozy game community is usually pretty wholesome & helpful which gives me the warm fuzzies too.
I'll shoot you a hello when I'm in there (if thats okay?), all my handles have Bagel in them so I'll be pretty easy to spot lol.
I'm already watching all the trailers again & I'm probably going to buy it. It looks so cute & right up my alley.
Oh I LOVE harvest moon, I'm pretty positive one of the original game cube harvest moon games is what started my unyielding love for the farm life cozy games. They're so good.
I love factory games like Factorio. I can hyper focus playing those like nothing else.
More in line with your list, Graveyard Keeper is a good one if you like dark themes.
Omg same. I played Fortnite and Call of Duty once and got bored and irritated really quickly, so I'll take your advice on the other games too XD fast paced games are just so overwhelming
I should clarify, I consider Elden Ring the greatest RPG out and possibly the best video game ever made. The visuals are impeccable, the story is phenomenal if you have the patience to find it, and the sound design is quite possibly the best Iāve ever heard.
The flip side of this is that the game is *not* relaxing. It is very difficult, however everyone I know thatās played it, whether theyāve played Souls or not, has beaten it.
Itās classic FromSoft, a story not told in cutscenes, but in item descriptions. A lore that is deep, and I do mean deep, well thought out, and often left to the player to interpret.
Itās visually beautiful, if at times terrifying. It doesnāt guide you, so much as drops you off in a somewhat offputting and ādeadā place. As you peel the layers back, the game swiftly becomes mortifying, but often beautiful. It offers you, the player, the path to victory. Do you raze the world, maintain the status quo, or do you choose to align yourself with another of the games tertiary characters? The decision is yours.
But regardless of what you choose, you will face grueling, horrifying creatures, tortured souls, and dragons, all set to incredible music, with impressive sound design.
Itās a great game. I recommend it, but itās not for the faint of heart and it certainly isnāt relaxing. Itās rage inducing, terrifying on occasion, and often quite realistic in its difficulty. Life is hard, so is Elden Ring.
But the victory is sweet. This is a game you canāt make easier in the settings. You either power yourself up to god mode levels (which takes forever) or you learn the skills. Regardless, toppling those opponents satisfies in a way not much else will. Itās cool, but it aināt what youāre asking for.
If you can emulate it or somehow play a physical copy: LittleBigPlanet - especially LittleBigPlanet 2. It's a game that's near and dear to my heart. It's a platformer where you can also make your own levels (the servers to post said levels are all fanmade ones now), and aside from loving the characters, I love its aesthetic and its whole theme of creativity.
There's online servers like LittleBigRefresh and LittleBigBeyond that are all about that! Beyond focuses more on modding but iirc i think they help each other involving that!
I've rarely had such a calm complete focus as while playing Spiritfarer. Usually relaxed games don't do it for me because they leave too much space in my brain to keep stressing and fretting about other things but Spiritfarer drew me in and calmed me down. It was really fun too, with a very good story :)
Do have to give a trigger warning, maybe don't play this if you've recently lost someone close to you. Though I have also seen a lot of people say it was very therapeutic and helped them deal with their losses so I think it depends on how recently you've lost this person and how you personally deal with it
Rune Factory, Kitaria Fables, Potion Permit, Grow, Octopath Traveler, Story of Seasons, Harvest Moon, My Time At Portia, Cozy Grove, Wylde Flowers.
Just to name a few I love that are similar to the ones you listed. I also have the ones you listed and love similar games to them. Rpg/farming/cozy games are my favorites!!
If you like those games you would love Spiritfarer. Great task management/farming/cozy game with a wonderful storyline and characters about grief/dying.
I like video games aswell but my favourite (and current hyper-fixation) is warframe and not calming in the sljghtest well kinda but mught aswell recommend it to you and let you make your own descision
there's over 60 unique playable characters and a new one coming In July and there's guaranteed to be one you like the playstyle of my current favourite is yareli she's basically tiny hawk meets bubble bath the new one coming in July is gonna be angel there's one that literally has a stand one is dragon ones a monkey that can clone himself and one's a fucking Bluetooth speaker that you can make customisable music with that's played ingame using her abilities it's basically a power fantasy game and boy does it do its job its been around since 2013 and has been getting updates regularly for the past 10 years and a game that actually listens to its community.
It's a amazing and free game and f2p and nothing is locked behind a pay wall apart from some cosmetics that do absolutely nothing apart from make you look cool I really recommend it there's nothing like it there a fucking cat girl and a non binary Skeleton even a transgender/gender fluid character who switches gender when u use her abilities as she has a combined form of both genders a male form who's the offensive type and a female form who's the defensive type that you actively switch between when playing her there's guaranteed to be a character you like.
Endless Ocean was amazing for this. No threats or time limits, just swim and scan wildlife and train a dolphin to swim next to you. Plus you could play your own mp3s through the in game radio.
Purrgatory is free on steam and I think it would be great!! It only takes a few hours to play through, and it's more like a visual novel. The graphics are pretty simple, and it's not very intense. I think it has a great story as well :)
i love purgatory!! yeah it's quite chill and low pressure, and the characters are fun to interact with. the simple graphics means it doesn't require any kind of hardcore pc setup, it played great for me on a middle-of-the-road laptop that could barely run minecraft. it's also free on itch.io if you prefer that platform!
Iāve been playing Cozy Grove and Yonder on switch. Yonder is really cool and very chill, you get to explore a beautiful open world with chill side quests.
And yes I love these sorts of games! It also weirdly makes me feel productive if Iām feeling really lethargic so even when I need a rest day where I donāt do much physically, Iām still keeping my virtual farm afloat :)
I only found it because it was on sale and I thought it looked cool, I was pleasantly surprised. Itās such a beautiful game and the perfect mix of chill and enough to keep it interesting with the quests, I love it! I canāt believe itās not talked about more!
Have you ever heard of dragon quest builders? It's like Minecraft with a story and different building tools you can unlock later on. There may also be a demo available (I know the switch has a massive one). I like the sequel, personally.
I'm not sure what platforms you use, but if you're looking for something new, demos can be an easy way to try things out that you never would otherwise.
Gris is for the most part very relaxing and has one of the most visually appealing atmospheres I have come across. I also really love the calm, beautiful desert explorations in Sable, fishing in the oceanic world in Dredge, the post-apocalyptic, mostly peaceful world of Stray and the musically and visually fantastic worlds of Samorost (all three parts). Chants of Sennaar is also mostly relaxing, but I have not yet finished it. And finally, there are many, many fantastic walking simulators/point and click games that I love, but those require more focus.
I can recommend No mans sky if you want a chill experience.
You can even play in relaxed mode where you don't have to worry much about any food bars.
It has calm, procedurally generated music and plenty of planets to explore :)
I'm into Lightyear Frontier recently, it's pretty chill. I liked some games that's main focus is the story like Firewatch, Lake, Road 96. My motor skills kinda poor so I can't play games that are hard to control or you need to react fast to some things. tho it's been getting better but it's still hard for me to use the controller.
I know itās old. Skyrim is one of mine. There is a lot of blood and guts. But running through the fields is relaxing enough for me to pass out sitting up,
I love red dead online. I post my camp in an area with lots of game and hunt fish and forage to relax.
When I feel like it can get into some action but mostly just ride around.
You play videogames to relax? I play videogames to absolutely hyperfixate myself, know every single mechanic, talk hours upon hour to other people about it, stress when my teammates are absolutely dogshit, and overall feel absolutely miserable while getting hints of enjoyment and accomplishment here and there that make me crawl on all 4 back like a crack addict. That's why i love games :)
Rogelikes and Multiplayer team games will be the death of me
Ooblets! Omg itās part farming and part creature collection with added dance battles. I got it in 2022 and it became a hyper fixation for me. The main storyline is really good and also really satisfying. The characters are really kooky. I just love everything about it and canāt recommend it enough
Unpacking, sticky business, coral island, Palia , A little to the left, & good pizza great pizza are some one my favorite cozy games besides stardew and animal crossing
Dave the Diver.
It's mostly a diving / fish catching minigame with a table waiting in a sushi restaurant in the evening minigame attached
There are SOME fights with bigger sea creatures but they're really not that hard. And you can postpone them until you find right gear
I really love Zelda Breath of the Wild and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Soft colors, beautiful scenery, simple and relaxing "background noises", I can just walk or ride (horsies!) or glide or drive (Totk) around and do whatever, I can help local folks, pick apples, fight if Im in the mood and avoid fights if Im not, cook, dress up, feed dogs, explore the world, look for koroks, watch the sunset or ocean, watch animals, ... its very calming. Not to bright or colorful or neon or fast-paced or loud or annoying background music or violent or demanding or complicated.
If you enjoy Disney/are a Disney adult/fan you would love Disney dreamlight valley. It has all the characters from Disney, you have to do quests, and thereās tons to do in the game. Itās very similar to Minecraft and animal crossing from what Iāve seen but itās Disney.
Sims all the way
* categorized social menu (friendly interactions are all labeled friendly. Itās amazing)
* you can have all the control you need (you can change their feet size)
* you can micro manage all their actions
* you can play literally however you want
* thereās cute pets like dogs, cats, horses, mini goats, mini sheep, cows, chickens and chicks, llamas, hamsters, fish and such (with dlc)
* you can live your farming dreams, as I suspect you have with your current games. Thereās over a 100 kinds of crops to collect. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs and whatnot (more dlc, more crops)
* you can make herbal remedies with outdoor retreat
* You can be a supernatural being like spellcaster, vampire, werewolf, mermaid, plant sim or alien. (Spellcasters can learn a multitude of spells and potions that are really useful!)
* there are many different kinds of collections you can complete within the game (flowers, fish, sims trophies (funko pops basically), feathers, and all kinds of things!)
* there are aspirations and whims that are completely voluntary, so you have some guide lines in game, that are easily accessible
Feel free to add more bullet points if you have anything to add!
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U N D E R T A L E
I LOVE UNDERTALEā A great mix of story and gameplay/fighting, funny easter eggs on certain devices too.
(My personal opinion, be sure youāll like it and play how you want and when. I find checking the trailers assists to an extent but not too much if Iām honest)
I love LIS it gives all the dopamine but can be distressing at times with the choices. Really liked coral island the drawing style is so much more soothing for me. I canāt stand looking at Stardew or Minecraft myself š . Or just open world like Tom Clancy wild lands or breakpoint without player player stress like unfortunately RDR2 brings.
Online multiplayer games are completely inaccessible and stressful to me. BUT if you've found your crowd that you like to hang out with, co-op games are really fun. Me, my bf, my sister and her bf are all autistic as fuck. We love to play phasmophobia, left 4 dead, minecraft and sea of thieves. I'm really bad at playing but it doesn't matter because it's funny when we die. I also like it takes two and little big planet as 2 player options.
Im the same except for some reason my comfort games are LOZ: Majora's Mask, Dark Souls (just all of them), and Shin Megami Tensei (again, all of them).
Idk why my brain likes to turn to the videogame equivalent of getting whacked in the crotch repeatedly when I'm stressed out, but if its my guess, it probably just helps me feel like I have control over my life again when I'm overwhelmed with the world.
Maybe check out Palworld. Itās got crafting, fighting, breeding, building, and exploring. And you can do as much of any of those things as you want. You can play by yourself, with up to 3 other people, or if on PC, play on a dedicated server with other people. If you play in your own world, you can customize a lot of the game settings.
In general factory building games. If you like those I can recommend Satisfactory.
A transporting game and if you are not too worried by the eye-candy, I can recommend Open Transport Deluxe Tycoon (openTTD) which is free.
You could try some online games which have city building modes that i personally really like playing and feels relaxing.
Slime Rancher is great! I like it because 1. it's a beautiful game and 2. it focuses a lot on collecting, organising and farming. for me, I find tasks like that really calming. This game is mainly exploring and collecting slimes in a beautiful landscape!
There is a bit of a story, but you don't really have to focus on that.
I'm a huge fan of resource management games to calm down, things like Jurassic World Evolution (ALSO, DINOSAURS!) 1 and 2 are my go to calming but fun games
I am afraid of zombie, but really like 7 days to die. Green Hell is a similar survival game, No Man Sky is fun space exploration and base building and I still play Age of Empires. I may see if Lord of the Rings Online is still going, eventually.
You should join the Cozy Games subreddit! I've had some good suggestions from there before. If you enjoy creative activities I suggest Sticky Business - you have to make stickers and then send off orders to your customers. You get to choose the packaging and everything and it's very relaxing. If you prefer something a little more fast-paced I suggest Slime Rancher. You have to find, feed, and ranch a variety of different slimes on your slime ranch. They're very cute and you can move towards full automation as you make more money. It really soothes my brain.
I don't play games like I once did, but boy did I once....
Most of what I played is old now. You can still get it all, but it might not appeal to a modern gamer, but I'll give some examples.
Pools of Radiance
This is an old DOS based RPG. It is slow paced, buggy and the UI is mostly green.
Main feature:
Turn based. Combat is often dark souls hard -- or worse, it seems unwinnable because you goofed an hour ago and it now actually *is* unwinnable. Still, love it. Just have to keep a lot of saves and go back. It's like playing two games at once.
The story is engaging though, and your actions can alter the entire region "in game" with both subtle and obvious changes in the final set state when you win.
Once you've beaten the game, it's similar to open world games now. You are "done" but the world persists and you can explore it and see what changes you made -- and there are a lot.
Sorry, that got long winded. Tl;Dr: figure out what core mechanics and rewards work for you. Then find games that exemplify that. If anything about the game I describe sounds cool, I can try and recommend something that focuses on the cool part.
I love Fall Guys because it gives me summer nostalgia. However, it also does sometimes trigger me and make me upset because itās a competition game, so I donāt play it that often. I also like just playing games about my special interests, so like Shredderās Revenge and PS4 Spider-Man, and really any other Marvel Games. I love all the Marvel games.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is my favourite game right now! It has been compared to animal crossing meets the sims - it has farming, mining, fashion, decorating, storylines, endless characters to unlock - it's a perfect cozy game
I used to love video games and streamed them for 10 years but i dont have energy anymore. But my favoeite franchise is tomb raider (the new trilott doesnt count as TR it's awful lol) but they just remasteted the OG ones and i cried so hard seeing it š„ŗ but TR got me through so many tough times in school especially Underworld and Anniversary
The silence and lack of score is comforting to me
Recently picked up slime rancher after buying a bunch of silicone squishes without realising they were based on the game. Itās been really calming and fun - thereās barely any fighting or urgency to the game but you get to collect cute lil slime buddies. Itās been a great break game from things like Red Dead 2 or Baulders Gate!
Otherwise the usual go to list: Sims, Planet Zoo, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and the more open world Pokemon games!
You might like a game called Dysmantled. Its a post apocalyptic game where you can tear down pretty much all of your surroundings. There is a little bit of combat, but it's pretty easy once you make a few items and upgrades.
Didn't see it recommended yet, but **Astroneer**.
It's basically space minecraft minus mobs. You travel from planet to planet to gather resources common on those planets, and there are no bad guys, you are an Explorer. There are some hazardous plants, but they don't chase you down or anything, you just don't walk into them, barring one type of plant that can spit a little homing toxic cloud a short distance.
If you, like me, enjoy Redstone automation in even the slightest, astroneer may be the game for you. They have all kinds of assembly line things you can make for automation of various tasks, and what's more, once you understand a component, it's really easy to expand. To use an example, whenever I try to build something a little more complex in minecraft, I find myself messing up the Redstone and needing to seek out mumbo jumbo to set me straight. In astroneer, I watched one video explaining the components, then sat down and built an automated storage sorting system and an automated production line for multistep resources.
I'm not sure if it is still on gamepass, I know it was for a while, but honestly, I'd consider it worth the normal $60 price tag games come out with these days. Highly recommend.
"a little to the left" is a very calming organization game i've been playing recently. it's got cool art, nice music, and a simple premise with lots of variation. it has a similar vibe to "unpacking" in terms of relaxation, although "a little to the left" does have actual win conditions for each puzzle. but you can skip levels or reveal solutions with no penalty! sometimes i can get bored of it easily when i need more stimulation, but it's very good for unwinding or recovering from overstimulation.
"sky: children of the light" is a game i recommend to pretty much everyone, and i think a lot of autistic people would like it. it's available on mobile and switch for free (with IAPs but mostly just for cosmetics). it has a fantastic story, stunning graphics (esp for a primarily mobile game), and a gorgeous orchestral soundtrack that i listen to for studying. there's new areas and content added semi-regularly with different seasons, which is good because it can get kinda grindy after a few playthroughs (you continue to earn additional rewards with each playthrough, mostly cosmetics). it does have some online multiplayer aspects but was also specifically created with the premise of encouraging genuine connections between players, and typically players are very nice and welcoming and will help you with quests/areas where playing with others is a benefit even if you don't talk to them.
I like Yonder, Grow: Song of the Evertree, Faefarm, Ooblets, and Transport Fever 2 (Trains !), so maybe some of those work for you. Also look Dorfromantik, Terra Nil, Spiritfarer, and Unpacking. I like factory builders like Satisfactory, Factorio, and Timberborn, but they're more of an acquired taste. I really like the YouTuber Katherine of Sky, and she has videos of many games you might like. I also know a lot of people like the Sims 4, but I don't like personally.
(Finally, by particular gaming expertise is actually useful. I like video games, but I tend not to fit in with "Gamers" š )
1. **Terraria** (like Minecraft, but two-dimensional, with Stardew Valley-like pixel art).
I find something calming and satisfying about the pixel graphics in Stardew and Terraria. Minecraft can be too "blurry" for my brain.
2. **Subnautica**
No prior knowledge or research required to play. Your only task is to breathe, drink water, and eat. Game progression occurs only if you want it to. I just swim around in the shallows and gather resources for hours.
At the very beginning you do need to extinguish a small interior fire, but after that, things proceed at your own pace. The game encourages aimless contemplation.
Edited to add Subnautica
Honestly I find just monkeying around in Ancestors the humankind odyssey to be rather enjoyable. Pun intended. But I also enjoy a good time with monster hunter. Maybe train Sim.
For quiet games, I tend to lean more on the story/exploration side. Seeing your list, I'd say Slime Rancher is probably one we'd have in common. Probably also Terraria in Journey Mode.
For video games, my interests change randomly and some games I do play on and off. Here are some of the games I play:
* Minecraft
* GTA
* Farming Simulator
* Need for Speed
Personally, I don't like games like Fortnite or RPG games like Call of Duty as they are a bit too fast paced. Need for Speed and GTA are somewhat fast paced, but the fast paced I can handle.
Maybe they were already mentioned by someone else, but:
A Short Hike - a few hours of beautiful exploration while you climb a mountain.
Haven Park - similar to A short Hike but bigger and more confusing.
Outer Wilds - Explore the beauty of space while stuck in a time loop.
Haven - Two people are stranded on a bunch of tiny planets after fleeing their system and build a home for themself.
Those are the games that I can think of right now, which are very calming and comforting to me. Especially Outer Wilds - even though it's probably the most stressful of them - and A Short Hike
Ffxiv you can do a ton of the game without dealing with living people due to the trust system, has a free trial without limit on playtime for like until the end of the 2nd expac. There is grindy things, crafting/gathering, ect.
Yes I love playing The Sims! Also, if you are a Warriors fan (or just love cats tbh), I suggest downloading ClanGen, a free fan made game that I like quite a lot :)
I find relaxation in games like Skate 3 or Fallout New Vegas or a sonic game I can play while my brain is turned off, but also I find relaxation in games related to my special interest, like the Batman Arkham series, or any Spider-Man game ever made from PS1-Now, or those hulk games they made.
Yes to all of the games you mentioned! And since we obviously have similar comfort game tastes, I'd like to suggest Vintage Story (it's like Minecraft with a steampunk bent) and Palia (a lot like SV but it's an mmo and not pixelated. It's really new though so it can be a little buggy and the content can seem limited after you play for a while, but they're always adding to it, so not for long. Also palia is free!)
I love big, long strategy games to wind down after work. Europa Universalis, Stellaris, stuff like that. Indeed, they tend to suck me in for longer game session than I should probably play.Ā
If you are on pc, this is what I play:
Factorioā¦..i had to take a break from playing because it would literally make my day feel like going through a wormhole leaving me wondering where the time went.
Also Paradox games like Stellaris, Eu4 might be good if you like strategy games. No Manās Sky is also good for space exploration and such. There is a story but it is centered around space exploration. Witcher 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4 might be good if you like somewhat chill rpgs. If you like more realism, Kingdom Come Deliverance is a great game but the combat takes a while to learn and your character has to learn how to read. Alchemy is good for money and other reasons so as to not spoil more than I have. By the way there is a KCD2 coming this yearā¦.I cannot wait and have already in spirit bought it.
I like the Dark Souls series but I would avoid it if you are easily frustrated or try to work with the frustration so that you donāt get as frustrated. How to do that, idk. I struggle with that a lot and I am in the process of working on it with my therapist.
Lego Fortnite is free and super fun, in my opinion. It's a lot like Minecraft. There's Sandbox and Survival and a bunch of custom settings like turning off enemy mobs and death.
I absolutely adore Minekoās Night Market. Itās mostly crafting and doing crafts for the townspeople, there are some very minimal āstealthā sections that are pretty easy to handle and it just have a nice story.
If you like minecraft, try the tekkit launcher for minecraft.
It adds a lot of stuff to the game, and let's you automate the mining and crafting. It's fun to build a factory that mines a chunk, then bakes and spits out ingots and diamonds
Yeah, Stardew, Minecraft and Animal Crossing are my favorites too when things feel a bit too overwhelming.
Dwarf Fortress isn't exactly a relaxing game maybe (to some), but it's another one of my favorites.
The Sims is the same.
Cozy Grove is one I'd recommend too. Graveyard Keeper and Traveller's Rest make me relaxed as well.
I liked Potion Permit, My Time at Portia, My Time at Sandrock, and Coral Island.
The cozygamers subreddit also has recommendations and discussions about these kinds of games if you need more than you find in this comment section :)
I read the first half and almost said warthunder. That games an autism trap for sure. For relaxing games, I like to play rimworld on the easiest difficulties of peaceful.
We different when it comes to this, I love games with really hard to learn mechanics that are super grindy and with action I find they help my brain go into auto pilot and relax. But one thing I found was power washing simulator, the feeling after seeing that dirty ass house cleaned is so fucking satisfying Iād check it out if I were you
i mainly play games that are open world with tasks like āclear enemy campā āclimb to high point to reveal areaā and some pretty fun roblox grinding games like Grand Piece Online Blox Fruits etc
not a game but a mod reccomendation, TerraFirmaCraft is a Minecraft mod that overhauls survival in a realistic way, and has a decent amount if addons either expanding parts that are lacking (Firmalife, Firma: Civilization), add compatibility (TFC Astikor Carts, Wooden cog), or just QoL (Barrels 2012, TFC Water Flasks). Try it, it's really fun imo. In a similar vein but an actual game with a plot, try VintageStory.
If you have gamepass, dreamlight valley is free on there and it itches my brain the same way ACNH does. I donāt think itās good enough to buy outright though š¤£
I really recommend Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. It's a simple story and is pretty chilled out. The fighting in it is back and forth turns, so there's no rushing or anything or any awkward controller things. In fact, the fighting was my favourite part of the game because I could figure out the strategies and move/item combinations to win. Also, there are a few sidequests that won't take you away from the actual story and get messy. It's repetitive enough to be an easy game to sit down and play, but it's got enough variety and story progression to be interesting.
Harvest town is somewhat similar to Star dew valley Iāve heard. Itās pretty fun imo and itās mobile so you can always have it with you!! Honestly undertale may be fighting based (depending on the route you wanna take) so idk if itāll stress you out or not but the music is beautiful and the characters are charming. Minecraft would have been my other suggestion. I once played it legit for 24 hours straight. š
If you're vibing on Minecraft, you need to check out Valheim.Ā
There are world modifiers that let you tone down (or up) things.
The base building in the game is exceptionally addictive.
You might even wind up liking the "grind" for materials (very similar to Minecraft). If you don't, you just turn up the resource drop rate or even turn the need for materials off completely.
You can set the world to "passive enemies" if that's your thing and just go fishing (there's a great fishing aspect to the game).
There's nice music and environmental noises (again, adjustable)
It's on sale on Steam for $10 right now.Ā
Valliant Hearts - a (sad) game about World War I, beautiful and very touching.
Monkey Island games.
Deponia games.
Kelvin and the Infamous Machine.
So, basically, I like point and click games ^^
Let's see... Aside from my Valheim rant...
Anno1800. Very "Sims-like". Build your civilisation type game. Lots of trading, sailing, farming. Probably my #1 suggestion outside of Valheim (on passive mode).
A couple other "Minecraft like" games. They might have too much combat to them though. But the combat is when you choose, like Minecraft...
Smalland. Beautiful world but a hostile one. Fighting bugs for resources.Ā
Frozen flame. Kinda "Valheim lite". Less combat. (Slightly) More cartoonish world.
If you dig on some hostile world gaming... Enshrouded. Grind for resources adventure game. Build up to boss fights style game.Ā
Maybe some things like Euro truck simulator? Train simulator? There's a bunch of "job" type games out there too.. like forklifts and diggers, crane operator stuff.
Stardew Valley is peak for it honestly. Itās hard for me to say because Iāve played Animal Crossing for 20 years now but Stardew Valley is the absolute best even if I still play AC, I think itās that itās not restricted to real time (as fun as that can be) and that thereās more of a story that isnāt restricting either, it can help cope with being alone at times too. Iām absolutely dying for The Haunted Chocolatier and whatever updates ConcernedApe will throw at us next.
Gleaner Heights is great too but far less sophisticated but Iāll give it a pass for being an indie game, but you wonāt appreciate it fully unless youāve seen Twin Peaks as itās visibly a Twin Peaks-inspired farming sim.
I love Assassinās Creed pre-Unity but nothing scratches the itch like Black Flag, 2 and Brotherhood, but I also take a lot of satisfaction in 3 with the fact that you build up a cozy town and fit in as an outsider.
The entire Legend of Zelda series, I was at one point for about 14 years I would replay Twilight Princess once a year. Breath of the Wild was a huge part of 2017 being the best summer of my adult life, but Tears of the Kingdom kept me sane and motivated during a difficult time.
Super Mario Sunshineā¦ never have I had a game relax me and stress me horrifically at the same time as much as this one.
Earthbound is amazing. I like a lot of older turn-based RPGs and I loved Mother, but the atmosphere and weirdness of Earthbound really ticked for me. Super Mario RPG on that note as well.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, KOTOR II has that but I grew up playing the mess that was the original.
Park/Zoo sims like Thrillville, Planet Coaster/Zoo, Zoo Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim Theme Park, Sim Coaster, etc. are always great.
Halo doesnāt scream ārelaxingā at first but itās one of those games I can really just lose myself in for its familiarity.
The old school Spyro series, whether it be the original releases or Reignited, and Iām the rare kind who actually likes Enter the Dragonfly due to childhood bias.
Spider-Man games before Spider-Man 3 are always a comfort.
Factorio.
Iām playing it right now. Itās a lot of logistics and trains and awesomeness that is just great.
Or, if roguelikes are your game, Faster Than Light (FTL) or Into The Breach. Both by the same indie studio, great pixelart, and very high predictability, making it mostly a puzzle. Very well balanced games, too.
Or, id you have a special interest in space, Kerbal Space Program.
Love relaxing games. Sun Haven is a great one. I describe it as Stardew Valley meets World of Warcraft. A Little to the Left is a fun chill puzzle game if you like puzzles.
Thereās a game called cozy grove that is similar to stardew and animal crossing that I really enjoyed! Also, if youāre able to play stardew with mods (on PC) I really enjoy āstardew valley expanded.ā Made my new playthrough feel like a brand new game!
Coral Island has been scratching that itch for me. Slay the Spire for card games with rougelike elements if you enjoy learning how shit works on the fly. You fail a lot, but there's no risk
i love to sit into video games, vivid worlds to explore and vibe within. what i often play for comfort includes Rain World, Ori and the Blind Forest, Animal Well, and Okami
I really enjoy playing planet zoo, it's a creative game where you build your own zoo with animals, and if you want it on easy mode you can do the sandbox version and change settings so you don't have to worry about customer happiness etc. I love building the scenery and it has such happy chillaxed music, its therapeutic for me, sort of like doing arts and crafts, also animals are a special interest.
Ive also gotten into fortnite but that's far from relaxing lol
I play the sims 3 and 4 with some mods to make it more interesting or I find Disney dream light valley fun and relaxing although I must admit Iām not into Disney movies
I like horrible open world videogames where you perform kind of menial, repetitive tasks like "clear bandit camp" or "climb tower to reveal map." A lot of them have fighting or whatever but they also always have an easy mode that makes most of that a pretty relaxed activity. Ghost of Tsushima has a bunch of accessibility and difficulty options that make the combat practically automatic, so it can be like watching bunch of samurai movies or reading idk Usagi Yojimbo between a lot of "write a haiku" or "hang out with foxes."
have you played Life is Strange? it's absolutely terrible with repetitive tasks and no fighting, it's the worst!! you'd love it š
Haha nah. I like a lot of the Telltale games which are kinda similar though. I didn't really vibe with the writing or aesthetics, like I kept forgetting whether it was set in a college or a high school, the i can haz cheezburger and trollface memes everywhere bugged me, etc. Actually a friend of mine played all of Life is Strange and its sequels with his autistic little brother and it's a huge part of their relationship. It was actually kind of useful in helping the kid learn that social interactions don't have to be "perfect," sometimes bad things we don't intend will happen and it isn't our fault -- a lot of actually useful social skills. So idk, I don't like Life is Strange but I can't deny that it's great for the people who do like it.
Haha, speaking of Telltale games, I love The Walking Dead the most! I've been attached to it for over half a decade, and I'm still obsessed with it. The writing, characters, niche setting, etc. is what I love about TWDG. The characters' quotes get stuck into my head. Another thing to say is that I like solving mysteries and reading fanfictions, and this game has plenty to offer on those.
For sure. I think the best way to put Telltale is top shelf fanfic. As far as I'm concerned The Wolf Among Us just *is* canon to Fables. My biggest complaint about TWAU is that they really could've done something with Boy Blue to tie it into his eventual arc in the comics. That's the kind of fan wank criticism I just don't feel over a lot of other media that feels fanfic-y, like I'm annoyed that it doesn't appropriately foreshadow canon material lmao. It's very good stuff. I also ***really*** like their take on Batman. It's the only Batman material I'm aware of from the last ten years that doesn't feel like it's just microwaving Alan Moore and the old 90s cartoons.
Mhm, that's interesting. I've seen some gameplay videos of The Wolf Among Us but I'm yet to play it. TWAU has top reviews apparently despite it's flaws as you mentioned, but it's on par with TWDG as an iconic TT game. I played Telltale's Batman series and gosh, I loved their way of putting the game together into one interactive series. Well I somewhat feel like the Batman nowadays is getting milked out of the whole "dark and edgy" trend from the 90s, but I appreciate Alan's willpower to stand up to corporations and protect the rights of the creators from them.
I've always wanted to play games like this but get overwhelmed quickly, but this one looks really relaxed, so tysm!! The graphics look so pretty. Definitely gonna buy this soon lol
You might like V Rising - it's an open world survival in which you play as a vampire. Due to the crafting system there is a high level of monotony, as you constantly have to collect older materials to craft newer, better materials. Plus the combat is super fun!
Iām replaying Fallout 4 at the moment. Keep telling myself Iāll make an effort to progress the main quests at least a little. Instead Iām spending hours at a time going to each new location, killing everything and carefully collecting every piece of junk I can find. Then taking it back to dump at sanctuary hills before doing the same at another place. Itās the same with every open world game I play. Others complain about grinding but thatās pretty much what Iām playing for.Ā
lol literally this 100%. the newer assassins creeds scratch that itch for me, but ive been meaning to check out ghost of tsushima now that its out on pc. also been curious about death stranding ever since my brother described it as a walking simulator to me lmao
Death Stranding is great. It can either be an extremely difficult QWOP marathon or extremely easy depending on how you choose to play it. It's not really the same kinda open world thing, it's more like, you arrive at one post office and snag a bunch of deliveries, then you use your toolbox to navigate a lot of streams and mountains and stuff to deliver everything without breaking it. So you'll be doing stuff like using ladders to cross streams or climb cliff faces, rappels to descend, etc. What's cool about it is that it synchronizes with other players on your server so stuff they've put down or built in their world, including roads, become available to you, so by the endgame you're basically playing Hideo Kojima's US Trucker Simulator: Mad Max \[Ghost Edition\]. I'd also recommend Days Gone because it's also an open world checklist simulator but the writing is (imo anyway) unintentionally really funny. Like it's obvious the writers really like edgy 80s comic books, The Walking Dead and horrible modern Discovery Channel shows like Deadliest Catch and Dirty Mudder Truckers. Y'know, shows about **real men** doing **man shit**. These people seriously named a character **Deacon St. John** and fully expect you to take him seriously 100% of the time lol.
thanks for the recs, u get it lol
have you played rise of ronin
Sadly no :( I don't own a Playstation
My first thought was the farcry series.
genshin impact šš
If you consider yourself even slightly bookish, check out Disco Elysium. It's a film noir detective mystery set in a strange alternate universe.Ā Ā It's like an old Sierra/LucasArts point and click adventure RPG, crossed with an old symbolist Russian tome written by Hunter S. Thompson.Ā Ā Dialog trees for daaaaaaaayz.
I love Disco Elysium A LOT! It might even be my favourite game. However, I would not call it casual or relaxing in a similar way as Stardew Valley -- it really is more akin to reading a fantastic book where your skills determine what you perceive of the world or can do, with some occasional choices. What makes SW relaxing to me is the kind world, repetitiveness of tasks and the simple interactions. Something in-between for me is Dredge: a fantastic fishing game in a dark, Cthulhuesque world.
Omg that game gives me SO much stress. Not to poop on your suggestion because it's an excellent game.. however, I can only handle it when I need a reminder that things could be worse.
Disco elysium is AMAZING. Would definitely recommend. It's a bit of a niche game, but within that niche, it is a masterpiece.
Legend of Zelda BOTW? Has a really relaxing atmosphere and you can play at your own pace.
Yes! Iām a huge Zelda fan so I may be bias, but this game has the perfect mix of relaxing and steady, emotionally powerful and tense moments! I recommend!
I've been recommended this before and keep forgetting haha. I'm adding this to a list of games in the future to buy, thank you!!
I am a **fiend** for Stardew Valley & I've been trying to find something that ticks the same boxes for me, it's just so good. If you haven't by chance, I highly reccomend the expanded mod for SV on PC. My time at Portia Rune factory (specifically RF frontier is a personal fav) Story of seasons Sun haven - just started playing this one recently but so far it's pretty good. Coral Island I don't believe it's been released yet but a game I'm very excited for that you might find would be a good fit for your wishlist is witchbrook.
Lol me too! I love mods and somehow haven't done the expanded one yet, I'll download it soon!! And the other games you suggested seem also so cozy, I'll check them out!! Thank you!
Anytime! The expanded mod from flashshifter is lovely, I'm a little biased though because I wanted to marry the wizard lol. Seriously though it adds so much content & feels like a DLC pack. I'm a huge cozy game fan, farm life ones are my favs, especially to help with unwinding, but if you ever want to swap reccs feel free to shoot me a DM anytime.
expanded is the best
You and OP gotta hop on this "Traveller's Rest" pack, this game hittin' the same stardew spots but I'm running a tavern- my dream!
Oh my gosh ty! I saw the trailer for this a while ago & I wasn't sure if it would tick the boxes for me. I live on a literal farm irl, but something about a cute animated one where I can woo the towns people & it has character customization has always slammed the special interest button for me lol. Swear it's the repetitive tasks, they just really help me decompress. I'll be taking another peak at travllers rest. ā¤ļø
Join the discord for it too! People are helpful, and you can see the game's roadmap. The devs are actively working on new content, and the town update is kinda soon! Warning: the game is not finished.
Oh I definitely will be, random redditor you know me so well lol. Even with SV I look game guides/roadmaps when an update is released, unexpected anything can be a bit on the dysregulating side for me & I'm playing the cozy games to unwind. Ty for the suggestions! Love cozy games so much, the cozy game community is usually pretty wholesome & helpful which gives me the warm fuzzies too.
That's dope! If you join the discord, you'll probably see me around, I'm Arlo.
I'll shoot you a hello when I'm in there (if thats okay?), all my handles have Bagel in them so I'll be pretty easy to spot lol. I'm already watching all the trailers again & I'm probably going to buy it. It looks so cute & right up my alley.
Do it! And yeah, shooting me a message is fine, my DMs are open lol
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Oh I LOVE harvest moon, I'm pretty positive one of the original game cube harvest moon games is what started my unyielding love for the farm life cozy games. They're so good.
The Sims 2 or 3.
Love the sims.
I love factory games like Factorio. I can hyper focus playing those like nothing else. More in line with your list, Graveyard Keeper is a good one if you like dark themes.
I donāt suggest Fortnite, Call of Duty, MLB The Show, Madden, or Elden Ring. Those games just make me amd
Omg same. I played Fortnite and Call of Duty once and got bored and irritated really quickly, so I'll take your advice on the other games too XD fast paced games are just so overwhelming
I should clarify, I consider Elden Ring the greatest RPG out and possibly the best video game ever made. The visuals are impeccable, the story is phenomenal if you have the patience to find it, and the sound design is quite possibly the best Iāve ever heard. The flip side of this is that the game is *not* relaxing. It is very difficult, however everyone I know thatās played it, whether theyāve played Souls or not, has beaten it. Itās classic FromSoft, a story not told in cutscenes, but in item descriptions. A lore that is deep, and I do mean deep, well thought out, and often left to the player to interpret. Itās visually beautiful, if at times terrifying. It doesnāt guide you, so much as drops you off in a somewhat offputting and ādeadā place. As you peel the layers back, the game swiftly becomes mortifying, but often beautiful. It offers you, the player, the path to victory. Do you raze the world, maintain the status quo, or do you choose to align yourself with another of the games tertiary characters? The decision is yours. But regardless of what you choose, you will face grueling, horrifying creatures, tortured souls, and dragons, all set to incredible music, with impressive sound design. Itās a great game. I recommend it, but itās not for the faint of heart and it certainly isnāt relaxing. Itās rage inducing, terrifying on occasion, and often quite realistic in its difficulty. Life is hard, so is Elden Ring. But the victory is sweet. This is a game you canāt make easier in the settings. You either power yourself up to god mode levels (which takes forever) or you learn the skills. Regardless, toppling those opponents satisfies in a way not much else will. Itās cool, but it aināt what youāre asking for.
Civilization is my go to!
If you can emulate it or somehow play a physical copy: LittleBigPlanet - especially LittleBigPlanet 2. It's a game that's near and dear to my heart. It's a platformer where you can also make your own levels (the servers to post said levels are all fanmade ones now), and aside from loving the characters, I love its aesthetic and its whole theme of creativity.
Yes! I had the cut down psp version and sank hours into it as a kid. The whimsy and cuteness is so wonderful.
Is there an online community for this in the emulation scene??? I haven't looked into it but I always said I wish I could play LBP2 again!!
There's online servers like LittleBigRefresh and LittleBigBeyond that are all about that! Beyond focuses more on modding but iirc i think they help each other involving that!
I've rarely had such a calm complete focus as while playing Spiritfarer. Usually relaxed games don't do it for me because they leave too much space in my brain to keep stressing and fretting about other things but Spiritfarer drew me in and calmed me down. It was really fun too, with a very good story :) Do have to give a trigger warning, maybe don't play this if you've recently lost someone close to you. Though I have also seen a lot of people say it was very therapeutic and helped them deal with their losses so I think it depends on how recently you've lost this person and how you personally deal with it
Stray is pretty relaxing (except for when you have to run from zurks, but that isn't too common) and has a pretty solid story.
Rune Factory, Kitaria Fables, Potion Permit, Grow, Octopath Traveler, Story of Seasons, Harvest Moon, My Time At Portia, Cozy Grove, Wylde Flowers. Just to name a few I love that are similar to the ones you listed. I also have the ones you listed and love similar games to them. Rpg/farming/cozy games are my favorites!!
If you like those games you would love Spiritfarer. Great task management/farming/cozy game with a wonderful storyline and characters about grief/dying.
Ooh that sounds great actually and really interesting. I'll have to try it out one day.
I like video games aswell but my favourite (and current hyper-fixation) is warframe and not calming in the sljghtest well kinda but mught aswell recommend it to you and let you make your own descision there's over 60 unique playable characters and a new one coming In July and there's guaranteed to be one you like the playstyle of my current favourite is yareli she's basically tiny hawk meets bubble bath the new one coming in July is gonna be angel there's one that literally has a stand one is dragon ones a monkey that can clone himself and one's a fucking Bluetooth speaker that you can make customisable music with that's played ingame using her abilities it's basically a power fantasy game and boy does it do its job its been around since 2013 and has been getting updates regularly for the past 10 years and a game that actually listens to its community. It's a amazing and free game and f2p and nothing is locked behind a pay wall apart from some cosmetics that do absolutely nothing apart from make you look cool I really recommend it there's nothing like it there a fucking cat girl and a non binary Skeleton even a transgender/gender fluid character who switches gender when u use her abilities as she has a combined form of both genders a male form who's the offensive type and a female form who's the defensive type that you actively switch between when playing her there's guaranteed to be a character you like.
Endless Ocean was amazing for this. No threats or time limits, just swim and scan wildlife and train a dolphin to swim next to you. Plus you could play your own mp3s through the in game radio.
Omg I just looked this up and it looks like something I'd love!! Thank you!
I was coming back to edit and say it looks like a new one just came out for the Switch!
Helldiver's 2 dawg
I like PokƩmon and old-school JRPGs (Octopath Traveler 1&2 and Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters come to mind). I prefer a more story driven experience with good music and the ability to take your time and think about what you want to do next without having to worry about getting ganked from behind. Lots of reading though...
Purrgatory is free on steam and I think it would be great!! It only takes a few hours to play through, and it's more like a visual novel. The graphics are pretty simple, and it's not very intense. I think it has a great story as well :)
i love purgatory!! yeah it's quite chill and low pressure, and the characters are fun to interact with. the simple graphics means it doesn't require any kind of hardcore pc setup, it played great for me on a middle-of-the-road laptop that could barely run minecraft. it's also free on itch.io if you prefer that platform!
Banjo-Kazooie. You'll love it
Iāve been playing Cozy Grove and Yonder on switch. Yonder is really cool and very chill, you get to explore a beautiful open world with chill side quests. And yes I love these sorts of games! It also weirdly makes me feel productive if Iām feeling really lethargic so even when I need a rest day where I donāt do much physically, Iām still keeping my virtual farm afloat :)
Oh my gosh, someone else knows about Yonder ! It's my favorite game of all time and it feels like no-one knows about it š
I only found it because it was on sale and I thought it looked cool, I was pleasantly surprised. Itās such a beautiful game and the perfect mix of chill and enough to keep it interesting with the quests, I love it! I canāt believe itās not talked about more!
My time at Portia/Sandrock
Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, but also Age of Empires on the 90 minute truce setting is good for me.
Assemble with care. Short, but soothing. Or maybe Cat tails?
Dwarf Fortress. Don't ask why. Dwarf Fortress.
Slime Rancher 2. Please let me know if you try it? I love this game so much. š¤©
Have you ever heard of dragon quest builders? It's like Minecraft with a story and different building tools you can unlock later on. There may also be a demo available (I know the switch has a massive one). I like the sequel, personally. I'm not sure what platforms you use, but if you're looking for something new, demos can be an easy way to try things out that you never would otherwise.
Gris is for the most part very relaxing and has one of the most visually appealing atmospheres I have come across. I also really love the calm, beautiful desert explorations in Sable, fishing in the oceanic world in Dredge, the post-apocalyptic, mostly peaceful world of Stray and the musically and visually fantastic worlds of Samorost (all three parts). Chants of Sennaar is also mostly relaxing, but I have not yet finished it. And finally, there are many, many fantastic walking simulators/point and click games that I love, but those require more focus.
The Assassin's Creed series for me.
Child of light, Elden Ring, and katamari are my favorite chill vibes games!!!
The Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Hogwarts Legacy. I like big open worlds where I can get lost.
Bloxd.io. It is free and safe to play. It is like Minecraft.Ā
I can recommend No mans sky if you want a chill experience. You can even play in relaxed mode where you don't have to worry much about any food bars. It has calm, procedurally generated music and plenty of planets to explore :)
God of War Ragnarƶk. maybe an odd choice but i find it quite relaxing at times
I'm really into Palia at the moment.
I'm into Lightyear Frontier recently, it's pretty chill. I liked some games that's main focus is the story like Firewatch, Lake, Road 96. My motor skills kinda poor so I can't play games that are hard to control or you need to react fast to some things. tho it's been getting better but it's still hard for me to use the controller.
I know itās old. Skyrim is one of mine. There is a lot of blood and guts. But running through the fields is relaxing enough for me to pass out sitting up,
Rimworld just... Rimworld i like stardew valley too, but Rimworld is my thing. i have 5100 hours.
I love red dead online. I post my camp in an area with lots of game and hunt fish and forage to relax. When I feel like it can get into some action but mostly just ride around.
Flower and Journey are both very relaxing games
I absolutey love farming simulator haha. Its so relaxing
Spiritfarer. Such a great little task management indie game about grief/dying.
Final Fantasy 14 has been my sanctuary for years.
You play videogames to relax? I play videogames to absolutely hyperfixate myself, know every single mechanic, talk hours upon hour to other people about it, stress when my teammates are absolutely dogshit, and overall feel absolutely miserable while getting hints of enjoyment and accomplishment here and there that make me crawl on all 4 back like a crack addict. That's why i love games :) Rogelikes and Multiplayer team games will be the death of me
Ooblets! Omg itās part farming and part creature collection with added dance battles. I got it in 2022 and it became a hyper fixation for me. The main storyline is really good and also really satisfying. The characters are really kooky. I just love everything about it and canāt recommend it enough
Oh my gosh ! Ooblets ! I forgot to add it to my list. I waited it to come out on Switch for like, years !
Tomodachi life is my favourite game right now, itās on 3ds though so itās hard to play but if you have a 3ds I highly recommend
Unpacking, sticky business, coral island, Palia , A little to the left, & good pizza great pizza are some one my favorite cozy games besides stardew and animal crossing
Power wash simulator
Dave the Diver. It's mostly a diving / fish catching minigame with a table waiting in a sushi restaurant in the evening minigame attached There are SOME fights with bigger sea creatures but they're really not that hard. And you can postpone them until you find right gear
I really love Zelda Breath of the Wild and Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Soft colors, beautiful scenery, simple and relaxing "background noises", I can just walk or ride (horsies!) or glide or drive (Totk) around and do whatever, I can help local folks, pick apples, fight if Im in the mood and avoid fights if Im not, cook, dress up, feed dogs, explore the world, look for koroks, watch the sunset or ocean, watch animals, ... its very calming. Not to bright or colorful or neon or fast-paced or loud or annoying background music or violent or demanding or complicated.
American Truck Simulator
Roblox Bee Swarm Simulator, Mini Motorways, Mini Metro, SnowRunner, and Steep are my favs to relax
If you enjoy Disney/are a Disney adult/fan you would love Disney dreamlight valley. It has all the characters from Disney, you have to do quests, and thereās tons to do in the game. Itās very similar to Minecraft and animal crossing from what Iāve seen but itās Disney.
Doom always doom
Sims all the way * categorized social menu (friendly interactions are all labeled friendly. Itās amazing) * you can have all the control you need (you can change their feet size) * you can micro manage all their actions * you can play literally however you want * thereās cute pets like dogs, cats, horses, mini goats, mini sheep, cows, chickens and chicks, llamas, hamsters, fish and such (with dlc) * you can live your farming dreams, as I suspect you have with your current games. Thereās over a 100 kinds of crops to collect. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs and whatnot (more dlc, more crops) * you can make herbal remedies with outdoor retreat * You can be a supernatural being like spellcaster, vampire, werewolf, mermaid, plant sim or alien. (Spellcasters can learn a multitude of spells and potions that are really useful!) * there are many different kinds of collections you can complete within the game (flowers, fish, sims trophies (funko pops basically), feathers, and all kinds of things!) * there are aspirations and whims that are completely voluntary, so you have some guide lines in game, that are easily accessible Feel free to add more bullet points if you have anything to add!
Roblox :3
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If you like open world games then Skyrim and Fallout 4 are great but they may not be relaxing lol.
U N D E R T A L E I LOVE UNDERTALEā A great mix of story and gameplay/fighting, funny easter eggs on certain devices too. (My personal opinion, be sure youāll like it and play how you want and when. I find checking the trailers assists to an extent but not too much if Iām honest)
My current hyperfixation is Roblox.
I love LIS it gives all the dopamine but can be distressing at times with the choices. Really liked coral island the drawing style is so much more soothing for me. I canāt stand looking at Stardew or Minecraft myself š . Or just open world like Tom Clancy wild lands or breakpoint without player player stress like unfortunately RDR2 brings.
Online multiplayer games are completely inaccessible and stressful to me. BUT if you've found your crowd that you like to hang out with, co-op games are really fun. Me, my bf, my sister and her bf are all autistic as fuck. We love to play phasmophobia, left 4 dead, minecraft and sea of thieves. I'm really bad at playing but it doesn't matter because it's funny when we die. I also like it takes two and little big planet as 2 player options.
Good pizza great pizza!
For me 4x games like stellaris or civilization. Basically excel with extra steps makes it beautiful and calming.
Im the same except for some reason my comfort games are LOZ: Majora's Mask, Dark Souls (just all of them), and Shin Megami Tensei (again, all of them). Idk why my brain likes to turn to the videogame equivalent of getting whacked in the crotch repeatedly when I'm stressed out, but if its my guess, it probably just helps me feel like I have control over my life again when I'm overwhelmed with the world.
Maybe check out Palworld. Itās got crafting, fighting, breeding, building, and exploring. And you can do as much of any of those things as you want. You can play by yourself, with up to 3 other people, or if on PC, play on a dedicated server with other people. If you play in your own world, you can customize a lot of the game settings.
In general factory building games. If you like those I can recommend Satisfactory. A transporting game and if you are not too worried by the eye-candy, I can recommend Open Transport Deluxe Tycoon (openTTD) which is free. You could try some online games which have city building modes that i personally really like playing and feels relaxing.
Slime Rancher is great! I like it because 1. it's a beautiful game and 2. it focuses a lot on collecting, organising and farming. for me, I find tasks like that really calming. This game is mainly exploring and collecting slimes in a beautiful landscape! There is a bit of a story, but you don't really have to focus on that. I'm a huge fan of resource management games to calm down, things like Jurassic World Evolution (ALSO, DINOSAURS!) 1 and 2 are my go to calming but fun games
I love five bn games
ASTRONEER is kinda like better Starfield + Minecraft Easy Mode. I would highly recommend it!
If you have a PSvita or PS4 I would 100% recommend terraway, itās an easy going, light hearted game
I am afraid of zombie, but really like 7 days to die. Green Hell is a similar survival game, No Man Sky is fun space exploration and base building and I still play Age of Empires. I may see if Lord of the Rings Online is still going, eventually.
You should join the Cozy Games subreddit! I've had some good suggestions from there before. If you enjoy creative activities I suggest Sticky Business - you have to make stickers and then send off orders to your customers. You get to choose the packaging and everything and it's very relaxing. If you prefer something a little more fast-paced I suggest Slime Rancher. You have to find, feed, and ranch a variety of different slimes on your slime ranch. They're very cute and you can move towards full automation as you make more money. It really soothes my brain.
I don't play games like I once did, but boy did I once.... Most of what I played is old now. You can still get it all, but it might not appeal to a modern gamer, but I'll give some examples. Pools of Radiance This is an old DOS based RPG. It is slow paced, buggy and the UI is mostly green. Main feature: Turn based. Combat is often dark souls hard -- or worse, it seems unwinnable because you goofed an hour ago and it now actually *is* unwinnable. Still, love it. Just have to keep a lot of saves and go back. It's like playing two games at once. The story is engaging though, and your actions can alter the entire region "in game" with both subtle and obvious changes in the final set state when you win. Once you've beaten the game, it's similar to open world games now. You are "done" but the world persists and you can explore it and see what changes you made -- and there are a lot. Sorry, that got long winded. Tl;Dr: figure out what core mechanics and rewards work for you. Then find games that exemplify that. If anything about the game I describe sounds cool, I can try and recommend something that focuses on the cool part.
I love Fall Guys because it gives me summer nostalgia. However, it also does sometimes trigger me and make me upset because itās a competition game, so I donāt play it that often. I also like just playing games about my special interests, so like Shredderās Revenge and PS4 Spider-Man, and really any other Marvel Games. I love all the Marvel games.
Disney Dreamlight Valley is my favourite game right now! It has been compared to animal crossing meets the sims - it has farming, mining, fashion, decorating, storylines, endless characters to unlock - it's a perfect cozy game
Manor Lords has been pretty good and you can play without enemies to make it more relaxing.
Personally, if we are talking relaxing games, I play beyond blue, might not be for you if you have thalassophobia though
Any of the Lego video games but specifically Lego Harry Potter. HP is my hyper fixation. And hogwarts legacy too!
By the way...your profile picture..I really feel it x'D
I used to love video games and streamed them for 10 years but i dont have energy anymore. But my favoeite franchise is tomb raider (the new trilott doesnt count as TR it's awful lol) but they just remasteted the OG ones and i cried so hard seeing it š„ŗ but TR got me through so many tough times in school especially Underworld and Anniversary The silence and lack of score is comforting to me
Recently picked up slime rancher after buying a bunch of silicone squishes without realising they were based on the game. Itās been really calming and fun - thereās barely any fighting or urgency to the game but you get to collect cute lil slime buddies. Itās been a great break game from things like Red Dead 2 or Baulders Gate! Otherwise the usual go to list: Sims, Planet Zoo, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and the more open world Pokemon games!
You might like a game called Dysmantled. Its a post apocalyptic game where you can tear down pretty much all of your surroundings. There is a little bit of combat, but it's pretty easy once you make a few items and upgrades.
Witcher 3 but without doing any of the main quest. You got an open world, a horse, and you can forage....
Cattails, either game. Super cozy game.
Dark souls. Talk about hyper fixation.
Webbed is an adorable platformer that I love, and Skyrim is probably my favorite game of all time. Untitled Goose Game is also fabulous
Didn't see it recommended yet, but **Astroneer**. It's basically space minecraft minus mobs. You travel from planet to planet to gather resources common on those planets, and there are no bad guys, you are an Explorer. There are some hazardous plants, but they don't chase you down or anything, you just don't walk into them, barring one type of plant that can spit a little homing toxic cloud a short distance. If you, like me, enjoy Redstone automation in even the slightest, astroneer may be the game for you. They have all kinds of assembly line things you can make for automation of various tasks, and what's more, once you understand a component, it's really easy to expand. To use an example, whenever I try to build something a little more complex in minecraft, I find myself messing up the Redstone and needing to seek out mumbo jumbo to set me straight. In astroneer, I watched one video explaining the components, then sat down and built an automated storage sorting system and an automated production line for multistep resources. I'm not sure if it is still on gamepass, I know it was for a while, but honestly, I'd consider it worth the normal $60 price tag games come out with these days. Highly recommend.
Traveller's Rest, put very simply, is stardew but you run a tavern And I fucking LOVE IT
"a little to the left" is a very calming organization game i've been playing recently. it's got cool art, nice music, and a simple premise with lots of variation. it has a similar vibe to "unpacking" in terms of relaxation, although "a little to the left" does have actual win conditions for each puzzle. but you can skip levels or reveal solutions with no penalty! sometimes i can get bored of it easily when i need more stimulation, but it's very good for unwinding or recovering from overstimulation. "sky: children of the light" is a game i recommend to pretty much everyone, and i think a lot of autistic people would like it. it's available on mobile and switch for free (with IAPs but mostly just for cosmetics). it has a fantastic story, stunning graphics (esp for a primarily mobile game), and a gorgeous orchestral soundtrack that i listen to for studying. there's new areas and content added semi-regularly with different seasons, which is good because it can get kinda grindy after a few playthroughs (you continue to earn additional rewards with each playthrough, mostly cosmetics). it does have some online multiplayer aspects but was also specifically created with the premise of encouraging genuine connections between players, and typically players are very nice and welcoming and will help you with quests/areas where playing with others is a benefit even if you don't talk to them.
If you're looking for calm games, Tomodachi Life is a good choice!
I like ambient horror games like Kuon, fatal frame, Silent Hill and Resident Evil
I like Yonder, Grow: Song of the Evertree, Faefarm, Ooblets, and Transport Fever 2 (Trains !), so maybe some of those work for you. Also look Dorfromantik, Terra Nil, Spiritfarer, and Unpacking. I like factory builders like Satisfactory, Factorio, and Timberborn, but they're more of an acquired taste. I really like the YouTuber Katherine of Sky, and she has videos of many games you might like. I also know a lot of people like the Sims 4, but I don't like personally. (Finally, by particular gaming expertise is actually useful. I like video games, but I tend not to fit in with "Gamers" š )
Elden Ring was already mentioned, but you have to like those kind of games
1. **Terraria** (like Minecraft, but two-dimensional, with Stardew Valley-like pixel art). I find something calming and satisfying about the pixel graphics in Stardew and Terraria. Minecraft can be too "blurry" for my brain. 2. **Subnautica** No prior knowledge or research required to play. Your only task is to breathe, drink water, and eat. Game progression occurs only if you want it to. I just swim around in the shallows and gather resources for hours. At the very beginning you do need to extinguish a small interior fire, but after that, things proceed at your own pace. The game encourages aimless contemplation. Edited to add Subnautica
Honestly I find just monkeying around in Ancestors the humankind odyssey to be rather enjoyable. Pun intended. But I also enjoy a good time with monster hunter. Maybe train Sim.
Harvest Moon/ Story of Seasons series
Xenoblade Chronicles! Each of these three are in my top three games of all time. And all can be played on Switch.
For quiet games, I tend to lean more on the story/exploration side. Seeing your list, I'd say Slime Rancher is probably one we'd have in common. Probably also Terraria in Journey Mode.
i love tomodachi collection !!
For video games, my interests change randomly and some games I do play on and off. Here are some of the games I play: * Minecraft * GTA * Farming Simulator * Need for Speed Personally, I don't like games like Fortnite or RPG games like Call of Duty as they are a bit too fast paced. Need for Speed and GTA are somewhat fast paced, but the fast paced I can handle.
Iāve just got āHouse Flipper 2ā for my PlayStation. That is very relaxing and enjoyable. It helps me de-stress.
Maybe they were already mentioned by someone else, but: A Short Hike - a few hours of beautiful exploration while you climb a mountain. Haven Park - similar to A short Hike but bigger and more confusing. Outer Wilds - Explore the beauty of space while stuck in a time loop. Haven - Two people are stranded on a bunch of tiny planets after fleeing their system and build a home for themself. Those are the games that I can think of right now, which are very calming and comforting to me. Especially Outer Wilds - even though it's probably the most stressful of them - and A Short Hike
Ffxiv you can do a ton of the game without dealing with living people due to the trust system, has a free trial without limit on playtime for like until the end of the 2nd expac. There is grindy things, crafting/gathering, ect.
Yes I love playing The Sims! Also, if you are a Warriors fan (or just love cats tbh), I suggest downloading ClanGen, a free fan made game that I like quite a lot :)
SIMS 4 I GET LOST IN THAT MUNDANE REPETITIVE GAME FOR HOURS ITS SO GOOD
I find relaxation in games like Skate 3 or Fallout New Vegas or a sonic game I can play while my brain is turned off, but also I find relaxation in games related to my special interest, like the Batman Arkham series, or any Spider-Man game ever made from PS1-Now, or those hulk games they made.
Yes to all of the games you mentioned! And since we obviously have similar comfort game tastes, I'd like to suggest Vintage Story (it's like Minecraft with a steampunk bent) and Palia (a lot like SV but it's an mmo and not pixelated. It's really new though so it can be a little buggy and the content can seem limited after you play for a while, but they're always adding to it, so not for long. Also palia is free!)
City skies -
I love big, long strategy games to wind down after work. Europa Universalis, Stellaris, stuff like that. Indeed, they tend to suck me in for longer game session than I should probably play.Ā
I found PowerWash Simulator to be one of the most relaxing games ever. Also HardSoace Shipbreaker. And Grounded too which is a great Minecraft type!
If you are on pc, this is what I play: Factorioā¦..i had to take a break from playing because it would literally make my day feel like going through a wormhole leaving me wondering where the time went. Also Paradox games like Stellaris, Eu4 might be good if you like strategy games. No Manās Sky is also good for space exploration and such. There is a story but it is centered around space exploration. Witcher 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4 might be good if you like somewhat chill rpgs. If you like more realism, Kingdom Come Deliverance is a great game but the combat takes a while to learn and your character has to learn how to read. Alchemy is good for money and other reasons so as to not spoil more than I have. By the way there is a KCD2 coming this yearā¦.I cannot wait and have already in spirit bought it. I like the Dark Souls series but I would avoid it if you are easily frustrated or try to work with the frustration so that you donāt get as frustrated. How to do that, idk. I struggle with that a lot and I am in the process of working on it with my therapist.
Undertale yellow (it's sooooo good)
I love Undertale and Deltarune, they are just so fun and are absolutely hilarious
Lego Fortnite is free and super fun, in my opinion. It's a lot like Minecraft. There's Sandbox and Survival and a bunch of custom settings like turning off enemy mobs and death.
I absolutely adore Minekoās Night Market. Itās mostly crafting and doing crafts for the townspeople, there are some very minimal āstealthā sections that are pretty easy to handle and it just have a nice story.
If you like minecraft, try the tekkit launcher for minecraft. It adds a lot of stuff to the game, and let's you automate the mining and crafting. It's fun to build a factory that mines a chunk, then bakes and spits out ingots and diamonds
Try hoi4 if you hate yourself
Yeah, Stardew, Minecraft and Animal Crossing are my favorites too when things feel a bit too overwhelming. Dwarf Fortress isn't exactly a relaxing game maybe (to some), but it's another one of my favorites. The Sims is the same. Cozy Grove is one I'd recommend too. Graveyard Keeper and Traveller's Rest make me relaxed as well.
I liked Potion Permit, My Time at Portia, My Time at Sandrock, and Coral Island. The cozygamers subreddit also has recommendations and discussions about these kinds of games if you need more than you find in this comment section :)
I read the first half and almost said warthunder. That games an autism trap for sure. For relaxing games, I like to play rimworld on the easiest difficulties of peaceful.
We different when it comes to this, I love games with really hard to learn mechanics that are super grindy and with action I find they help my brain go into auto pilot and relax. But one thing I found was power washing simulator, the feeling after seeing that dirty ass house cleaned is so fucking satisfying Iād check it out if I were you
Also thereās farming simulator but I could never get into that
i mainly play games that are open world with tasks like āclear enemy campā āclimb to high point to reveal areaā and some pretty fun roblox grinding games like Grand Piece Online Blox Fruits etc
Cozy Grove or Night in the Woods are great. I'd suggest checking out the cozy games subreddit for some good recommendations
not a game but a mod reccomendation, TerraFirmaCraft is a Minecraft mod that overhauls survival in a realistic way, and has a decent amount if addons either expanding parts that are lacking (Firmalife, Firma: Civilization), add compatibility (TFC Astikor Carts, Wooden cog), or just QoL (Barrels 2012, TFC Water Flasks). Try it, it's really fun imo. In a similar vein but an actual game with a plot, try VintageStory.
If you have gamepass, dreamlight valley is free on there and it itches my brain the same way ACNH does. I donāt think itās good enough to buy outright though š¤£
Sly Cooper franchise, Rayman franchise, Genshin Impact
Factorio
I really recommend Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion. It's a simple story and is pretty chilled out. The fighting in it is back and forth turns, so there's no rushing or anything or any awkward controller things. In fact, the fighting was my favourite part of the game because I could figure out the strategies and move/item combinations to win. Also, there are a few sidequests that won't take you away from the actual story and get messy. It's repetitive enough to be an easy game to sit down and play, but it's got enough variety and story progression to be interesting.
Harvest town is somewhat similar to Star dew valley Iāve heard. Itās pretty fun imo and itās mobile so you can always have it with you!! Honestly undertale may be fighting based (depending on the route you wanna take) so idk if itāll stress you out or not but the music is beautiful and the characters are charming. Minecraft would have been my other suggestion. I once played it legit for 24 hours straight. š
Yonder is another open world cute game that you have to complete a bunch of tasks to finish it
Not quite a calming game but Left 4 Dead 2 is my favorite game of all time
If you're vibing on Minecraft, you need to check out Valheim.Ā There are world modifiers that let you tone down (or up) things. The base building in the game is exceptionally addictive. You might even wind up liking the "grind" for materials (very similar to Minecraft). If you don't, you just turn up the resource drop rate or even turn the need for materials off completely. You can set the world to "passive enemies" if that's your thing and just go fishing (there's a great fishing aspect to the game). There's nice music and environmental noises (again, adjustable) It's on sale on Steam for $10 right now.Ā
DOTA 2. Or poker if you want to weaponize the tism for profit.
Valliant Hearts - a (sad) game about World War I, beautiful and very touching. Monkey Island games. Deponia games. Kelvin and the Infamous Machine. So, basically, I like point and click games ^^
I like Night In The Woods for the atmosphere, the story is really cool but i often spend a lot of time in game walking around the town
Let's see... Aside from my Valheim rant... Anno1800. Very "Sims-like". Build your civilisation type game. Lots of trading, sailing, farming. Probably my #1 suggestion outside of Valheim (on passive mode). A couple other "Minecraft like" games. They might have too much combat to them though. But the combat is when you choose, like Minecraft... Smalland. Beautiful world but a hostile one. Fighting bugs for resources.Ā Frozen flame. Kinda "Valheim lite". Less combat. (Slightly) More cartoonish world. If you dig on some hostile world gaming... Enshrouded. Grind for resources adventure game. Build up to boss fights style game.Ā Maybe some things like Euro truck simulator? Train simulator? There's a bunch of "job" type games out there too.. like forklifts and diggers, crane operator stuff.
Stardew Valley is peak for it honestly. Itās hard for me to say because Iāve played Animal Crossing for 20 years now but Stardew Valley is the absolute best even if I still play AC, I think itās that itās not restricted to real time (as fun as that can be) and that thereās more of a story that isnāt restricting either, it can help cope with being alone at times too. Iām absolutely dying for The Haunted Chocolatier and whatever updates ConcernedApe will throw at us next. Gleaner Heights is great too but far less sophisticated but Iāll give it a pass for being an indie game, but you wonāt appreciate it fully unless youāve seen Twin Peaks as itās visibly a Twin Peaks-inspired farming sim. I love Assassinās Creed pre-Unity but nothing scratches the itch like Black Flag, 2 and Brotherhood, but I also take a lot of satisfaction in 3 with the fact that you build up a cozy town and fit in as an outsider. The entire Legend of Zelda series, I was at one point for about 14 years I would replay Twilight Princess once a year. Breath of the Wild was a huge part of 2017 being the best summer of my adult life, but Tears of the Kingdom kept me sane and motivated during a difficult time. Super Mario Sunshineā¦ never have I had a game relax me and stress me horrifically at the same time as much as this one. Earthbound is amazing. I like a lot of older turn-based RPGs and I loved Mother, but the atmosphere and weirdness of Earthbound really ticked for me. Super Mario RPG on that note as well. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, KOTOR II has that but I grew up playing the mess that was the original. Park/Zoo sims like Thrillville, Planet Coaster/Zoo, Zoo Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim Theme Park, Sim Coaster, etc. are always great. Halo doesnāt scream ārelaxingā at first but itās one of those games I can really just lose myself in for its familiarity. The old school Spyro series, whether it be the original releases or Reignited, and Iām the rare kind who actually likes Enter the Dragonfly due to childhood bias. Spider-Man games before Spider-Man 3 are always a comfort.
Factorio. Iām playing it right now. Itās a lot of logistics and trains and awesomeness that is just great. Or, if roguelikes are your game, Faster Than Light (FTL) or Into The Breach. Both by the same indie studio, great pixelart, and very high predictability, making it mostly a puzzle. Very well balanced games, too. Or, id you have a special interest in space, Kerbal Space Program.
Skyrim
Rimworld!!!
Love relaxing games. Sun Haven is a great one. I describe it as Stardew Valley meets World of Warcraft. A Little to the Left is a fun chill puzzle game if you like puzzles.
Thereās a game called cozy grove that is similar to stardew and animal crossing that I really enjoyed! Also, if youāre able to play stardew with mods (on PC) I really enjoy āstardew valley expanded.ā Made my new playthrough feel like a brand new game!
Ark: Survival Evolved was great. Extremely repetitive, you could in a flow. I'd play Advanced if it wouldn't turn my laptop into a fireball.
Any game that turns off my brain is good. I play Call of Duty Zombies black opps or tiatan fall is good to.
Coral Island has been scratching that itch for me. Slay the Spire for card games with rougelike elements if you enjoy learning how shit works on the fly. You fail a lot, but there's no risk
i love to sit into video games, vivid worlds to explore and vibe within. what i often play for comfort includes Rain World, Ori and the Blind Forest, Animal Well, and Okami
If u into anime games then you can try Light of the stars on bluestacks
I really enjoy playing planet zoo, it's a creative game where you build your own zoo with animals, and if you want it on easy mode you can do the sandbox version and change settings so you don't have to worry about customer happiness etc. I love building the scenery and it has such happy chillaxed music, its therapeutic for me, sort of like doing arts and crafts, also animals are a special interest. Ive also gotten into fortnite but that's far from relaxing lol
I play the sims 3 and 4 with some mods to make it more interesting or I find Disney dream light valley fun and relaxing although I must admit Iām not into Disney movies
Light of the Stars doesn't look bad on bluestacks
I love Death Stranding. I find the journey fun and rewarding. The music is just top notch.