What game do you play to just chill?

Nowadays I find a lot of games feel like too much work and/or anxiety when I just want to relax for like, 30 minutes to an hour after a long day. On the other hand, the games specifically designed to help you unwind just feel boring imo.

In the past I’ve felt like Outer Wilds scratched this itch, cause the whole experience was engaging but generally relaxed. There was a mystery that kept me hooked and the exploration and movement was fun in and of itself. I also felt like Subnautica filled this role since it was very much at my own pace, with anxiety producing portions which could for the most part be avoided or minimized, and also there was a clear objective to fulfill, get off the planet.

So what games do you play when you just wanna relax?

Fedizen,

slay the spire

Iamdanno,

Civilization. While it CAN be a stressful game if you crank up the difficulty to Deity, at prince or king, it’s just so much fun.

With the advanced setup options, you can set up a game for however you are feeling at the time, explore a large world (however full or empty you want it), expand and watch your empire cover the map, learn and find all the new stuff in the world, conquer everybody, be a neutral power broker, launch into space.

It just feels nice.

kakes,

Noita is a good chill game. You will lose, and you will die a horrible death in the process, but if you can accept that, the journey to death is a fun one.

DashboTreeFrog,

I’ve just become aware of Noita recently. It looks kind of insane in a good way, but looks really hectic and anxiety inducing. But what you’ve said is pretty convincing, maybe I can make the journey to death fun.

kakes,

It’s one of those games where, if it looks interesting to you, I can’t recommend it enough.

KillerTofu,

I got on the hype train when it came out. I’ve played it maybe twice. Too much random chance for me.

dm_me_your_boobs,

It’s not for everyone, but I absolutely adore it. It’s incredibly hard, but once you get the idea of what’s going on, if it’s still too hard I highly recommend checking out the steam workshop. I tend to play with a couple mods to make it a bit easier and then go wild with mods for spells, enemies, world gen, etc. Even without mods every single run is wildly different.

Anyway, again it’s not for everyone, but the combination of a simulating every pixel, endless spell combinations, and the hilarity that ensues because I tried something new that I thought was safe, well, it’s a recipe for either a really good time or throwing a controller at the wall. For me, good times. And I say that when I loathe games that are too hard for me most of the time.

dm_me_your_boobs,

Glad I found this, my brother in pixel sims. This is 100% my favorite game.

NostraDavid, (edited )
@NostraDavid@programming.dev avatar

Outer Wilds

I will always shill for Outer Wilds, simply because it’s such a niche that only 2 games have come out in its unnamed genre: Majora’s Mask and Outer Wilds.

Yes, Outer Wilds is a spiritual successor to Majora’s Mask.

And the worst part is that talking about the game would probably spoil half of it. All I can say that it’s an adventure like Majora’s Mask.

If you ever were to trust an internet stranger to buy a game blind, now is the time. If you loved MM, you’ll at least like OW.

Happy adventuring, stranger ;)

Abnorc,

I’m really lucky that I didn’t cave in and watch any videos at first. (I think I watched the game’s version of a tutorial, but that was it.) Its fantastic.

FellowEnt,

Thanks for the reminder, I’m gonna go straight in with the VR mod. Haven’t even seen the trailer.

SuperSpruce,

Forza Horizon 5. I like to just drive around the map for a while, and maybe do a race or two, until I inevitably get bored after an hour or so. Repeat every week.

(until I bought a real life motorcycle to scratch that itch, and no, I’m not racing or being dangerous on my motorcycle)

SheDiceToday,

Ah, but which one do you have? Because you know, there’s this other motorcycle that can do X…

Slightly kidding, but “the correct amount of motorcycles is N+1, where N is your current amount” mentality is a real thing.

SuperSpruce,

I currently have a '06 Suzuki GZ250. I got it 3 months ago and already have put 1600 miles on it.

I’m already getting the itch for a faster motorcycle, though. I first test rode a Harley Davidson Sportster 48, which was fun and tourquey but kind of heavy and not as comfortable as I expected (Harley = cruiser = comfortable so I thought). I then made the decision (mistake?) of test riding a Triumph Trident 660, and holy crap that was so much fun, I need it in my life lol even though I can’t afford it.

I also had an unexpected “adventure” getting stuck in the mud recently when trying to go off the beaten path. Dual sports have way too high seat heights for me but maybe I should get an ADV bike?

God help me the day I try a supersport bike. Make sure I don’t submit to squid-dom…

SheDiceToday,

Lol, fast is nice, but my favorite bikes are smaller. My 125 scooter is my current favorite if I don’t need to go above 50mph, and I sorely miss my ninja400. As for the comfortable issue with cruisers, it’s supposedly an issue because of the leaned back, pressure-on-tailbone seating position. Neutral (upright) seems to be the most comfortable for the majority, and you know what’s king of those right now? ADVs ;) They’re basically the luxury bikes right now, with all the fancy electronics on the newer models, lots of suspension, and fast enough to do anything highway/street. Your goldwing types might technically be plushier, but ADVs are popular for a reason.

I have a supersport-lite: an older sport tourer with waaaay too big of an engine for what I want to do with it, but unless you find yourself acting silly now, you won’t have much to worry about. The occasional urge to catch that stupid muscle car blowing past with an exhaust tuned to sound loud passes you by just as quickly as you pass them by…

SuperSpruce,

The uncomfortable part about the Sportster was actually how unexpectedly aggressive the riding position was. I expected laid-back similar to my GZ250 which is also a cruiser.

I am starting to think of ADVs as the SUVs of motorcycles. Usually, big, tall, off-road capable, comfortable, not particularly sporty, expensive, and trendy.

At the moment I am extremely budget-conscious so I’ll be sticking with my 250 unless I find a smoking deal for another motorcycle. Currently I’m a college student that doesn’t really need a motorcycle, but I really wanted one. Where I will be able to get a nice motorcycle is if I can spend my future car budget on a motorcycle instead…

fmstrat,

Rocket League. And then I’m not chilled.

jacktherippah,

Good ol’ vanilla survival Minecraft. Very fun with friends.

ShitOnABrick,
@ShitOnABrick@lemmy.world avatar

I miss old. Old vanilla minecraft on the xbox 360 some Good memories

257m,

Blast some bots in Quake 3.

tryptaminev,

A man of culture

flambonkscious,

I’ve been enjoying unreal tournament, too

Crackhappy,
@Crackhappy@lemmy.world avatar

I play Trackmania at least once a day. The community is so nice and friendly and the racing at high speed is so calming for me.

ImpossibilityBox,

Just. Don’t. Play. Kacky.

You will lose your cool and hate existence. Even if you like kacky it will happen at some point.

Bigtiddygothgrany,

Damn, was gonna say subnautica but you already put that

Shinzid,

I like to play any type of horde clearing game where I can shut my brain off and just swing/shoot my way through a bunch of enemies. Some examples of this are deep rock galactic and vermintide 2. One scratches the shooty itch and the other scratches the swingy itch

If I ain’t shooting or swinging I like to play roguelites. Slay the spire and faster than light are classics I keep returning to. Interested in trying out cobalt core soon which looks like a mix of STS and FTL

Doxatek,

I’m glad someone knows ftl I really like that game. Played it for a lot of years and is nostalgic to me. Recently tried the multiverse mods for it which revitalized it for me

Shinzid,

Huh. Never occurred to me to try out modded ftl. Didn’t even know it had a modding scene. Will definitely check out this multiverse mod you mentioned

Doxatek,

It’s really polished and expansive. New races and new ships and quests weapons and everything. It’s pretty sweet!

oneiros,
@oneiros@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

The Talos Principle (+ DLC) and its just-released sequel really fit this niche for me. I’m fighting severe burnout and was specifically looking for a game without time pressure, reflex-based gameplay, or (because I keep bouncing off of turn-based strategy games even though I believe that I love them) complicated stats-based systems.

TTP is about first-person puzzles in the vein of Portal. While some of the puzzles can be difficult, you can work through them at your own pace. The level structure makes it easy to drop in and out of the game whenever, and the gorgeous environments and soundtrack make the world just a generally soothing and immersive place to walk around in.

Baizey, (edited )

Baba is you, is also great in this category

Fun puzzles that are turn based so you can sit and ponder however long you feel like

dm_me_your_boobs,

Try Noita by the same company who did Baba then. It’s one of those games that leaves you with “oh holy shit what the fuck just happened… Oh, that was my fault. Oops.” in an endless loop. I’m up to like 400 hours and have never gotten anywhere near that many hours out of another game. Not even FF7 (the OG, of course)

Alivrah,

Tetris Effect. The funny thing is I used to hate Tetris with passion, but somehow Tetris Effect has won me over. The music and sound effects are so ASMRish it’s almost trance-inducing…

Aesk,

American Truck Simulator or Euro Truck Simulator 2. Pick a long hual, throw on a podcast or some music, and just cruise.

Rookeh,

BeamNG. Logged hundreds of hours just mindlessly driving around crashing into stuff and fucking around with vehicle customisations.

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