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?

intensely_human,

I play high intensity first person shooters, mostly Battlefield, to unwind.

The faster paced the better because it allows me to escape.

It used to be I’d get so worked up over competitive games. I had to be doing PvE to relax. Not so any more.

Weirdly, this happened after I had a completely horrible medical experience that left me with permanent (figurative) scars on my nervous system. Like, I still have stress problems four years after the event.

But at that moment, suddenly competitive games became refreshing to me.

ohlaph,

Same here. I played COD up until the recent release. Looking for a better FPS to play now.

teichflamme,

Try CS2

ohlaph,

I just downloaded it actually, still need to try it.

sealhaslupus,

reckon XDefiant will be good?

ohlaph,

I’ll check that one out!

TheGiantKorean,
@TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world avatar

Shattered Pixel Dungeon. Which is weird because it’s actually quite frustrating, but super rewarding if you win.

gac11,

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup has a similar feel to it. It’s a lot more involved if you want way more variables to play with. There’s and Android port from PC that takes some getting used to, but is pretty fun to play over and over.

TheGiantKorean,
@TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world avatar

I need to check this one out again. A friend of mine highly recommended it.

DashboTreeFrog,

I played this a bit on mobile and really enjoyed it, not sure why I stopped in retrospect, I was never able to beat it even once. Another one where dying isn’t a big deal cause replaying is part of the fun. Been thinking of checking it out on PC but just never got around to it

TheGiantKorean,
@TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world avatar

Hit me up if you ever need any tips. I’m not the best out there, but I’ve won with all 5 classes. Currently working on winning with all 9 challenges on.

zabadoh,

I find the boss battles in Pixel Dingeon too difficult when I am forced into them before my character is ready.

Pathos Nethack is a better mobile dungeon crawler with no time pressure for the fixed encounters.

TheGiantKorean,
@TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world avatar

I’m check it out!

randombullet,

Since everyone has already said more well known games, here are my Indie/small games

Islanders

Race the Sun

Skye

Superflight

Bitswap,

Stardew valley and/or kerala space program.

milicent_bystandr,

Is Kerala Space Program similar to Mumbai Flight Simulator?

Bitswap,

Never heard of mumbai flight simulator. In KSP you design, build and then fly rockets, planes, space planes and spacecraft. It’s a one of a kind game.l

milicent_bystandr,

Just joking from your typo: you wrote “kerala space program”, not “kerbal space program” ;-)

Bitswap,

LOL. Didn’t notice at all. I tip my hat to you, sir!

milicent_bystandr,

I also like Egypt Scrolls V: Seattle; Zimbabwe: Breath of the Wilds; Age of Emirates II; and Maryland Kart.

Bitswap,

I’m also into RaWorld!

postmateDumbass,

Cheif Sealth gonna kick some Ramesses ass.

shinigamiookamiryuu,

I only played it to try it out, and it isn’t 100% in my range of games I’d care that much for, but I’ve gathered that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (especially the first few pairs of games in the series) is the king when it comes to escapism. If someone said a psychologist made the games, I’d believe them.

Macaroni_ninja,
@Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world avatar

Terraria. I started a new character/world probably 200 times. Music is also bang on.

dansity,

OpenTTD

msage,

Hey, this is a classic.

Just turn off vehicle breakdowns, as they can cause huge congestions everywhere. And that’s very stressful.

I love trains

penquin,

Genshin impact on PC is a masterpiece. The colors on my 4k monitor are just out of this world. I don’t even do hard missions, I just go around the wild collect foods and stuff. So relaxing.

davidgro,

And even more casual than that is their latest game, Honkai: Star Rail. The combat is turn based, so you can just look away and come back later as you wish and don’t need gamer reflexes at all*

I love it.

(* There’s one minor exception - an Ultimate move can be launched after your turn, but before the enemy’s turn or between two enemies’ turns, which does require some speed. It’s not usually important though.)

penquin,

They have another game? Damn, I’ll need to check it out. Thanks for bringing it up.

TheMinions,

What would you define as a hard mission?

penquin,

Man, those “into the frey” fights where you have 45 seconds to defeat 69474783748 creatures are so stressful. Also, those big ass monsters are very hard to beat. That’s stressful. That’s why I just go around the wild to collect foods and stuff. Lol

davidgro,

They could be low level. I certainly remember when a Ruin Guard was a big scary monster that could kill my whole party.

And later when I was playing pretty seriously I still stayed out of Abyss Floor 12 because it wasn’t worth the effort (literally - I never got enough stars to get a reward from it even when I technically defeated it)

penquin,

There are challenges where you have like 45 seconds to defeat a bunch of creatures to just open a chest. I hate those

spittingimage,
@spittingimage@lemmy.world avatar

Minecraft. Sky Factory 3 - a void world modpack. Nothing exists without my having created it. I can allow mobs to spawn on my platform or not, depending on how I feel.

NENathaniel,
@NENathaniel@lemmy.ca avatar

I find most games can be relaxing if Ive already played them a lot, even comp shooters. Quake Champions is relaxing for me at this point

PoppyJalopy,

Recently got back into my childhood favorite, Simcity 2000.

It’s just a classic for me. Amazing city builder with a chill soundtrack. Super rewarding planning out your city and watching it develop across the map. And it’s super stress free if you just play with disasters off

runestomper,

I’ve gotten really into Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for unwinding after a long day. Something about the low poly graphics while I can just be a menace in the game feels right.

Cmar,

Played it on my switch a few months ago after many years, still holds up beautifully. The radio stations are spot on and, just like you said, the low poly graphics (even on the DE) are so easy on the eyes.

Wallaby,

Age of Empires 2 custom games. Can’t beat a classic, and you can save whenever you’re done

Immersive_Matthew,

I am biased as I am the Imagineer of my title, but I get a lot of comments that it is a great place to just chill, even with a loved one or good friend. It is a VR Theme Park focused on highly detailed, story driven dark rides like the ones you find at Disney. The first ride is out and it sent me to the top of charts on the Meta Quest App Lab Store. Even if you do not have VR yet, that is fine as I am not done developing yet as I have years of work ahead of me, but if/when you do, come check it out. It really does feels like you are in a Theme Park on a nice sunny day, walking around the grounds, exploring the ride queues and of course boarding the dark rides…well one dark ride, but the second one is coming along nice,”The Haunted Castle” and I will be updating the store with a tease soon.

www.meta.com/experiences/4212005182188732/

philpo,

…that is not even good advertising…

Immersive_Matthew,

Ahahaha I know right. Marketing is just not my thing, but Imagineering is thankfully. Sounds like it is not your thing too as my posts usually appeal to the Disney fans…especially EPCOT which I did not even mention which is odd as that is one of the park’s Inspirations. See…I suck at this.

Metatronz,

Cities Skylines 2 has been great for this. Just log in and tinker with your city! Very relaxing creative problem solving…

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