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?

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.

meekah, (edited )
@meekah@lemmy.world avatar

I really liked playing Talos Principle 2 the past days. makes you think not just about logic but also some aspects of philosophy. which, at least to me, is pretty relaxing.

ImpossibilityBox,

I play Hades, but I cheat.

It’s super fun to see what kind of ridiculous combinations of powers and weapons you can create when you aren’t worried about money or resources in any way shape or form.

I had a Hermes Build for Max speed that did bonus damage based on speed bonuses, Ares for Blade rift when dodging, and some Athena for some invulnerability.

Sprinting around the levels like the flash and absolutely nuking everybody with blade rifts is just too much fun.

FleetingTit,
@FleetingTit@feddit.de avatar

Dorfromantik

mwproductions,

This is my favorite chill game.

FontMasterFlex,

I can’t suggest this game enough.

Metatronz,

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

sag, (edited )

I don’t play Tetris usually but when I get bored or just wanna relax then I play Tetris[Highest Score: 500k in 8 Hours]

Mrkawfee,

Euro truck simulator. Just hit the road and drive.

Abnorc,

Lately I have been playing Crypt of the Necrodancer. It was quite chill until I reached zone 4. It doesn’t get me worked up or anything, but the last level of zone 4 does get me a bit tense with the speed.

In general, Deep Rock Galactic is pretty chill. If I really just want to take it easy I can pick up a mission on Hazard 3 or 4.

pixeltree,

I second deep rock

mycatiskai,

Third. Just go in play a quick mission or two with a friend on the weekend then have some crazy beers.

SheDiceToday,

Completely agree. The first few zones are so fun because you’re just engaging with the game. Then it gets nutso.

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.

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,

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)

Apeman42,
@Apeman42@lemmy.world avatar

Weirdly, Yakuza. Not even to thrash thugs, just to have a virtual night out with some karaoke, pool, darts… sexy bug-lady wrestling… I love most of the mini games in the series.

weew,

cyberpunk is actually great for that. Sometimes if I don’t wanna do anything in particular I’ll just… fight the police, lol. Or just randomly do some open world stuff, like drive around the badlands. Then if I’m feeling like doing something more “meaningful” I’ll jump into an actual story quest

dm_me_your_boobs,

The spiderman games are great for this as well. Yeah, I’ll go swing around aimlessly for 20 minutes. No problem.

Suzette_Helene,

Rim world on low difficulty

Thatsalotofpotatoes,

Can’t say I expected to see rimworld up here

RickyRigatoni,
@RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml avatar

Low difficulty rimworld is underrated. Animal crossing with cannibalism.

pomodoro_longbreak,
@pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works avatar

Hmm you make a great pitch

dm_me_your_boobs,

It’s a great time. Highly recommended.

wildcardology,

Elder Scrolls Online for me.

pomodoro_longbreak,
@pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works avatar

Oh interesting. I’ve eyed it over the years, but I think this is the one and only instance of positive word-of-mouth I’ve heard for it.

I heard it has Elsweyr, which I’ve always wanted to see portrayed.

wildcardology,

I like it, it’s open world so you can grind or play as casually as you can. I like to explore the maps and kill enemies on my way. Some days I grind somedays I just chill.

Edit: I believe North and south Elsweyr are not in The base game. It’s available as a subscription to ESO+

swordsmanluke,

No Man’s Sky.

After the mildly stressful intro (which isn’t bad, just uses more sticks than carrots in the tutorial section), you basically just pick a direction and go.

If you wanna quest, there are quests available in (almost) every system.

If you wanna farm, pick a nice planet and get to building.

If you wanna fight, go find a planet with hostile Sentinel presence.

There’s always something interesting to do, but you can also just find a nice view on some planet, build a couch and just watch the iridescent grass blow in the wind for a bit.

DashboTreeFrog,

The more I hear about No Man’s Sky now the more I’m thinking that perhaps this will be one of the games I can chill out to. I generally love space games, and the idea of just kinda flying around doing random stuff is already appealing.

GenesisJones,

Its a vastly game than it was at launch. It’s on my list to play.

ICastFist,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

As someone with almost 500h in NMS, get in fully aware that things get repetitive fast. Once you get off planet and can visit other stars the first time, it’ll likely take 2 hours to see all different kinds of planets.

Unlocking (“learning”) the 3 aliens’ languages is the absolute worst slog in the whole game.

Another ultra tedious chore is doing the daily missions for Quicksilver (special currency) to unlock some nifty cosmetics.

Also, combat sucks. It just plain sucks. The most annoying thing to me is: if you don’t fire your weapon for 1 or 2 seconds, your dude will put it down, which will create a small time window where you’ll have a significant delay between pressing the fire button and actually firing, because of the animation.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • uselessserver093
  • Food
  • [email protected]
  • aaaaaaacccccccce
  • test
  • CafeMeta
  • testmag
  • MUD
  • RhythmGameZone
  • RSS
  • dabs
  • oklahoma
  • Socialism
  • KbinCafe
  • TheResearchGuardian
  • SuperSentai
  • feritale
  • KamenRider
  • All magazines
    •