I like mini motorways and stardew valley. What about you ?
Honestly I find Stardew Valley quite stressful, with it’s short daily time and so much to do.
I like anything turn based or pausable. FTL and Into the Breach are good. Slay the Spire is fun too. But I am kinda missing a chill game tbh
Slay the Spire is super chill and has a ton of replay value.
Stardiew Valley with mods
Honestly I find Stardew Valley quite stressful, with it’s short daily time and so much to do.
Sounds too much like real life to me :/
Minecraft, Skyrim and valheim
I started Skyrim last month, for the first time ever, but already have it up there with Minecraft. No pressure, just exploration. Add a bowl, and I’m set.
I like to wander around the environments in the Hitman reboot games. Not really trying to kill anyone or achieve anything, just enjoying the environment.
Just Cause 3, but I’m honestly a bit tired of it now. I love just wingsuiting around the place and I’ve never found anything else that gives me that same level of catharsis.
I do switch to JC4 occasionally just for a change of scenery, but the wingsuit feels too… floaty? In that one. Idk, just doesn’t feel the same.
I am desperately open to suggestions for something similar in terms of brain off flow state gaming.
I kinda liked the wingsuit in 4 tbh. I loved actually flying around with the jetpack. But it has nothing on the jetpack in 3, with the rocket launcher and all.
IMO Mini Metro quickly becomes super stressful. I assume Motorways is the same.
Instead I would say Islanders is quite relaxing. Super minimal city building.
What I’d really like though is something for Steam Deck with a good flow state. Any suggestions? Lonely Mountains Downhill looks pretty good maybe. Someone else mentioned Superflight which is great but maybe too minimal.
I have not seen anyone mention these, which is surprising. They are the definition of relaxing lol
- Dorf Romantik
- Islanders
Relaxing base builders with a nice soundtrack and a “get as many points as you can. Failed? No problem, just start over and relax again” kind of vibe.
Then there is duck game if you have some friends to relax with. It is hilarious.
In that same vein: mini motorways and stacklands
Any game I’ve played so much I can do it mindlessly is one I’ll use to destress generally. Specifically something like Wazhack or another roguelike where if I die oh well, back into it! Maybe something with no fail state like Heaven’s Vault instead.
For me it’s probably KSP and/or KSP2, which is weird because I literally design and program for rockets as a job…
Have you ever done this?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Elite Dangerous. It’s so freeing to just hurl yourself out into the middle of nowhere and not come back.
Space Trucker Simulator ❤️
I have never played this but I loved games like everspace and chorus, and a more sim-focused open-galaxy game seems sick. Is ED worth getting in to?
It’s the only MMO I still play regularly after three years. That said, I hesitate to outright recommend it. It’s fairly niche, and kinda still recovering from a disastrous DLC launch a couple years ago. It’s in a pretty good place now but confidence in the playerbase is still a little shaken. Mechanics-wise there’s a lot built up over the years that just aren’t explained at all in-game, so the learning curve is more of a sheer cliff face. OTOH, the community is honestly one of the most supportive I’ve ever experienced; even the griefers will chat with you after blowing you up and explain how to avoid it next time. And having the entire physically modelled milky way to explore is honestly an amazing experience. I’d suggest checking out a few streams to suss out if it’s for you, streamers are generally lovely and happy to chat with and help out new and prospective players.
Awesome, thank you!
Turns out its part of the playstation network game thingy so I can try it out for (kinda) free!
That’s one of the things that’s not explained, related to the DLC launch. There are a few different versions of the game. The console version is considered legacy and is functionally “disconnected” from the live version. It no longer receives updates outside of the occasional security or stability patch. Only PC is receiving new content. If you can get it for free it’s a good way to test out the general gameplay, but most of the community is on PC these days.
When I try to play games on my pc i get terrible screen tearing and then a hellgate opens and the doomslayer has to come quell the uprising of demons so I am unfortunately confined to the dystopian hellscape that is modern console gaming until I magically become not poor
There are few things more zen than sitting in your ship, thrusters off, in an undiscovered system on the other side of the galaxy. It’s humbling, isolating, and beautifully zen.
Oh, also, mid-pandemic I played A Short Hike, and while not a long game, it was an incredible escape for a while.
Skyrim, without a doubt. That ambiance…
I feel cold when I play it. Especially in the northern parts of the map.
Building in minetest or wandering around fishing and stuff in FC5. Pretty area, shame about all the cultists.
A fellow minetest player in the wild!
Indeed. I’ve been doing my best to spread the love. :)
Old school FPS games. Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc. They’re just simple, cathartic stress relief.
Same. But I have found OpenArena (based on the Quake III code) to be an update with a decent amount of online players.
In the same cathartic relief idea i also remember finishing both god of wars on ps2 as a kid. Worked great as anger management too. I feel like doom as a very similar energy in that regards.
Elite Dangerous was a good one. Just free, open space.
No Man’s Sky, in the same vein
all my stress just melts away picking up my switch and sitting out on a bench somewhere riding on a horse in breath of the wild while hearing soft, soothing melodies play.
I swear I think I’m gonna have hundreds of hours into this game before I ever beat it
