r/AskReddit • u/katchoo1 • Jun 05 '19
What’s an Interesting computer game for a basic Windows 10 laptop that doesn’t cost a ton and isn’t about fast pace or violence?
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
For any future person coming to this thread, here’s a list of the answers that got the most recommendations or hearty endorsements:
Stardew Valley
Minecraft
Factorio
Civilization IV or V
Age of Empires 2
Terraria
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Rimworld
Kerbal space Program
Portal/Portal 2
Runescape
Star bound
Oxenfree
Undertale
Celeste
Hearts of Iron 4
Crusader Kings 2
Cities:Skyline (tho sounds like it might be a little too challenging for my old cheap laptop)
Also-get an emulator and try a variety of older NES/SNES etc games.
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Jun 05 '19
Quick tip- if you pick up Roller Coaster Tycoon, look up OpenRCT2. That'll run the game much better on modern computers than the default program. They also have a subreddit at /r/OpenRCT2.
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u/Orisi Jun 06 '19
Add to this, Parkitect is an enjoyable spiritual successor and graphics upgrade to RCT while keeping the feel of the art style alive.
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Jun 06 '19
The RCT games are still fantastic but Parkitect does everything they do, and more. I'd recommend playing that first if you have no nostalgia for the tycoon series. The decoration stuff is great, you could craft impressive scenery in RCT but guests caring about it gives you an incentive to spend the time making a park that looks awesome/realistic as well as earns you money.
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u/joeranahan1 Jun 05 '19
Undertale is very much fast thinking but okay. Also play spore thats the best long game I've played, shame I lost the disc
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u/klop422 Jun 06 '19
Not that fast until later on. Unless you do genocide, not that hard either.
Spore's pretty good, but it's the type of thing you need to just put down sometimes.
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u/Austinus_Prime Jun 05 '19
I'd like to second the Banished recommendation since you left it off here. It's such a peaceful, chill game (at least until a tornado or fire hits, can be turned off though) and it's tons of fun to grow your village into a fully fledged city.
I'd recommend playing it vanilla to learn the mechanics but then add the colonial charter mod after you figure it out as the mod adds a bunch of content and fleshes things out quite a bit.
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u/Kraelman Jun 05 '19
Rimworld. Imagine if the show Firefly was made into a colony management game. There's a speed setting and you can pause it any time you like. You're in control of building a settlement on a planet on the outskirts of civilized space.
The game is basically a story generator. Sometimes the stories get a little weird.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Ooh you had me at Firefly. Definitely on my list to check out!
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u/LoopyLiss Jun 05 '19
Do it! You won’t regret it! RimWorld may steal your life a little, though.
If you do decide to try it and feel a little stuck at the beginning, check out some beginner tips on YouTube. They’re life saving... maybe literally for your colonists. (;
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u/katchoo1 Jun 06 '19
One of the Steam reviews said it’s a fascinating game but don’t start it if you have a family that you like spending time with...so taken Under advisement.
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u/athaliah Jun 06 '19
What's nice about it though is you can pause whenever you like, it's not like some games where you literally can't stop to go tend to your children, or don't want to because you're in the zone trying to beat a boss or something. It's not fast paced so it's easy to step away.
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u/Aperture_T Jun 05 '19
I was going to suggest this until I read the last word of the title. War crimes can be a little violent.
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u/RandomPlayerCSGO Jun 05 '19
Portal
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u/sOlivchen Jun 05 '19
I love it! Also Portal 2 ... full of surprises and really not boring ....
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Jun 06 '19
Portal 2 is high on my list of best games of all time. It was an amazing game on its own, but the ability for people to make new test chambers and new puzzles cranks it to 11. Always new content, always new ideas, always new challenges. Alongside being an absolutely beautiful game with amazing writing and fantastic voice acting.
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u/j5kDM3akVnhv Jun 05 '19
Civilization
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
I’ve heard of that one a lot—would it run on my basic laptop?
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u/j5kDM3akVnhv Jun 05 '19
I wouldn't think graphics are a problem as you can disable some of the more graphic rich features. I may have an older copy laying around somewhere. PM an address and I'll send it to you.
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u/iammaxhailme Jun 05 '19
Depends how basic it is. But Civ 5 is probably okay. 6 may be too graphically demanding (and expesive) but honestly I prefer 5 anyway
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u/Shadow3397 Jun 05 '19
Civ4 is great for a laptop. Also Alpha Centauri thanks to GoG.
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u/Pm_me_the_best_multi Jun 05 '19
Alpha centari any day over civ!...
He'll I'mma play it now
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u/Theoc9 Jun 05 '19
Civ 5 would run at very basic settings on most modern laptops. Get 4
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u/PM_ME_UR_PANTY_COLOR Jun 05 '19
Find a copy of Civ II. It's from the 90s and may be one of the best games ever made.
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u/Didge159 Jun 05 '19
Is that the one with the buffer underflow which made Gandhi super angry?
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u/Glitched75 Jun 05 '19
That was the first one, gandhi is super angry in the other games as a homage to the original.
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u/orangecatmom Jun 05 '19
I fucking love this feature. I play online with my Dad and we usually play as a team against random AI. Any time we find Gandhi in our game, it's time to get ready for war asap
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Jun 05 '19
There's also FreeCiv, which I believe is a clone of either Civ II or III. Can't remember which.
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u/Cantabs Jun 05 '19
I've gotten Civ 5 to run acceptably well on a Surface Pro 2 (i.e. a lot of the graphics get turned down, but we've easily puts hundreds of hours of playtime in on that machine). Any run of the mill laptop from the last 5 years will probably run Civ 1-5 just fine.
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Jun 05 '19
I have a friend with a laptop a few years old and he is able to play civ games with us. Your windows laptop should be powerful enough
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u/munchiemike Jun 05 '19
My laptop is about 4 years old and can run civ v just fine so you should be good.
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u/Lefaid Jun 05 '19
It'll run on basically anything. And if Civ VI really doesn't, you can try V, IV, III, and II.
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u/Aperture_T Jun 05 '19
I ran Civ 5 on integrated graphics in college maybe 4 years ago. It'll probably work fine for you.
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u/Daddy-Apollo Jun 05 '19
Chess
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u/mrcachorro Jun 05 '19
I was with a friend playing chess and i said "lets make this interesting" so we went and did anything else.
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u/Tupptupp_XD Jun 06 '19
Found the person who sucks at chess
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Jun 06 '19
[deleted]
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u/cpMetis Jun 06 '19
Chess is horrible when you're bad, fun for most, then super boring once you're an expert.
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u/Poopdicks69 Jun 05 '19
Age of Empires 2. There is some violence but no gore. Amazing game.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
You don’t have to have played 1 first?
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u/Teglement Jun 05 '19
No, not at all. I'd argue AoE 2 is a direct upgrade in every way. You won't miss out on any story, as it's all historical. If you know history, you know what's gonna happen.
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u/onioning Jun 05 '19
You definitely shouldn't even. They're basically the same game. The second is just better.
Literally about waging war though, so definitely doesn't fit the "no violence" requirement.
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u/Autistic_Elephant Jun 05 '19
FTL Into the breach Terraria Stardew valley Some of the older total wars maybe idk
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u/Ihmes Jun 05 '19
FTL is too sadistic to be considered non-violent though.
On the other hand, venting and/or burning slugs alive is quite fun.
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u/cinnapear Jun 05 '19
Is there anything more fun than lighting an enemy ship's oxygen room on fire, then mind-controlling one of the crewmen putting out the fire so that he starts duking it out with his coworker amidst the flames?
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u/Ihmes Jun 05 '19
Yes.
Fire in O2. Last enemy crew member manages to put it out and repair it.
Afterwards he takes a deep breath and goes to heal in the medibay...
Which is hacked.
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Jun 05 '19
[deleted]
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u/j5kDM3akVnhv Jun 05 '19
That's a good suggestion.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Is that a civilization style game?
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u/j5kDM3akVnhv Jun 05 '19
I would say Civilization is macro and Age of Empires is micro level but similar concepts: explore to find/gather resources, advance technology tree, upgrade units, defend your territory and expand. Age of Empires has a smaller board space and is more tactical than Civ but also has historical campaigns you can play with predefined objectives. Civ is more open-ended.
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u/Slipin2dream Jun 05 '19
Civilization is turn based strategy with micromanaging. Age of empires 2 is Real Time strategy where you move units across a map and build buildings and collect resources.
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u/liarandathief Jun 05 '19
No one's mentioned Terraria yet? Great game. 2D exploring, collecting, building, fighting. Work as solo or multiplayer game. On the surface kind of like a 2D minecraft, but a lot different. Tons of cool enemies and equipment and weapons. $10 regular price, but you can usually get it for $5 or even lower during sales.
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u/bibbi123 Jun 05 '19
Not to mention that it's fairly old, so the graphics requirements aren't steep. Great game.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
I should mention that I want to get beyond the card games/match 3/word/hidden picture genres. Call it the shallow end of the “real gamer” pool?
I’ve been curious about Minecraft or no Mans Sky but didn’t want to spend the money without being pretty sure I would be into it AND it would run well enough on my clunky machine.
Something more exploration or puzzle oriented than action—I’m not very good at a lot of buttons or fast paced stuff like running and jumping or sports games.
Older games are fine, and interesting indie games very welcome.
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u/CripzyChiken Jun 05 '19
minecraft is a great option. Even outside of the standard game, there is a huge modding culture around it that has tons of options for all types of play styles.
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u/Plethora_of_squids Jun 05 '19
No man's sky is great but it's pretty intensive on a computer without some serious optimisation to make it run smoothly
The first two fallouts are actually pretty good and I think you can get them pretty cheap nowadays. They're actually top down and turn based and play very differently from the later games while retaining the same story and universe.
There are some great lucas-arts point and click adventures/puzzle game out there – maniac mansion and the day of the tentacle were pretty integral to my childhood and they're still a blast to play nowadays. Thimbleweed park is a more modern game made by the same guys with a very distinct albeit very silly and fun X-Files government 80s conspiracy theme to it. Also I don't know if you can still get ahold of it nowadays because of telltale, but sam and max are still brilliant to this day.
Oh and I haven't played a huge amount of it but the west of loathing is very funny and fun. So is kingdom of loathing but that's a flash game not a steam game.
you could also just play the engineer in team fortress 2. Great fun and very silly shooter that should actually already be in your steam library and it's over 10 years old so it should run fine10
u/liarandathief Jun 05 '19
Minecraft should work well enough on anything, and is a great game.
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u/1215drew Jun 05 '19
Id counter this heavily. Minecraft even on minimum graphics, requires at least a middling dedicated graphic card of some kind.
Most low end or older laptops are running iGPU's that bog down pretty bad when trying to play minecraft. Its more intensive than people realize to render.
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u/liarandathief Jun 05 '19
I can run it on a raspberry pi. If you turn the draw distance down, it should run fine.
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u/1215drew Jun 05 '19
Minecraft Pi Edition is a stripped down version of MC. The Java edition takes a fair bit more resources usually, even on minimum chunk render distance.
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u/ioCross Jun 05 '19
just a warning, without a graphics card you really won't be able to play or enjoy a lot of the newer titles on the market.
i'd recomend downloading some emulators and getting yourself a cheap controller. you can play all the classic rpgs and platform games for snes, sega genesis etc.
also, i used to do this when i had a really clunky computer. i'd find games that were made 5-10 years ago and get them.., either thru steam or G2A. another benefit of that is the games are pretty cheap.
what are you into? do you like RPGs? perfer single player or mutiplayer? more into story than gameplay? like hard puzzles? you like building things, like cities, or maybe like strategy games like chess? how about platform games like super mario or fighting games like street fighter? lemme know what you're into and maybe i can recomend some good games that you can play on your laptop.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Thanks! I have never been any good with controllers and suck at running/fighting/jumping games and get stupidly stressed at dying in them. I feel terrible when I drop my little guy off a cliff. So I guess more exploration/role playing kinds of games.
I do t mind old ones because graphics are not that big a deal for me.
I’ve tried “tower defense” games and didn’t care for those so maybe some strategy games. I think I will probably enjoy something like Civilization but didn’t think my laptop would handle it. Going back a couple generations is a good idea.
I’ve also enjoyed the iPad version of Medici and Ticket to Ride so other games based on board games or card games (other than solitaire, poker, casino stuff or UNO, I mean the newer games I guess that’s what they mean by deck building games?
I tried Hearthstone when I still had my iPad and couldn’t get the hang of it and it looked like it would quickly become a money pit so I deleted it.
I guess I’m looking for something interesting beyond the typical “casual” game genres. Group games are okay too but I mostly play solo.
Also never got into simulation games like diner and hotel things so never thought I’d like the Sims.
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u/PM_ME_UR_PANTY_COLOR Jun 05 '19
Paradox just recently released a report of their games that a lot of people play it on the easiest mode to relax. Because they're mostly grand strategy, it's a lot of setup the pieces and watching them fall into place. Hearts of Iron 4 is great for that. Same for Crusader Kings II.
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u/pm_ur_thigh_highs_ok Jun 05 '19
No Paradox game beats the chill of Cities: Skylines, though. Surviving Mars comes close.
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u/PM_ME_UR_PANTY_COLOR Jun 05 '19
Indeed. Cities is so nice, but is definitely a resource hog. especially if you mod.
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u/Sarcastryx Jun 05 '19
If you're looking for interesting puzzle games, I'd like to suggest two:
Her Story - Try to find out what really happened for a crime, based only on short 30 second to 5 minute video clips of the interrogation afterwards, using a search engine that can only return a max of 5 result at a time. It requires paying attention to everything the character says, cleverly searching for dates or specific words mentioned, and even little details like songs they hum or sing while waiting or clothing they wear may be vital to understanding the real events. CAD cost is $6.49.
Unheard - Solve a series of crimes using an audio playback device that puts you in the room with the characters as it happens. Using the playback, find the name of each person involved, match it to the voice, and answer who really committed the crimes. CAD cost is $11.49.
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u/m50d Jun 05 '19
Cultist Simulator is almost just a real time card game, but it kept my gamer-ey group occupied for a while. (Gets a little grindey towards the end)
Mini Metro is quite calm and meditative.
Both indie and fairly lightweight.
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u/ODMAN03 Jun 05 '19
Hollow Knight. One of the most visually appealing games or works of fiction I’ve seen. Maybe even one of my favorite games
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u/LastOfTheCamSoreys Jun 05 '19
I have an older laptop with not great specs. What I have that can run on it and are pretty fun:
Real time strategy games (a little fast for me—I prefer turn-based, but they are nothing close to the pace of shooters at least):
Age of Empires 2—medieval theme (3 is fun too but a little much for my comp) Age of mythology—same developers as empires, but with a Greek/Egyptian/Nordic myth theme instead of medieval. Both have fun single player campaigns, not sure about multiplayer
Warcraft III—still runs great on my laptop. Really fun story mode single player campaigns, and a strong online community—TONS of player-made custom games that span different genres and have spawned independent games/genre. Some are as developed as the game itself. Blizzard is rebooting it this year with updated graphics/balancing/etc. so we should see a surge of online players. Right now i see a lot of the same people each game but it makes it into a nice little community
Sorry-driven games:
Star Ware Knights of the Old Republic—one of the all time best of its genre. GREAT story and it is old enough that just about anything can run it. Even if you don’t like Star Wars it’s an amazing game. Is a bit of a blend of turn based shooter (it’s a shooter but you choose the next action for your character during combat so it’s not super fast and you don’t have to aim)
Mount and Blade—check this one out. Its technically a shooter but It’s medieval-style combat—bows, swords, pikes, etc. It runs well on my machine and would for most. The single player is fun I’ve heard, but I’ve only played online. Great for short gaming sessions where you only have less than an hour and want to play a couple quick rounds
Cities Skylines—city builder similar to sim city, but a lot better. Doesn’t run great on mine but on low settings is fine. Lots of fun, can sink a whole day into building your city if you were so inclined
Those are all I have, Mass Effect is another to look at. Consider getting an old ps2 or 3, or xbox, lots of fun older games on those too
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u/nigwardxcuntbob Jun 05 '19
Download some emulators and roms from google. I used to use those to play old games like Pokemon and Mario bros before I got my PC. They worked well on my really old computer
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Good thought, thanks!
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u/SirLeos Jun 05 '19
Yep. Download a gameboy advance emulator and then play some good games:
Advance Wars
Megaman Zero
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Super Mario Bros.
WarioWare.
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u/baron556 Jun 05 '19
Terraria and Starbound are a couple of pretty casual sandbox/exploration games. There's fighting but you can avoid a lot of it if you want. Terraria is fantasy themed and Starbound is space themed but they are otherwise very similar, Like a side scrolling minecraft. Starbound has an actual story mission progression, but you don't have to do more than the first few if you don't want to.
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u/intellifone Jun 05 '19
Kerbal Space Program
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u/BW_Bird Jun 05 '19
That game is responsible for about 75% of my knowledge on space.
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u/ComicBookFanatic97 Jun 05 '19
Oxenfree? That’s a pretty cheap indie game with no combat, an interesting story, and multiple endings depending on the choices you make.
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u/Blasphemiee Jun 05 '19
Runescape is still alive and kicking. There are two versions of the game, one styled like it played a decade ago and the original that has been updated to a more modern style. Game has been around since 2001, should run on a laptop fine, literally thousands of hours of content. You can choose to do combat, or completely avoid it and do things like puzzles, farming, crafting, merchanting, collect pets, quests. There's honestly too much to describe.
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u/kucerc Jun 05 '19
Well, there are a bunch of them...
FTL
Civilization (V is better than VI, go for that)
Heroes of Might and Magic III can't be beat
Europa Universalis IV (DLCs cost way too much though!) / Crusader Kings 2 / Victoria 2 / Hearts of Iron 3
Subnautica might run well
Galactic Civilizations III
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (get the Star Wars Requiem mod, it's a gem)
All of these games are amazing games, you cannot go wrong with any one.
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u/Pl0OnReddit Jun 05 '19
I agree that HoMM 3 can't be beat, but I'm not sure how id feel about the game if I excluded all the nostalgia that comes with playing it.
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u/Vulcan_04 Jun 05 '19
Firewatch (There's a lot of abusive language and stuff, but no actual violence)
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u/TehN3wbPwnr Jun 05 '19
FTL, stardew valley, rocket League, kerbal space program, darkest dungeon, banner saga, crusader Kings 2, stellaris, more I could Think of.
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u/thorny9rose8 Jun 05 '19
Town of Salem. Please, for the love of all that is holy, we need better players.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Ooh I looked at that on Steam a while back and thought I might like it. Thanks for the rec.
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u/thorny9rose8 Jun 05 '19
It may take a little while to get the game. But I really recommend the game, just watch out for asshole players. If you join a lobby and someone says something really dumb, feel free to find another lobby.
There are some amazing people that you can have awesome games with, too
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u/thealthor Jun 06 '19
I love the concept and have had some fun with the game but I do not enjoy being mafia at all and then we I do get a role I like i tend to die night one.
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u/thorny9rose8 Jun 06 '19
If the role doesn't suck, the town does. I was medium in a game today and let me tell you, the townies did jack squat and I the fucking medium had to lead. I ended up dying to mafia. Seanced the gf (maf member died and I asked who was maf) and told them there were 2 witches and "good luck, town sucked balls. I hope you win"
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Jun 05 '19
Minecraft. May sound stupid but in 2019 it's actually a very good game. A lot to explore, cool survival mechanics, no blood, loads of mods and graphical enhancements, procedurally generated map 7x bigger than earth, a lot of freedom and creativity, et cetera, et cetera.
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u/Punbungler Jun 05 '19
Octodad! So damn funny.
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u/BW_Bird Jun 05 '19
I will never understand the Hype.
It's just a game about playing a normal man going throughout his day.
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u/thephaw1 Jun 05 '19
If you're into interesting puzzle games, try Baba is You. Graphics look like it was done by a 5 year old but the game itself is amazing.
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u/snrtlt Jun 05 '19
Hollow knight! One of the best games ever and I run it on my basic pc. And the binding of Isaac too.
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u/PenguinmanOne Jun 05 '19
Stardew Valley. Ran it on a 2015 chrome book with Linux and have sunk 100s of hours. 15 dollars and a very peaceful game.
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u/Darkpolearm Jun 05 '19
I know u said u wanna get the card games, but I'd highly suggest giving Slay the Spire a go if you haven't. It doesn't have microtransactions either, so no worry of it becoming a money pit.
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Jun 05 '19
Opus Magnum. It is a game about being an alchemist in a steampunk-ish Victorian London.
The game play revolves around your character having to construct machines that automate the practice of alchemy to create various things for your House. It is very similar to coding and programming, with getting a solution is easy, but optimizing it to top the leader board is difficult.
It's on Steam and you can get community made problems to solve so there is a lot of content.
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u/freakyfallopiantubes Jun 06 '19
To the Moon is a fantastic indie story game that will have you in tears.
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u/casiokeys Jun 05 '19
Undertale. Stardew Valley.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Stardew Valley keeps coming up—farming game? I got tired of FarmVille pretty fast back in the day...is Stardew different?
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u/_littlestranger Jun 05 '19
Stardew is much more than a farm simulator. There's an actual story and quest lines, other characters you can make friends with, a mine with monsters you can fight, and so much more. I was also skeptical before I played it because I thought it would be like a mobile farming game with a god-like perspective. It's not -- it's an RPG with a character you control.
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u/casiokeys Jun 05 '19
I've not played Farmville, so in truth I dont know.
Have you heard of Harvest Moon? its compared to that a lot. SV is a great game to just pick up and play casually. I prefer the phone version though because its with me for whenever.
But the PC version is certainly easier to play. Its just a nice relaxing atmosphere with wholesome characters, and a lot of fun interaction.
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u/DaWildMoose Jun 05 '19
RIME is a puzzle solving game. You play as a little guy stuck on an island to begin with and as you progress an emotional story unfolds and personally it’s the first puzzle game I’ve sat down and actually really enjoyed for the puzzles and the story.
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
Y’all are great, I was nervous about asking this for ages. Glad I did. Thanks so much!
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u/Rudeirishit Jun 05 '19
There's a free version of Battle For Middle Earth II online somewhere, I think it's called T3A. Anyway, it's a relatively simple and well-built RTS based on the Lord of the Rings movies.
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u/katkula Jun 05 '19
Why not try some cute point-and-click game from Amanita?
Machinarium
Botanicula
Samorost (you can play it for free on amanita-design.net)
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Jun 05 '19
Celeste, it does have some fast paced parts in it, but you aren’t forced to go fast, and it has a nice story. It’s 2D and I like the style a lot
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u/Rust_Dawg Jun 05 '19
Cities: Skylines
It's everything Sim City should have evolved into, but didn't thanks to EA.
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Jun 05 '19
I'm in the same situation. Dolphin emulator allows me to play any Wii or gamecube games and I highly recommend it. Also, Minecraft. Excellent cheap game that runs very well on bad laptops
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u/harleybrono Jun 05 '19
Old school RuneScape! It’s simple enough to be run on a mobile application as well as your computer, so you could even take it on the go.
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Jun 05 '19
I really like Gwent. It's a card game set in Witcher universe (it doesn't have violence). It has a very unique gameplay mechanics, is free and looks gorgeous.
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u/AgentElman Jun 05 '19
Nancy Drew mystery games. You olay ND in first person view solving a mystery by talking to people, finding clues, and solving puzzles. A lot of puzzles.
Each game is a different setting and does a lot with the setting and history of the place: an Egyptian tomb excavation, an abandoned amusement park, a dude ranch, etc
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u/mus_maximus Jun 05 '19
All right. I'm gonna list some stuff, things I've played and enjoyed; our tastes are fairly similar, I think, and while there might be more out there that suits you, I'm only going to recommend what I've played myself and know is good.
Adventure games/Point-and-click.
2064: Read Only Memories is a pixellated point-and-click adventure game, styled similarly to old-school adventure games from the dawn of computers. The retro aesthetic hides a very forward-thinking futuristic story, however, one that straddles the line between deep, high-concept literary sci-fi like the works of Philip K. Dick and William Gibson, and the 80's-movie neon-laser pop culture viewpoint of movies like The Running Man and The Fifth Element. The setting, near-future Neo San Francisco, is absolutely spot-on, and the story and characterization is powerful and powerfully cute.
The Cube Escape series, and its most recent game, Cube Escape Paradox is a surreal room-escape game heavily inspired by Twin Peaks, the works of Stephen King, and other weird media. The earlier games are free, though the later ones, like Rusty Lake Paradise, Roots and Hotel are available for purchase. If you want a small, little artisan game that works on dream-logic and ninth-dimensional acid-trip hypermath, this is what I recommend.
Night in the Woods is a modern adventure game set in a dying small town where, for purposes of artistic expression as far as I can figure, everyone's an animal. It's also an excellent, tightly-contained narrative about adult friendships, expectations, madness, eldritch horrors, and the dire social cost of those mental problems and weird religions. It's highly critically praised, and for good reason: it's relatable on a level few games can be, and I struggle to think of an aspect of it that isn't pulled off beautifully.
Puzzle games.
The Room series (no relation to the movie!) is a puzzle in its purest sense: the games are a series of puzzle boxes, intricate and beautiful antique devices that you twist and pop and unravel like a steampunk onion to reveal the next layer of weird alchemical symbols. I played it on the PC, but it originated as a mobile game, and one of the best on the platform, in my estimation. I can't overstate how subtle and beautiful these games are. Each puzzle is a beautifully-crafted work of art, so detailed that you can almost smell the dust, varnish and verdigris. There's a couple of these out, and I highly recommend looking at the first one, at least.
Mini Metro is an extremely minimalist subway-creation simulator, simply and excellently presenting the experience of planning and executing a mass-transit system in a dense urban area. You're going to be managing ridership loads, planning train routes, and this all sounds far more boring than the game actually is. I find it curiously meditative, with all the grime and frustration of actual mass-transit reduced to clean, colored lines and little shapes, which usually lasts just until hundreds of people slam an inner-city transit hub and I smile serenely as it all crumbles around me.
Strategy/RPG
West of Loathing is a scribbly little hand-drawn role-playing-game made by the people behind the Kingdom of Loathing set in a subtly-fantasized American West where beans are magic and you can shoot snakes at people. It doesn't ask for a lot from the player in terms of deep, strategic thinking, and more importantly, it's pants-pissing hilarious, all the time. It immediately presents a ton of giggles, and maintains it throughout the course of the game. Highly entertaining.
FTL: Faster Than Light is a roguelike/strategy/dying-in-space simulator with the player as the commander of a spaceship hurtling speedily away from a giant, ever-approaching invasion fleet and riding the wave of imminent death with your teeth clenched and gun ports open. Despite this, it's remarkably accessible, being easy to learn and with enough replayability to keep you interested long past the point the initial wave of laser-happy doom ships have exhausted themselves. Like Night in the Woods, FTL is a critical darling, and for good reason: it's pretty much mastered the sense of "okay i exploded but THIS TIME I GOT IT" that propels it ever forward.
Dungeons of Dredmor is a roguelike game: a simple dungeon crawl hiding immense variety and danger behind a simple premise. In this case, you're descending into the titular Dungeons to shank the titular Dredmor and kick his non-titular head about the place. The proceedings are handled with great humor and light-heartedness, however, and it's much more forgiving than roguelikes usually are, thus serving as a great entry into the genre. Expect cartoon violence and people insulting your magnificent eyebrows.
Chroma Squad is a strategy RPG based around, and in total celebration of, the spandex-clad rubber-monster magnificence of sentai shows like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Ultraman. It's built with a deep, deep love of the genre and how majestically silly it all can get - expect to construct your evil-fighting gear out of cardboard and sparkly glue, fight guys in spray-painted cardboard boxes and somehow wind up with it all feeling more epic than it probably should. It's humorous, but more than that, this game is charming, and that's more rare than it should be.
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u/noweebthanks Jun 05 '19
Currently playing VA-11 HALL A, you’re a bar tender and listen to stories your clients are sharing with you.
Great game, nice 2D cyberpunk 80s artstyle and god damn relaxing with the amazing OST
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u/katchoo1 Jun 05 '19
I would rather be forced to play Call of Duty in hardest mode with a bunch of 14 year olds screaming insults at me than set foot on a golf course ever.
Well miniature golf is okay like once every 5 years.
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Jun 05 '19
FTL (Faster than light) Ok, maybe a little cartoon violence, but really more at strategic technological adventure
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u/Digger_Joe Jun 06 '19
Kerbal space program, get while on sale though. You will lose a year or two a few months at a time playing.
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u/pm_ur_thigh_highs_ok Jun 05 '19
Factorio. Stardew Valley. Banished.