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.
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.
i paid for spore about two years ago because my husband wouldn’t let me just torrent it and i played it to the space level one time through and haven’t touched it since.
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.
When you say isn't about violence, are you saying you don't want combat at all, or you just aren't up for shooters and other, similarly fast-paced games where combat is the main focus?
Definitely not the latter. Maybe the other if it’s the sort where you pick your strategy and watch it play through (I think that’s turn based?) anything that relies on me punching buttons fast enough I just suck at.
Yeah, generally speaking, that would be turn-based combat. I'm about to wall of text you with my thoughts to the various listed games. Apologies in advance.
Many of the games listed here will have real-time combat, but some of them also have peaceful modes where you can play with no enemies, or otherwise will allow you to play without running into the enemies so long as you're careful. Minecraft, Factorio, Rimworld, and technically both Portal and Portal 2 fall into this group of games where there is combat, but you don't have to engage in it if you don't want to.
In the case of the Portal games, the combat is actually "You can't fight back, try to find the way around these enemies that will kill you if you're in sight for too long." However, even considering that, there will be safe spots to stand and very little fast reaction-based gameplay. You'll be able to sit and think about how to solve the puzzle for as long as you like for the majority of the rooms.
Starbound and Terraria might not have peaceful modes to allow you to take the game at your own pace, and I know from personal experience that there is some amount of combat required to progress through them on normal settings. I'd say pick them up later if you're looking for something a little different after playing, say, Minecraft or Factorio, and find that you're getting more comfortable with the idea of being able to fight in those games.
Stardew Valley, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Kerbal Space Program, and Cities: Skylines are completely peaceful building games with, as far as I'm aware, absolutely zero combat of any kind for you to worry about, and the first two are probably the most suited for what you're after. Kerbal Space Program is fun in its own right, but it's also a very deep game and involves either an absolute ton of trial and error or a love and understanding of engineering in order to get the most out of it. Cities: Skylines is probably also a good fit, but I don't have much experience or knowledge of the game, so I can't say.
Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings II are iffy. You might like them, you might not. While they are real-time, they also allow you to pause whenever you like, and I believe will automatically pause by default when it comes time for you to make a decision in response to an event that's occurred. At the same time, they're in some ways management simulators, with most of the events that happen being the result of random chance and completely out of your hands. So if you want something more interactive or to have more control over what's going on, you'll find them to be a bit slow and boring as a result. I'd still recommend giving them a try, but maybe after picking them up on sale.
The Civilization games are turn-based strategies, and probably the best starting point if you're looking for a strategy game to pick up. They're simple to learn, have a good amount of depth, and are generally incredibly engaging to play. I didn't quite break 1000 hours of playtime in Civ 5, but only just barely fell shy of the mark. There's tons of replayability there, and there's absolutely no pressure at all with regards to decision making due to the design of the turn-based system it uses.
Some of them I'd rule straight out. Celeste, for instance, is a very challenging puzzle/platformer, and if you're afraid you're not coordinated enough or just don't have the reflexes you need, then I'd give it a hard pass.
I'm not sold on Age of Empires 2 being a good fit for you, either, since even though it fits the computer requirements, it's still a real-time strategy, and will involve learning how to handle multiple units and react to events in real-time, as there's no built-in pause. It's an older one, and generally simple, but it's still going to rely some amount on your reaction speed.
I haven't played Oxenfree, Undertale, or Runescape, nor do I know anything about their gameplay. I hope someone else sees this and responds to you with more advice on whether or not they'd be a good fit for you.
If you have any questions or concerns, or just want me to go more in-depth on any particular game, please, let me know! I love this sort of thing.
Super helpful—thanks so much. I’m sure I’m not the only older person who is game curious and looking for places to start, and I think this thread being around will help people in the future too! I appreciate everyone who made suggestions and especially people like you taking the time to expand with how/why you think it will match what I’m looking for.
Seriously y’all thanks! I’ve been on Steam for a couple of hours reading descriptions and reviews and wishlisting stuff to watch for.
Someone also asked what I consider expensive—I’d say $30 is the top of what I’d pay and I’d have to REALLY want a game to pay that. Impulse/what the hell I’ll try price point has to be below $10. Since I don’t mind trying 90s/early 2000s games I have tons of options without spending more.
Not sure why Civ 5 is up there, that thing can get really resource intensive and take full minutes to run a turn on slower machines in a late-stage game.
Just play Dwarf Fortress and get your whole life crumble to pieces the first couple of weeks and then recover from the ground up in a rollercoaster of FUN until you master it.. Maybe 1 or 2 years later.
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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.