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?
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Honestly, I fire up the Xbox and play the original Halo on easy difficulty. It’s like hanging out with an old friend.
Same, either Halo and the Silent Cartographer or Halo 2 and Metropolis. Those two levels are my video game comfort food.
It’s like hanging out with an old friend.
Interesting analogy, as this can be taken as an anxiety trigger as well.
Halo on easy is so fun. I love fucking around in Halo 3
You should check out Stardew Valley. Super chill game that evolves at your own pace.
Don’t like to fish on the game? Don’t fish.
Don’t like to go in the mines and fight stuff? Don’t go in the caves.
Play on a PC and want to spend hours just modding the hell out of the game? Go for it.
I couldn’t get into it. Felt very stressful to me. Like I had to do something productive every day before night. It’s probably more my fault than the game’s fault though.
I love these types of games, and I’ve tried to get into it multiple times… But everything feels like it’s on such a strict timer. I just want to chill and farm/explore/talk to people without worrying if I spent too much time enjoying myself doing any one particular thing. If it had some kind of sandbox mode or if you could slow down the time, I’d give it another go.
You should defs try My Time At Sandrock then, with friends or the story alone. Absolutely great for exactly what you want, without the overbearing timer having really any effect on gameplay.
I get like this in any sort of “real time passes” games, with some exceptions. If you have a limited amount of time to do a limited amount of things in game, my mind starts min/maxing what I should be doing every moment in game. In Outer Wilds the passage of time matters less cause you always start back at zero, what you gain each run is just knowledge, you don’t lose out and fall behind on any resources, points or whatever cause you didn’t do certain things that day.
I 100% agree. There’s just so much to do and too much of your day is spent as a time tax maintaining what you already have. There are several unlocks to reduce this, but they come far too late in a playthrough in my opinion.
I find a time control/clock-stopping on demand mod almost mandatory for me to be able to play without stressing, especially when playing with expansion mods that more than double the amount of content in the game.
The game is like that for the first game month. When you get to summer you tend to relax a bit more so after your tool upgrades.
Stardew valley is way too stressful to me, I have to make the most of each day and if I’m not I’m wasting it
You mentioned things you might not like to do, I wonder what you like to do in Stardew Valley (my knowledge on that game is very little).
Don’t overthink it. Minecraft. Vanilla survival world. Don’t try to optimize and automate everything (unless you find that relaxing). Make your farm look like a farm. Mine until until your inventory is full. Build towards an Ender Dragon or Wither fight if you have time. Go mining or fishing or do base chores or a beautification project if you don’t.
I tried Minecraft way back, so maybe it’s changed, but I don’t do to well in setting my own goals in a game. I liked Subnautica because there was an interesting story element and mystery that kept you engaged as you moved towards your goal of getting off planet. In the process of reaching the goal, yeah, I wanna make my base look nice, wanna build some cool things, but my overall actions were still being compelled by the storytelling and world-building of the game. I don’t see those elements in Minecraft but again, it’s been a long time since I played.
Modpacks with a good quest line might be something you’re into
The two big boss fights are the closest thing to a “goal,” but yeah, even in survival mode I guess it’s as much lego as it is video game. In your case, maybe a Bethesda game but focusing on side and companion quests until you’re so overpowered that wrapping up the main plot will feel like one more.
You sound like me. I don’t do well with sandbox games, I like a story related objective to work towards. Subnautica and Outre Wilds are also both favorites of mine. I also think a great chill game is Forza Horizon 4 or 5. Driving around the open world with changing time of day and popping into different events is so relaxing to me, especially if I mute the in-game radio and play some Spotify instead. My only regret is I bought it through the Microsoft Xbox app (to keep my progress I made during a Game Pass free trial) and now I can’t play it on my Steam Deck.
Automation is really fun with mods. They are kind of like puzzles and I chill out thinking about them.
In the right mood, I like setting things up and tweaking them, but I don’t find it “chill”. If I fire up Minecraft to chill, I usually think of it almost like a model railroad or something, occasionally it literally is a virtual model railroad if I want to build nether transit or something. I also find it satisfying to fill in that last patch of a map and put a copy of it on a wall next to its mates. It is very satisfying to get that auto smelter or adjustable enchanting room just right, though, and I can easily see that stuff being a goal in its own right.
What I find brilliant about the concept of Minecraft is the way it hits a sweet spot of being just complex enough to be immersive, but abstract and simplified enough that the open world is actually open and rewards a hundred different play styles.
I used to love doing a weird automated laboratory under my classic farm, but yeah it did suck out the fun once I could reliably do it again and again.
I used to specifically farm the ingredients for pumpkin pie, this was just after hoppers and repeaters were added which meant you could use those and pistons to make an automatic egg collector, sugare cane breaker and pumpkin breaker. I’d build the most picturesque farm with a secret trapdoor somewhere that would lead to my food automation zone. I haven’t really played properly since 2017 though, with a brief comeback in 2020.
Solitaire oddly enough. Just sit there, throw up a YouTube playlist on my second monitor, open up the game on my main, and just unwind.
To be fair though, you can get same relaxation by doing any mindless task with music.
Hell, one of the highlights of my week is putting on a history podcast and then just cleaning the hell out of the bathroom, bedroom, mopping the floors, etc.
Its a relaxing personal moment where you’re lost in your own world, you learn something new, and your apartment looks great at the end.
Absolutely. I have a ton of games and solitaire is one of the ones I play to chill.
Similarly, nonogram/picross puzzles. I have one on my phone that’s called Hungry Cat Nonogram that I really like. It mixes up the formula by introducing different colored pixels into each row and columns. It’s hard to explain, but very fun. It’s the only game I keep on my phone
Solitaire is a 10/10 game tbh. I got a little too good at the iPod Video version of the game because it was addicting.
Sounds like somebody else grew up with windows 3.1.
Freecell for me :B
No Man’s Sky has a very chill vibe. I don’t play it super often, but it’s probably the chillest game I play semi-regularly.
And by its very nature, it’s forgiving of long absences. It’s so easy to just pick it back up, probably take some time to admire the 10 new updates Hello Games has released since you last played, and then settle in for some chill gameplay.
I’ll never finish No Man’s Sky, and I wouldn’t even say I play it, exactly. But it’s one of my very favorite places to visit, and I will probably continue to visit for years and years to come.
This type of forgiving design is the main difference between modern games and older ones. Nowadays, there’s no shortage of games that are trying to manipulate you into grinding every day.
For me it’s Red Dead 2. All that horseback riding and camping and herb picking and Pinkerton killing? It’s like I’m the one camping and horseback riding and killing pinkertons.
Especially in the winter,I like to fire up The Long Dark. I put on the exploration setting where the wildlife doesn’t attack. You still have to deal with the need for food and warmth, so there are still stakes. Just not the anxiety inducing animal attacks. There’s a sort of bleak beauty to the game.
I just realized, if there was ever a wildlife photography mode in that game, I would play the shit out of it. RP-ing as an ‘extreme’ wildlife photographer trying to shoot around blizzards and keeping your gear in working order would be a really cool way to shake up the gameplay. Would easily get another 200 hours of play out of me.
Top shelf game
I’ve forgotten about this! I played it way back when there wasn’t even a real story, but I believed that’s changed.
Constantly finding resources to survive was quite anxiety inducing, lol.
Personally, i just need a game that lets me do something pretty. Satisfactory was mentioned, or City Skylines. Or something that is highly nostalgic and familiar, like Skyrim, Halo or Minecraft. I don’t intrinsically need to think in these cases, which is my goal. I’m a programmer, so anything that lets me shut my brain off and just exist is great. Sometimes BloonsTD is also a great game for this, but it’s situational.
Counter intuitively, most “casual” games like Stardew don’t really fit this vibe for me because of the daily time limit. I need to pick and choose what tasks to do in a day, and I always fall into a min-max schedule, which requires effort. Much as I love them, I also avoid story driven games like Baldur’s Gate when I need to unwind, because I really need to pay attention to progress, and there kinda isn’t any mindless grinding. Multiplayer games with randos is also strictly out. No League, COD, Battlefield, Fortnite etc… Just in general. Don’t like 'em, never did, hate that they are so prolific. They’re just stressful.
Man, sounds like we’re in very much the same vibe, think I’ll give City Skylines and/or Satisfactory a go
Hell yea my dude. Don’t forget, always be productive! And don’t damage Ficsit property.
The factory must grow!
In the something pretty department I recommend dwarffortress.
Skyrim. Meme mods aside, the vibe and soundtrack are just…chef’s kiss
Oblivion for me
Burnout Paradise
There are few games where winning and losing are equally fun, but Burnout Paradise pulls it off flawlessly.
You hit that turn with the perfect drift? Hell yeah. Oh shit, there was a car waiting for you at that intersection and now you have to watch your car and their car get smashed, crumpled, and tossed like a bag of moldy tangerines in slow motion? Hell yeah.
+1 Burnout Paradise is such a great game for just mindlessly driving around. I think I have that entire map memorized in my brain now.
Your description alone is getting this put on my Steam wishlist
I got this game a week or 2 after it came out in 2008. There’s literally a whole open city to explore but I remember the first 30-45 minutes I played were spent literally driving up and down the same quarter mile road because I found a split ramp built for barrel rolls but I just wanted to see all the ways I could squish the top of my car with a failed barrel roll and still drive away lol.
15.5 years later it’s still just as satisfying
I’m going to go with Satisfactory.
Factorio for me, the interesting part is that I usually want tonlay the game after a day of mindless tasks at work.
On the other hand if I’ve been busy at work and had to solve a lot of issues I’m prefer other games.
It’s my brain gym
I hear a lot about this one and it does interest me, but whenever I look at the Steam page I just don’t end up feeling it. What is it about the game that keeps you personally coming back to it?
On this kind of games, I have a preference to Factorio (and the game is released, not in beta). They propose a free demo. So you can rest and see if you have the good feeling. It is definitely not a game for everyone, but it is one of my favourite.
It’s all about how you play in my experience. If you want to get a basic factory up and go slug hunting, super chill. If you want to sink your spreadsheet teeth into optimizing every resource available and build a non-spaghettified factory, plenty of room to go hard core.
Also the graphics are fantastic for all the massive machinery
Breath of the Wild. I mean, yes, there are quests, bosses, temples, shrines, minigames and whatnot, but it is also completely fine to just fetch your favorite horse from the stable and ride across Hyrule, hunting wildlife, watching the sunset, cooking food for your character, maybe have Wolf Link accompany you on a hunt, just taking in the scenery, foarge for mushrooms, looking for shooting stars at night … a little bit of reality escape helps to unwind after a long, hectic day. And this game is unreasonably beautiful as well, despite the simplyfied graphics.
The latest Zelda games for me, I just wander around aimlessly and it helps me relax.
I’m reminded that I used to do exactly this in Ocarina of Time back when I was a kid. Maybe it’s time to relive those days.
I’m way overdue for an Ocarina of Time replay, thanks for the reminder!
That game has a lot of peaceful moments when not in combat. One time I was playing while tired from work and I was gliding from a high place towards the direction of one of those symbols that’s etched on the land. I wound up microsleeping mid-glide because of how peaceful it was up there with the rain and the sound of the air gently moving. Had woke up when the air got louder and noticed that I didn’t have any more stamina.
Check out Jacob Gellar’s YouTube review about it
Same. One of my fav ways to spend an evening.
FTL, Stardew valley, No mans sky, Minecraft, Old rpgs like Chrono Trigger
I don’t exactly experience a tonne of chill while playing FTL
FTL is a great chill out game for me. The only problem is I’ve put in so many hours that I’ve practically seen everything! I looked into some interesting mods but just haven’t tried them out yet. When I think about it, FTL shouldn’t be that chill, but there’s a certain simplicity in the gameplay, and the ability to pause all the time, even during combat, gives me the ability to take my time thinking through what I’m gonna do.
Underrated chill out game, agreed, maybe I’ll finally get around to trying some mods.
Yeah I haven’t tried the mods either and I kinda suck at the game but I’ve always felt like it has a low cost to entry, which is why it feels chill to me. A lot of death anxiety in games is due to time investment and, frankly, like BOTW, fear of long loading screens more than any in game punishment.
Ftl has such a satisfying and similar gameplay loop and allows so much pausing that it doesn’t really feel stressful for me. I still hate dying and do it a lot in the game, but I can play ftl with a sort of soft mental focus that many other games don’t allow me to do
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.
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.
Its a vastly game than it was at launch. It’s on my list to play.
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.
Dorfromantik
I can’t suggest this game enough.
This is my favorite chill game.
