nicked on 9/2/2022 at 11:26

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Anyone got any recommendations for super calm, relaxing, wind-down kinda games? I'm often finding I want to just sit down with a glass of wine of an evening, switch all higher brain functions off and just chill out with something.

I had a lot of fun with (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046030/ISLANDERS/) Islanders a couple of years back, but felt like I'd got what I could out of it when the repetition set in. This is the sort of thing I'm after though - low stakes, no time pressure.

I tried (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1127500/Mini_Motorways/) Mini Motorways recently, but found it actually surprisingly stressful for what I wanted it for - new buildings cropping up in the most inconvenient places. Still fun though - at least you can pause and try to untangle things when it gets all spaghettified.

Just picked up (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/) Dorfromantik which seems like a winner so far - very chilled out tile-placing game with an engaging but low-stakes core loop.

scumble on 9/2/2022 at 11:46

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I've looked out for similar games finding myself too tired to get into anything requiring a bit of concentration.

There are a few things on MS game pass I've tried.

Lake - drive around delivering mail and having random conversations with locals - but can get a bit too mundane even for a chilled game

Backbone - Pixelly adventure game with a weird story that doesn't make sense, but the art is good and there are no moon logic puzzles

Donut County - pilot a hole in the ground as a raccoon (collecting "trash") and drop everything in an area into it (including houses and NPCs). Not easy to explain but relaxing and funny. Few years old but glad to have picked it up now.

Pyrian on 9/2/2022 at 14:09

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If you haven't tried it yet, A Short Hike is very chill.

scumble on 9/2/2022 at 15:20

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Mini Motorways was a good suggestion as it meant I realised I'd managed to subscribe to Apple arcade in the "one" subscription. A bit too easy to start playing it on my phone...

reizak on 9/2/2022 at 15:55

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For those with a high Japanese pop culture tolerance, the Atelier games are about as comfy as things get. You run around gathering materials with your friends and synthesize items, and while the ones I've played have some sort of a threat, there's no actual antagonist, and everyone is generally pretty nice (Ryza 1 has a notable asshole, but he is of course reformed in the course of the game and by the end you're the best of friends). The plots are sort of just there to give an excuse to the real star of the show which is the surprisingly deep crafting system. Basically it's "cottagecore" with a pretty satisfying gameplay loop of running around gathering stuff and using it to craft ever more powerful items. Although the crafting system is involved enough that switching off all higher brain functions probably won't happen, but I found the games extremely relaxing.