Games to chill out with

Neb on 9/2/2022 at 19:09

Viscera Cleanup Detail is one of those games that I always end up playing when I'm ill because it's so easy to switch off and get mopping. Best level IMO is the obvious reference to Event Horizon.

Inline Image:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/939456827640255999/F894BD65AE1B9F939C549E0C14D8C4AB3E5F5295/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Renault on 9/2/2022 at 19:48

I think (https://www.unpackinggame.com) Unpacking would be a good option here.

nicked on 9/2/2022 at 21:16

Donut County and A Short Hike I have played and can also highly recommend to anyone wanting a stress-free, short game.

Got a few more on my wishlist from this thread now too; thanks!

Yakoob on 10/2/2022 at 05:00

If you're looking for city-building stuff specifically, I really enjoyed (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1073910/Before_We_Leave/) Before We Leave - really low stakes as "worst case" your little peeps will just work more slowly or might get temporarily bottlenecked. So you never really lose, just progress more slowly.

(There are space whales that come occasionally eat a bunch of tiles and a few other hazards, but I found all of them pretty easy to deal with).

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/860890/Factory_Town/) Factory Town is in a similar vain, just build build and produce produce. But it didn't grab me as much as Before we Leave did.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/433340/Slime_Rancher/) Slime Rancher is another goodie for chill cute times.

Not to toot my own horn, but (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1213230/Rain_on_Your_Parade/) Rain on Your Parade was also designed with a very chill mindset as well, it's more about the gags and experience than a huge challenge. You can't really lose most of the levels and the few challenges that are there tend to be on the easy side.

Starker on 10/2/2022 at 10:47

You might find some ideas in this thread: (https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149615)

Recently I also found Diablo clones like Torchlight and Titan Quest generally work pretty well for this. Also, maybe that Korean MMO that's being launched in the west right now, Lost Ark?

Oh, and Okami is super chill.

Thirith on 10/2/2022 at 11:05

While I like Okami a lot, I never found it particularly chill, since there is so much combat - though perhaps the battles and especially the drawing aspect are easier if you're playing with KBAM. With a Wiimote or gamepad I found those quite fiddly.

demagogue on 10/2/2022 at 12:56

Let's see, on my recent list of that type I've got:
- Townscaper
- The Ramp (Session is probably too intense to be considered "chill", but I still chill out with it)
- Labyrinth City
- Death Crown
- Fireworks Mania
- Hidden Through Time
- Tiny Lands
- Timelie
- Carcassone
- Himno
And on my phone: Little Stars 2 & Monument

But the biggest category of this for me is taking a big open world game, forgetting about the game, and just aimlessly wandering in it. The big examples of that are: aimlessly driving around in GTA V, Dakar 18 (the scavenger hunt except I don't care about scavenging), ATS & ETS (with the infinite money mod), aimlessly riding a horse around in Skyrim, Kingdom Come, and RDR2 (with mods that turn all the threats off), aimlessly riding a bike around the hub area in Descenders & the hover bike in Sable, flying aimlessly around in DCS and Microsoft Flight sim, aimlessly cruising around in a boat in Ship Sim, and aimlessly walking around in The Hunter. I guess Session falls into this category too.

It's going to be no surprise that my play time in sims dwarfs all my other games.

Also:

Quote Posted by PigLick

hmm I thought Dorfromantik was about punching hams?

:thumb:

Edit: Interestingly, I think the thing I'm spending the most "game" down time with recently is aimlessly building scenes in Unreal Engine 4/5. There's just something about being able to finally build photo-realistic forests and mega-cities and then, you got it, aimlessly walk around in them lol, that's irresistible. I think some of y'all will remember my virtual Hong Kong video, and I've got a neo-Tokyo (of course), and a dozen different cyberpunk, scifi, and medieval cities in different stages of completion. There's something really chill & engaging about making a world with the kind of tools & free assets we have now.

Aja on 10/2/2022 at 15:11

Quote Posted by demagogue

But the biggest category of this for me is taking a big open world game, forgetting about the game, and just aimlessly wandering in it.

Breath of the Wild is the best for this. On my save I had found all but one of the shrines, and my before-bed ritual was riding around looking for the last one. It put me to sleep every time. I never found the shrine.

demagogue on 10/2/2022 at 16:08

I learned that when the Sable devs said that Breath of the Wild was their biggest inspiration, especially the part about the open exploration of this vast kind of desolate world, looking for new areas and little secrets. Too bad it's not on the PC, but maybe I should get a Switch just for it.

reizak on 10/2/2022 at 17:53

You really don't need to, it runs better emulated on PC. I imagine the same goes for most games you might want to play on the Switch, and it's only getting slower and slower in comparison.