this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
273 points (97.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27027 readers
635 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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?

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] SuperSpruce@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Forza Horizon 5. I like to just drive around the map for a while, and maybe do a race or two, until I inevitably get bored after an hour or so. Repeat every week.

(until I bought a real life motorcycle to scratch that itch, and no, I'm not racing or being dangerous on my motorcycle)

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] 257m@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Blast some bots in Quake 3.

I've been enjoying unreal tournament, too

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] qooqie@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

RuneScape, really hard to beat how chill it is

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] oneiros@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Talos Principle (+ DLC) and its just-released sequel really fit this niche for me. I'm fighting severe burnout and was specifically looking for a game without time pressure, reflex-based gameplay, or (because I keep bouncing off of turn-based strategy games even though I believe that I love them) complicated stats-based systems.

TTP is about first-person puzzles in the vein of Portal. While some of the puzzles can be difficult, you can work through them at your own pace. The level structure makes it easy to drop in and out of the game whenever, and the gorgeous environments and soundtrack make the world just a generally soothing and immersive place to walk around in.

[–] Baizey@feddit.dk 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Baba is you, is also great in this category

Fun puzzles that are turn based so you can sit and ponder however long you feel like

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Buffaloaf@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Chrono Trigger. I have a save that I just load up, do some things on, and then turn off when I'm done. I've beaten the game dozens of times, and I know every aspect in and out, so it's like flipping on the TV and catching an episode of a sitcom, I just roll with it and mellow out.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Bigtiddygothgrany@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Damn, was gonna say subnautica but you already put that

[–] jacktherippah@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Good ol' vanilla survival Minecraft. Very fun with friends.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Alivrah@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Tetris Effect. The funny thing is I used to hate Tetris with passion, but somehow Tetris Effect has won me over. The music and sound effects are so ASMRish it's almost trance-inducing...

[–] Aesk@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

American Truck Simulator or Euro Truck Simulator 2. Pick a long hual, throw on a podcast or some music, and just cruise.

[–] CalamityBalls@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

It might be more catharsis than unwinding, but dark souls/sekiro. I've been through them enough times that it's just comfortable.

[–] Shinzid@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I like to play any type of horde clearing game where I can shut my brain off and just swing/shoot my way through a bunch of enemies. Some examples of this are deep rock galactic and vermintide 2. One scratches the shooty itch and the other scratches the swingy itch

If I ain't shooting or swinging I like to play roguelites. Slay the spire and faster than light are classics I keep returning to. Interested in trying out cobalt core soon which looks like a mix of STS and FTL

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Minecraft, Doom (first two), Cities Skylines, and more recently, Unpacking.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] weew@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

cyberpunk is actually great for that. Sometimes if I don't wanna do anything in particular I'll just... fight the police, lol. Or just randomly do some open world stuff, like drive around the badlands. Then if I'm feeling like doing something more "meaningful" I'll jump into an actual story quest

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] NostraDavid@programming.dev 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Outer Wilds

I will always shill for Outer Wilds, simply because it's such a niche that only 2 games have come out in its unnamed genre: Majora's Mask and Outer Wilds.

Yes, Outer Wilds is a spiritual successor to Majora's Mask.

And the worst part is that talking about the game would probably spoil half of it. All I can say that it's an adventure like Majora's Mask.

If you ever were to trust an internet stranger to buy a game blind, now is the time. If you loved MM, you'll at least like OW.

Happy adventuring, stranger ;)

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] CNNFDDR@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 1 year ago

Rimworld for me.

[–] SgtAStrawberry@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Animal Crossing New Leaf, Stardew Valley, Starfiled, Minecraft and Fortza Horazion 3,4 or 5.

[–] Rookeh@startrek.website 6 points 1 year ago

BeamNG. Logged hundreds of hours just mindlessly driving around crashing into stuff and fucking around with vehicle customisations.

[–] dansity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] FontMasterFlex@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I'm really in the same boat. Lately it's been these:

Dorfromantik

Mini Motorways

Halls of Torment

Vampire Survivors

Brotato

Firewatch was great but it's really a one or two sitting game. Same with Unpacking.

What I'm REALLY looking for but having trouble finding is something like a city builder or house builder that there is no money, nothing like that. Just creativity in building. Way back when I first tried the Sims, I loved the house building part more than anything.

I've been searching for something new though. I tried Satisfactory but really just wish it had a creative mode. I tried Terraria but I can't get the Minecraft allegory out of my head so this game infuriates me.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] fne8w2ah@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago
[–] Rootiest@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Terraria

Celeste

Dwarf Fortress

[–] Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Terraria. I started a new character/world probably 200 times. Music is also bang on.

[–] Bitswap@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stardew valley and/or kerala space program.

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Is Kerala Space Program similar to Mumbai Flight Simulator?

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] ModernRisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago

Persona 5 Royal.

I love the social element, characters and such.

[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Shattered Pixel Dungeon. Which is weird because it's actually quite frustrating, but super rewarding if you win.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I play high intensity first person shooters, mostly Battlefield, to unwind.

The faster paced the better because it allows me to escape.

It used to be I’d get so worked up over competitive games. I had to be doing PvE to relax. Not so any more.

Weirdly, this happened after I had a completely horrible medical experience that left me with permanent (figurative) scars on my nervous system. Like, I still have stress problems four years after the event.

But at that moment, suddenly competitive games became refreshing to me.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] penquin@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Genshin impact on PC is a masterpiece. The colors on my 4k monitor are just out of this world. I don't even do hard missions, I just go around the wild collect foods and stuff. So relaxing.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] offspec@lemmy.nicknakin.com 5 points 1 year ago

Potion craft is great for this, just running a little potion shop making potions to order.

[–] shinigamiookamiryuu@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

I only played it to try it out, and it isn't 100% in my range of games I'd care that much for, but I've gathered that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (especially the first few pairs of games in the series) is the king when it comes to escapism. If someone said a psychologist made the games, I'd believe them.

[–] SVcross@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›