Ask Lemmy

Since everyone has already said more well known games, here are my Indie/small games

Islanders

Race the Sun

Skye

Superflight

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

Caves of Qud is something I love to relax with. It's full of stuff to explore and you can take your time since its turn based. I don't even mind so much when I die, because you get to create a completely new weird mutant and try again.

Slay the spire

Elder Scrolls Online for me.

The Hunter: Call of the Wild. I have nothing to do with hunting. I'd never thought a hunting simulation could be my type of game, but putting headphones on and running through the woods is so relaxing.

Forza and Rocket League

I think I understand what you mean lol.

Lately for me it's been: Mass Effect legendary edition, Mount & Blade 2, Crusader Kings 3, Dishonored 1 and 2, and Hitman 3.

Minecraft. Sky Factory 3 - a void world modpack. Nothing exists without my having created it. I can allow mobs to spawn on my platform or not, depending on how I feel.

Splatoon. Don't ask why, I don't know. My gf calls it "yelling at 12 year olds"

But seriously it's like watching your own team score against you in soccer ;___;

Recently got back into my childhood favorite, Simcity 2000.

It's just a classic for me. Amazing city builder with a chill soundtrack. Super rewarding planning out your city and watching it develop across the map. And it's super stress free if you just play with disasters off

I find most games can be relaxing if Ive already played them a lot, even comp shooters. Quake Champions is relaxing for me at this point

Skyrim was my chill game for years, but now I'd say Elder Scrolls Online. Everyone I know who plays ESO is super non-competitive and chill. It's just got a great vibe.

Cities Skylines 2 has been great for this. Just log in and tinker with your city! Very relaxing creative problem solving..

Brotato

Age of Empires 2 custom games. Can't beat a classic, and you can save whenever you're done

I’ve gotten really into Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for unwinding after a long day. Something about the low poly graphics while I can just be a menace in the game feels right.

Harvest Moon /Story of Season games.

Stardew Valley.

Diner Dash series of games.

Any of the building/management games like Factorio or Dyson Sphere Program or RimWorld. You can definitely make those games extremely challenging (speed runs, achievements, ultra hard modes/challenges). But for me they're cozy games where I can chip away at a small project or part of a larger project, like, I don't know, slowly building a scale model or something.

World of Warcraft Retail.

Path of exile for a few weeks every league

But I'm enjoying rogue lites / vampire survivors like games. There's a billion of them so you can just chill with one of them. I usually find a new one every other day too, some demo or whatever

Risk of rain 2 is also not something I would call a chill game. But it's definitely something you can just fire up and play for an hour

Mars First Logistics & Animal Crossing

Dead Cells. I can just... Zone out and go. It's really cathartic, and if I do particularly bad during a run, I just... Die and start over. You don't lose anything you've gained, (unless you pick something up in a biome and don't make it to the exit), and each run is practically a new game that requires nothing to learn it. It's my Zen game.

C&C Generals World Builder. I just make maps while I'm in discord.

It's stimulating enough that it keeps my mind from wandering from a conversation, but brainless enough to be engaged in the conversation.

I'm also partial to Minecraft. Just decorate a little section then log off until tomorrow