Board 8 > What's a good low-impact veg-out casual game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've come to realize it's good to have a game on tap for mental health days, but I have not built up a game library that's great for that. What are your recs that are:
-Turn based or at least slow paced
-Don't super need sound
-Can be played on my computer, uh, one way or another, with a keyboard and crappy touchpad
-Not heavy or dark subject material, ideally light and colorful
-Can be played for short or long sessions
-Not something that I'll lose track of what I'm doing or the story, or that pressure me to log on and do dailies all the time
-Single-player
-Complicated enough to occupy my brain, simple enough that it doesn't feel overwhelm me
-Bonus points: Casual, long, cheap, queer, replayable

As an example: Princess Farmer was perfect in this role, I just ran out of story mode and didn't feel like doing much with endless.

We Love Katamari Reroll

Stardew Valley

You're welcome.

probably Atelier Sophie

NFUN posted...

probably Atelier Sophie

would Ayesha work? that's what I have

Aecioo posted...

Stardew Valley

You're welcome.

heck yeaaaaa I've had trackpad issues in the past but this computer is a bit better, I should try again

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

We Love Katamari Reroll

!! thanks!!

Cat Quest

AriaOfBolo posted...

heck yeaaaaa I've had trackpad issues in the past but this computer is a bit better, I should try again

stardew valley is legitimately one of the best games I've played in the past decade. I've even done it coop with my best friend and it was startling how different he played and prioritized the game, to the point that it made me appreciate it even more because I finally realized it can be played... however you want.

I missed the keyboard/trackpad line so I'm begrudgingly rescinding my suggestion. Don't attempt to play Katamari without a 2 analog stick controller.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

I missed the keyboard/trackpad line so I'm begrudgingly rescinding my suggestion. Don't attempt to play Katamari without a 2 analog stick controller.

I was WONDERING how that'd work lol

StifledSilence posted...

Cat Quest

noted, thanks!

AriaOfBolo posted...

would Ayesha work? that's what I have

Ayesha has a time limit, but if you don't waste time willy-nilly it's super lenient

Sophie is better for the whole "turn your brain off" thing because there is zero time pressure for anything, but Ayesha is probably fine if you don't let the time limit bother you too much

Heres a suggestion that I think fits perfectly: find a way to play Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. Theres a DS version which had a US release, and a fan translation for the original SNES version. (I prefer the SNES version, myself.) A good, fairly simple game which can also serve as an onboarding for true roguelikes. Only thing IMO that this game is missing from your list is queerness.

or if youre already bought in to roguelikes, play Caves of Qud, which DOES have queerness

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Caves of Qud

oh heck I have this, it should've occurred to me lol

I would say any Atelier game is fine as long as you are capable of just not worrying about the time limit for the older ones before they did away with it. They're hardly impactful at all. But Atelier in general is super light hearted and while it doesn't ALWAYS have low stakes, when it does have some it's not usually very intense or dark about it.

Also of course the Civilization games and almost any 4X game could be what you're looking for. Civ is probably your best bet if you're looking for something easier to get into though.

Can you do cross play with Stardew valley? Like one person in PC and one on xbox?

Planet Coaster or Zoo

Vampire Survivors isnt exactly slow paced or turn based but at a certain point it becomes almost rhythmic, mesmerizing, or methodical in a way that doesnt expend much brainpower. and you can pause it at any time if thats a concern

seems perfect for every other stipulation you have listed though

Peggle/Peggle Nights

Though the sound design is awesome, so you would be missing out on the best experience of it without sound.

changmas posted...

Vampire Survivors isnt exactly slow paced or turn based but at a certain point it becomes almost rhythmic, mesmerizing, or methodical in a way that doesnt expend much brainpower. and you can pause it at any time if thats a concern

seems perfect for every other stipulation you have listed though

It is perfect! I have already 100% it (except the new dlc which I wanna stream)

KCF0107 posted...

Peggle/Peggle Nights

Though the sound design is awesome, so you would be missing out on the best experience of it without sound.

Oh good call good call

AriaOfBolo posted...

It is perfect! I have already 100% it (except the new dlc which I wanna stream)

Oh good call good call

ah gotcha! well if youre hungry for more in the same genre, you could try Halls of Torment which is a vampire survivors-like with Diablo 2 aesthetics

I've been playing a ton of Cities Skylines the last year or so. (And there's a sequel out in October that looks amazing.) I'm not sure how great it'll be on a laptop, and it's not inherently queer, but should check all the other boxes.

Oh if you're looking for something shorter you can pick up and play for 30-45 min at a time too, give Dorfromantik a look.

Nice little indie game I think is the very definition of relaxing and chill.

Have you played Unpacking yet?

If you havent then that, but its really short.

Powerwash Simulator

Snake5555555555 posted...

Planet Coaster or Zoo

good idea thanks!

azuarc posted...

Cities Skylines

also good thanks!

tcaz2 posted...

give Dorfromantik a look.

frickin I have even played this one and just mental blocked, thanks

WhiteLens posted...

Have you played Unpacking yet?

If you havent then that, but its really short.

I want to!!

KamikazePotato posted...

Powerwash Simulator

ooooooo yeah

Give Glass Masquerade a look. It's a bunch of stained glass puzzles. I like it for when I want to put my brain in hibernate mode for a little bit.

Slay the Spire scratched this itch for me. It's a bit dark and it is a roguelite, so it's decently challenging, but it's so easy to just start a run and pause it whenever since it's turn-based.

Raka_Putra posted...

Slay the Spire scratched this itch for me. It's a bit dark and it is a roguelite, so it's decently challenging, but it's so easy to just start a run and pause it whenever since it's turn-based.

Also gonna mention Monster Train and Griftlands for more games like this that are of similar quality, if TC has played StS already (which is somewhat likely)

Maybe Chicory and Wandersong? They're very cute and comfy titles IMO

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


happy to help!

any yakuza game, specifically the mahjong minigame

tcaz2 posted...

Also gonna mention Monster Train and Griftlands for more games like this that are of similar quality, if TC has played StS already (which is somewhat likely)

And if we're going down the roguelike road, my current fave for like the last year or so has been Slice & Dice, a little dice-based roguelike on itch (not on steam yet), I've played it for like thousands of hours and it's super low key and simple while also having tons of depth

unfortunately there is an unhealthy amount of predatory game progression in it (i think it takes several years to be able to collect everything in it now thanks to the various forms of online dailies for shop gacha currencies) but outside of collectable aspects 100% Orange Juice is genuinely pretty comfy. I spent a solid year or so playing that occasionally in singleplayer before ever even touching online mode though i'm admittedly probably the only person ever to do so. It still supports its original 800x600 resolution and plays about as well as it ever did on low spec laptops and has plenty of charm to it

worth mentioning also that if you get into that (being an indie anime vg board game themed around other games from the developer), their other games are decently replayable in their own right, though they might be a little overwhelming...

The QP Shooting/Xmas Shooting games are vertical shmups where the key gimmick is that you can customise your shot types by picking three from a total of around 20-30 different formations you buy in the shop so there's a lot of replayability there. It consists of 3 (technically 4) games and 1 free expansion, though half of them are untranslated (you can find the last 2 in english on steam though). They're also probably Orange Juice's cutest games.
Then there's the suguri series (comprised of Suguri and Sora), which notably is a series of horizontal shmups where you have a lifebar and can also customise your loadouts with more stuff you collect in runs, and there's also melee attacks. Those games let you progress 1 stage at a time so while I'd say they're not very easy, they are relatively accessible. Also they got some spinoffs called the Acceleration of Suguri series (X-Edition and 2 are on steam) and those are actually shmup fighting games and tons of fun. Pretty goofy stories in those too.
Flying Red Barrel is a more traditional vertical shmup where the main feature is that you're just meant to manually spam rockets at enemies to increase your damage and point multiplier (well, it actually just makes enemies drop more coins you have to manually collect but same difference). It's definitely on the easier side as a result and also has 17 different endings depending on boss characters you show mercy on which also obviously gives it a lot of replayability, not to mention just trying to maximise your score gives it a lot too.
Lastly there's also some extra titles with joke plots. 100% Orange Juice is arguably one of them, though you can also find their other anniversary game 200% Mixed Juice which has a pokemon-esque jrpg battle system with rock paper scissors mechanics on Steam too. It even has online, and a pretty hefty overhaul patch i contributed to. Their other ones are simple and free short titles usually released for april fools, including the gag title QP Kiss and the meta jrpg DEKU based off circle's composer and artist, both of which have fan translations as of this year. Their others include a terrible lucky star-themed action platformer called Gun Star, a red barrel parody called Flying Crimson Barrel (inspired by porco rosso), a fangame for an old ps1 jrpg dating sim called Mid Night Pleasure (the ps1 game was called Eternal Melody), and also an old puyo puyo clone called Fruit Juice (Kaju) 100%.

another game i can... somewhat vouch for is the moekuri series. first one's untranslated freeware and 2nd has a localisation on steam (without the 2 on it), though the english version doesn't have all the content updates the doujin release has for whatever reason. either way that's a srpg collectathon hybrid basically with a bright anime art style. localised game has a story that is largely filler, freeware game has no story so no worries about missing out on "deep lore" beyond what the summons are called tbh. Gameplay has some tactical depth and encourages multiple playthroughs since you get a bunch of different MC classes to experiment with

OG King's Bounty on Genesis or dealer's choice of Romance of the Three Kingdoms games on the SNES (my choice is 2).

Everything about what you described your ideal game is also mine. We might still not have fitted into the same absolute, but if you told me that you found a game that fit those parameters, I would check it out.

Diab.....

-Not heavy or dark subject material, ideally light and colorful

nevermind

man y'all are hitting it out of the park, thank you! Most of these are going on a list but Caves of Qud was what I booted up last night and it was great once I decided to not read the entire help file first. :P (also I really like the music dang)

ZaziGuado posted...

Give Glass Masquerade a look. It's a bunch of stained glass puzzles.

Funky, I do like some art deco!

Raka_Putra posted...

Slay the Spire scratched this itch for me.

I was just streaming this the other day! I had it in the "normal game" category but there's no reason it couldn't also be a chill game, good call!

tcaz2 posted...

Monster Train and Griftlands for more games like this that are of similar quality,

Cool thanks! I've played a jillion roguelite deckbuilders but these two had eluded me

KanzarisKelshen posted...

Maybe Chicory and Wandersong? They're very cute and comfy titles IMO

Chicory I wanted to like but there was a depressed character and it kinda bummed me out lol. I FORGOT ABOUT WANDERSONG, I got it in a bundle at some point I think! Goooood call.

NFUN posted...

any yakuza game, specifically the mahjong minigame

....I could see that yeah. Been meaning to get into Yakuza for a while, and have dabbled in mahjong a few times and could go for more.

Paratroopa1 posted...

Slice & Dice

I FLIPPIN LOVE SLICE AND DICE. I played it on my phone but eventually got tired of it after I ran out of unlocks that felt....possible.

UF8 posted...

100% Orange Juice

You are right, you are right. It's a multiplayer only game in my mind but singleplayer would fill the need just fine! Dabbled in QP Shooting a bit too.....I could see shmups being an unconventional choice that could actually work for me. I have Acceleration of Suguri 2 sitting around in my library to try later and am curious about 200%. Do I need to play much of the others before I play 200%?

UF8 posted...

another game i can... somewhat vouch for is the moekuri series

This is my pitch, it was made for me. It's been on my wishlist forever but that moves it pretty far up.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

OG King's Bounty on Genesis or dealer's choice of Romance of the Three Kingdoms games on the SNES (my choice is 2).

Huh, alrighty! Will check out King's Bounty. I've played and enjoyed later Ro3K games and they seem just a liiiiittle too deep for veg needs, but I bet the early ones are probably a bit easier to brain? Been meaning to check them out for a while anyway.

SHINE_GET_64 posted...

Diab.....

-Not heavy or dark subject material, ideally light and colorful

nevermind

I could see that otherwise tho yep