I need a new "casual" game

[exyia]

I've been looking for a new...."casual"....game to sink into. I play a lot of BF4, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and some Skyrim. I enjoy them greatly.

 

but there are just times where I need a break and to wind down with something more light-hearted and less serious. I'm sure I'm not the only one

 

This used to be Dota 2. I used to enjoy logging in for a quick game or two of dota2 to wind down, but after coming back to it from over a year (I still follow the esports scene), the new (to me) match making system really has me stuck in hell. I just can't tolerate the idiots I'm stuck with and no matter what people say - I just can't get out of it (tanked from 3500MMR to 3000 and it's gotten absolutely terrible now). I still love the game and will follow the esports scene - but I can't resort to this as my "laid back" game anymore

 

Tried SimCity - first time in the series. it was moderately amusing at first learning the mechanics - but that quickly ended when I realized how bad the size limitations were. I tried to play around it and embrace the multi-city design of the game....but I can't. It's just broken and limiting in all the wrong ways. sigh, I really wanted to enjoy this one

 

X-Com - this was fantastic. but I've really played as much as I could out of it. I've tried to sink my teeth into the Long War mod, but it's just not my cup of tea. I don't mind the challenge, but the mod just feels bloated and clunky. And when trying to go back to the original, it just feels too familiar. No complaints about the game, but after hundreds of hours, I think I've finally exhausted my interest in this game

 

Sims4 - was hoping this would be decent. I've played/enjoyed all of them. but we all know how this game turned out

 

Sims3 - has anyone revisited this since the Sims4 release? I remember buying this a while ago and feeling an instant sense of "been here, done that" and used Origin's refund policy - of which I posted a thread about. Maybe I was too hasty in my return? I'm not sure if it's because I miss this game or because I've exhausted all my other ones. With Sims4 being such a disappointment, and Sims3 not looking too terribly "dated", I'm wondering if this is worth trying again? Has anyone gone back to it?

 

Any other games anyone can recommend? something light-hearted and more laid back to play in between BF4 matches?

[Valhallatier]

dark souls
dark souls 2

[ThyFeared]

Try out the Mass Effect trilogy it's really great and it winds me down pretty nicely.

[Snickerzz]

prison architect 

FTL

gunpoint

floating point (free on steam, no microshitactions, also from the creator of gunpoint)

[Lotus]

Honestly, the best "casual" game I've ever played was Pokemon. Bar none.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

I still love a Sims 3 playthrough every now and again. Not gonna get into Sims 4 unless they introduce pools which, lets face it, is what the Sims is really all about.

[brownninja97]

 

Audiosurf 2 or 1 both are great

Symphony is a great game but for some off reason it crashes while using raptr

dynasty warriors 8 xtreme legends complete edition, this is a get cool down game, hack n slashs arent very hard and there is a lot of content and its all fluid

ion assault, its not a big game but its a name retro kinda game with fancy effects and all

killing floor- killing weird beings and blood never gets old

any visual novel- i like them and they make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

[minibois]

Fallout or Portal.

[WereCat]

Something less serious?

Serious Sam

[coen113]

World of Warcraft

For real though

Maybe a racing game?

[Craptop]

Robocraft! This is my go to game when I'm tired of league and Dayz.
TF2 is also on my list.

[CatCloud]

I have like 300 games on steam alone and at least l 200 of them are laid back or casual.

Is there any type of genre you Don't like??

Do you want them to be a short?

[GloriousPain]

A nice game of Civ 5 usually calms be down a bit but warning it'll keep you thinking it's a strategy game... Or could try Borderlands it's a FPS but it's also a bit of an RPG free world like Skyrim it's also got lots of comedy and a nice story just try it... League of Legends is a MOBA like dota... Or bro you could always try something like TV, or anime; that's like a whole new level of casual

[Asgarth]

I always enjoy playing through Pokemon games with music, movies or youtube videos

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Mirrors edge

[FieryWarlock]

Personally I play TF2 when I'm not "playing a game", if you know what I mean. It's just so easy to play and not get caught up in. I'd also recommend a racing game perhaps? Used to have Grid and PGR4 on the 360 before I switched to PC, and I picked up Grid, Grid 2, F1 2011 and F1 2013 in the last Steam sale. Just tone down the opponent AI if you can/want to and get a longer track - with a nice soundtrack I find it contrasts well with a fps.

[TheRoss0411]

Fallout

FTL

Civ 5

[Osama Adam]

Borderlands

[Pehehetri]

FLT

RimWorld ( prison architect derivation but more intriguing )

Factorio

[Pugs501]

Paper's Please

[exyia]

wow lots of responses already

 

dark souls
dark souls 2

always looked too hardcore to me

 

Try out the Mass Effect trilogy it's really great and it winds me down pretty nicely.

ohhhhhh man.....played through it farrrrrrrrr too many times.

 

I actually recently tried to do a complete re-playthrough (from ME1), but having a hard time dealing with ME1 gameplay

 

prison architect 

FTL

gunpoint

floating point (free on steam, no microshitactions, also from the creator of gunpoint)

will take a look at those - gunpoint sounds familiar

 

Honestly, the best "casual" game I've ever played was Pokemon. Bar none.

yeah, but having grown up with the original 151 - Pokemon is just weird now that they've expanded past the original 151

 

I still love a Sims 3 playthrough every now and again. Not gonna get into Sims 4 unless they introduce pools which, lets face it, is what the Sims is really all about.

how bad are the performance issues really? I never sunk my teeth into Sims 3 enough to remember/notice - mainly because I was in college at the release and I played so much of Sims 1 and 2 already

 

Audiosurf 2 or 1 both are great

Symphony is a great game but for some off reason it crashes while using raptr

dynasty warriors 8 xtreme legends complete edition, this is a get cool down game, hack n slashs arent very hard and there is a lot of content and its all fluid

ion assault, its not a big game but its a name retro kinda game with fancy effects and all

killing floor- killing weird beings and blood never gets old

any visual novel- i like them and they make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

think more alt-tab friendly. I can see why some of those are decent recommendations, but I also mean "wind down" in a sense where I can casually play and browse other stuff and clear my mind

 

Fallout or Portal.

Takes too much focus/immersion imo

 

Something less serious?
Serious Sam

I c wut u did thar

 

World of Warcraft

For real though
Maybe a racing game?

tried to get back into WoW, but it's just too different (played TBC endgame in both pvp and pve)

 

racing is a no-go because I'm a sort of perfectionist. I can't casually whim around a track - I get too competitive and try to perfect runs.

 

plus I race my car in real life, so racing games feel stale to me now (sold my G27 wheel a long time ago)

 

Robocraft! This is my go to game when I'm tired of league and Dayz.
TF2 is also on my list.

think a bit more alt-tab friendly is what I'm kind of after - something I can browse forums and youtube with

 

I have like 300 games on steam alone and at least l 200 of them are laid back or casual.
Is there any type of genre you Don't like??

Do you want them to be a short?

just something I could relax and read a forum or watch some youtube...management type games seem to lend itself well to this (xcom, sims, simcity)

 

A nice game of Civ 5 usually calms be down a bit but warning it'll keep you thinking it's a strategy game... Or could try Borderlands it's a FPS but it's also a bit of an RPG free world like Skyrim it's also got lots of comedy and a nice story just try it... League of Legends is a MOBA like dota... Or bro you could always try something like TV, or anime; that's like a whole new level of casual

the Civ series always looks so foreign to me. reviews never seem to explain the gist of how the gameplay works. I don't want to say it looks boring - it just looks....idk...I just don't see what's appealing about it. someone enlighten me (while I go look up some reviews)

 

If you have a controller lying around and a lot of music stored on your PC, i'd recommend checking out Beat Hazard. 

will take a look

 

Mirrors edge

 

 

Personally I play TF2 when I'm not "playing a game", if you know what I mean. It's just so easy to play and not get caught up in. I'd also recommend a racing game perhaps? Used to have Grid and PGR4 on the 360 before I switched to PC, and I picked up Grid, Grid 2, F1 2011 and F1 2013 in the last Steam sale. Just tone down the opponent AI if you can/want to and get a longer track - with a nice soundtrack I find it contrasts well with a fps.

said above - I loved GRID, but racing games don't do it for me anymore. I'll either get too competitive or want to get too immersed in it again and spend money/time on getting a wheel/chair setup again

 

Borderlands

looks like nothing but grind fest to me. this series never appealed to me

 

Paper's Please

I feel like I've watched enough of other people playing this. I can see why others find it captivating/fun, but I'm kind of over it /shrug

[ThyFeared]

 

I can play ME1 so much it's by far my favorite

[iTzPrime]

One Finger Death Punch

Binding of Isaac

[rockking1379]

Robocraft! This is my go to game when I'm tired of league and Dayz.

TF2 is also on my list.

robocraft is pretty entertaining

 

also OP maybe try space engineers if you havent yet. i think its pretty fun

[GloriousPain]

the Civ series always looks so foreign to me. reviews never seem to explain the gist of how the gameplay works. I don't want to say it looks boring - it just looks....idk...I just don't see what's appealing about it. someone enlighten me (while I go look up some reviews)

 

looks like nothing but grind fest to me. this series never appealed to me

You do realize I suggested more than one game right? Also Civ series is you choose a country (get some extras based on that country) and then you start in the age of mesopotamia with 15 other countries progressing through time with technological advances and it's like a chess game for world domination...

And Borderlands isn't that much of a grindfest it's like an FPS version of Skyrim with the ability to respawn (oh and crazy amounts of humor ...instead of going to last save) you can always just follow the main story line  here's an example it's just character intros (maybe 2% of the humor in BL2)

*Pause at about 5 minutes to save the story's ending