So, I’ve been playing Empyrion, which I enjoyed very much, but I am kind of getting fed up with it. I really want a feel good game, something pretty, possibly even cute. Something like Stardew Valley or Recettear. Failing that, I’d love something absorbing.
Middle Earth: Shadow of War is coming out, and I’m excited for it, but at the same time it is grim as hell, and I’m at the stage where I would dig planting flowers or something. I bought Divinity the Original Sin 2, and it is a great game but I have trouble getting into it. Battle Chaser: Nightwar is out, but I am not sure if it’s good. Desperate for a distraction here.
Suggestions? PC games preferred.
Well, there’s always the Sims. Prolly not what you’re looking for, though.
Pikmin
As Carmen says, Pikmin would be awesome. And as long we are going old school, have you ever played MYST? If not you missed out on an amazing game that is engaging, immersive, gorgeous, and very well written.
Yes!
There is a new game from Cyan that is Myst like called Obduction. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks just just as engaging as Myst and Riven.
Zelda Breath of the Wild. I know it’s not a PC game but the world is beautiful and the monsters are mostly derpy and mellow.
Definitely seconding this. Breath of the Wild is one of the most straightforwardly fun games I’ve ever played, in addition to being beautiful as hell. I was skeptical about whether or not the Switch was worth it, but I’ve more than made up the price with time spent playing BotW. It’s just one of those games you can really enjoy playing.
Have you tried Path of Exile? Its a Diablo-esque game for PC. Its basically what fans wanted Diablo 3 to be. Definitely not cute though, so falls under absorbing category.
I highly recommend Slime Rancher if you want comfort gaming! It is a PC game, and just about everything in the game is adorable. There is a cute little story you can find scattered throughout the game, however it’s mostly a sandbox style game where you get to find, and take care of, adorable little slimes for profit. I think the arwork is pretty nice. It’s not Skyrim spectacular, but it is charming.
You beat me to it. LOL. Seriously though, my son got me into this. Fun!
Slime Rancher?
Portal Knights was a cute fun little game, which also happens to have a multiplayer function if that’s something your are interested in so you can adventure with someone. It was a fun way to spend a weekend with my honey where we got to kill monsters, plant crops, collect cute vanity pets, and craft our little hearts out with weapons, armor and potions.
Washington Post recently had a game review. Didn’t read the whole thing, though, so I’m not sure if they’re for or against it, but I thought I’d point you to it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/09/22/in-the-smart-and-slick-new-game-echo-you-become-your-own-worst-enemy/?utm_term=.e00ff12e276e
Aven Colony is fun too.
I suggest Slime Rancher as well.
I also like Subnautica, just for all the pretty water critters (although some of them do try to kill you), and while it’s a survival game, it’s overall not that grim.
I’ve also recently seen gameplay for Hob, which has some very pretty artwork and music (seriously, love the music), but haven’t had a chance to play it yet, as it just came out.
Or just play The Sims. Very much sandbox and creative, and you can always take your feelings out on your Sims (by killing them in various ways).
The Sims has been my go-to game for over a decade when I just don’t want to deal with violence .
My son loves subnautica but I haven’t played it personally.
I was also going to suggest Slime rancher, the happy slimes always cheer me up.
I admit I also throw them into the slime sea when i just want to destroy things so it has many options
http://slimerancher.com/
Skyrim with mods so you can skip the grind; get a hearthfire home you can build from scratch and gather a family together. 🙂 I went with Lakeview manor!
I also do something similar with rimworld and “prepare carefully”. Just setting up my little crew to have a tiny village makes me happy!
Check out Ori and the Blind Forest on Steam. It’s a really cool platformer, the best I’ve every played. The game is relatively challenging, but very fun nonetheless. And it has a gorgeous art style, and the soundtrack works perfectly with the game as well.
I have been playing a Facebook game called Tonga. It is kind of like Farmville but not as involved.
Paradise Bay, simple little SIM loaded with flowers and fruit punch!.
Dishonored is good to get me out of my head. I spend most of my time being sneaky or running from bugs.
World of goo is fun on phones and it is on PC too.
In counsultation with my husband, we recommend Spore and Subnautica. Good luck, and happy gaming!
Any of the Shadowrun games by Harebrained Games – they really make me want to read something set in the world.
Begin with “Never deal with Dragon” from Robert N. Charrette, those books are still available on net in shops or p. bay like sites too, if you don´t the money.
My husband actually owns the first 40 or so novels.. in German. I tried reading them but they really did not hold up well, haha. He actually read the beginning of 2XS to me the other evening and sigh.. I actually loved Silver Shark for being quite similar to SR in tone and feel and it’s one of the reasons why I totally dig the Hidden Legacy series so much. ?
It’s an oldie but I think it’s still on Steam… Curse of Monkey island. You are Guybrush Threepwood and are married to a pirate. You have to navigate until you have a giant mecha monkey battle at the end. It’s an illogic game and you don’t have to have any hand-eye coordination.
I second Ori and the Blind Forest. Gorgeous graphics, the music is beautiful, and the game is fun.
So, and bear with me here, but have you thought about Spyro the Dragon? There’s some PC mods, but it’s one of the original playstation games (now available on PS3): you play a small purple dragon who needs to save the bigger dragons, save a magical homeworld, or save the baby dragons respectively (there are three games).
It is my ultimate feel-good escape-the-world game. Because small purple dragon!
Terraria is very fun if you haven’t played it before!
It’s not a PC game, but Animal Crossing (New Leaf for the 3DS is my favorite) is great for relaxing. The only computer games I’ve played in the past five years are MMOs (Spiral Knights and Guild Wars 2) which are probably not what you’re looking for right now… (Even though Spiral Knights is super cute.)
I’ve been playing Divinity: Original Sin II as my game diversion therapy of choice. So far it’s been great.
I was about to recommend this. I don’t play but have quite a few friends who do and say it’s just enjoyable as heck, and you can party with up to 4 total people I think? Which makes it nice if you want to play with a friend or spouse!
I’ve been playing Elder Scrolls Online for aong while, which I love. But recently I started Black Desert Online, and have been loving the game. It’s got a great combat system and even greater skills and life skills system. You can easily spend all day farming and brewing beer instead of fighting if you wanted.
My only warning about BDO is that the server chat can get very vile. I turn it off and go my merry way alone.
For comfort, my gamer son recommends Goat Simulator. “Fun and quite hilarious” was his review. He also recommends Terraria, which is 2D semi-open world where you can mine and fight monsters, or The Yawhg, which is a sort of “choose your own adventure”. In that one, your character can plant things, meditate, dance, become a vampire or werewolf, help the sick, or go to the tavern and drink!
Come back to WoW. Legion has been the best xpac since WOTLK
ToonTown is one of our additions. The World Ends With You is another.
I second Terraria. I also love Aquaria, Spelunky, Shovel Knight (I got it on 3DS, but it is also available on multiple platforms including Steam), Rogue Legacy, Cosmic Star Heroine (if you like retro JRPG-likes). My computer is not up to super graphics heavy games anymore, so I play a lot of retro indie titles on it. Hollow Knight is pretty, too.
Oh, I forgot; I love Recettear. You could check out the other games by the company that localized that, as they’re pretty cute. I loved Fortune Summoners, but it needs a sequel it is likely to never have.
Don’t Starve on Steam or Don’t Starve Together.
Not sure what system you’re on, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is gorgeous and never grim. Ni no Kuni is another gorgeous/ cute game, but that one’s more typical Jrpg
Whoops, missed the final line about pc games ?
If you have a Nintendo system, anything Legend of Zelda is fantastic. Wind Waker and Skyward Sword are both pretty lighthearted. Twilight Princess is darker but the story and graphics are pretty great.
Minecraft on ‘peaceful’ or in creative mode? If you want to explore or build things and plant a pretty garden.
In the vein of the Curse of Monkey Island suggestion above, what about the old point-and-click adventure games? You’d have to get dosbox (free!) and find the old game files (many of which are either abandonware or available on the good old games site for cheap), but they’re fun and the violence level is far less than any modern FPS. I suggest the Kyrandia or King’s Quest games- like Monkey Island, they’ve got a sense of humor and poke fun at themselves constantly. The graphics are nothing to write home about but they still manage to be quite pretty.
If you can find it and get it to work, there’s also Pandora’s Box. It’s a puzzle game where you reassemble various pieces of art (some famous, some not). And there’s Creatures (along the same line as the Sims or Spore)– certainly cute and mostly not violent.
You can get the King’s Quest (and Quest for Glory) games on GOG. They include the dosbox in the install, so you shouldn’t have to fiddle with much.
The newer prequel of King’s Quest on Steam is also pretty good and pretty.
The cutest game I’ve ever played is Child of Light. It’s gorgeous, the music is fantastic and the story is very fun. (Okay, I admit, I cried at the end. It was great.) Ori and the Blind Forest is also really cute with great music. Song of the Deep too, it’s all underwater, the colors are very pretty and the narrator has a really beautiful voice. Firewatch is absolutely gorgeous, but a bit on the sad side scenario-wise ? Would still recommend. Some of my friends told me that Life is Strange is a very good game, but I have yet to try it. They’re all on Steam :).
I really enjoyed Odin’s Sphere: Leifthrasir. It’s a beautiful side scroller for ps3 and ps4 based on Norse mythology. You play through story lines as different characters. The game is gorgeous and I loved the story lines
Sorry – I can recommend several PS3/4 games, but haven’t played PC games in several years… Good luck finding a game though!!!
I’m currently playing Caesar 3 to remember the 90’s when I played it first. On my tablet I’m addicted to Plant Vs Zombies 2, and my game of choice is usually any of the Total War Games namely medieval total war 2, or rome but not Rome 2
I second Caesar. Age of empires 2 or pharaoh are also classics in my opinion.
I like the new CIV as well.
one i have found to be great fun is called pillars of eternity… it does get very grim however…
alternately i have always found borderlands to be great for some meaningless idle pillaging
I play Torchlight II when I want to work out some anger issues.
Cohhcarnage iš a streamer. He plays games on twitch.tv and I like to shop for games on his channel. Two kinda cute recent games he played were Cuphead and Hob. Both games are platformers, but both have cute animation, especially Cuphead.
My husband and I just started playing “Thimbleweed Park”. It’s a silly point-and-click adventure game by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick (guys who developed “The Secret of Money Island” and “Maniac Mansion”). I think “Day of the Tentacle” was just remastered, too, so if you haven’t played that, I remember it as being very silly and very funny. (But I did play it a long time ago.)
I liked the first 3 snippets better than the last (Phhht) snippet, The last snippet obviously had missing context. The first 3 snippets were extremely engaging standalone snippets.
There is a company called Gamehouse which lets you play the unlocked Windows 10 games. It has a monthly fee but I can burn through a couple of their games a month which makes it worthwhile. Covers strategy, time management, card games, hidden object, and puzzles. Obviously not multiple players or games needing updates.
Probably too kid-ish but I recently discovered the Logical World of Zoombinis which came out in 1998 (so I was 10) has been updated for mobile devices and tablets! Helping little blue people make their way through different challenges to a new homeland called Zoombiniville because their old homeland was overrun by the evil Bloats (I’m taking this from Wikipedia because I definitely don’t remember this). My favorite challenge was definitely the pizza challenge (you have to figure out what toppings the pizza troll wants to let the Zoombinis pass), they were all challenges based on logic. Definitely light hearted and you don’t have think too much. Turns out there were two follow up games to the original but I had no idea. Spent many hours in elementary/middle school playing on my father’s old 1995 Toshiba laptop. If I ever get around to getting an iPad, will definitely check out the updated version.
I played Battle chasers yesterday for about an hour befor sleep and i liked it. Very good atmosphere. But who knows is its holds up later in the game.
I really enjoy Forge of Empires & Elvenar. The Secret Society is also fun.
If you want something short and sweet, then I would recommend Samorost games. They are cute and full of logical puzzles. 🙂
Oooh, these are so good!
From Dust. It’s a puzzle/strategy game with different levels. It’s a very engrossing game and is beautifully done.
Haven’t played it yet (personally hoping for a Xbox One release) but Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicle’s seems very much a beautiful peaceful game. Other than that I can definitely second (or fifth) the Slime Rancher one.
Try Don’t Starve. Very addicting but still cute and kinda casual
Divinity Original Sin 2 (currently playing, it´s fun) and Elex (black horse, I am waiting for review keys from czech EuroGamer) are hot RPGs of this autum.
From older titles I would recommend Shadowrun trilogy (Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong and SR books are great too, beginning with “Never deal with Dragon”).
If you’ve got a PS4 Horizon Zero Dawn is kinda awesome. Get to run around fiighting giant robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow. Also involes lots of hiding and sneaking around instead of brute force attacks. The visuals on it are also stunning. Worth a look, convinced me to upgrade my XBOX 360 to a PS4
My husband played this game. It was amazing to watch and I know he loved playing it. Beautiful visual effects and compelling story.
The kid plays. Stunning and a good story! I knit and the kid plays
Fabulous storyline. I can’t wait for the DLC.
The best pretty game I like is Ori and the Blind Forest.
Ori and the Blind Forest is a great game … it’s pretty like watching a Miyazaki movie, it has great story line, and a perfect soundtrack tying it all together…
I would absolutely recommend Horizon Zero Dawn, it is visually stunning (and also gave me some Mass Effect feels). I am currently playing Destiny 2 (I think it is coming out on PC a bit later this month?) and I really enjoy it – it has some hearbreak but quite a few uplifting moments. Do NOT play FFXV unless you want to have your heart broken into a thousand pieces. And my guilty pleasure are romance sim games from Voltage (Metro PD is totally my fave) available on iTunes/Google Play.
I would also recommend Horrizon Zero Dawn for PS4! Beautiful!
I am currently playing Destiny 2 as well. The main story line is short but it Is overall uplifting at is the kind of game you can go destract yourself with for few hours.
Undertale, perhaps? It’s a bit short, but it’s pretty cute/feel good if you are not a heartless person.
I’ve heard good things about Owlboy, but I can’t say anything about it personally since it’s been untouched in my neverending backlog.
Personally, I love Crypt of the Necrodancer, though it may not be quite what you’re looking for.
I’ve mostly been playing Divinity: Original Sin 2 lately. I’m on my third restart of the game b/c I keep messing up the quest sequences and haven’t saved frequently enough. I did start Mages of Mystralia yesterday when I was frustrated with the other, and it’s cartoony and cheerful; I’m not that far in but it was relaxing to play. It’s also only about 15 dollars on steam. It asks you to use a controller though.
Both my husband and son said Minecraft. You can put it on creative, get a skin to match your mood and build to your hearts desire. No monsters will attack you either.
I hope you find something, we all need a place to escape to sometimes.
Katamari Damacy.
Concept, you’re father is King of the Cosmos, he got drunk and ate some stars.
You have to gather up mass to replace the stars.
You start tiny (like insect size) with a gravity ball, and start rolling up items (paperclips, erasers, coins, thumb tacks, etc.). As you gather more mass you roll up larger items: telephones, then cows, then buildings.
It’s manic and fun. 🙂
And addictive……
Stellaris and Zero Escape: The Nonary Games both fun games.
Thomas was alone. A simple logic game with a sweet little story (and hea). Totally sucked me in and I loved it!
I completely understand, I can’t recommend any games for PC though. When I get in that mood I plug in my old Wii, the one that plays GameCube games, and play Mario Sunshine. Cutesy music, setting tropical island, beat the bad guys and flowers grow and the sun comes out. Great nastalgic fun, and cuteness, I also taught both my niece and nephew to game with that one.
So my advice, maybe pull out an old favorite that you loved and play it again.
AS silly as this sounds I play my grandkids Shopkins game! It on my phone, tablet and computer!
It has several different games in one , its complex yet simple and they are harder then you think. It’s cute, fun and a great distraction, as well as relaxing. Usually I read to relax but sometimes you need the total focus of something else to do it!
Slime Rancher is pretty, bright and fun. It’s on Steam. My 7 year old and I play it. Also the Lego games can be fun with funny cut scenes.
Yes! All of the Lego games are an utter blast.
Sorry if the 78 comments have mentioned it. I find Yonder the Cloud Catcher chronicles very soothing and fun for short periods of time http://store.steampowered.com/app/580200/Yonder_The_Cloud_Catcher_Chronicles/
Hi Ilona,
I play time management games such as Diner Dash. You mentioned planting flowers, try Garden Dash, Ranch Rush or Farm Frenzy. I also enjoy Hidden Object games. My favorites 2 series are Awakening and Dark Parables. I’m a member of the Big Fish Games club.
For epic games, I love the Might & Magic series (specifically 4-8) and Dragon Age. I still play Neverwinter Nights (PC game 1999 or so).
Pit People on the PC. The game has a quirky, funny sense of humor and does not take long to play. Definitely good for a laugh if you need cheering up. Also has a good soundtrack.
Owlboy is a very cute and pretty game. You can get it on steam. It oozes charm http://store.steampowered.com/app/115800/Owlboy/
My partner and I are huge Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 fans. After you pay for the initial game its free. The artwork, storyline and game mechanics are fantastic! PVE and PVP are kept separate, which is a big demand for myself.
Yes guild wars 1 and 2 are very awesome games. Would recommend them been playing for 13 Years. If you like puzzles try portal 1and 2 on Xbox 360. Or an older but still one of my favorites is the Myst series. Love all your books BTW. Thank you for them.
Actually Guildwars 2 is now free to play the entire core game which includes leveling up all the way to 80, pvp and WvW. I recommend you to give it a try and see if you like it.
I’m still stuck on WOW. I’ve tried other games and keep coming back. Even when the game gets repetitive or bugs the crap out of me, I have some solid friends I’ve met over the years that I like playing with.
We play WOW as well. We left for about 7 years and came back earlier this year. We found a great Horde guild on Hellscream. They are doing a good job this expansion of adding content to keep folks engaged.
I’m in the same boat with you. I’ve been reading and playing games on my phone. Right now it’s Hay Day and Gardenscapes. They can be challenging and yet simple, so it works for me.
Keep us updated on what you find. I’m always looking for new games to play!
There’s a PC version of gardenscapes as well, and I think it has more to it than the android version. I’m addicted to the andriod version, but I like the idea of making it into the mansion to find gardening tools, so I might have to purchase the PC version.
They also just launched the Homescapes game app as well….
Populous: the beginning
It’s an old game but still great
If you like Kafka or if you’re not totally disgusted by cockroaches, you may enjoy “Bad Mojo Redux,” a surreal puzzle adventure game available on Steam.
“Enter a world of perilous puzzles and bizarre perspectives. What you discover may shock you. What you don’t may kill you. Either way, you won’t come out the same person. You may not even come out a person at all…” –from the Steam description
You can complete this game in hours rather than days. Limited replay value, but my brother and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I enjoy both Midnight Castle and Township. Downloaded as apps on my iPad. They are fun and distracting with all the chaos of everyday life. Enjoy.
Plants Vs Zombies is available as a PC game and it’s a hoot. You can also play it on your phone – it’s a casual game but a good distraction.
I had a lot of fun with that one, too. Then you work on planing your garden….
I get totally absorbed in resource management. I find it very relaxing. My go to is “Banished”. Also, for a one time total absorption game, try “submerged”. Not only is it beautiful, but there is no fighting and plenty of brain stimulation trying to find all the pieces you need.
I have played WOW, Guild Wars 2, all of Mass Effect and Dragon Age – they have been mentioned in comments above. I also find joy in replaying the Tomb Raider latest 2 games – beautiful rendering, good storyline, short and fun game (30 hours or so). If you catch it on sale on Steam, even better! 🙂 Oh, someone mentioned Stellaris – yes! Don’t make fun of me but I have sunk 500+ hours into that game – it is that good.
If you like MMORPGs have you tried FFXIV? You don’t have to be a disciple of war or magic, you can instead be a disciple of the land or hand – meaning you can harvest or craft. You can do all jobs on the same character, but you will have to pass a particular milestone (I think it was level 10 or maybe 15..?) to be able to switch from your starting job, which is by design a disciple of war or magic. The first few levels are uber easy though – it has been designed to be accessible to people who are playing their first MMO so if you’re an experienced MMO’er you might find the early levels misleadingly simple. It also has fishing … but in a non-competitive passtime sort of way. It is a subscription MMO, but it has a free trial version capped at either level 30 or 35 (can’t remember which).
The first Final Fantasy MMORPG, FFXI, is still running it’s servers. It is a subscription MMO (like FFXIV), but you can plant stuff in pots in your moghouse. For cutesy play a Taru-taru. Whatever you do, don’t start in Bastok, it’s a shithole. I like to re-subscribe for a month or two every year just because. Have many fond memories playing that game with friends in the noughties.
Reus – kind of a 2D strategic, village growing, god game (visually presented on the outside rim of a circle to represent a planet) released in the last few years. Cartoon graphics, so I think it qualifies as cutesy, but it can be diabolical trying to achieve the latter goals. You kind of ‘plant’ animals, vegetables at minerals in various combinations to try and get the villages to develop as much as possible within a time limit. The combinations used affect the bonuses you get from symbiotic relationships. If you attain certain goals in the time limit you unlock more advanced things to ‘plant’ in future play throughs. However if the villages develop too fast they’ll first start to attack each other, then they’ll get ideas above their station and start attacking the giants who are your representatives in the game.
I also liked Populous as per a previous suggestions but the PC version never seemed to work well for me, my old playstation version was best – yes it’s that old. Another old playstation game was Constructor (as old as populous, or thereabouts) – you are a real estate developer/landlord trying to beat/outlast 3 competing AIs. It has a PC version but I’ve never tried it. Populous, Constructor, Evil Genius and Railroad Tycoon platinum edition all have nothing to do with planting stuff whatsoever, but I’m mentioning all of them because I love them.
…just looked up Constructor and found they’ve updated the game with a 2017 released PC version. I know what I’ll be spending my next pay’s entertainment budget on 😀
Startopia – an oldie but a goodie PC game. You run a space station catering to various alien visitors. You don’t get to plant anything yourself so much, but you do get a 3rd floor biodeck where you can watch a hippy-ish purple dreadlocked alien plant stuff for you (if you hire them), and you can mold the terrain on that deck to your liking so that certain plants will grow because of the various temperature/humidity/water settings. You can harvest the plants to get items to either use to meet your visitors needs, research, or sell to passing trade ships, but try to make sure you have a storage place for them because they do degrade. You compete against up to 3 AI players for supremacy over the station.
Farm for your Live – a cutesy PC game aimed at kids where you grow plants and cook them in recipe combinations to sell to passing zombie apocalypse survivors who will trade you things in return. Good for a bit of mindless fun. You can turn the zombie attacks off, but they’re not that bad. They want to eat your corn, not your brains.
Tropico – you don’t plant stuff, but as ruler of a tropical island you can order your citizenry to build and work in certain industries, including farming and husbandry. I personally prefer the original version with it’s Paradise Island update, or Tropico: Pirate Cove. However in recent years the intellectual property has been upgraded with several new Tropico versions. The graphics are superior, but I guess I’m just spoiled by having played the original.
As per a previous suggestion, Minecraft creative mode is also fairly mindless and you can plant things.
Space Chickens. Space Invaders, but with chickens. No planting whatsoever.
I’m going to assume you’ve played Plants vs Zombies.
PS – If you like high fantasy + board game-ish video games, have a look Fallen Enchantress. No planting whatsoever.
I would suggest either Bastion – it’s a action RPG with a hilarious narrator – or Never Alone a puzzle platformer based on a First Nations story. Both are relatively quick to finish – somewhere in the 5-10 hr mark – and immersive. It feels more like storytelling than gaming, which can be a nice change from monster mashing.
Plants vs. Zombies is an oldie but goodie. You can plant things! And if you make it through the game, there’s an awesome song for the credits about how you don’t want Zombies on your lawn.
Any Civilization game is pretty engrossing for me, as well as games like Pharoah. Nothing grim. Unless the armies of your enemies conquer your town. But still, not dark.
Have you tried Slime Rancher yet? Very relaxing, play at your own pace and an adorable aesthetic.
Hola,
Pillars of Eternity is fun.
Yummy drink factory, Wonderberg and Wondering Willows are all adorable and soothing on Big Fish Games.
Bastion, Fable, King’s Bounty, Fate
Diablo but that’s dark even though I giggle.
I love going to gog.com and playing some oldies and loved games Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Pools of Radience, etc…
Wow
I also love going back to Banjo and Kazooie but that’s not PC.
i’ve been playing conan exiles for a month. It’s best on a PVE server if you want quiet. You can quest or just chill and role play/build your base. It’s early access so there are some bugs but it’s a quality game. The devs are actively putting a lot of time into it and it’s easily worth the $30
I play Wildstar. I find the game beautiful. The character choices are fun.
Tons of content. It’s an MMORPG
I also recommend Slime Rancher for a feel good, happy cute time. Some other feel good times might be Journey if you haven’t played that before and Abzu as well.
Subnautica is a cool game if you want another survival style game. It is early access but the dev has been responsible and is doing consistent updates.
If you want another huge RPG Original Sin Divinity 2 is out now and its awesome. I’m playing it, already on my 3rd character. Huge time sink though. If you never played it you also might want to try out Terraria. That is a great family game, kinda 2d minecraft but has more combat, loot and boss battles.
I highly recommend Child of Light and I believe there’s a PC port. Beautiful, simple, short game with an amazing old fairy tale like story.
We seem to have some overlap in tastes of games. Recettear + Stardew Valley are both games that I’ve put in 100+ hours.
Path of Exile I see has been mentioned by some previous posters. Of all the ARPG’s out there, it has been the one that keeps attracting me back over and over! If you have previously given the game a try, give it a revisit. GGG keeps on iterating on this game and the amount of changes its undergone over the last 5 years is incredible.
Another game that I think would satisfy your worldbuilding itch is Don’t Starve Together. You mentioned Terraria and Spacebound before. Its a 2D survival building game, which also has undergone many an iteration. The Devs of this company are similar to GGG and they keep on adding content to the game. I’ve put in over 1000 hours in this game, its been one of the better escapes I’ve had from a hospital bed.
I am playing BattleChaser. It is old style FF combat, which isn’t horrible, and it is cutesy, which is ok if your head is ready for it, I don’t hate it yet after an hour. If you have not played it yet “Pillar of Eternity” is head and shoulders above the pack. Very good story in a new setting, Baldur’s Gate style combat.
Joe
I think it helps that I am on Prednisone for a cold, I have emphazema. Playing BattleChaser that is. Because the combat is pretty repetitive. StarCrawlers has the same problem. If it going to be repetitive it should be quick,.
Joe
Well I play on PC rpg games which I love. At the moment Fallout 4 started playing on PS4 but not a hand control person prefer my mouse so bought it for PC. All of Bethesda games and the witcher series which to me has been the best I have ever played. These games last me for months so worth buying them
Abzu is gorgeous! It is a more of a ‘find the X’ game than a fighting game. The majority of it is underwater and ‘you’ are swimming.
And it really is beautiful!
Came across this today on Twitter. Its not coming out until 2018 but I thought it looked fun and pretty cute. Here’s the link: https://twitter.com/house_house_/status/915460576872038405
Here’s to fun escapism!
I enjoyed Hob by Runic Games recently. There are no dialog, you are stranger in a strangely beautiful but broken world. Its full of puzzles and exploration and nice creatures to pet and ugly ones to kill 🙂
FFXIV: Online (MMO) is my favorite. Very nice graphics, if you have a decent pc. A engrossing main story line and excellent music. It feels more like a classic RPG than a lot of the newer standalone RPGs I’ve played. The cut scenes are very well done and the voice acting is really good. (Voice acting isn’t there for the early MSQ though). The Hildebrand side quest series is hilarious.
Not sure if you are still checking for suggestions. I immediately thought of two as soon as I saw the blog but couldn’t remember them so I had to wait to get home to ask hubby. When I said what the blog was about he immediately suggested Minecraft like so many others.
The two I was thinking about were Journey and Flowers. Both are Playstation so I am not sure if available for PC. I enjoy watching hubby play both because they are so lyrical and beautiful to watch. Especially Flowers which is almost Zen gaming. Extra benefit Flowers only takes about 90 minutes for full gameplay. Think of it as daily (or weekly) meditation!
My fav. game is Mound and Blade : Warband for past years but its not cute 🙂
OGRE IS OUT TODAY, OGRE, OGRE!!!!!!!!
I have been wasting a lot time playing Gems of War, a free-to-play match three game.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of this one, but Starbound is my comfort game. It’s a space exploration game with a bit of a story that let’s you design and colonize a variety of planets. The game’s designers allow mods and you can access admin mode easily if you don’t feel like gathering and crafting all your materials. It’s a pretty cute game.
Machinarium is the most beautiful and cutest game ever in my opinion… also everything else by that studio, like Samorost… they are absolutely gorgeous and a little addictive 🙂
And I realised the preference was for PC Games. Still you might like them or someone else may find a new game to love. Thank you for all the books.
3DS/2DS Games
Animal Crossing New Leaf, be the mayor and build up your town. Most enjoyed dressing up and making my town pretty.
Fire Emblem Awakening, tactics game with a marriage system and children plus a good story.
Fire Emblem Fates, got the collectors edition which gives me all three versions of the story. Tactics game with marriage, children and a home base.
PC Games
Atelier series by Gust, these are similiar to reccettear and the latest 3 games have been released for PC but are also available for other platforms like PS3/PS4 and switch. I really think youll like these ones.
Skyrim (all dlc, not the SE because many mods aren’t yet compatible), replaying this currently with a bunch of mods installed to make it super pretty. There are guides by a channel called Gopher that makes it simple to follow. Make sure to back up the original install folder just in case! And save often.
Nintendo Switch
Zelda Breath of the Wild, hours and hours, pretty gMe, good gameplay. Also available on WiiU but the Switch version is said to be better.
Botanicula & Machinarium are great cute, original & gorgeous PC Games.
I like The Sims (preferably Sims 3). That game lets you be creative and can be as light or dark as you want it to be.
What I’d recommend the most in terms of PC games is the Atelier series, which started coming on Steam recently. I’ve only played Atelier Sophie so far, but it definitely hits that cutesy relaxing button.
If you’re interested in a 3DS (or Wii, but only one of the Wii games is fantastic), I cannot recommend the Rune Factory series enough. It’s a Harvest Moon spin-off series that has fully fleshed combat and crafting systems, and surpasses HM in some ways. Sadly the company went bankrupt, but XSeed has been teasing us with RF5 a bit.
Well… you could go for Divinity: Original Sin 2 (http://store.steampowered.com/app/435150/) – really good, really pretty… lengthy enough… but it does have it’s dark undertones.
If you want something like Stardew Valley there’s Yonder: the Cloud Catcher Chronicles (http://store.steampowered.com/app/580200/). It’s quite relaxing…
For a pure time sink: Planet Coaster (http://store.steampowered.com/app/493340/) … Has been out a bit, but still the prettiest Roller-coaster Tycoon game out there currently…
Also… maybe Renowned Explorers: International Society (http://store.steampowered.com/app/296970/) and it’s DLCs is something for you…
The assassin’s creed, origins go out 11/27 and he will be awesome…. Better than Middle Earth. 🙂
Wizard 101 and pirates 101 are both very cute and free to play for the first few levels. they also let you buy each level separately if you want, which lets you come back later if you want further levels. not very expensive. can craft but not the emphasis. worth looking at for the very pretty graphics.
Story of Seasons and SOS Trio of Towns for the 3DS. Really cute farming simulation games, where you also can get married and have a child.
Check out Dragon quest games. My favorite Dragon Quest 8 Journey of the cursed king my son was able to port from apptoid onto my kindle. Hours and hours of one of the best games ever made. Great story and characters and the most adorable monsters ever. Love Dragon Quest Monster Hunter games for the DS too. Clever fun and cute. NiNo Kuni I is fabulous and Nino Kuni II is much anticipated next year. Love OverLord. The minions are the best.
So many games so little time But these I believe are just what you are asking for. Hope you check them out.
A picture of Hacksarus Dragon quest games are awesome.
I am a World of Warcraft girl. I love that you can play seriously or just ramble around and work on different achievements. Some of the storylines are dark and some are ridiculous. Some days i work twelve hours and dont have the brain power left to do serious questing. Or walking and talking at the same time. I never have time for raiding. And when i level up one of my characters past one expansion section, i can go back and solo lower dungeons inorder to get story line and loot without having to drag other players down to my level. And because of the cool mini games inside of it i can literally sit brain dead and fish in game if i want to while still earning achievement points and awards. Gaming and reading are two of my faforite ways to de compress. My second choice for decompression gaming is minecraft its the repetition of digging and building.
Yep, WOW does it for me also, even after all these years and story line changes….kind of still miss WOW vanilla. Diablo III demonhunter is mindless for me, works for when i just want to kill things. Same with any of the lego games that I grab from the grandkids, the smashing sound of breaking bricks is therapeutic. But when i really, really just want to relax I grab an old Final Fantasy.
If you want a Stardew Valley feel how about the My Time in Portia demo on Steam. It’s a couple of hours long (I think at least 8 hours) and free. Instead of creating the perfect sprinkler system for your farm while wooing the eligible folks in town, in Portia you run a workshop. You gather materials for your inventions from foraging, defeating enemies, and exploring ruins. If you need some extra cash you can have friendly sparing matches with the townsfolk.
I’m a PS4 girl so I watched someone play the demo and liked it so much that I supported the developer on Kickstarter. They only need $800 more to fund the game by 10/11 for I think you’ll see the full game on Steam pretty soon. Really have to up my PC game because Divinity Original Sin 2 looks really cool. I just picked up the first game for my console and really enjoy it….except for the fact that I keep setting my teammates on fire. That’s why I keep a hydromage on the team.
I don’t actually have a pc, but if you’re looking for peaceful games, look to thatgamecompany’s “Journey” & “Flower”. (PS3 & 4 and Xbox, & Flower was just released for iOS) Journey is hands down one of, if not the, most beautiful game – both visually and musically- I’ve ever played. A simple, beautiful story told without a single spoken or written word anywhere. Replay value is high, especially if you’re a completionist out to earn your white cloak by finding every mural and glyph. Once you have it, you can fly farther and the gameplay is even sweeter. It really is all about the journey. There are monsters to avoid, but zero fighting (all they will do is tear off a bit of your scarf after making you jump). Did I mention sand-surfing?
Oh! I almost forgot Portal! I haven’t played the original, but Portal 2 is great. Puzzles and snark and a totally screwed-up “science” facility, it’s an FPS where no one dies. You shoot portals onto walls/ceilings/whatever-white-space-you-can-find in order to get from point A to point Z. GLADDOS is trying to kill you with science in revenge for you killing her in the first one, then plot twist I won’t spoil. Brain twisting puzzles + snarkily funny story/commentary = pure joy.
I play Yoworld it’s a house decorating game in FB, you begin with a standard apartment and you decorate it, you can dress up your avatar too. You make money and advance levels and of course buy more houses to decorate. This soothes me
A lot in this time and age…
Apologies if someone has already suggested this, but have you played Slime Rancher yet? It’s super cute and really relaxing, and there are goals built in that aren’t irritating. 🙂
I don’t play these games, but my daughter really likes Stardew Valley so I asked her for suggestions. She came up with Terraria, comparable graphically to Stardew but is a little more adventure oriented; Owlboy which is also pixellated and “absolutely visually stunning” and you play as a boy/owl as he tries to save the world; and Abzu by the same people who made Journey and Flower and has a gorgeous score. Monster Loves You! which is a choose your own adventure where you raise your own monster and choose how to interact with others