Nice mellow games

[AsparagusTrevor]

Unpacking is an award-winning game, supposed to be relaxing as well as some gaming review sites' game of the year.

I can confirm, very relaxing and enjoyable. The one downside is that the game is quite short and it's not endless, although you're free to repeat any 'levels'.

[Gurke and Hare]

I can confirm, very relaxing and enjoyable. The one downside is that the game is quite short and it's not endless, although you're free to repeat any 'levels'.

The 'correct' locations for some of the items are a bit random sometimes as well. But it is fun.

[FalseRodHull]

Playing Sable right now and it's like a very chill Breath of the Wild. You just tootle about a desert on your hoverbike, exploring, meeting NPCs and doing the odd gentle puzzle. No combat to speak of. Gorgeous cel shaded graphics too, heavy Moebius inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0evJUp7-aw

[Zetetic]

^ Sable is a very good suggestion. Little bit of customisation (of you, of your bike), no pressure. (Available via PC Game Pass.)

[bgmnts]

Kingdom Two Crowns is quite relaxing despite the potential stress of keeping your settlement from getting wrecked by little magic fucks.

[Dickie_Anders]

Dragon Quest 11

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm probably coming to the end of Power Wash Simulator, and it was lovely. It'll be a nice thing to revisit when the full version comes out next month, too.

I think next up is Hydroneer. Only a tenner on Steam, and from watching a few videos about it, you can all sorts of stuff. I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

[Bence Fekete]

Love me a paddle in ABZU on an acid comedown

[ImmaculateClump]

Danbo, shmup god, developer of the peerless indie shmup Blue Revolver, and correct opinion haver, did a good explanation of Vampire Survivors - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1794680/Vampire_Survivors/

https://played.danboland.net/vampire-survivors.html

If games like Fortnite are increasingly an elaborate digital storefront that incidentally have a game attached, mainstream indie games are now increasingly elaborate layers of progression system that incidentally have a game attached.

No game understands this quite like Vampire Survivors, which is chiefly about picking things from a menu until you don't have to play the game any more. Complete a run to earn currency to pick things from a different menu that bolsters the things you pick in the first menu – the aim being to get to the point where you don't have to play all the quicker. All us right-thinking people love to grouse about meta-progression, but can we really say with a straight face that one of these menus is good and the other is bad?

I may sound cynical, but truthfully there are things to admire about this game. A lesser developer would have given the game some concept of "aiming" and instantly do away with the fun of how the different weapons interact to control the play area differently. A lesser developer would do away with the traced splash art of Bayonetta as soon as the game sold more than one copy. A lesser developer wouldn't name everything in odd, slurred Italian that gives the game some spicy bootleggy appeal.

There are all sorts of touches that this game didn't need – the concept was already a money-printer – but there they are. Props for those. Bad luck to indie developers trying to sell any idea of a refined, balanced action game next to Heroin: The Game

It won't keep you occupied for long, but it's cheap, and it'll definitely help with switching off.

[Sonny_Jim]

No ones mentioned Tetr.io in Zen mode, so I will.

https://tetr.io/

[Neomod]

I've been having fun with RAFT recently. I remember Limmy losing his shit and binning it after he found it too stressful a while back but I've enjoyed the gentle exploration, raft customisation and resource management.



Hint: armouring your raft edges will curtail Bruce attacks and make it even more relaxing

[Famous Mortimer]

"Power Wash Simulator" is coming out of early access today. I just hope they don't mess with the simplicity of it too much.

[AsparagusTrevor]

House Flipper came on Game Pass a couple of weeks ago, that's quite relaxing. Cleaning houses, painting walls, tiling, doing all the shit you hate doing in real life but is oddly therapeutic in a video game.

[Famous Mortimer]

"Power Wash Simulator" is coming out of early access today. I just hope they don't mess with the simplicity of it too much.

They didn't (just added the last few levels of the game and a new washer-head). Rather sad to see it go now, I'm sure I'll pop it back on in future though.

[Sonny_Jim]

I dug out my PS2 -> USB joypad adapter and fired up Archer Macleans Pool Paradise in a PS2 emulator and have found it a very effective way to relax after work.

I'm sure there's a more modern pool sim to play, but for me this one just hits the spot.  Plus it's great to play it with the internal resolution turned up, which apparently is a thing emulators can do now.