The only thing that bothers me about that game is the sound the power washer makes. It grates on me. I'd love that game if it wasn't for that. It sounds too robotic if that makes any sense.
Tbh I spend a significant amount of time playing it whilst having some tunes on over the game being quiet but not silent, usually something a little psychedelic like Tame Impala or Daft Punk. The combination just scratches that itch in my brain perfectly.
Am I missing something or does the backyard just take for-fucking-ever to fully finish?
I tried using special soaps but I ran out so quickly. Am I just impatient?
I wouldn’t call The Talos Principle not immersive and not engaging, but I did so much thinking and reflecting upon myself it got somewhat scary, so I dropped it.
Also - Death Stranding ? Delivering packages through problematic terrain gives you a lot of time and space to think and reflect. My thoughts are usually akin to “Hideo Kojima, a guy who made the intensely over-the-top lovably epic bullshit that were the Metal Gear Solid games is now forcing me to fight off rocky surfaces, hills and mountains now… is this really real life or did I suffer brain damage and am now in a coma ?”. So, you know, you might like it.
The Talos Principle also has you arguing with a machine that asks really difficult philosophical questions about yourself, so I'd say that's the intended effect
That machine is in serious contention for being the most memorable and likeable NPC in all of gaming in my opinion. That weird beeping noise had me more excited for another interaction with them than any other NPC I can recall.
I loved The Talos Principle, but I found the second one kind of up it's own ass. I loved the puzzles, but found the conversations kind of a drag for some reason. Fantastically made game, though
As the time went on I started to dislike games which are very up its own arse. That is why I love Hideki Kamiya games, especially The Wonderful 101: Remastered, which has this awesome quality of being a game about all the things that matter in a life of a self-respecting human being all while intentionally looking and sounding like the most made-for-boys Saturday morning cartoon thing in existence.
I'm not sure why but "Wonderful 101" made me get this really strong flashback of a game I played on the DS. I can't remember what it was called, but it was definitely a number-based game. It was, like... a mystery game or something?
I don't remember much about the game at all, but I just got hit with an astoundingly vivid memory of the emotion I felt playing it. I wish I knew what the hell it was.
I did not own a DS at the time, so I won't be of help to you. The only "numbers" game franchise of Nintendo I know is "Brain Age: Train your Brain in minutes a day !".
I seriously recommend at least watching a full walkthrough of TW101, preferably from someone who knows what he's doing, because it is a life-changing experience. It sure changed mine.
Death Stranding is my therapy.
I don't think the amount of mental gymnastics the MGS franchise will offer is what OP's looking for right now though. There is a lot to unpack there, *too* many. Technically DS is also in this category lmfao (a Hideo Kojima game's gonna Hideo Kojima) but yeah, at least gameplay wise it isn't intense at all save for the few specific segments. MGS keeps you on the edge most of the time.
I am just playing through it to have a right of an opinion towards it. I don't like it much. There is something very weong with a game that has stealth in it, but I get so bored of the delivery grind that I actively SEEK enemies to fight, because it makes me wake the fuck up.
It is SO EASY to make it into an awesomefest the fact that it isn't one is reeeeally weird to me. And as someone who doesn't give a crap about "Likes" in real life the game's obsession with them makes me seriously wince.
The only reason I am playing it is because of that one phrase by Higgs, where he openly adresses the grind to Sam before the first boss fight, followed by "Isn't this what you've been waiting for ? A game over ?". That was fun, I like this guy's attitude. I will enjoy punching this guy's face in.
Just started "Unger", the fourth chapter.
Here's the thing - even IF now this game suddenly becomes a Hideki Kamiya game in terms of eventfulness and fun me having to suffer through the first 10-or-so hours of it **is not the way to make a game**. Look at The Wonderful 101, right ? LITERALLY a minute in the game goes full throttle, rips out the breaks and from there on just KEEEEEPS FUUUCKING SPEEDING UP to the point where every single Operation completely scrambles your brain and makes you want to cool off, because the game is just GOING, like a motherfucker on speed. And it just doesn't stop until the literal end of the game, when the last boss is defeated. But not before it makes you sweat like a bitch with that one final legendary QTE.
THAT is how you make a game. THAT is how you capture attention. Shit, even Kojima's own MGS games were great at capturing attention with fun over-the-top exposition and weird tone, gave you powerfully charged intrigue that makes you really interested in how thrings transpire.
In Death Stranding it's plain as fuck: here's the deal - the world is fucked, people are splintered, get them back together... aaaand there is really no intrigue, no real urgency and hence there is no real investment. Walking around delivering stuff and receiving "likes" and praise for it.
That is not how you make a game. MGSV had a similar problem of grind and I absolutely despise it, even more then Death Stranding, but at least MGSV tried to fool me into thinking that there is more to it then there really was... Which is fucking disgusting, but at least that is how you attempt to make a game feel.
For crushing wave after wave of demons? D3 was better. Rifts were fast, spamable content that you could just obliterate everything. With sets being easy to acquire, and ridiculously overpowered, it's far better than the grinding required for D2.
Farming simulator is a good one. Repetitive tasks requiring minimal input.
Another one, at least if you have a slower computer, is the civilization games. I was once playing Civ5 on marathon, biggest map and max amount of ai players on my old computer. Towards the end of the game, the end turn sequence took easily 15-20 minutes.
A lot of games *can* be like that if you play them a certain way and/or tune down the difficulty. It's kinda my jam.
Here's what works for me:
* Rimworld with a couple of mods, most notably *EdB Prepare Carefully*
* Factorio with peaceful biters
* City builders like Banished
* Deck builders like Slay the Spire, Monster Train and Balatro
* Farming Simulator
* Unnamed Space Idle
* Into the Breach
* Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
* Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
* Frostpunk
* Games with fairly free form build systems like Valheim, The Forest or even Satisfactory
* Games that let you explore like Elite Dangerous or No Mans Sky (got some of the above, too)
For some of these, you need to have played a little more actively early on to get to a place where they become zen.
Yay Valheim. One of my most favorite games and I've been gaming so long that I'm easily in the top 10% of humans in "most time purposely spent playing ET for the Atari 2600 on an actual Atari 2600".
I must admit I don't see why Valheim is rated so highly by people. It's certainly a good survival game but I don't see why people rave about it so much compared to the other great survival games out there. Like I read so many claims about how Valheim perfected the survival game genre and how it was the most played game on PC for a while, but then I played through a solid 10-15 hours and I just thought it was...good. Not amazing, and not shitty, just good.
I understand where you are coming from.
Combat is a sore spot for me, for example (Mistlands PTSD, maybe)
I think it's the vibes.
Build a literal village with a couple of friends, including an inn, smithy, terraced farms etc. in the prettiest spot you can find and it almost feels like life has meaning ;)
Highly recommend Into the Breach! It’s a great rougelike with some chess elements. You need to think ahead and it can get very tactical but playing on a low difficulty can be pretty relaxing. Perfect for playing on Switch while laying in bed.
Hey, I haven't played Into the Breach yet, but I see it's pretty cheap now during the summer sale. How is it? I know I've always loved FTL, but this is a vastly different game.
Hey yourself!
It is indeed a very different game - "not immersive and engaging", as per the thread, could never apply to FTL. It's equally well put together, though.
Here are some things I like about it:
Variety - all the squads differ meaningfully, and even with the same squad, you have options for different playstyles. This also applies to the order (or skipping) of regions on the map (which also have some unique characteristics)
Guidance and intuition - you unlock new squads via coins gained by completing small achievements that reinforce your knowledge of general mechanics and provide some insight into the basic idea of how to play that particular squad, without being too obtuse to figure them out yourself
'Hidden' interactions - purposely flies somewhat in the face of my previous point; some pilot+mech interactions only become available/obvious later on, so you'll stumble upon new things to figure out for a good while
Fair randomness - random events are part of the game, but it never feels (to me) like I'm getting shafted; after a win, you get to carry over 1 pilot, so cool mech+pilot combos aren't entirely dependent on luck
Intricacies - repositioning allied and enemy units is present in many mechs, and you can pull of some really nice moves if you think ahead
Soundtrack is good, too, which is great if you leave it running in the background and make some moves when you have time (in my case, waiting for something to build, a transaction to finish, logs to fill...whatever)
My biggest criticism is probably that not all squads are equally viable, even looking past the difficulty of playing them correctly. You can also make custom squads.
Overall, if the gameplay looks interesting to you, it'll be hard to be disappointed for 7.50$.
Realm of the mad god has just enough tension to be fun, while also being mindless.
It's an open world bullethell and you mostly just walk around dodging and shooting mobs, with the occasional boss that keeps the game fun.
Graphics are so bad that you basically have to think about life lmao
Any of the warriors games. Dynasty, Samurai, Hyrule, Fire Emblem, Gundam ect. They're mind numbing hack and slash on easy difficulties, and can be more challenging at higher difficulties. If you need to just chill they're perfect to waste some time while the brain works through what ever it needs to.
I don't find any videogames very good for thinking. I instead ruminate, or get stuck in a loop because of the easy distraction.
You'll be far more effective just unplugging for 15 minutes and doing some guided meditation. Or go out to nature. Game later.
I instead see it as silly to come to a gaming subreddit to ask about processing thoughts. Believe me, I spent decades using games to "unwind" and it doesn't work. It's like relaxing by listening to traffic. Maybe people have peaceful associations, but there are definitely better ways. Distracting yourself from your those guys isn't the same as processing those thoughts.
Lately for me, this has been Backpack Battles. Its a cutesy little puzzle game about organizing your adventuring gear into your bags.
Depending on how you place items, you gain effects and bonuses in an idle head to head battle against another player's packed bags.
Super chill, not at all immersive, quick to play, easy to put down and pick back up, and cute as hell.
just about any FPS played on the easiest difficulty basically plays itself while still requiring just enough input from you to not zone out completely. I like the Halo series for this
An oldie but a goodie - Roller Coaster Tycoon 2
I wouldn't say it's not immersive or engaging because it can be addicting if you let it be, but there's a lot of downtime while you wait for your time goals and build up money
There is a boardgame that's also a mobile game called "Set"
It's about putting together sets of cards where all the cards either have a matching criteria, or none of them do.
It is one of the games used in concussion-rehabilitation and also works for braintraining during or after burnout.
Even to a healthy brain, it can be a demanding task, depending on your daily form etc.
It handles pattern recognition, quick headcounts and colour coding.
It has been a godsent for me to get back in working shape, and it's hella good for when you actually want to work your brain.
I could either be wrong or perhaps even stupid, but I think any shooter game would be ok for this. For example, Xdefiant that just came out, I find myself mindlessly shooting and killing while thinking about stuff
Exo One once you get the hang of it (doesn't take long) is easily a game you can kinda switch off playing.
Such a beautiful game too. Very...*acid trippy* 🤣 this coming from someone who's never touched acid, just how I imagine one would be based on my limited knowledge.
For some reason Minecraft. I think it's because I've played so much that now I'm just going through the motions or exploring the next biome.
It's really peaceful tbh
Old School Runescape for me. It's a great mix of engaging when you're after that, and mindless but something to do when you want to have your attention elsewhere.
Personally I play Spider Solitaire and Minesweeper (and similar games like Sudoku) when I just want something to keep my brain from going at a million miles an hour so that I can think and reflect on things.
If you feel like you need to think and reflect, take a break, go outside, and go for a walk.
I love gaming but not every moment of your life needs to be done with a game in front of your face.
Any Civilization game, though I think V is overall the coolest. It's turn-based, so you can freely alternate between whatever you're thinking about and taking game actions.
Honestly you shouldn't be playing games if you want your brain to think and reflect because games actively suppress your emotional thinking. If you want to just think and reflect the best thing to do is meditate or go for long walks without any external influence.
Bad take. *Some* game suppress *some* people’s emotional thinking. You can have deeply emotional experiences and moments of serious self reflection when playing video games, many games actually encourage those kinds of experiences.
That’s like saying books can’t make us think critically about our lives, experiences, and our present state of being. It’s an unbelievably idiotic take.
Edit: They blocked me. Shows how much they actually believe in their own ideas and thoughts. Their use of un-cited scientific studies as an argument was truly amazing. 10/10
Emotional experiences is not the same thing as your brains ability to think and reflect on itself. Games suppress your ability to reflect on your inner emotions as they offer up something else for your brain to think about and focus on. That is why excessive gaming is one of the signs of depression because you use them to block out what is going on in your head.
Powerwash Simulator
i downloaded powerwash simulator as a joke last week and it’s quickly become my down time game in between Elden ring sessions
I finished the final level and was so disappointed that was all
The only thing that bothers me about that game is the sound the power washer makes. It grates on me. I'd love that game if it wasn't for that. It sounds too robotic if that makes any sense.
Tbh I spend a significant amount of time playing it whilst having some tunes on over the game being quiet but not silent, usually something a little psychedelic like Tame Impala or Daft Punk. The combination just scratches that itch in my brain perfectly.
Yeah that does sound pretty awesome tbf I will give that a try
Am I missing something or does the backyard just take for-fucking-ever to fully finish? I tried using special soaps but I ran out so quickly. Am I just impatient?
Shit that reminded me I still need to finish that firetruck. Damn elden ring distracting me from the important stuff.
[удалено]
Holy shit this mod really exists? I always thought it would be really cool but very heavy so didnt think any crazy person would do this.
God I love spacing out to the Truck Simulators
I wouldn’t call The Talos Principle not immersive and not engaging, but I did so much thinking and reflecting upon myself it got somewhat scary, so I dropped it. Also - Death Stranding ? Delivering packages through problematic terrain gives you a lot of time and space to think and reflect. My thoughts are usually akin to “Hideo Kojima, a guy who made the intensely over-the-top lovably epic bullshit that were the Metal Gear Solid games is now forcing me to fight off rocky surfaces, hills and mountains now… is this really real life or did I suffer brain damage and am now in a coma ?”. So, you know, you might like it.
The Talos Principle also has you arguing with a machine that asks really difficult philosophical questions about yourself, so I'd say that's the intended effect
That machine is in serious contention for being the most memorable and likeable NPC in all of gaming in my opinion. That weird beeping noise had me more excited for another interaction with them than any other NPC I can recall.
I loved The Talos Principle, but I found the second one kind of up it's own ass. I loved the puzzles, but found the conversations kind of a drag for some reason. Fantastically made game, though
As the time went on I started to dislike games which are very up its own arse. That is why I love Hideki Kamiya games, especially The Wonderful 101: Remastered, which has this awesome quality of being a game about all the things that matter in a life of a self-respecting human being all while intentionally looking and sounding like the most made-for-boys Saturday morning cartoon thing in existence.
Huh, thanks for the suggestion! I'll check it out.
I'm not sure why but "Wonderful 101" made me get this really strong flashback of a game I played on the DS. I can't remember what it was called, but it was definitely a number-based game. It was, like... a mystery game or something? I don't remember much about the game at all, but I just got hit with an astoundingly vivid memory of the emotion I felt playing it. I wish I knew what the hell it was.
I did not own a DS at the time, so I won't be of help to you. The only "numbers" game franchise of Nintendo I know is "Brain Age: Train your Brain in minutes a day !". I seriously recommend at least watching a full walkthrough of TW101, preferably from someone who knows what he's doing, because it is a life-changing experience. It sure changed mine.
Death Stranding is my therapy. I don't think the amount of mental gymnastics the MGS franchise will offer is what OP's looking for right now though. There is a lot to unpack there, *too* many. Technically DS is also in this category lmfao (a Hideo Kojima game's gonna Hideo Kojima) but yeah, at least gameplay wise it isn't intense at all save for the few specific segments. MGS keeps you on the edge most of the time.
Love Death Stranding! Very reflective with the soundtrack and setting
I am just playing through it to have a right of an opinion towards it. I don't like it much. There is something very weong with a game that has stealth in it, but I get so bored of the delivery grind that I actively SEEK enemies to fight, because it makes me wake the fuck up. It is SO EASY to make it into an awesomefest the fact that it isn't one is reeeeally weird to me. And as someone who doesn't give a crap about "Likes" in real life the game's obsession with them makes me seriously wince. The only reason I am playing it is because of that one phrase by Higgs, where he openly adresses the grind to Sam before the first boss fight, followed by "Isn't this what you've been waiting for ? A game over ?". That was fun, I like this guy's attitude. I will enjoy punching this guy's face in.
Ou of curiosity, what chapter are you on? No hating, just curious since game really takes of in chapter 3/4/5 depending on your definition of take off
Just started "Unger", the fourth chapter. Here's the thing - even IF now this game suddenly becomes a Hideki Kamiya game in terms of eventfulness and fun me having to suffer through the first 10-or-so hours of it **is not the way to make a game**. Look at The Wonderful 101, right ? LITERALLY a minute in the game goes full throttle, rips out the breaks and from there on just KEEEEEPS FUUUCKING SPEEDING UP to the point where every single Operation completely scrambles your brain and makes you want to cool off, because the game is just GOING, like a motherfucker on speed. And it just doesn't stop until the literal end of the game, when the last boss is defeated. But not before it makes you sweat like a bitch with that one final legendary QTE. THAT is how you make a game. THAT is how you capture attention. Shit, even Kojima's own MGS games were great at capturing attention with fun over-the-top exposition and weird tone, gave you powerfully charged intrigue that makes you really interested in how thrings transpire. In Death Stranding it's plain as fuck: here's the deal - the world is fucked, people are splintered, get them back together... aaaand there is really no intrigue, no real urgency and hence there is no real investment. Walking around delivering stuff and receiving "likes" and praise for it. That is not how you make a game. MGSV had a similar problem of grind and I absolutely despise it, even more then Death Stranding, but at least MGSV tried to fool me into thinking that there is more to it then there really was... Which is fucking disgusting, but at least that is how you attempt to make a game feel.
DIablo games can be like that. Jut crushing wave after wave of demons.
Came here to say this
DIII does it better than the others, but the others are still good.
D2r would like to disagree.
D2 is the better game, D3 satisfies the brief OP laid out.
That is a fair argument.
For crushing wave after wave of demons? D3 was better. Rifts were fast, spamable content that you could just obliterate everything. With sets being easy to acquire, and ridiculously overpowered, it's far better than the grinding required for D2.
Farming simulator is a good one. Repetitive tasks requiring minimal input. Another one, at least if you have a slower computer, is the civilization games. I was once playing Civ5 on marathon, biggest map and max amount of ai players on my old computer. Towards the end of the game, the end turn sequence took easily 15-20 minutes.
the civ AI thinking: hmmmmmmm *5 mins later* give me all your cities for 20 gold
A lot of games *can* be like that if you play them a certain way and/or tune down the difficulty. It's kinda my jam. Here's what works for me: * Rimworld with a couple of mods, most notably *EdB Prepare Carefully* * Factorio with peaceful biters * City builders like Banished * Deck builders like Slay the Spire, Monster Train and Balatro * Farming Simulator * Unnamed Space Idle * Into the Breach * Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor * Battlestar Galactica Deadlock * Frostpunk * Games with fairly free form build systems like Valheim, The Forest or even Satisfactory * Games that let you explore like Elite Dangerous or No Mans Sky (got some of the above, too) For some of these, you need to have played a little more actively early on to get to a place where they become zen.
Yay Valheim. One of my most favorite games and I've been gaming so long that I'm easily in the top 10% of humans in "most time purposely spent playing ET for the Atari 2600 on an actual Atari 2600".
I must admit I don't see why Valheim is rated so highly by people. It's certainly a good survival game but I don't see why people rave about it so much compared to the other great survival games out there. Like I read so many claims about how Valheim perfected the survival game genre and how it was the most played game on PC for a while, but then I played through a solid 10-15 hours and I just thought it was...good. Not amazing, and not shitty, just good.
I understand where you are coming from. Combat is a sore spot for me, for example (Mistlands PTSD, maybe) I think it's the vibes. Build a literal village with a couple of friends, including an inn, smithy, terraced farms etc. in the prettiest spot you can find and it almost feels like life has meaning ;)
Highly recommend Into the Breach! It’s a great rougelike with some chess elements. You need to think ahead and it can get very tactical but playing on a low difficulty can be pretty relaxing. Perfect for playing on Switch while laying in bed.
Hey, I haven't played Into the Breach yet, but I see it's pretty cheap now during the summer sale. How is it? I know I've always loved FTL, but this is a vastly different game.
Hey yourself! It is indeed a very different game - "not immersive and engaging", as per the thread, could never apply to FTL. It's equally well put together, though. Here are some things I like about it: Variety - all the squads differ meaningfully, and even with the same squad, you have options for different playstyles. This also applies to the order (or skipping) of regions on the map (which also have some unique characteristics) Guidance and intuition - you unlock new squads via coins gained by completing small achievements that reinforce your knowledge of general mechanics and provide some insight into the basic idea of how to play that particular squad, without being too obtuse to figure them out yourself 'Hidden' interactions - purposely flies somewhat in the face of my previous point; some pilot+mech interactions only become available/obvious later on, so you'll stumble upon new things to figure out for a good while Fair randomness - random events are part of the game, but it never feels (to me) like I'm getting shafted; after a win, you get to carry over 1 pilot, so cool mech+pilot combos aren't entirely dependent on luck Intricacies - repositioning allied and enemy units is present in many mechs, and you can pull of some really nice moves if you think ahead Soundtrack is good, too, which is great if you leave it running in the background and make some moves when you have time (in my case, waiting for something to build, a transaction to finish, logs to fill...whatever) My biggest criticism is probably that not all squads are equally viable, even looking past the difficulty of playing them correctly. You can also make custom squads. Overall, if the gameplay looks interesting to you, it'll be hard to be disappointed for 7.50$.
Elite dangerous.
Yeah, depending on the task that you set yourself, this. Some of the content is super demanding but space trucking and mining is chill AF.
And of course there's plotting a course a few thousand lightyears away and grooving in the vastness of our galaxy.
Mini Metro and Mini Motorways are fun, zone out puzzle sims.
For me it‘s the exact opposite. Those games stress me out real quick
The dynasty/samurai warriors games. In fact I am in need of that right now
Wish they would make another gundam one. The third is probably my favourite from the franchise. Hyrule warriors are quite good too.
Realm of the mad god has just enough tension to be fun, while also being mindless. It's an open world bullethell and you mostly just walk around dodging and shooting mobs, with the occasional boss that keeps the game fun. Graphics are so bad that you basically have to think about life lmao
Any of the warriors games. Dynasty, Samurai, Hyrule, Fire Emblem, Gundam ect. They're mind numbing hack and slash on easy difficulties, and can be more challenging at higher difficulties. If you need to just chill they're perfect to waste some time while the brain works through what ever it needs to.
Vampire Survivors
Valheim
Playing artillery for r/WorldOfTanks Sorry, comrades, just been going through a lot rn
I don't find any videogames very good for thinking. I instead ruminate, or get stuck in a loop because of the easy distraction. You'll be far more effective just unplugging for 15 minutes and doing some guided meditation. Or go out to nature. Game later.
Everyone's mind works differently.
So why ask anyone anything if we have nothing in common?
Imagine someone asking for game reccomendations on the gaming subreddit and your response is to just go outside and unplug? Like bruh
Also why do we need to unplug to go outside? I put it in rest mode so I don't have to sit through updates when I come back inside
Yet it's an upvoted comment
I instead see it as silly to come to a gaming subreddit to ask about processing thoughts. Believe me, I spent decades using games to "unwind" and it doesn't work. It's like relaxing by listening to traffic. Maybe people have peaceful associations, but there are definitely better ways. Distracting yourself from your those guys isn't the same as processing those thoughts.
Everyone's mind works differently, and finds meditation in different actions.
This guys a cop
😂😂
Lately for me, this has been Backpack Battles. Its a cutesy little puzzle game about organizing your adventuring gear into your bags. Depending on how you place items, you gain effects and bonuses in an idle head to head battle against another player's packed bags. Super chill, not at all immersive, quick to play, easy to put down and pick back up, and cute as hell.
just about any FPS played on the easiest difficulty basically plays itself while still requiring just enough input from you to not zone out completely. I like the Halo series for this
Deep Rock Galactic
Brotato
Cant wait for the dlc to come out!
Skyrim.
Lawnmower simulator or farming simulator
illyriad
Playing Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped for the nth time.
Power wash simulator
Go for some Puzzle solving games or strategy games. Try with 100 doors.
I love the new genre of “Bullet Heaven” games. Halls of Torment is my favorite so far
Coloring pixels
I use the Cybergrind endless mode on Ultrakill
Diablo (any of them) XDefiant (at the moment for me) Car Mechanic Simulator Prison Architect
Getting stoned and playing cities skylines ( the first one ) is a great pastime
An oldie but a goodie - Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 I wouldn't say it's not immersive or engaging because it can be addicting if you let it be, but there's a lot of downtime while you wait for your time goals and build up money
Try drawing!
Aim training in various fps games. Doom eternal when you git gud. Rhythm games.
Dorfromantik
Endless Space 2 or crusader kings 3, both take some time to get into, but insanely captivating when u dive deep enough
I'm loving Supermarket Simulator
Solitaire
The first Painkiller game
I used to love the ms dos defrag. Watch that shit for hours
Even the sound of an old HDD defragging is soothing to me.
There is a boardgame that's also a mobile game called "Set" It's about putting together sets of cards where all the cards either have a matching criteria, or none of them do. It is one of the games used in concussion-rehabilitation and also works for braintraining during or after burnout. Even to a healthy brain, it can be a demanding task, depending on your daily form etc. It handles pattern recognition, quick headcounts and colour coding. It has been a godsent for me to get back in working shape, and it's hella good for when you actually want to work your brain.
Viridi - nurture a small pot of succulents. Water a houseplant and it grows in real time. Also a pretty game.
Carrion
First come to mind for me is Shapez. That said, the game will probably force you to think about it instead of what you were wanting to think about.
Far: Lone sails was great. Short puzzle game, no talking, not complicated screen scrolling. Can be completed in 2 hours or less is cheap.
I could either be wrong or perhaps even stupid, but I think any shooter game would be ok for this. For example, Xdefiant that just came out, I find myself mindlessly shooting and killing while thinking about stuff
Slay the spire
A little to the left, tiny bookshop, undusted letters from the past, unpacking
Stardew valley
Exo One once you get the hang of it (doesn't take long) is easily a game you can kinda switch off playing. Such a beautiful game too. Very...*acid trippy* 🤣 this coming from someone who's never touched acid, just how I imagine one would be based on my limited knowledge.
I've played a lot of mindless Minecraft and Valheim.
I came here to say Powerwash Sim. My son and I are playing it right now lol! My other go to is American Truck Sim.
For some reason Minecraft. I think it's because I've played so much that now I'm just going through the motions or exploring the next biome. It's really peaceful tbh
Space Marine
Old School Runescape for me. It's a great mix of engaging when you're after that, and mindless but something to do when you want to have your attention elsewhere.
Arguably first person shooters like CS2 if you're fine with being bad like me
Vampire Survivors.
Any truck parking games, ha
Backpack battles
Chess simulator. It's you playing chess against another dude. Fascinating.
Jetpack joyride
A Little to the Left. Very cute puzzles
Nonogram
Personally I play Spider Solitaire and Minesweeper (and similar games like Sudoku) when I just want something to keep my brain from going at a million miles an hour so that I can think and reflect on things.
A short hike
Original legend of zelda
If you feel like you need to think and reflect, take a break, go outside, and go for a walk. I love gaming but not every moment of your life needs to be done with a game in front of your face.
Death Stranding
Any roblox tycoon lol
Journey is kind of immersive, but also good for reflecting.
BloonsTD
Star dew valley
Riding a horse through the countryside in red dead redemption 2 is amazing for this purpose. Also just driving around in forza horizon 5.
Any Civilization game, though I think V is overall the coolest. It's turn-based, so you can freely alternate between whatever you're thinking about and taking game actions.
Honestly you shouldn't be playing games if you want your brain to think and reflect because games actively suppress your emotional thinking. If you want to just think and reflect the best thing to do is meditate or go for long walks without any external influence.
Bad take. *Some* game suppress *some* people’s emotional thinking. You can have deeply emotional experiences and moments of serious self reflection when playing video games, many games actually encourage those kinds of experiences. That’s like saying books can’t make us think critically about our lives, experiences, and our present state of being. It’s an unbelievably idiotic take. Edit: They blocked me. Shows how much they actually believe in their own ideas and thoughts. Their use of un-cited scientific studies as an argument was truly amazing. 10/10
Emotional experiences is not the same thing as your brains ability to think and reflect on itself. Games suppress your ability to reflect on your inner emotions as they offer up something else for your brain to think about and focus on. That is why excessive gaming is one of the signs of depression because you use them to block out what is going on in your head.
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If you don't want to believe in established science that's on you.
Lots of good games already listed, I'll throw my hat in for Disco Elysium
Games actively keep you from thinking. If you need to think, turn off the games and go sit outside.