next »

[eyeliner]

Nimbus - Great puzzle game, very Zen
Quake I - Perfect to vent some steam, just kill the dogs
Civilization II Gold - Perfect time waster, I love the heralds
Wipeout 2 - The earlier classes are very enjoyable
Ice Climber - My guilty pleasure

[MeshGearFox]

tetris unless you work at a tetris factory
mario unless you work at a mario factory
my pet are dead
i'm tired

[Elsaess]

I started playing Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee again the other day. That's pretty stress-free.
Monument Valley is very peaceful.
Another vote for The Stanley Parable, and for Jet Set Radio.

I know Shenmue requires a lot of 'work', but there is something relaxing about its ambience, too.

If you ignore a lot of the stuff you technically have to do, the Tropico series can be nice enough.

[Hastouki]

Brothers was amazing! I recently picked up Vanishing of Ethan Carter, so really looking forward to that one.

[crowe]

myst

[Pill]

I think you could easily add Grow Home to this list.

[lobstersteve]

This thread is stupid 

[Mittens]

I think you could easily add Grow Home to this list.

Is it not already on the list?

This thread is stupid 

Your feedback has been noted

[lobstersteve]

well ok, sorry, i thought i could escape unscathed, but let me explain in further then^^

I see how people started posting very different games here (CIV, Myst) and that might be due to the fact that people have different ways to relax. For me, after a day of programming, i like to pick up games with a few or no rules to learn, so that the game is about my own reflexes, or little strategizing (binding of isaac - how do i spend my coins etc.).  So for me, nearly every simple action platformer could be on the list and you even have angvik there, which is a hard platformer, so i don't get how other platformers can't make it there....if their music and pacing makes you feel more aroused, it doesn't make them feel more like work - at least to me. If anything, easier platformers, like kirby feel much more tedious to me, because they are easy and some parts make me feel like watching a cartoon for 5 year olds - not engaging and therefore hard to sit through. Also, you have some niche titles, like "achtung, die kurve", which could be classified as an arcade game and also games like mario cart, which can be described with a genre and have many derivatives. So where do we draw the line here? What's the difference between that "achtung, die kurve" game or a bunch of other acrade games? Tetris, Dr. Mario, Icy Tower, a bunch of highscore hunting games..for all i care competetive tetris if that title was chosen because it's competetive multiplayer. How does any other racing game feel more like work then mario cart? Or let's say arcade racing games, if realism is not fun.
I even understand your desire for games that don't feel like work, i just don't think that you can label specific games as such, or pick out specific titles out of a genre... it boils down a lot to personal taste..or daily routines, previous experiences with games and stuff..

[Mittens]

I would say that "few or no rules to learn" thing is a criteria I also use when judging a game as not-work.
The list could include all easy action platformers yes, but I don't know them all and not all of them have been suggested. I thought it would make a more interesting list if I included only the titles people are less likely to have come across already through ordinary mainstream life. But then there are exceptions to that too since people wanted various Nintendo titles on the list.

Vague/imperfect criteria means the list is also going to be imperfect and subjective, but just because it's not possible to make a perfect and justifiable version of this list doesn't mean we can't try to make a pretty good list of games that (mostly) don't feel like work (vaguely speaking)
If it makes you feel better you can consider it "Mitten's list of games that don't feel like work" or whatever helps you get around the requirement for it to be scientific

[RJAG]

I think my thoughts on this might be interesting to some. I learned something this week related to this thread's topic.

The first time I started up Clockwork Empire, just going through the tutorial made me feel like I was reading some kind of programming documentation or working in gamedev. It was mind-numbing work and felt like work- I just wanted to play a game!

I thought to myself, "These SIM games take too much time to learn. It's too complex to just have fun. I guess I shouldn't play these types of games while I'm a gamedev."

Months later, I start it up again for the same reason: Have Fun, Avoid Work. Going through the brief tutorial, it wasn't work. It was fast, crisp, and I understood it all quite easily while being able to play. They had changed things quite a bit and completely redid the tutorial.

Turns out that it wasn't because the game was too complex that it drained my feeble mind. It was that their original barely-tutorial was horrible. Now that they have a better tutorial, it was more "Play" and less "Work". I enjoy it now, and I'm confident it will only get better as it gets closer to release.

TLDR: Bad Tutorial = Work. Good Tutorial = Play.

[s0]

sometimes "bad tutorials" can be part of the fun tho

but yeh i dont think games are ever "inaccessible" because the actual mechanics are too complex. learning how to drive a car is probably more complex than 95% of all videogames ever made, and those 5% are realistic driving and flight simulators.

i guess the only thing that really makes games feel like "work" to me is a sense of forced commitment. that's basically why i don't play online multiplayer games anymore.

[Drof]

i guess the only thing that really makes games feel like "work" to me is a sense of forced commitment. that's basically why i don't play online multiplayer games anymore.

"A game is work you do willingly" is a quote someone (maybe many) once said which is fitting.

[Mittens]

i guess the only thing that really makes games feel like "work" to me is a sense of forced commitment. that's basically why i don't play online multiplayer games anymore.

I think that's actually pretty profound. Mobas will try to lock you in for a hour'ish session which you cannot quit, any RTS game will try to make you play through tutorial segments 1 to 99 without a save point in sight, puzzle games, platformers etc. will expect you to complete a contained plot ark or level before they let you feel you can go. If the game will punish you, force you to repeat segments or otherwise control how long you play for, you are effectively now a slave to the game, which is only fun if your are hyped and willing to commit to said game, but in ANY other context this IS work.

The contrast would be a game like Gang Beasts, you can just open that up and punch ragdolls for a few seconds or a few hours, Gang Beasts doesn't care how long you play for, it also doesn't care if you know exactly how to play, it'll just let you be, it's never going to incentivize playing longer, it's never going to punish quitting out, even mid fight. It's never going to make you feel as though you should study or improve your abilities, it's one of the purest "non-work game" experiences I can think of.

[Alevice]

Toki Tori 2+

Its metroid without skill gating

[s0]

i like studying or improving skills as long as i get to do it at my own pace and on my own terms (which online MP games generally don't allow for, esp not mobas lol). but ya anything that forces long play sessions is a no-go for me these days. even the "complex" or "challenging" games i play (dark souls, crusader kings 2, dungeon crawl stone soup) allow you to pretty much dip in and out anytime.

[Alevice]

Thats what I love about emulation, in particular retroarch, since it creates a savestate when you close it and autoreloads it when you load the associated game. You can always pick up exactly where you left off.

[raigan]

N/N+/N++ all fit the bill

(NOTE: I'm one of the devs so may be biased, but our whole approach was to make something that rewarded play without requiring any sort of busywork)

[Drof]

Mobas will try to lock you in for a hour'ish session which you cannot quit

I don't think we're ever going to really find a non-subjective term, although we probably can meet with terms which agree with most people.

Back when I played MOBAs, I felt like anything that -wasn't- a MOBA was work. It just felt like hanging out with friends. A lot of other games I felt like I had to be receptive of what the game was about. I feel the same about most multiplayer games these days, but I appreciate putting in the effort to play games which ask more of me.