Hey all, Sorry if this is not a great magazine to post this. I’m looking for a nice cozy game (for a non-gamer!) to play for about an hour or so a day instead of doomscrolling. I like the idea of a game where I can make slow progress, though I don’t tend to like the traditional RPG style. But something like a slow moving simulator or whatever could be great (for example, I really enjoy MiniMetro on mobile). Thoughts?
Simon’s Puzzles is what i use when I’m trying to reduce my own doom scrolling.
Luanti (a very nice free Minecraft clone) is also great for a few minutes (…or hours) here and there.
Edit:
What the hey, here’s a few more!
Burger Party - Like that pizza game, but burgers
Breakout 71 - Breakout as a Rogue-lite
Endless Sky - Space Trader Simulator
Gridle (Crosswords-Like Wordle)
Mindustry - Mobile Factorio-like
Pixel Dungeon - Rogue revisited and constantly updated
i think Cozy Grove (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1458100/Cozy_Grove/) might be interesting for you, it’s basically Animal Crossing but with bears, and its designed so you can only make a max amount of progress per day, so no addiction
trying to think of other games, I’ll update this comment if I find more!
Have you thought about minecraft?
Not games with progress tracking usually, but Playnite and PICO-8 games on Itchio that I found are usually more chill and possible to play in short sessions. Just not sure how to play them on phone if that’s needed.
Also as more standard games, LYNE and Codemancer I quite liked, and both puzzle games.
Speaking of PICO-8, there’s also TIC-80 which is pretty similar (albeit with a smaller, less polished library of games). I’m a fan of Shadow Over 12 Lands, but I don’t know if a JRPG like that is too close to what OP considers a “traditional RPG”.
Mobile not necessary. Thanks so much!
Any interest in idle games? If you’re up for a cozy and relaxing one, you can try Idle Slayer which is free. Play when you want, easy game, incremental progress. I play it on occasion on Steam.
It’s not a long game but Camille and Laura is a game about the difficulty of motherhood in the first week of school.
Made and Drawn by a lone Montrealer
Have you tried animal crossing or Calico? Any of those “build your home” kind of games could be good.
Journey is often recommended too for cozy.
As a slight oddball one, maybe Fez or What the Golf
If I am thinking of the same Animal Crossing and Journey as you mean, neither are on Itchio.
I and looks like most others read this as “a game to scratch my itch”. If OP means games specifically from itch.io they should spell that out a bit more because that’s very different.
A nice thing about Lemmy is that you can edit titles! You can change your title to say itch.io
(also shameless plug for [email protected] where this post would definitely fit in, I see posts asking for recommendations/suggestions all the time on other gaming lemmy communities and wonder if they know of the community specifically made for that)
I have several suggestions, with different overall vibes, but that I think still relate to this itch.
First of all, my timewaster at the moment is Balatro. Not original, but fills the niche of a game you can hop on and off as needed, no need for quick reflexes, but still a sense of having to play and engage, with long term progression.
There was a time when Potion craft was the scratcher of this cozy niche. Very cool artstyle and music, no time constraints gameplay, and again a meaningful sense of progression with a very low bar for entry.
Perhaps not the best fit for your question, but I’ll still say it so you can try, Return of the obra dinn. It’s not cosy, but fits the criteria of something you can play with rather minimal “gamer experience” while enjoying it to the fullest. It’s an incredible investigation game where you uncover a superb and compelling story, at your own pace. Again, very characteristic artstyle, and one of my all time favorite music.
It would be a crime to answer a cozy game suggestion without mentioning Stardew Valley, however I think it’s going a bit against the non-gamer thing. Still, very nice game!
Another suggestion could be Powerwash simulator, very “brains off” kind of gameplay, very simple even for a non gamer (actually tried with a very not gamer family member), and sooo satisfying!
You may also like things like Poly bridge and other puzzle games, but I haven’t really played these so I can’t personally say.
I hope you find at least one thing you like here, and I’ll add some if I think of more
My partner, who is a non-gamer loves WytchWood, which is a rather slow paced crafting and wander around the woods game in a fairy tale setting.
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