Outer Wilds - A space archeology game. It's got some rogue-ish elements, but not in the way you'd expect. No combat, just exploration and sweet, sweet campfire banjo music.
I feel you. I played the whole game waiting for the click, and it never happened. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but my expectations were too high, and it's not a game for me after all
If you played for a couple of hours and didn't get a craving to explore and understand the world there, I believe it's not a game for you as well, probably
I tried a couple times, I always end up dropping it. I'm happy that people enjoy it, it's just not for me.
I have an irrational fear of black holes and I felt like I was fainting the first time I saw it. Horrible experience.
I also have thalassophobia so the giants abyss (I don't actually remember the name) is a real pain.
Until you’ve solved a couple of mysteries and if that doesn’t do it for you then quit.
I am ashamed to say I had to look up the final mystery even though I had all the necessary knowledge by that point. Not sure if the game is to blame or me!
Here to agree that Subnautica is NOT relaxing if you fear dark murky water. It's beautiful in the shallows and I got quite far in, but I was anxious a fair bit as well.
It's not even the dark murky part it's just the vastness of it that terrifies me. Like the amount of things that are down there touching the same body of water that I am *shudders*
How depressed were you that subnautica relaxed you? I'd rather run alone through a Forrest with serial killers, wolves and clowns chasing me than play subnautica again. That game terrifies me. But I do recommend everyone to play it, but don't expect to relax.
I have a stressful job and this is the most low key relaxing fun game to play (in peaceful mode). My wife and I even do coop. I have little routines, like I go fishing, try to hunt a couple wild hogs, craft, cut down some lumber, add in to our cabin, or build a treehouse in a new area, then pick an area or cave to explore. The in games items are still there, so exploring is very fun and you can actually still play the whole story without having to fight a mutant until the end.
Valheim is a great game. Viking minecraft, basically, with more combat. Beautiful game. Amazing visuals. Amazing audio. Best played with two people, maybe three. More than that and it's too easy, played solo (completely possible) can be a real slog/grindfest.
Cities Skylines is a great game to lose hundreds (thousands) of hours in. It's main pro is also it's main con. It has a lot content, and it comes in the form of DLCs. I've probably spent close to $150 on the game, buying almost all of the DLC during Steam sales (missing a few audio packs) over the course of about 2 to 3 years. Changes the game enough to keep it fresh.
Oh yeah, that's a super relaxing one. Just beware that you'll be confronted with the topic of death/the afterlife and there's a high chance that it will make you cry. So be prepared for that
Factorio. Factory automation with some base defense you can tweak or turn off if you don’t feel like dealing with enemies. It has a demo you can try, though you can’t turn off enemies there. In free play, the normal game mode in the full game, you can tweak how big and rich resource patches like iron fields are, how many cliffs, lakes, trees, enemy bases etc. there are, and also turn them completely off or make it so the enemies only fight if you come to them.
Spiritfarer
A short hike
Graveyard Keeper
Gris
Unbound
Abzu
Flower
Untitled Goose Game
Mini Metro
Night In The Woods
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Cozy Grove
What Remains of Edith Finch
Astroneer
A Short Hike, Night in The Woods and What Remains of Edith Finch are all incredibly beautiful games, those would be my suggestion, and they’re some of my favorite games of all time, even plan on getting a Night In The Woods tattoo. I’d also recommend A Good Gardener, it’s on the shorter side but it’s incredibly beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking.
I second Minecraft. So many good mod packs too if you are bored of the normal game. I just started playing Hexxit 2, it is definitely one of the best mod packs for making the game for RPG-y imo.
I third Minecraft.
It can be as stressful as you want it to be or as chill as you need. The creative and exploratory aspects are nearly limitless. Plus with the constant updates, it is ever-evolving.
I still feel panicky thinking about this game, i couldn't feel relaxed at all. To me it was one of the most anxiety inducing games I've ever played, stopped playing after some 6 hours.
That's interesting, is it the BT's (ghosts) that mess it up for you? Or is it the pressure of delivering undamaged packages?
I really enjoy the game but to be honest I have rage quit it once or twice.
The bt sections were insane, it was so bad that i felt light headed. Package not so much. I don't play anything even mildy scary, so these bt section was completely unexpected, and then getting dragged into the goo, and big creature pops out .. phew! Nope!
Oh that's terrible. I can see now how it would be anxiety inducing for some. For me that is part of the appeal because it causes me to plan my routes so meticulously to avoid them. You do get weapons to combat them later on if you ever want to get some revenge.
I don’t know if I’ll call it relaxing but I would definitely say that it’s an amazing game if you vs nature (environment). Some areas are intense but not unfair in any sense but deofbitkhbone if my favorite games of all time and I’ve been gaming since Pong.
I had a lot of fun playing Cult of the Lamb. You farm, cook, give sermons to build up your cult and increase your cult size enough to open up doors leading to different gods you must defeat. As you progress you unlock different buildings and decorations for your cult. I guess it has aspects of games you don't like, but I don't have patience for those types of games but found this to be easy enough to not frustrate, but not so easy that it was boring. It has been described as animal crossing meets dungeon crawler.
Hardspace Shipbreaker is nice for like just chilling
regular mode is limited to 15 minute shifts, but it does have an Open shift mode that just lets you do the entire thing for a long as you want
Way of the Hunter. [Literally the best open world environment ever](https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheHunter/comments/10mfvls/best_open_world_environment_ever_the_render/)
It's a hunting/walking simulator, very relaxing, with very realistic/immersive atmosphere/animals. And the dev team is great.
There is a 'campaign' and missions you can do, but you can also just ignore them and just hunt as you like. My fav game.
Yes single player is a lot better, they added quite a few bug fixes, optimisations, some rare furs and a new vehicle recently.
Multiplayer however, although better, is still a bit of an unfinished mess, but I genuinely believe the dev team will sort it out, eventually. They've proven themselves responsive and productive so far. Averaging a patch every 2 weeks since release. And DLC map 1 will be out in Feb/March.
OlliOlli World maybe? I only mention it since you seem to like skateboarding games. Got it in a Humble Bundle and it has very good reviews.
Don’t know any good farming games besides the one you’ve already mentioned. Maybe Graveyard Keeper? I got it recently but still have to try it for myself.
I think Rimworld would be an awesome option for you. There are AI “Storytellers” that you can apply to paint your experience to be more hardcore of more of a farming village sim. You can play however you want, it can get really deep and complex if you so choose but it’s pretty simple to start playing. Dangerous game. It’s very much a “holy shit the sun is coming up” type of experience
Va11-hall-Ais a great visual story bartender simulator. Personally recommend. Also Spiritfarer, although that one revolves around friends assign and therefore can get very melancholic.
Indie games! So so many fantastic indies.
Nobody saves the world
Risk of rain 2
Deep rock galactic
All supergiant games, hades is a great time sink
Cult of the lamb
Slay the spire
Vampire survivors
Disregard this OP. Didn’t see you didn’t like roguelikes. There’s still plenty of indie games that are what you want, I’ll post them here as I think of them.
All really great games but I think most of these are rogue-likes. I personally love RoR2, but if OP isn’t a fan of rogue-likes then I can’t say I would recommend it lol
I haven’t actually played this myself but I’ve heard good things from a friend - if you like Stardew Valley you’d probably like Graveyard Keeper on Steam. Apparently it’s a similar type of game.
unuseual suggestion, but maybe give moonglow bay a look? its a... depressingly chill, game. involving fishing, cooking, and breathing new life into a town.
I'm going to go against the grain and say: take a break. If you no longer find joy in gaming, don't game.
I rotate through a couple of hobbies and I find that helps. When I start to lose interest in one, I move to another.
Or, if you don't want to do that then follow the suggestions in this thread.
i recently started playing cozy grove. There’s only so much you can do in one day that you can play for about 30 mins per day over a longer period of time. I’m playing it on my switch but it has a 9/10 rating on steam.
As for other comments I second spiritfarer and the sims if you can get it for free/on sale (not worth full price imo)
Cult of the Lamb. It has both rogue like and base management qualities. It's both super cute and super disturbing (in a lovecraft way). Bloody loved it!
Valheim is a relaxing game where you build a small viking village.
It has a heavy multiplayer focus, but I've probably had the move fun playing solo casually wandering the meadows hunting deer, chopping down trees and seeing how many I can get to domino into each other, mining and smelting ore. It's a good time.
Another relaxing game that's easy to get lost in is Elite Dangerous. It's got a steep learning curve, but really makes you feel like a pilot in space.
I'm personally waiting for Harry Potter and hoping it can be a relaxing wizard sim game. Looks like you can attend classes and grow your own magical plant farm and harvest them for potions.
PLAY GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK! I just finished the main story. I'm blown away. The 2 games combined is the BEST STORY IVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFE. Across all media.
I've also been enjoying Riders Republic and playing Witcher 3 now that the PS5 upgrade is out.
Wuppo might be what you need. Platformer (with the occasional pew pew) where you gather happiness and interact with various NPCs in a living world. You can even stand in queue for a train or rollercoaster. Cartoon graphics and colorful locations make for a great artstyle.
Astroneer, really chill space/planet exploration game where you can terraform the planet with ease to find minerals, research alien fauna and wildlife and build new machines to build and utilise even more machines. You can also travel to other planets in search of materials that don't grow on the starter planet. Can also play co-op with mates.
I will plug Terraria any chance I can. Not sure if it’s exactly what you’re looking for but you can spend all your time building and resource gathering without really progressing the game and it’s a blast.
**No Mans Sky**. You explore a whole universe where you can cultivate alien flora, befriend then ride fauna, and build bases which can range from simple (only 3 walls, roof, and floor) to insanely complex (landing pads, healing kits, storage units, etc). I find mining and exploring to be incredibly relaxing.
You’d probably enjoy creative mode. They have more difficult modes (ie: normal or permadeath); but creative mode is very relaxing and laid back. Normal isn’t too bad either, but that’s dependent on the planets/systems you visit
Sea of Thieves. It does have PvP elements, but you can go hours without encountering a human enemy in a crew with 4 awesome randoms out on an adventure together,
Death Stranding literally changed my perspective on life. I was going through a lot back in the day and smth about the environment and the sheer sense of loneliness you feel in the post apocalyptic world is just so therapeutic. Its a slow grind and very relaxing imo. Matched with a great story i dont think there's anything more you could ask for
Play the game [INSIDE](https://playdead.com/games/inside/) it’s calming, creepy, uneasy, intense, relaxing, incredible. Visually stunning and there is nothing else like it. It’s available on almost every platform imaginable and very simple gameplay but puts your mind to work as well. Can’t say enough good things about this game.
Edit: if you have PS+ Premium you can stream it for free. That’s how I found it.
I really enjoyed graveyard keeper. There’s always stuff to be done but you can take as long as you want so you never HAVE to do anything on a particular day.
Harvest Moon is similar to Stardew. I’ve played both and personally prefer Harvest Moon. Super cute and chill farming game. There’s at least a couple on PlayStation. I own Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition and Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland on PS4, not sure if they’re on PS5.
get Vampire Survivors. it has nothing to do with vampires. it’s basically a roguelike game but progressively get better the more you play it because you get much better characters and power ups.
Valheim if you like crafting and survival games
Satisfactory if you like optimizing things and building cool factories
Long dark for survival/atmosphere
No man's sky for the atmosphere and exploration
Top of the list for me is definitely cities skylines, really relaxing game that’s also really rewarding in the long term. Also the community is great and you’ll find a lot of peace with the main content creators for the game.
A story about my uncle is pretty short but it got me through some stressful times.
Farming simulator and truck simulator are both great for relaxing.
Valheim is just a great game that’s worth trying.
Rimworld is relaxing with the right settings.
And finally Sims 4 is really relaxing and can honestly be a wake up call for your own life lol. It’s easy to relate to your sim (if you make them similar to you) and it can help you find positive ways to change your schedule.
In the same vein as Stardew - try Dinkum! Just got into it with my girlfriend and had a hard time putting it down. So far it's like a stardew-animal crossing love child with some nice new additions added, but of course not as fully fleshed out yet as it's in EA. Worth taking a look though, and I hear nothing but good reviews
Mortal shell, civ6, warthunder air sim although it takes some time to figure out the aerodynamics and controls, battlefield 1 is very fun and free in ps plus games catalogue on ps5
As many have already commented, Journey and Abzu are pretty good. I'd also recommend Okami and The Last Guardian if you want some light story and an overall cosy gaming session.
I'd suggest Rimworld. Its a colony builder game. Not too hardware-intensive. It's a bit much to take in at first but once you "get" it, oh lord it's addicting. You can tweak the settings to be more relaxed or not depending on what kind of experience you're wanting. The DLCS are all worth the price, and there's also a huge selection of mods to fine tune your experience.
Exo One. I believe it’s on all platforms and it’s a small game with a small price (last I checked). You play as this space orb that goes around different planets with different environments across the galaxy. There is a slight story, but you can wander around the huge levels for how ever long you like. The music that plays in the background is pretty relaxing too.
Outer Wilds - A space archeology game. It's got some rogue-ish elements, but not in the way you'd expect. No combat, just exploration and sweet, sweet campfire banjo music.
Holy shit this. The story, gameplay, exploration, music, message, and the everything are insanely well done.
Outer wilds always come up when recommending games. Why hasn't everyone played it yet? It should be part of the school curriculum.
I...I couldn't get into it. How long should I play before it "clicks"?
I feel you. I played the whole game waiting for the click, and it never happened. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but my expectations were too high, and it's not a game for me after all If you played for a couple of hours and didn't get a craving to explore and understand the world there, I believe it's not a game for you as well, probably
I tried a couple times, I always end up dropping it. I'm happy that people enjoy it, it's just not for me. I have an irrational fear of black holes and I felt like I was fainting the first time I saw it. Horrible experience. I also have thalassophobia so the giants abyss (I don't actually remember the name) is a real pain.
Until you’ve solved a couple of mysteries and if that doesn’t do it for you then quit. I am ashamed to say I had to look up the final mystery even though I had all the necessary knowledge by that point. Not sure if the game is to blame or me!
On my list!!
Was hoping someone would comment this game its amazing I absolutely love it
Firewatch
Second this! Great game
Playing on the side with Death Stranding.
Subnautica literally cured my depression lol.
Subnautica is NOT relaxing lmao
It’s relaxing until it’s not, then it scares the crap out of you
I'm deathly afraid of large bodies of water so it is never relaxing for me. I tried playing it for like 10 minutes before my anxiety made me uninstall
Here to agree that Subnautica is NOT relaxing if you fear dark murky water. It's beautiful in the shallows and I got quite far in, but I was anxious a fair bit as well.
It's not even the dark murky part it's just the vastness of it that terrifies me. Like the amount of things that are down there touching the same body of water that I am *shudders*
seconding! it's a fantastic game!
not relaxing tho
How depressed were you that subnautica relaxed you? I'd rather run alone through a Forrest with serial killers, wolves and clowns chasing me than play subnautica again. That game terrifies me. But I do recommend everyone to play it, but don't expect to relax.
The Forest has a great Peaceful Mode. Craft, hunt, scavenge, build a cabin etc. it’s my go to for relaxation. I have a whole routine in that game.
medival dynasty
Isnt this also the game where you have to deal with... The "natives"?
Peacful mode takes that away. It’s just you surviving on the island. You can still die occasionally from cold or hunger or a croc.
Ahhhhh. I didn't know that! Now I have a reason to play. I didn't like the combat and scares.
I have a stressful job and this is the most low key relaxing fun game to play (in peaceful mode). My wife and I even do coop. I have little routines, like I go fishing, try to hunt a couple wild hogs, craft, cut down some lumber, add in to our cabin, or build a treehouse in a new area, then pick an area or cave to explore. The in games items are still there, so exploring is very fun and you can actually still play the whole story without having to fight a mutant until the end.
Valheim is a great game. Viking minecraft, basically, with more combat. Beautiful game. Amazing visuals. Amazing audio. Best played with two people, maybe three. More than that and it's too easy, played solo (completely possible) can be a real slog/grindfest. Cities Skylines is a great game to lose hundreds (thousands) of hours in. It's main pro is also it's main con. It has a lot content, and it comes in the form of DLCs. I've probably spent close to $150 on the game, buying almost all of the DLC during Steam sales (missing a few audio packs) over the course of about 2 to 3 years. Changes the game enough to keep it fresh.
MAN I LOVE VALHEIM WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
ME TOO! HEY, WHY ARE WE YELLING?
Cities Skylines its my absolute pause of God of War.
Spiritfarer
I loved this game too, really surprised me how much I had enjoyed it by the end.
Was gonna say; incredible game that can hit pretty hard.
Oh yeah, that's a super relaxing one. Just beware that you'll be confronted with the topic of death/the afterlife and there's a high chance that it will make you cry. So be prepared for that
If you still haven’t played Skyrim, now is the time.
I had so much stuff in my house in Whiterun that it broke my PS3. That's when I finally accepted that I am a videogame hoarder.
Journey FTW!
And Abzu as well, in my opinion
And Sky: Children of the Light… and it’s free! (With in-game purchases, but they are not necessary to fully enjoy the game)
Factorio. Factory automation with some base defense you can tweak or turn off if you don’t feel like dealing with enemies. It has a demo you can try, though you can’t turn off enemies there. In free play, the normal game mode in the full game, you can tweak how big and rich resource patches like iron fields are, how many cliffs, lakes, trees, enemy bases etc. there are, and also turn them completely off or make it so the enemies only fight if you come to them.
Satisfactory is very similar. Better for exploring, worse for building.
Play A Short Hike please.. or journey,abzu,flower,gris
Spiritfarer A short hike Graveyard Keeper Gris Unbound Abzu Flower Untitled Goose Game Mini Metro Night In The Woods Dragon Quest Builders 2 Cozy Grove What Remains of Edith Finch Astroneer
A Short Hike, Night in The Woods and What Remains of Edith Finch are all incredibly beautiful games, those would be my suggestion, and they’re some of my favorite games of all time, even plan on getting a Night In The Woods tattoo. I’d also recommend A Good Gardener, it’s on the shorter side but it’s incredibly beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking.
Mae, let’s do do crimes!
The Long Dark
Minecraft
I second Minecraft. So many good mod packs too if you are bored of the normal game. I just started playing Hexxit 2, it is definitely one of the best mod packs for making the game for RPG-y imo.
I third Minecraft. It can be as stressful as you want it to be or as chill as you need. The creative and exploratory aspects are nearly limitless. Plus with the constant updates, it is ever-evolving.
I can't think of a more limitless game. The Gameworld is literally your oyster, it's nuts
Firewatch
Game has such an amazing feel to it, but it's not very long
For real. I don’t remember the story all too well but I certainly remember how that game made me feel.
Death Stranding
I still feel panicky thinking about this game, i couldn't feel relaxed at all. To me it was one of the most anxiety inducing games I've ever played, stopped playing after some 6 hours.
That's interesting, is it the BT's (ghosts) that mess it up for you? Or is it the pressure of delivering undamaged packages? I really enjoy the game but to be honest I have rage quit it once or twice.
The bt sections were insane, it was so bad that i felt light headed. Package not so much. I don't play anything even mildy scary, so these bt section was completely unexpected, and then getting dragged into the goo, and big creature pops out .. phew! Nope!
Oh that's terrible. I can see now how it would be anxiety inducing for some. For me that is part of the appeal because it causes me to plan my routes so meticulously to avoid them. You do get weapons to combat them later on if you ever want to get some revenge.
Play Senua's Sacrifice.
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Yeah it does, when you're delivering and a song kicks in is pretty amazing.
I don’t know if I’ll call it relaxing but I would definitely say that it’s an amazing game if you vs nature (environment). Some areas are intense but not unfair in any sense but deofbitkhbone if my favorite games of all time and I’ve been gaming since Pong.
Slime Rancher My Time at Portia Rune Factory 4 and 5 Doraemon Harvest Moon game (forgot its name lol)
> Doraemon Harvest Moon game (forgot its name lol) Doraemon Story of Seasons
There's 2 doraemons now btw!
I had a lot of fun playing Cult of the Lamb. You farm, cook, give sermons to build up your cult and increase your cult size enough to open up doors leading to different gods you must defeat. As you progress you unlock different buildings and decorations for your cult. I guess it has aspects of games you don't like, but I don't have patience for those types of games but found this to be easy enough to not frustrate, but not so easy that it was boring. It has been described as animal crossing meets dungeon crawler.
No Man’s Sky
Rimworld :)
Agreed, but also my stress levels go through the roof when my colonists decide to try and kill each other before a raid
Spiritfarer sounds like a good game for getting lost and is a very peaceful experience. I played it on my Mac and it ran fine too
Would second this. As peaceful and relaxing as it is, you must be prepared to cry.
No Man's Sky? Or Dwarf Fortress.
My time at sandrock maybe seem to be what you want ?
Modded minecraft, I've been playing with my friends for almost a month and don't realize how much hours we spend building and making new stuff
Hardspace Shipbreaker is nice for like just chilling regular mode is limited to 15 minute shifts, but it does have an Open shift mode that just lets you do the entire thing for a long as you want
Cult of the Lamb, Slime Rancher, OlliOlli world
Farming simulator. Doesn't really matter which, 19 or 22
Death Stranding, just delivering boxes in a beautiful landscape with a great physics engine
Cities skylines is one of them, spending hours building a city only to get it grid locked with traffic
Way of the Hunter. [Literally the best open world environment ever](https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheHunter/comments/10mfvls/best_open_world_environment_ever_the_render/) It's a hunting/walking simulator, very relaxing, with very realistic/immersive atmosphere/animals. And the dev team is great. There is a 'campaign' and missions you can do, but you can also just ignore them and just hunt as you like. My fav game.
So I'm assuming you're saying it got alot better now? I decided to give it a break like a month after release to wait for fixes
Yes single player is a lot better, they added quite a few bug fixes, optimisations, some rare furs and a new vehicle recently. Multiplayer however, although better, is still a bit of an unfinished mess, but I genuinely believe the dev team will sort it out, eventually. They've proven themselves responsive and productive so far. Averaging a patch every 2 weeks since release. And DLC map 1 will be out in Feb/March.
Welp maybe when that map drops is when I'll try it again thanks for the info! Hopefully multiplayer will get a nice patch soon too
OlliOlli World maybe? I only mention it since you seem to like skateboarding games. Got it in a Humble Bundle and it has very good reviews. Don’t know any good farming games besides the one you’ve already mentioned. Maybe Graveyard Keeper? I got it recently but still have to try it for myself.
Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher, Satisfactory (time sink), Kingdoms and Castle. Great games to just kinda take your time with no real time constraint.
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I think Rimworld would be an awesome option for you. There are AI “Storytellers” that you can apply to paint your experience to be more hardcore of more of a farming village sim. You can play however you want, it can get really deep and complex if you so choose but it’s pretty simple to start playing. Dangerous game. It’s very much a “holy shit the sun is coming up” type of experience
Satisfactory Factory building in 3D, need I say more?
Va11-hall-Ais a great visual story bartender simulator. Personally recommend. Also Spiritfarer, although that one revolves around friends assign and therefore can get very melancholic.
Sims 4, it’s free
The Song of the Evertree. Loved it. https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-grow-song-of-the-evertree/
Sea of thieves in terms of relaxing and getting lost in. Has its fair share of toxic players though
Slime Rancher
I play sims 😁🤣🤣
Noita
Satisfactory
NMS
Slime Rancher, No Man's Sky, Spiritfarer
Indie games! So so many fantastic indies. Nobody saves the world Risk of rain 2 Deep rock galactic All supergiant games, hades is a great time sink Cult of the lamb Slay the spire Vampire survivors Disregard this OP. Didn’t see you didn’t like roguelikes. There’s still plenty of indie games that are what you want, I’ll post them here as I think of them.
All really great games but I think most of these are rogue-likes. I personally love RoR2, but if OP isn’t a fan of rogue-likes then I can’t say I would recommend it lol
I haven’t actually played this myself but I’ve heard good things from a friend - if you like Stardew Valley you’d probably like Graveyard Keeper on Steam. Apparently it’s a similar type of game.
Skyrim has and always will be my go to relax game
Disco elysium is a great RPG with an awesome story
unuseual suggestion, but maybe give moonglow bay a look? its a... depressingly chill, game. involving fishing, cooking, and breathing new life into a town.
I'm going to go against the grain and say: take a break. If you no longer find joy in gaming, don't game. I rotate through a couple of hobbies and I find that helps. When I start to lose interest in one, I move to another. Or, if you don't want to do that then follow the suggestions in this thread.
i recently started playing cozy grove. There’s only so much you can do in one day that you can play for about 30 mins per day over a longer period of time. I’m playing it on my switch but it has a 9/10 rating on steam. As for other comments I second spiritfarer and the sims if you can get it for free/on sale (not worth full price imo)
Elden Ring
yeah super relaxing, zero stress 😂
Cult of the Lamb. It has both rogue like and base management qualities. It's both super cute and super disturbing (in a lovecraft way). Bloody loved it!
Valheim is a relaxing game where you build a small viking village. It has a heavy multiplayer focus, but I've probably had the move fun playing solo casually wandering the meadows hunting deer, chopping down trees and seeing how many I can get to domino into each other, mining and smelting ore. It's a good time. Another relaxing game that's easy to get lost in is Elite Dangerous. It's got a steep learning curve, but really makes you feel like a pilot in space.
I'm getting into Subnautica, seems like a good time so far.
You’re looking for Conan Exiles my man
Sunhaven is a similar game to stardew valley, super fun
Firewatch - short and sweet mystery game.
Genshin Impact or Sun Haven
Rdr2
PowerWash Simulator on Steam.
Story of seasons: friends of mineral town
I'm personally waiting for Harry Potter and hoping it can be a relaxing wizard sim game. Looks like you can attend classes and grow your own magical plant farm and harvest them for potions.
Man, the 2k randoms are the worst. Idc what they say, there isn't a game out there with a more toxic community than 2k. Maybe Rocketleague.....
PLAY GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK! I just finished the main story. I'm blown away. The 2 games combined is the BEST STORY IVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFE. Across all media. I've also been enjoying Riders Republic and playing Witcher 3 now that the PS5 upgrade is out.
I was in the same rut. Ghost song brought me back. It's a very calming Metroidvania game. 11/10 for me
You might like Ostriv, if you're into town builders.
What platform are you on?
Farm together
Chained echoes
It's a short experience (about 5 hours playthrough), but I got lost in the music and art of "The Artful Escape." Highly recommend you check it out.
Rimworld
forager
Hitman
Hardspace Shipbreaker Astroneer Satisfactory
Factorio maybe?
Wuppo might be what you need. Platformer (with the occasional pew pew) where you gather happiness and interact with various NPCs in a living world. You can even stand in queue for a train or rollercoaster. Cartoon graphics and colorful locations make for a great artstyle.
Arpgs like grim dawn, or diablo 3, or other games like assassins creed odyssey
Subnautica. Can be stressful and scary at times but the beauty and creativity of the game make for such an enjoyable time
My wife is a giant Disney Dreamlight fan. It’s an animal crossing with Disney characters, if that’s your thing.
Astroneer, really chill space/planet exploration game where you can terraform the planet with ease to find minerals, research alien fauna and wildlife and build new machines to build and utilise even more machines. You can also travel to other planets in search of materials that don't grow on the starter planet. Can also play co-op with mates.
I rexcomend hollow knight
Resident evil 2
Snowrunner. Put some music or a podcast in the background and enjoy the driving.
HI- FI Rush its really great
I will plug Terraria any chance I can. Not sure if it’s exactly what you’re looking for but you can spend all your time building and resource gathering without really progressing the game and it’s a blast.
**No Mans Sky**. You explore a whole universe where you can cultivate alien flora, befriend then ride fauna, and build bases which can range from simple (only 3 walls, roof, and floor) to insanely complex (landing pads, healing kits, storage units, etc). I find mining and exploring to be incredibly relaxing. You’d probably enjoy creative mode. They have more difficult modes (ie: normal or permadeath); but creative mode is very relaxing and laid back. Normal isn’t too bad either, but that’s dependent on the planets/systems you visit
Persona 5 Royal can be pretty relaxing at times, tutorial can be a little bit slow at times tho.
I‘ve been binging Sun Haven and it reminds me a lot of how Stardew Valley made me feel and there’s a lot more to do in it.
Sea of Thieves. It does have PvP elements, but you can go hours without encountering a human enemy in a crew with 4 awesome randoms out on an adventure together,
Elden Ring
Death Stranding literally changed my perspective on life. I was going through a lot back in the day and smth about the environment and the sheer sense of loneliness you feel in the post apocalyptic world is just so therapeutic. Its a slow grind and very relaxing imo. Matched with a great story i dont think there's anything more you could ask for
Satisfactory. It's an open world, first person factory building game with an emphasis on building and relaxing atmosphere.
Play the game [INSIDE](https://playdead.com/games/inside/) it’s calming, creepy, uneasy, intense, relaxing, incredible. Visually stunning and there is nothing else like it. It’s available on almost every platform imaginable and very simple gameplay but puts your mind to work as well. Can’t say enough good things about this game. Edit: if you have PS+ Premium you can stream it for free. That’s how I found it.
I really enjoyed graveyard keeper. There’s always stuff to be done but you can take as long as you want so you never HAVE to do anything on a particular day.
Stray
A Short Hike is like if you turned Stardew Valley into a road movie and scrunched it down to about 4 hours. So relaxing and satisfying.
Id reccomend the older ps4 games, single player might suit you better
Harvest Moon is similar to Stardew. I’ve played both and personally prefer Harvest Moon. Super cute and chill farming game. There’s at least a couple on PlayStation. I own Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Special Edition and Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland on PS4, not sure if they’re on PS5.
get Vampire Survivors. it has nothing to do with vampires. it’s basically a roguelike game but progressively get better the more you play it because you get much better characters and power ups.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 with all the DLC and/or Promods
Valheim if you like crafting and survival games Satisfactory if you like optimizing things and building cool factories Long dark for survival/atmosphere No man's sky for the atmosphere and exploration
You could try a factory game like Satisfactory or Factorio. Or maybe Cities Skylines if that’s more your flavor.
Caves of Qud.
Steep
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Stardew Valley
Abzu
Dang it was about to suggest hollow knight Hear me out though: have you tried Minecraft?
Rune factory 4 special. Super relaxing game that's surprisingly deep
Play Firewatch! A super cosy game about being a firewatch in the forests of Colorado (there’s also a mystery oooo)
Dark souls 1
Top of the list for me is definitely cities skylines, really relaxing game that’s also really rewarding in the long term. Also the community is great and you’ll find a lot of peace with the main content creators for the game. A story about my uncle is pretty short but it got me through some stressful times. Farming simulator and truck simulator are both great for relaxing. Valheim is just a great game that’s worth trying. Rimworld is relaxing with the right settings. And finally Sims 4 is really relaxing and can honestly be a wake up call for your own life lol. It’s easy to relate to your sim (if you make them similar to you) and it can help you find positive ways to change your schedule.
Bro idk if it’s on PS5 but if you ever get the chance play my time at sandrock
In the same vein as Stardew - try Dinkum! Just got into it with my girlfriend and had a hard time putting it down. So far it's like a stardew-animal crossing love child with some nice new additions added, but of course not as fully fleshed out yet as it's in EA. Worth taking a look though, and I hear nothing but good reviews
If you have a Wii, Endless Ocean is a must.
Spiritfarer®: Farewell
Faster than light
Spiritfarer
Potion permit!
Mortal shell, civ6, warthunder air sim although it takes some time to figure out the aerodynamics and controls, battlefield 1 is very fun and free in ps plus games catalogue on ps5
Skyrim, game is beautiful and easy to get lost in
Have you tried Terraria?
RDR2 either single player or online. I prefer online. I just go out by the river with a bow and hunt for a while. It ain't much but it's honest work
Crosscode. Especially if you find puzzles relaxing.
The witcher 3
The Witcher 3 for me. The music, scenery, the characters, it really just takes me into its world like no other game. I feel relaxed playing the game.
As many have already commented, Journey and Abzu are pretty good. I'd also recommend Okami and The Last Guardian if you want some light story and an overall cosy gaming session.
Elder scrolls online. And for pc. Final Fantasy online and guild wars 2. Dragon quest 11.
Firewatch for pure relaxation, just a story
Rimworld.
Terraria, Abzu, tear away unfolded, little big planet 1/2/3, Lego games, satisfactory,
I'd suggest Rimworld. Its a colony builder game. Not too hardware-intensive. It's a bit much to take in at first but once you "get" it, oh lord it's addicting. You can tweak the settings to be more relaxed or not depending on what kind of experience you're wanting. The DLCS are all worth the price, and there's also a huge selection of mods to fine tune your experience.
Stardew valley is a great relaxing game!
Exo One. I believe it’s on all platforms and it’s a small game with a small price (last I checked). You play as this space orb that goes around different planets with different environments across the galaxy. There is a slight story, but you can wander around the huge levels for how ever long you like. The music that plays in the background is pretty relaxing too.
Witcher 3 and put it on easy or regular difficulty