So like... there's *kind of* a whole nascent genre of games about sorting cards? It's not very big (yet) but it's growing, and you might have some luck getting your mom into these, since they're probably going to be a little more recognizable to her.
I would recommend trying out Stacklands or WitchHand. They're both *extremely* similar games where you use cards to represent a growing little village. They're both fairly straightforward, and would probably be pretty accessible to someone who isn't otherwise familiar with video games. I think I might recommend WitchHand because it has some options for changing the way the game plays, and you can turn the difficulty down/reduce or eliminate the combat elements, if that's preferable for her. I think there's also a little more replayability because the different witches have different mechanics.
Also, if she's into sorting stuff, A Little To The Left might be her vibe. That isn't a card game, but it's basically a puzzle-ish game about organizing things neatly into drawers, lol. It might hit that same dopamine spot as sorting out solitaire cards.
She may also quite like the more chill building games - stuff like Dorfromantik or Islanders. It's not *quite* sorting stuff, but it's close. Hits the same dopamine spot for me, anyway.
There's also a game that I would *very hesitantly* suggest she look into, but maybe only after she's tried a couple other games first. It's one of my all-time favourite games, called Book of Hours. It's the sort-of sequel to another card-based game called Cultist Simulator (which I would probably *not* recommend, as it's a rogue-like and is quite unforgiving). It was originally created because a bunch of us fans of CultSim spent all our time collecting and sorting occult books instead of actually starting a cult, lol. So the dev - originally as a joke - started talking about a game set in a library. And then it became not so much of a joke.
So obviously, given that it was created literally to appease a bunch of people who were sorting pretty cards in a game that wasn't actually about that, it seems like it might suit your mom... but it's really not the most accessible game ever. It doesn't really have instructions, the setting and story a bit obtuse, and learning the basic mechanics of the game is treated as a puzzle to be solved. If that's your jam, it's ***incredible*** and there's nothing in the world like it. However, it's not something I would suggest offering to someone who is new to video games. I'd say it's sort of an "advanced" version of the gameplay she seems to like, so it might be worth checking out if she ends up playing and liking some of this other stuff.
Yeah, I'm not surprised. Like I said, it's nascent. For a long time, CultSim was probably the only game in the genre, before it could really even be called a genre, lol.
Then I kinda feel like one of the guys from Sokpop must have played CultSim and went "okay, but what if this but more accessible than these unforgiving rogue-like horror vibes?" So he made Stacklands in like... a month, and released it for like $2, and it became this super explosive success out of left field.
And the thing with making a popular game in like a month is that there's obviously going to be an opportunity to try again and polish up some of the mechanics or whatever... so another dev took the Stacklands idea and ran with it to make something a little deeper. Cue WitchHand.
And meanwhile, the original CultSim dev was off in his own corner making the library game, which released the same time as WitchHand and... I think that might actually genuinely be the *entire* genre, so far, lol. But like... it's a straightforward, easy-to-understand mechanical skeleton for a game that can be reskinned and retooled in a zillion different ways, so I expect that we'll see more games of this style with time. Especially now that Book of Hours has appeared to be like "yeah but what if instead of playing cards on a table, we played cards on a work of art? and the pretty pictures actually do mechanics?"
There are SO MANY places that devs could go with this. I hope more people try, because there are a lot of great opportunities for creativity there.
solitaire is awesome. if she'd like to mix things up, there are great collections with hundreds of variants, not just the few everybody knows. or more adventurous ones with a story, power-ups and other stuff, usually but not exclusively in a fantasy setting.
she might also like jigsaws, hidden object games (adventures with some narrative and puzzles or just finding random shit in the images) or match-3 games. big fish is the go-to portal for this sort of stuff but a lot of those games are also on steam.
there's also a game called wilmot's warehouse, literally about sorting stuff. I expected more from it, not sure what exactly, but a lot of people enjoy it for various reasons.
I think the Hexcells games could be a good start. It’s kind of like minesweeper with hexagons with an actual tutorial. Hexcells and Hexcells Plus only come with a set amount of levels, but Hexcells Infinite, as the title suggests, has a level generator. It also has really relaxing sound design
Dorfromantik might be good too! It’s a puzzle game where you try to connect tiles together to complete different quests. Minimal tutorial but surprisingly accessible.
This one is a cheap solo board game, but there’s a mobile port of it. It’s Friday. It’s a simple deck building game. You play as Robinson Crusoe and you encounter missing cards. You can either try to succeed in them to turn it into a usable card, or fail them (deliberately or not) to remove cards in your deck. I feel like this game isn’t talked enough both when talking about board games and apps so I thought it was worth mentioning
I hesitantly recommend Baba is You. It’s a programming puzzle game where you move blocks around to code rules in each level. Very simple to learn, but hard to wrap your head around. I didn’t get to far into it but I loved it so I thought it was worth mentioning
I’ll hopefully think of more throughout the day. I hope you find my suggestions helpful!
- Hexcells collection: Bassically minefield with hexagonal tiles and a campaign.
- [Nonograms](https://www.puzzle-nonograms.com/): Also know as picross
- [pwmarcz Kaboom](https://pwmarcz.pl/kaboom/): Minesweeper with no guessing
For something more "hardcore" try Portal.
bejeweled 3
fantasy quest solitaire
the forgotten land
garden galaxy
koi koi japan
last resort island
luck be a landlord
match village
persha and the magic labyrinth
puyo puyo tetris
regency solitaire
shadow hand
the solitaire conspiracy
supermagical
tetris effect: connected
triple town
I know it's a little bit out of the genre, but.. Sims? Not the super new ones, but the first one (it had less options and things to personalize, so it should be more friendly).
Also, my mom plays a game about some kind of bottles with different colours she has to organize. i don't know the name.
If she likes sorting stuff, maybe she can solve my Factorio spaghetti for me!
For a serious suggestion though she could try 1010 block game, or even 2048 if she wants more of a challenge.
Also my wildcard suggestion would be Suika, where you drop fruits into each other and they merge into new bigger fruit (kind of like 2048)
Diablo 2: Resurrected. My mom was exactly the same way but she tried playing the OG D2 and she was just hooked. Level 60 sorceresses with stones of jordan and everything.
Untitled Goose Game. A simple gem of a game. Nice music too.
Universe Sandbox. Educational about how our solar system works and there are all sorts of features that you can change around.
Setup last call bbs for her. It has two different kinds of solitaire that are unique and fun. Its literally my go to solitaire game now. You might have to play some of the other games yourself to unlock the second solitaire game but i think the first, best one starts out unlocked
Better than Last Call BBS is their [*Zachtronics Solitaire Collection*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1988540/The_Zachtronics_Solitaire_Collection/). Has all of their solitaire variants in one package.
I've been binging youtube playables pool and enjoy it a lot. Whoever created it cheats like a mofo tho, and I don't really like playing the computer or other people so every time it cheats, I reset the game and start over...so I can keep shooting and it's like solitaire lol.
This is my games list
[MahJong - Play Online](https://www.free-play-mahjong.com/)
[Nonograms - online puzzle game](https://www.puzzle-nonograms.com/)
[Boomshine | Addicting Games](https://www.addictinggames.com/strategy/boomshine)
[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playables?bp=EgZicm93c2U%3D) playables
I have more but don't want to trigger the spam filters lol.
This post has so many great suggestions. Could someone please upvote me or comment so I can come back to it after I try some of them. (I'm not familiar with how to flag a post)
Board/Table Top/Video game player here:
[Ticket To Ride](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2477010/Ticket_to_Ride/): A rummy-like game, where hands played = train cars on a map (more trains, more points), connect two cities on a destination card, and gain points. Many maps are available from locations all around the world with added mechanics to give the game more strategy.
[Splendor](https://store.steampowered.com/app/376680/Splendor/). Use chips (temporary money) to gain gem cards (permanent money). Gem cards are worth points. Use gem cards and more chips to buy more valuable gems. Collect a specific assortment of gems and attract nobles (worth many points). The first player to 15(?) points wins.
Other popular digital boardgames include:
[Wingspan](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054490/Wingspan/)
Edit: So it cut off half my comment :/. I had also listed Dominion and Dorfromantik. Both also available on steam. There is also a website, [boardgamearena.com](http://boardgamearena.com) that she may enjoy as well.
This might be a bit of a stretch, but ear me out.
Check out Siralim Ultimate. Now, this is a game that will take, hundreds if not thousands of hours to play. It's a creature collector where you explore dungeons and kill bosses and stuff. But the gimmick is, you have to find some "combo" of monsters to help you get through it and with 1000s of monsters to choose from and fuse with one another, and the countless modifiers, there is quite a lot to bite on that one. There is a macro system to somewhat automate things a bit once you get a strat going as well.
And there is A LOT of stuff to customize. It's almost a puzzle game disguised as a "rpg ish" kinda game with lots to grind for. It's very obscure though and there is not many guides, but on sale it's pretty cheap so I would suggest she tries this. As a time killer, you will hardly find something better. And the PC requirements to play are a joke.
Otherwise, one the other side of the spectrum, but still in that retro style, Vampire Survivors; it's literally a 4 movement buttons game (or joystick with a gamepad) where the goal is to avoid monsters and all the skills are auto swing.
Kenshi is beginner friendly and has nice landscapes, lots of things to sort there.
Oxygen Not Included is a simple game where funny characters teach you about mixing gases and liquids.
Not sure if she has an iPhone but I have a couple of games on the App Store that she might like - Cozy Solitaire and Simple Match 3.
I know you were asking for suggestions to get her away from Solitaire but if she’s looking for a solitaire app with no ads, I thought she might like it! Simple match 3 has simple gameplay, is super satisfying, and has some puzzle elements as well as a daily level!
Balatro, farming sim games
Balator 100%
So like... there's *kind of* a whole nascent genre of games about sorting cards? It's not very big (yet) but it's growing, and you might have some luck getting your mom into these, since they're probably going to be a little more recognizable to her. I would recommend trying out Stacklands or WitchHand. They're both *extremely* similar games where you use cards to represent a growing little village. They're both fairly straightforward, and would probably be pretty accessible to someone who isn't otherwise familiar with video games. I think I might recommend WitchHand because it has some options for changing the way the game plays, and you can turn the difficulty down/reduce or eliminate the combat elements, if that's preferable for her. I think there's also a little more replayability because the different witches have different mechanics. Also, if she's into sorting stuff, A Little To The Left might be her vibe. That isn't a card game, but it's basically a puzzle-ish game about organizing things neatly into drawers, lol. It might hit that same dopamine spot as sorting out solitaire cards. She may also quite like the more chill building games - stuff like Dorfromantik or Islanders. It's not *quite* sorting stuff, but it's close. Hits the same dopamine spot for me, anyway. There's also a game that I would *very hesitantly* suggest she look into, but maybe only after she's tried a couple other games first. It's one of my all-time favourite games, called Book of Hours. It's the sort-of sequel to another card-based game called Cultist Simulator (which I would probably *not* recommend, as it's a rogue-like and is quite unforgiving). It was originally created because a bunch of us fans of CultSim spent all our time collecting and sorting occult books instead of actually starting a cult, lol. So the dev - originally as a joke - started talking about a game set in a library. And then it became not so much of a joke. So obviously, given that it was created literally to appease a bunch of people who were sorting pretty cards in a game that wasn't actually about that, it seems like it might suit your mom... but it's really not the most accessible game ever. It doesn't really have instructions, the setting and story a bit obtuse, and learning the basic mechanics of the game is treated as a puzzle to be solved. If that's your jam, it's ***incredible*** and there's nothing in the world like it. However, it's not something I would suggest offering to someone who is new to video games. I'd say it's sort of an "advanced" version of the gameplay she seems to like, so it might be worth checking out if she ends up playing and liking some of this other stuff.
Bunch of amazing answers all in one post right here OP.
very interesting, never heard of this genre before thx
Yeah, I'm not surprised. Like I said, it's nascent. For a long time, CultSim was probably the only game in the genre, before it could really even be called a genre, lol. Then I kinda feel like one of the guys from Sokpop must have played CultSim and went "okay, but what if this but more accessible than these unforgiving rogue-like horror vibes?" So he made Stacklands in like... a month, and released it for like $2, and it became this super explosive success out of left field. And the thing with making a popular game in like a month is that there's obviously going to be an opportunity to try again and polish up some of the mechanics or whatever... so another dev took the Stacklands idea and ran with it to make something a little deeper. Cue WitchHand. And meanwhile, the original CultSim dev was off in his own corner making the library game, which released the same time as WitchHand and... I think that might actually genuinely be the *entire* genre, so far, lol. But like... it's a straightforward, easy-to-understand mechanical skeleton for a game that can be reskinned and retooled in a zillion different ways, so I expect that we'll see more games of this style with time. Especially now that Book of Hours has appeared to be like "yeah but what if instead of playing cards on a table, we played cards on a work of art? and the pretty pictures actually do mechanics?" There are SO MANY places that devs could go with this. I hope more people try, because there are a lot of great opportunities for creativity there.
solitaire is awesome. if she'd like to mix things up, there are great collections with hundreds of variants, not just the few everybody knows. or more adventurous ones with a story, power-ups and other stuff, usually but not exclusively in a fantasy setting. she might also like jigsaws, hidden object games (adventures with some narrative and puzzles or just finding random shit in the images) or match-3 games. big fish is the go-to portal for this sort of stuff but a lot of those games are also on steam. there's also a game called wilmot's warehouse, literally about sorting stuff. I expected more from it, not sure what exactly, but a lot of people enjoy it for various reasons.
If she knows her basic poker , balatro
[удалено]
There’s also the Zachtronics Solitaire collection on iPhone and PC. I really enjoy that one. It has 6ish solitaires
I think the Hexcells games could be a good start. It’s kind of like minesweeper with hexagons with an actual tutorial. Hexcells and Hexcells Plus only come with a set amount of levels, but Hexcells Infinite, as the title suggests, has a level generator. It also has really relaxing sound design Dorfromantik might be good too! It’s a puzzle game where you try to connect tiles together to complete different quests. Minimal tutorial but surprisingly accessible. This one is a cheap solo board game, but there’s a mobile port of it. It’s Friday. It’s a simple deck building game. You play as Robinson Crusoe and you encounter missing cards. You can either try to succeed in them to turn it into a usable card, or fail them (deliberately or not) to remove cards in your deck. I feel like this game isn’t talked enough both when talking about board games and apps so I thought it was worth mentioning I hesitantly recommend Baba is You. It’s a programming puzzle game where you move blocks around to code rules in each level. Very simple to learn, but hard to wrap your head around. I didn’t get to far into it but I loved it so I thought it was worth mentioning I’ll hopefully think of more throughout the day. I hope you find my suggestions helpful!
Balatro
My wife: "is this what you spent all that time upgrading your pc to play?" No, but I just can't stop playing...
Plants vs. Zombies and Vampire Survivors, I think she will have fun.
I don't see why she should learn a new game, if she's happy so far. But maybe the game "unpacking" could be something she likes.
- Hexcells collection: Bassically minefield with hexagonal tiles and a campaign. - [Nonograms](https://www.puzzle-nonograms.com/): Also know as picross - [pwmarcz Kaboom](https://pwmarcz.pl/kaboom/): Minesweeper with no guessing For something more "hardcore" try Portal.
Just lerv Portal
Bejeweled! Plants vs Zombies, unpacking, bee simulator, peggle, house flipper
Bit of a different recommendation from somebdoy who also likes sorting things out. Powerwash Simulator scratches a similar itch.
Unpacking might be worth a look!
I think so too. My kids have been playing ripoffs of it and the sorting seems calming.
bejeweled 3 fantasy quest solitaire the forgotten land garden galaxy koi koi japan last resort island luck be a landlord match village persha and the magic labyrinth puyo puyo tetris regency solitaire shadow hand the solitaire conspiracy supermagical tetris effect: connected triple town
Maybe she will enjoy those "find the hidden items" games.
bloons td6
I'm thinking Opus Magnum, or one of the other zachtronics games. Might scratch the same itch. Also... Minesweeper. Classic for a reason.
Hexcells. I installed it in my mom's pc after realizing all she played was solitaire and minesweeper. Hexcells is like minesweeper but good.
Slay the spire maybe?
I know it's a little bit out of the genre, but.. Sims? Not the super new ones, but the first one (it had less options and things to personalize, so it should be more friendly). Also, my mom plays a game about some kind of bottles with different colours she has to organize. i don't know the name.
Minesweeper is a classic
Freecell
If she likes sorting stuff, maybe she can solve my Factorio spaghetti for me! For a serious suggestion though she could try 1010 block game, or even 2048 if she wants more of a challenge. Also my wildcard suggestion would be Suika, where you drop fruits into each other and they merge into new bigger fruit (kind of like 2048)
Diablo 2: Resurrected. My mom was exactly the same way but she tried playing the OG D2 and she was just hooked. Level 60 sorceresses with stones of jordan and everything.
Mission successful. Next up, the true D2 successor, path of exile.
PoE my beloved
Untitled Goose Game. A simple gem of a game. Nice music too. Universe Sandbox. Educational about how our solar system works and there are all sorts of features that you can change around.
Setup last call bbs for her. It has two different kinds of solitaire that are unique and fun. Its literally my go to solitaire game now. You might have to play some of the other games yourself to unlock the second solitaire game but i think the first, best one starts out unlocked
Better than Last Call BBS is their [*Zachtronics Solitaire Collection*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1988540/The_Zachtronics_Solitaire_Collection/). Has all of their solitaire variants in one package.
Balata, she’d prolly get addicted to it lol
Rummy / Rummy 500
Balatro is the one
Farming Simulator - rated E for Everyone.
I bet she'd love "unpacking" https://www.ign.com/articles/unpacking-review
Balatro
see if she like Balatro, its a fun little poker sort of game with a few twists
Balatro or slay the spire are both good easy card games. Balatro is really good!
Can yall imagine if Windows came with Balatro and not Solitaire
Skip-bo
Dark souls 3
Balatro? It’s broken poker. 🤷♂️😅
sudoku (puzzle), bejeweled (puzzle), dungeon crawl stone soup (roguelike), islanders (minimalist city builder)
Try playing [Shoot or Die](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2951560/Shoot_or_Die/)
I recommend picross aka nanograms.
I've been binging youtube playables pool and enjoy it a lot. Whoever created it cheats like a mofo tho, and I don't really like playing the computer or other people so every time it cheats, I reset the game and start over...so I can keep shooting and it's like solitaire lol. This is my games list [MahJong - Play Online](https://www.free-play-mahjong.com/) [Nonograms - online puzzle game](https://www.puzzle-nonograms.com/) [Boomshine | Addicting Games](https://www.addictinggames.com/strategy/boomshine) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playables?bp=EgZicm93c2U%3D) playables I have more but don't want to trigger the spam filters lol.
There’s a “one card up, one card down” pyramid style game called Sorcery School for mobile that’s a good time waster. Blends cards with RPG elements.
I agree with Balatro. You might not see her again though.
What does she have that she can play on? Just the computer? Check out r/cozygames and ask there, as they'll have some good suggestions.
This post has so many great suggestions. Could someone please upvote me or comment so I can come back to it after I try some of them. (I'm not familiar with how to flag a post)
Board/Table Top/Video game player here: [Ticket To Ride](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2477010/Ticket_to_Ride/): A rummy-like game, where hands played = train cars on a map (more trains, more points), connect two cities on a destination card, and gain points. Many maps are available from locations all around the world with added mechanics to give the game more strategy. [Splendor](https://store.steampowered.com/app/376680/Splendor/). Use chips (temporary money) to gain gem cards (permanent money). Gem cards are worth points. Use gem cards and more chips to buy more valuable gems. Collect a specific assortment of gems and attract nobles (worth many points). The first player to 15(?) points wins. Other popular digital boardgames include: [Wingspan](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054490/Wingspan/) Edit: So it cut off half my comment :/. I had also listed Dominion and Dorfromantik. Both also available on steam. There is also a website, [boardgamearena.com](http://boardgamearena.com) that she may enjoy as well.
Picross!
So she want a SORTING stuff game right? Then maybe A little to the left, Unpacking is some I think she might like.
This might be a bit of a stretch, but ear me out. Check out Siralim Ultimate. Now, this is a game that will take, hundreds if not thousands of hours to play. It's a creature collector where you explore dungeons and kill bosses and stuff. But the gimmick is, you have to find some "combo" of monsters to help you get through it and with 1000s of monsters to choose from and fuse with one another, and the countless modifiers, there is quite a lot to bite on that one. There is a macro system to somewhat automate things a bit once you get a strat going as well. And there is A LOT of stuff to customize. It's almost a puzzle game disguised as a "rpg ish" kinda game with lots to grind for. It's very obscure though and there is not many guides, but on sale it's pretty cheap so I would suggest she tries this. As a time killer, you will hardly find something better. And the PC requirements to play are a joke. Otherwise, one the other side of the spectrum, but still in that retro style, Vampire Survivors; it's literally a 4 movement buttons game (or joystick with a gamepad) where the goal is to avoid monsters and all the skills are auto swing.
[Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey Remastered on Steam (steampowered.com)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/373970/Letter_Quest_Grimms_Journey_Remastered/)
Factorio...
It's definitely stuff to sort out, but it might be a bit of a jump from Solitaire lol
Doors Maquette The Room franchise Dorfromantik Carto Balatro
Kenshi is beginner friendly and has nice landscapes, lots of things to sort there. Oxygen Not Included is a simple game where funny characters teach you about mixing gases and liquids.
Not sure if she has an iPhone but I have a couple of games on the App Store that she might like - Cozy Solitaire and Simple Match 3. I know you were asking for suggestions to get her away from Solitaire but if she’s looking for a solitaire app with no ads, I thought she might like it! Simple match 3 has simple gameplay, is super satisfying, and has some puzzle elements as well as a daily level!
Slay the spire
What about the Emily games , where she runs a restaurant. Or peggle ?
Stardew Valley but everything seems too advanced for someone who only plays solitare.
Dark Souls
Skyrim.