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Chill games to play (for after work and stuff)

Animal Crossing
Grow Home
An easy platformer like Yoshi's Wooly World
Mario Maker
Visual-novel type games like Phoenix Wright, Wolf Among Us etc.
 
Despite what a lot of people believe, playing GTA V passively is a lot of fun. Go online into an invite only session, and just go driving, flying, whatever. You can do everything that is in GTA Online, providing it can be done solo. But to me, flying, driving, stunting, garage arranging, car moving, VIP activities, car sales, parachuting, boating etc.. can all be done for hours and hours and hours. All without firing a single bullet. Now...the stray pedestrian may get run over, but that's life in GTA...
 
For me its Dragon Age Inquisition.

I like Biowares sense of humour. The combat is easy (press A for awesome lol) and has some good eye candy.

Its my goto game when I just want some mindless fun.
 
My go to chill games are the EA Skate games. Feels cool to just skate around and find a spot I haven't skated much before and try figure out a line or something. Feels close enough to real skating for me when I'm too lazy to actually go out and skate.
 
Tharsis.

It's tough but moves at your pace (it's all selecting options and rolling dice) and a run will probably only last you 15-20 minutes.
 
I use Final Fantasy XIV precisely for that. I can turn my brain off while doing daily beast quests or crafting, mining, visiting nice vistas while the beautiful music plays in the background. Or just playing as low level classes, they're so easy compared to how the endgame classes play that it's relaxing.
 
Mad Max is a game that requires almost no brainpower to complete, you can just mindlessly go around the map checking tasks off your checklist and enjoying the pretty scenery.
 
xuchu said:
Talos Principle has been great to come back to after work. Doing a couple of puzzles with a cup of coffee has a calming effect. The backdrop of the seemingly pristine environment and serene background music has a lot to do with it too.

It is a puzzle game though and I got stuck on a puzzle many times but put it down and returned to it the next day after work to solve it within 5 minutes, which always felt rewarding. The story is quite philosophical too and makes you think about the nature of the self and what makes us human but if you're not interested in that sort of thing, you don't have to engage with it as the story beats are mostly told through optional computer terminals that you interact with.

Regardless, hope you find a game with a chilled out atmosphere be it Talos Principle or another game.
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This genre in general is super relaxing. I'd toss in stuff like Anti-Chamber, Fract, and TRI: Of Friendship and Madness as well.
 
I just played Flower for the first time last night and I can confirm that it's a great relaxation game.

Dunno how it'll hold up on a second or third playthrough, but it was just really nice to play, look at, and listen to.
 
DD said:
Euro Truck Simulator 2 (American Truck comes next month).
Click to expand...

I have a dual monitor setup, so sometimes to chill out (usually before bed) I play ETS 2 on one monitor while watching old episodes of Bob Ross on YouTube on the other. Of course, that sometimes makes for dangerous driving if I take my eyes off the road for too long to stare at those happy little trees!

Endless Ocean, however, is the ultimate chill game before bed. Sync up your breathing with the diver's and you will probably pass out in no time.
 
Mr Nash said:
This genre in general is super relaxing. I'd toss in stuff like Anti-Chamber, Fract, and TRI: Of Friendship and Madness as well.
Click to expand...

I'll second Tri: Of Friendship and Madness, there's very little combat as such so it's very calming to run paths of triangles around the rooms to solve puzzles or just explore. Good call, i really enjoyed it.
 
xuchu said:
Talos Principle has been great to come back to after work. Doing a couple of puzzles with a cup of coffee has a calming effect. The backdrop of the seemingly pristine environment and serene background music has a lot to do with it too.

It is a puzzle game though and I got stuck on a puzzle many times but put it down and returned to it the next day after work to solve it within 5 minutes, which always felt rewarding. The story is quite philosophical too and makes you think about the nature of the self and what makes us human but if you're not interested in that sort of thing, you don't have to engage with it as the story beats are mostly told through optional computer terminals that you interact with.

Regardless, hope you find a game with a chilled out atmosphere be it Talos Principle or another game.
Click to expand...

Mr Nash said:
This genre in general is super relaxing. I'd toss in stuff like Anti-Chamber, Fract, and TRI: Of Friendship and Madness as well.
Click to expand...

in a similar vein, i am eager to unwind with The Witness tonight
 
Audiosurf 2 is a pretty relaxing game even without any skin mods. Just pop your music in and play to the beat. Even the songs in "song of the day" are pretty fun and varied out.

Shuggananas said:
Hey it can be relaxing, it all depends on your attitude and how you play the game
Just remember to mute everybody
Click to expand...

Just remember to ward because no one is going to take care of you better than you.
 
Destiny?

I find the solo bounties and patrol mode to be very relaxing. Just kinda hop around and shoot thing. Diablo 3 works too.
 
I played Musou games for a long time just to relax: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, Dynasty Warriors 8 (Sangoku Musou 7), etc. They're just so mindless. I would play on hard with silly mech setups on DW Gundam 3 for hours to grind money and levels, despite having had all the achievements, missions, and stories completed for over 30 or 40 hours prior. This was years ago, but still.

Nowadays... I don't spend much time playing games, but I did put a couple hours into Beat Hazard over the last week. This has been, since its release, a nice game to just relax with. If you want to just listen to some music, it's especially nice. The DLC is quite good (I'd argue that it's necessary at this point).
 
For some reason my favorite after-work "therapy" a few years ago was playing geometry wars 2 while listening to the 1up podcast.. it was surprisingly zen.. What awaits me after work these days is my wife and my son. So when I finally get some alone time in the late evening I'm often too tired to even start playing a game.. But yeah I miss GW2..
 
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I've come to really appreciate the Mundane Vehicle Simulator genre over the past few years as I've found myself gravitating more and more to gaming experiences that let me relax and unwind for a bit. The two premiere MVS devs are Giants and SCS, with their respective franchises Farming Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 / American Truck Simulator (2/3/15) respectively.

All of these games retail for under $25 and provide some of the best bang for your buck in the relaxation dept.
 
Cities: Skylines for sure, nothing like running a city.

My honorable mention for another chill game would be Burnout Paradise. Just hop in a car and drive fast.
 
I find the crew relaxing to drive ( or any racing game where I'm free to drive). Just put on chill music or a podcast and just drive. I'll also add flower and journey in there.
 
The Skate series was definitely the chillest game to just hang out and play. I really wish we'd get a Skate 4 for next gen.
 
Thanks everyone.

Forgot I had Noby Noby Boy and Katamari Damacy bought on sale on my PS3, will download those ones :p
Plus Grow Home and Binding of Isaac from PS+
And I have a still sealed copy of Endless Ocean :lol

Will be buying The Talos Principle and The Witness when they're on sale too.


Thought I should mention I'm not wanting MOBAs and multiplayer stuff, I want games I can 'beat' and then move on from.
 
Single-player Minecraft. I always spend an hour or so on Minecraft when I get home from work. There's something so calming about just renovating your home or going spelunking in search of diamonds. Of course, the ambient music helps a great deal.
 
kerbal space program. just building something, and trying to get it into space, or putting on a piece of a space station, or doing a few maneuvers, putting on some chill music. can be a bit stressful before you get the hang of it, though.
 
I love the Witcher 3 but generally feel like it requires a bit of brainpower and concentration to play.

That said, doing random sidequests and just exploring the question marks on the map can be very relaxing at times.
 
xuchu said:
Talos Principle has been great to come back to after work. Doing a couple of puzzles with a cup of coffee has a calming effect. The backdrop of the seemingly pristine environment and serene background music has a lot to do with it too.

It is a puzzle game though and I got stuck on a puzzle many times but put it down and returned to it the next day after work to solve it within 5 minutes, which always felt rewarding. The story is quite philosophical too and makes you think about the nature of the self and what makes us human but if you're not interested in that sort of thing, you don't have to engage with it as the story beats are mostly told through optional computer terminals that you interact with.

Regardless, hope you find a game with a chilled out atmosphere be it Talos Principle or another game.
Click to expand...

This man speaks the truth.
 
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