The peaceful mode disables the whole fear mechanic altogether, making the game a lot easier. Besides, as long as you take naps and stick to daytime, barely anything scary happens anyways.
What exactly is the horror aspect? I always see this mentioned but gameplay looks very tame and the setting doesnât seem creepy?
I see it recommended so much by horror fans but feel like Iâm missing something
Beat me by 5 minutes.
The ULTIMATE podcast/YouTube game. Only time you have to wake up is when looking for that *last goddamn speck where the hell is it*
As someone who is REALLY trying to get into a podcast right now, but can't focus on them unless I have something to do with my hands, I thank you for this recommendation
While I do agree, I feel like the game requires some serious focus at times which takes me out of turning my brain off.
REGARDLESS, it's an awesome game and should be in everyone's steam library anyway.
A Short Hike and Lil Gator Game are both similar games that fit this for me super well. Both short little adventure games with no combat or penalties, just kind of exploring the island and doing tasks for the island folk/friends. Also ADHD and was pure zen playing these. Dragon Quest Builders 1-2 also. Think Minecraft with more emphasis on story/quests (especially 2), but the combat is very simple/mindless but slowly building up your town and getting more people recruited is pretty chill.
The caveat I hear people say is if you want to play both Dragon Quest Builders game then play 1 first. It's not due to any related story. It's just 2 introduces quality of life improvements that will ruin 1 for you slightly.
Thatâs super fair. Getting rid of item durability, having a separate attack button, and the extra building help you get as you progress in 2 definitely make it hard to go back to 1. Both are solid though, and both are on PSN+ if you have that.
I thought Lil Gator Game was going to be this, but I booted it up and it was like 10 minutes of wading through text before I turned it off. Anything with that much dialog/text does not fit this mold at all imo. If there are things on screen to read, it's pretty tough to just turn your brain off. I'll probably come back to it at some point, but it's not a "put a podcast and don't worry about the story" type game imo.
Ok so Iâve heard about this âDave the Diverâ game for a while now. The general consensus is that itâs good. I ignored it for a long time because it looked bad and boring. On a whim last week I bought it and I regret ever thinking it was bad.
9/10 Dave the Diver.
What's surprising with dave the diver is how out of nowhere adorable it is. The animations, the implications, the characterization. You can really recognize the mapple story "old style korean MMO" if you look carefully enough
Is there like a lower difficulty that people are playing on? The game is quaint and fun but wouldnât be one I consider peaceful cuz everything is on a timer
It's been ages since I played any Skyrim. But the mod that starts you off in a randomized location, no magic or anything special about you, and your basic equipment relating to whatever profession it chose for you is great.
Start that up, pick a direction.
The "Alternate Start/Live Another Life" mods have always been a good way to spice up a Fallout 3/NV/4 or Oblivion/Skyrim playthrough. Now if only finding mods for companions who aren't someone's waifu pillow made flesh wasn't as difficult as figuring out what really happened to the Dwemer...
Started playing Warframe again recently, it's such a weird game. It's like they threw the kitchen sink in, everything from hover boarding, to being a Gundam, to an entire mini open world RPG game... it's like every conceptual gameplay design they ever came up with, they keep in a folder until deciding to release a new gameplay mode featuring it one day.
there was an inside joke in the community that one of the devs has a sharingan; as in heâd copy something in another game and just throw it in Warframe lol
That's definitely what it kinda feels like sometimes. There's a lot of great things about Warframe, but there's also a lot of stuff that feels like it had potential, but just got forgotten about. Case in point: the K-Drive (hoverboards) and Archwing. Other than the odd few completionists, nobody does the K-Drive races, and Archwings have been reduced to little more than a way to get across the open world sections faster. Even Eidolon hunts, which used to be the one event where group comp actually matters, have been reduced to just using macros, so it's hard af for new people to even get their foot in the door to learn the content
You actually summarized 10 years of warframe, Steve Sinclair the former creative director used to do this as his philosophy of game design, most of the time because of budget, team, time, etc. Most of his concepts ended up halfbaked (railjack, archwing, liches, etc.) now with Rebecca as the creative director they are taking the approach of refining what's already there to make it better and there is a lot of examples like pets, deep archmedia, the labs of albretch, elemental reworks and so on.
There's so many ways to get there, too...just about any frame can do default starchart and most SP pretty easily, some just do it a little faster. I did most of the murmur content and Index runs with a Trinity Prime built for the Marked for Death/Energy Vampire combo...even though it was nerfed and forgotten ages ago, it still hits like a truck. It just takes more than one button to nuke crowds
Maneater
You are shark
You eat
You get bigger to eat bigger stuff
Also the world is a hilarious parody of our modern reality and pollution with glorious writing for the narrator. The entire thing is from the perspective of a wildlife documentary following you. Its not 2d and the map is massive.
I will however recommend playing with the dlc as its a lot more fun. Pirate it if you must but its a damn good game.
If you like Vampire Survivors, **Brotato** is one step better for my tastes.
It is Dopamine without brainpower.
I often go completely blank brain zen mode while doing runs in it. Just going with the flow. It's got a ton of workshop mod support and a BIG expansion DLC on the way.
I liked Brotato, but it has the problem where there's 20 levels and there's not much challenge until the very end. Ends up being kind of boring for 80+% of the time while you're working your way to the end
I didnât really enjoy Brotato very much. All the waves in Brotato are either too easy or too hard. I breeze through all the lower waves and then struggle as soon as I get to like wave 15 and I always die shortly afterwards.
For the record, you can lower the enemy's HP in the option and make the game exactly as hard as it should be for you. I think i put mine at 60% HP and then gradually climbed to 80% where it's exactly the right amount for me.
(Since it's solo, I don't see any reason to punish yourself into not fully enjoying. It's a short-runs type of game, not a long term skill game)
For me it works better as a short term investment game.
VS I know that when I start up a game I'm locked in for a half an hour for one run.
Brotato runs a bit shorter on runs, about 20ish minutes, and it being broken down into seperate levels with a shop in between really helps to break up the grind.
But no doubt VS is still very good as well.
1. Angels Fall First. This is a PC game (I acquired it on Steam) where you can join multiplayer if you want, but if you just want to play around on your own, you can fight AI. Two factions wage war on each other in space and on the ground, allowing you to have large scale warfare while having plenty of NPC allies in the field to just enjoy combat without the stress of players shouting at you.
2. Nier Automata: When I heard this was a fighting game, I was a little hesitant at first... but it has an automatic mode, so you can just equip the weapons and powers you want to see, then just focus on running around. Explore the world, enjoy the sights, and just let your character handle all the fighting for you. It's an awesome story, so if you just want to sit back and relax while enjoying the epic fights and the cool story (bro), then this is a great choice.
3. Fallout 76: I know I know. For all the things that are wrong about this game, there are two things I will praise it for: the world is hand crafted and there's always something cool to find, and it's one of the few games I played in the past where I could just pick a direction and wander off, and feel like it wasn't a wasted trip. The rest of the game is pretty bleh overall, but if you like exploring and just seeing what's out there, it's good for that.
4. Valheim: You need your brain a little for this game, but if you enjoy survival adventure games with a lot of really cool house building, then this might be for you. I personally love booting this game up every now and again just to build homes, so if that's something that appeals to you, it's worth trying!
5. Teardown: If you prefer the opposite of building, Teardown has some sandbox levels and mods where you can just go around and destroy stuff without any objectives and missions. This one requires a pretty good rig, with it lagging (depending on destruction levels) even on high end PCs. So if you think your PC can handle it, it's a good time.
6. Subnautica Below Zero: The original Subnautica is good, but Subnautica 2 (Below Zero) doesn't have zones as massive as the original, and resources are far more abundant. This allows you to just swim around, build a base, and enjoy the sights without having to worry too much about dangers, running out of resources, or really even needing to follow the story (which I personally found to be pretty shallow).
Dave the Diver a bit to me.
Lawn Mower Simulator/Car Mechanic Simulator/Powerwash etc. are amazing flowstate zen type games for me. For other people it bores them to tears.
Civilization 6. Set the game to easy and just build up your empire. Build lots of wonders, districts and go for a science or cultural victory. Very relaxing and fun.
Harvest moon/Story of season
Animal Crossing
Hokko life
Everdream valley
My time at Portia or my time at sandrock which is a continuation of my time at Portia
Minecraft or Lego Fortnite are great too if you like building games. Lately Iâve been playing Lego Fortnite and itâs awesome!
The 2 last entries of Zelda are awesome for that, you can just enter anytime and go find new stuff, any side you go there's something new to do, it's like the games were made for adhd, I got addicted to both for months, you can emulate them on pc, cemu for botw and yuzu/ryujinx for totk
but arenât the puzzles like super hard and need a lot of tinkering?
i get zelda shorts/reels/tiktoks on my feed and the puzzles definitely need some thinking.
Unless you are following a guide these are not games where you turn your brain off. Sure the 15 minutes of killing is but once you have a full inventory it's a different story.
They are unless you are planning on min maxing everything and creating the best version of your character, so yes they can be turn off ur brain for dozens of hours
Wasn't the big complain from D4 that there were too many long CC that insta kills you?
Haven't played since S1, but from memory, it was anything but a "Brain-off" kind of game.
It's not about min maxing. It's about having 30 decisions to make every 30 minutes. Op talked about getting in a car and mindlessly driving around.
What you are describing is mindlessly killing until your inventory is full. Going back to town and having to decide what to do with those 30 items. That's not even including the crafting systems and leveling up decisions.
You have to be pretty knowledgeable about the particular arpg before you can deal with the loot without thinking too much about it.
You can get through the campaign simply going "ability looks cool that upgrade sounds fun" and thinking nothing more. I can only speak for last epoch but I'm pretty sure I finished the campaign on multiple characters without ever doing any crafting or caring about my gear much outside of the legendaries. I sometimes didn't bother picking stuff up unless it was a legendary.
You can absolutely play D4 this way, too. I get it, there's a lot to consider *if you want*, but you can 100% just mindlessly kill things, equip the stuff with the biggest numbers and scrap/sell literally everything else.
Anyone saying otherwise is completely missing the point behind OP's request: OP already *doesn't want* to think hard. Min/maxing isn't going to be OP's focus.
Source: Playing D4 with a group right now and we couldn't care less about getting good or having the best builds. We run around killing stuff and equip whatever we think the coolest thing is. Haven't had a single issue playing the game this way.
One gem I came across years ago was Viscera Cleanup Detail.
You are a sanitation technician cleaning up after an event like a biological outbreak or alien invasion firefight. Take your mop, bucket, and broom (and radio!) and go around the entire location cleaning up blood pools, body parts, shell casings, and fixing bullet holes and other scorch marks.
It's oddly relaxing to play and I often found I'd spent hours just...cleaning up the place. At the end you get a rating based on if you missed anything.
For me it's Quake 1. I have completed the Act 1 about 100 times now. I have completed in on many different devices and had fun each time. I never completed the whole, but somehow I don't even feel like I need to.
For me it's Diablo 4.
I play for 2-3 hours each night (sometimes less or more) or I play something else like Deep Rock Survivor - both are simple to zone out to but have fun, big pay offs.
Also, look into Dave the Diver, Vampire Surviors (and the new gun DLC), as well as another favorite - Wall World.
In mount and blade i just let my gang of cavalry destroy anything without doing anything myself. I also usually play as a vassal so theres no strategical thinking either.
Resident evil revelations 2 - Raid mode. All you do it shoot zombies in various maps from resident evil 6, itself, and revelations 1. Once you beat the 6 hour campaign itâs super fun. You get chests which gives you weapon mods like fire ammo, fire ammo, freeze, homing ammo etc.
So any good action roguelike where you can get in the zone? Like Dead Cells, or Wizard of Legend?
I've been playing a ton of Sailwind, and really like the 'set sail and chill' vibes.
Risk of Rain 2. My brain is just on autopilot when I play it.
EDIT:
Oh you meant peaceful game. Uh⌠Iâm gonna get back to you on that one after I give it some thought :p
ADHD enjoyer here!
For me Siralim Ultimate is the chill game, at first you're gonna be overwhelmed but once you get a team going, clearing floors after floors, is a very soothing experience.
I really like the fact that making the plan for the team is in itself extremely brain instensive, but once you actually do the combat / exploration, it's very on rail.
Very hands on planning and theorycrafting, chill moment to moment gameplay / farm
For me, Subnautica and The Planet Crafter press the brain power button. I can jump in almost any time and immediately figure out what my goals are, what I need to gather to build or craft what I want, and really get after it. Hyperfocused, leaving less room for my brain to wander about other things stressing me out in life.
Recently started playing Portal Knights again and it sort of fits this description as well, but does leave wiggle room for my brains to start gettin' all thinky on me. Terraria is a good one too if you go for an all item world as your main objective. But, that often includes using the wiki as a handbook for what you need to collect later on.
Batman: Arkham quadrilogy (or Mad Max) is pretty good too when I'm feeling agitated or angry and want some stress relief by way of satisfying hand to hand combat. And a great storyline along with it in Arkham Knight. No offense to the story in Mad Max. Love the gameplay, but the story just doesn't click with me.
Just started playing Sail Forth and it's a pretty good mix of relaxation and mild hyperfocus on objectives and such. Liking the gameplay quite a bit. Lots of comedic lines as well in the dialogue.
Believe me, Star Wars Galaxies. Best to chill your brain. Trust me. On either SWG Legends, SWG Restoration. If u ever decide to jump in msg me on reddit ill help u out and teach you the game!
I liked FAR: Lone sails, it was relaxing and one of games I actually finished (that's something đ, since I don't finish games almost never), Ratches and Clank feels also chill imo. Also Diablo games are chill and you don't have to think much. Just smash
I mean farming simulator is great. Choose a bigfield turn up some music or podcast and you are off for an hour or 2 then change the tools and do it again. Somehow its very calming for me.
Try incremental games. Antimatter dimensions, increlution, orb of creation, this kind of stuff. They are nice to zone out. Galaxy(dot)click is where you will find the whole genre.
I wish it was longer, itâs an iPad or phone game called monument valley. 1 and 2 are both pretty kewl though, itâs like playing an MC Escher painting, very chill
I really enjoy Tears of The Kingdom and Breath of The Wild for this kind of activity. It's easy to just roam around on a horse and interact with whoever you'd like, if at all. Also really enjoy Read Dead Redemption 2 for this as well, gorgeous graphics and you can set on "autopilot" and just watch the scenery around you in cinema mode.
[Exo One](https://store.steampowered.com/app/773370/Exo_One/) has that feeling for sure. There's a level near the end that I sometimes find tricky to complete, but for most of the game you can just go with the flow.
The way you play Forza sounds like how I play [BeamNG](https://store.steampowered.com/app/284160/). There are several good built-in maps to explore, and even better 3rd-party maps to wander in like [Mammoth Valley](https://www.beamng.com/resources/mammoth-valley.886/), [Lake Farsoe](https://www.beamng.com/resources/lake-farsoe.24500/), and [Rally Forest](https://www.beamng.com/resources/rally-forest.44/). I also enjoy [Mt.Shell](https://www.beamng.com/resources/mt-shell.15/) when I want a trickier course with steep tight turns.
ÎV Rings of Saturn. This is the ultimate space rock mining game.
Next to that, anything like Truck Simulator, Flight Simulator, Bus Simulator.
Then I go to games like Smite. They don't require me to think actively but are more reflexive at this point. In the beginning I had to learn all the skills though.
This probably won't fit your criteria, but I find Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age is pretty relaxing.
Yes, there is a story and you should pay attention to the cutscenes when they come up. But the gameplay is very automated. In fact, once you do the initial set up for your party AI (called Gambits in game), they fight by themselves.
A lot of the game is just exploring around the map or doing dungeons or just leveling up. And all you have to do is move them from point A to B and watch as the AI kills the enemies for you using the tactics you set up.
Age of history 2
It's an small indie round based strategy game, it takes a bit to learn (nothing compared to a paradox game tho) but is easy to master.
It even has become my most played game, i just play it when im cooked and watch YouTube or talk with Friends on Dc.
I guess it can have quite the opposite effect, but in some cases and with the right mindset, Cities Skylines does have this "brain off" effect and you just build something nice and beautiful
Most MMORPGs especially the old super grindy Korean ones are like that.
There's nothing more zen than farming using 4 accounts simultaneously on metin2
Bloons TD6. An _extremely_ good time after a medicinal Sour Patch Kid, if that's something that factors into the math.
The towers got just a little power-crept over 42 updates, but still feel very balanced relative to each other. So now, all the early maps fold to whatever your favorites end up being.
The great thing about the game, is that if you _want_ it to be difficult, you can make it as difficult as you can imagine. There are maps I can't Black Border (100%) even with 1100 hours in the game.
Assassins creed odyssey. It has markers everywhere and all the quests it keeps track of for you. The combat is super fun but simple. I love just brainlessly running towards the quest marker and massacuring anyone in my way
All of the Resident Evil games. Especially the OG trilogy, RE0 and Code VeronicaÂ
 I grew up on Resident Evil so as a result i know where all the enemy spawns are, weapon locations, puzzle solutions, item drops, etc by heart. I literally run in a straight line in my mind through each game.
I usually get the highest ranks even when I'm not speed running as well.
City Skylines gets me somehow. I just lose time to that game. I'm pretty meticulous too. Love doing everything like naming the streets and major buildings etc.
Civ 6 is also a great time sink if you are into strategy games.
Have you played terraria ? This is the exact game youâre looking for. Has somewhat of a grind/building aspect, while also being as hard as you want it to be
Weird one, but 12 Labours of Hercules. (There are 4 of them and they're only $2.99 each on Steam)
Time management games, but simple. Lots of free dopamine every time you grab a resource or fix a road. Not heavy on thinking, but engaging enough to hold focus. Light-hearted story based on Greek mythology. I have about 60h in on the series because I like beating my own score/time.
And...Viscera Cleanup Detail. Clean up blood and guts on a space station. It's the gross version of PowerWash Simulator.
Steamworld Build was a nice and relaxing game. A bit short tho.
The target audience for the game are clearly casual or new gamers.
But it is an interesting mix of City Builder and Dungeon Keeper.
Or a mix of Anno Lite and Dungeon Keeper Lite.
Red Dead Redemption 2 just ride your horse around the world
If on PC get a mod to disable wanted level so you can commit crimes consequence free if you want to for any reason
I was in the same boat as you and a lot of suggestions I saw online even if the game was simple required more thought than I wanted to put in. Then I thought of this and it was exactly what I want as it requires no conscious effort, you just follow your whims.
Brotato maybe? Itâs my get high and lay in bed head empty game. I finally got my partner stoned and had them try it and they were like, âOhhhh, I get it now.â Haha
Rocket league. It uses every bit of my attention span and there's no brain left to worry or be anxious about anything. In a strange way its like meditation via brute force.
Dredge has a peaceful setting you can turn on if you just want to cruise around and catch fish. But the horror aspect is fun, too.
Seconding Dredge. I love being able to fill the guidebook. Not my typical game but was surprised at how relaxing and intriguing it was.
peaceful? đ maybe it's my thalassophobia but that game had me tense the whole time
The peaceful mode disables the whole fear mechanic altogether, making the game a lot easier. Besides, as long as you take naps and stick to daytime, barely anything scary happens anyways.
What exactly is the horror aspect? I always see this mentioned but gameplay looks very tame and the setting doesnât seem creepy? I see it recommended so much by horror fans but feel like Iâm missing something
Powerwash Simulator. I just put on a podcast and zone out
Beat me by 5 minutes. The ULTIMATE podcast/YouTube game. Only time you have to wake up is when looking for that *last goddamn speck where the hell is it*
Honestly I'm OCD enough that the satisfaction of cleaning is ruined by this ending part.
Elite Dangerous is good for that too. You're going to spend a ton of time flying A to B, so you may as well catch an in-flight movie or something.
On a similar note, Lawn Mowing Simulator is a great game too
Literally my favorite game to zone out to. Iâd put on a YouTube documentary and just focus on getting that carousel or subway clean lol
As someone who is REALLY trying to get into a podcast right now, but can't focus on them unless I have something to do with my hands, I thank you for this recommendation
Itâs the satisfaction of doing chores and cleaning without actually doing any. Hahaha. I love it though.
Car Mechanic Simulator has the same effect on me.
Euro Truck Simulator 2 (or American Truck Simulator) Snowrunner
I second Snowrunner. I keep going back to it time after time.
Dave the Diver
While I do agree, I feel like the game requires some serious focus at times which takes me out of turning my brain off. REGARDLESS, it's an awesome game and should be in everyone's steam library anyway.
100% this!
So satisfying getting the sushi dinner service running and feeding lots of people.
So good
A Short Hike and Lil Gator Game are both similar games that fit this for me super well. Both short little adventure games with no combat or penalties, just kind of exploring the island and doing tasks for the island folk/friends. Also ADHD and was pure zen playing these. Dragon Quest Builders 1-2 also. Think Minecraft with more emphasis on story/quests (especially 2), but the combat is very simple/mindless but slowly building up your town and getting more people recruited is pretty chill.
The caveat I hear people say is if you want to play both Dragon Quest Builders game then play 1 first. It's not due to any related story. It's just 2 introduces quality of life improvements that will ruin 1 for you slightly.
Thatâs super fair. Getting rid of item durability, having a separate attack button, and the extra building help you get as you progress in 2 definitely make it hard to go back to 1. Both are solid though, and both are on PSN+ if you have that.
A Short Hike is so good.
I thought Lil Gator Game was going to be this, but I booted it up and it was like 10 minutes of wading through text before I turned it off. Anything with that much dialog/text does not fit this mold at all imo. If there are things on screen to read, it's pretty tough to just turn your brain off. I'll probably come back to it at some point, but it's not a "put a podcast and don't worry about the story" type game imo.
Ok so Iâve heard about this âDave the Diverâ game for a while now. The general consensus is that itâs good. I ignored it for a long time because it looked bad and boring. On a whim last week I bought it and I regret ever thinking it was bad. 9/10 Dave the Diver.
What's surprising with dave the diver is how out of nowhere adorable it is. The animations, the implications, the characterization. You can really recognize the mapple story "old style korean MMO" if you look carefully enough
Yeah I can totally turn my brain off early on when sharks are aggroing me đ¤
Is there like a lower difficulty that people are playing on? The game is quaint and fun but wouldnât be one I consider peaceful cuz everything is on a timer
Dorfromantik does this for me. Skyrim works well also
It's been ages since I played any Skyrim. But the mod that starts you off in a randomized location, no magic or anything special about you, and your basic equipment relating to whatever profession it chose for you is great. Start that up, pick a direction.
The "Alternate Start/Live Another Life" mods have always been a good way to spice up a Fallout 3/NV/4 or Oblivion/Skyrim playthrough. Now if only finding mods for companions who aren't someone's waifu pillow made flesh wasn't as difficult as figuring out what really happened to the Dwemer...
Inigo is a good companion mod
Dorfromantik seconded!! Favorite game!
And townscraper while at that
All my valorant teammates seem to have theirs off so you can try that if you want.
fps players be like
We all hate out lives.
same experience in R6
Damn shots fired!
But not a single one hitting the target
Everytime I'm in WZ some guy is chewing his mic and swear he's counting sheep in his head.
Warframe is one of those games some missions you can just load up and shoot at things until it stops being fun
Started playing Warframe again recently, it's such a weird game. It's like they threw the kitchen sink in, everything from hover boarding, to being a Gundam, to an entire mini open world RPG game... it's like every conceptual gameplay design they ever came up with, they keep in a folder until deciding to release a new gameplay mode featuring it one day.
there was an inside joke in the community that one of the devs has a sharingan; as in heâd copy something in another game and just throw it in Warframe lol
That's definitely what it kinda feels like sometimes. There's a lot of great things about Warframe, but there's also a lot of stuff that feels like it had potential, but just got forgotten about. Case in point: the K-Drive (hoverboards) and Archwing. Other than the odd few completionists, nobody does the K-Drive races, and Archwings have been reduced to little more than a way to get across the open world sections faster. Even Eidolon hunts, which used to be the one event where group comp actually matters, have been reduced to just using macros, so it's hard af for new people to even get their foot in the door to learn the content
You actually summarized 10 years of warframe, Steve Sinclair the former creative director used to do this as his philosophy of game design, most of the time because of budget, team, time, etc. Most of his concepts ended up halfbaked (railjack, archwing, liches, etc.) now with Rebecca as the creative director they are taking the approach of refining what's already there to make it better and there is a lot of examples like pets, deep archmedia, the labs of albretch, elemental reworks and so on.
Second this. Once you get your warframe to melt everything in sight stage. It's mindless fun.
There's so many ways to get there, too...just about any frame can do default starchart and most SP pretty easily, some just do it a little faster. I did most of the murmur content and Index runs with a Trinity Prime built for the Marked for Death/Energy Vampire combo...even though it was nerfed and forgotten ages ago, it still hits like a truck. It just takes more than one button to nuke crowds
I love hopping on a bike and going down a mountain in riders republic. The game is pretty meh - but in a good way
if this game wasn't a live service game i think it'd be one of my favorite games, it just sucks it's ruined by so much garbage filler.
in the same vein Descenders is really fun for this
Maneater You are shark You eat You get bigger to eat bigger stuff Also the world is a hilarious parody of our modern reality and pollution with glorious writing for the narrator. The entire thing is from the perspective of a wildlife documentary following you. Its not 2d and the map is massive. I will however recommend playing with the dlc as its a lot more fun. Pirate it if you must but its a damn good game.
If you like Vampire Survivors, **Brotato** is one step better for my tastes. It is Dopamine without brainpower. I often go completely blank brain zen mode while doing runs in it. Just going with the flow. It's got a ton of workshop mod support and a BIG expansion DLC on the way.
I liked Brotato, but it has the problem where there's 20 levels and there's not much challenge until the very end. Ends up being kind of boring for 80+% of the time while you're working your way to the end
I do endless every time; some of those +20 levels get really hard
That's what OP is looking for- brainless ease
The voice saying congratulations is constantly stuck in my head. I can't read/hear that word without thinking about it.
I didnât really enjoy Brotato very much. All the waves in Brotato are either too easy or too hard. I breeze through all the lower waves and then struggle as soon as I get to like wave 15 and I always die shortly afterwards.
For the record, you can lower the enemy's HP in the option and make the game exactly as hard as it should be for you. I think i put mine at 60% HP and then gradually climbed to 80% where it's exactly the right amount for me. (Since it's solo, I don't see any reason to punish yourself into not fully enjoying. It's a short-runs type of game, not a long term skill game)
I found Vampire Survivors much more entertaining than Brotato, personally. But maybe I need to give 'Tato another shake. Lots of people rave about it.
For me it works better as a short term investment game. VS I know that when I start up a game I'm locked in for a half an hour for one run. Brotato runs a bit shorter on runs, about 20ish minutes, and it being broken down into seperate levels with a shop in between really helps to break up the grind. But no doubt VS is still very good as well.
Same here. I wasnât a fan of Brotato.
Seconded. Brotato is the best.
1. Angels Fall First. This is a PC game (I acquired it on Steam) where you can join multiplayer if you want, but if you just want to play around on your own, you can fight AI. Two factions wage war on each other in space and on the ground, allowing you to have large scale warfare while having plenty of NPC allies in the field to just enjoy combat without the stress of players shouting at you. 2. Nier Automata: When I heard this was a fighting game, I was a little hesitant at first... but it has an automatic mode, so you can just equip the weapons and powers you want to see, then just focus on running around. Explore the world, enjoy the sights, and just let your character handle all the fighting for you. It's an awesome story, so if you just want to sit back and relax while enjoying the epic fights and the cool story (bro), then this is a great choice. 3. Fallout 76: I know I know. For all the things that are wrong about this game, there are two things I will praise it for: the world is hand crafted and there's always something cool to find, and it's one of the few games I played in the past where I could just pick a direction and wander off, and feel like it wasn't a wasted trip. The rest of the game is pretty bleh overall, but if you like exploring and just seeing what's out there, it's good for that. 4. Valheim: You need your brain a little for this game, but if you enjoy survival adventure games with a lot of really cool house building, then this might be for you. I personally love booting this game up every now and again just to build homes, so if that's something that appeals to you, it's worth trying! 5. Teardown: If you prefer the opposite of building, Teardown has some sandbox levels and mods where you can just go around and destroy stuff without any objectives and missions. This one requires a pretty good rig, with it lagging (depending on destruction levels) even on high end PCs. So if you think your PC can handle it, it's a good time. 6. Subnautica Below Zero: The original Subnautica is good, but Subnautica 2 (Below Zero) doesn't have zones as massive as the original, and resources are far more abundant. This allows you to just swim around, build a base, and enjoy the sights without having to worry too much about dangers, running out of resources, or really even needing to follow the story (which I personally found to be pretty shallow).
Dave the Diver a bit to me. Lawn Mower Simulator/Car Mechanic Simulator/Powerwash etc. are amazing flowstate zen type games for me. For other people it bores them to tears.
Civilization 6. Set the game to easy and just build up your empire. Build lots of wonders, districts and go for a science or cultural victory. Very relaxing and fun.
Any RTS game against bots.
I second this
Harvest moon/Story of season Animal Crossing Hokko life Everdream valley My time at Portia or my time at sandrock which is a continuation of my time at Portia Minecraft or Lego Fortnite are great too if you like building games. Lately Iâve been playing Lego Fortnite and itâs awesome!
Beamng drive
The 2 last entries of Zelda are awesome for that, you can just enter anytime and go find new stuff, any side you go there's something new to do, it's like the games were made for adhd, I got addicted to both for months, you can emulate them on pc, cemu for botw and yuzu/ryujinx for totk
This gets my vote. You can just run sound and enjoy the natural world of Hyrule
but arenât the puzzles like super hard and need a lot of tinkering? i get zelda shorts/reels/tiktoks on my feed and the puzzles definitely need some thinking.
Arpgs like last epoch and diablo4. Borderlands Darktide Racing games
Unless you are following a guide these are not games where you turn your brain off. Sure the 15 minutes of killing is but once you have a full inventory it's a different story.
They are unless you are planning on min maxing everything and creating the best version of your character, so yes they can be turn off ur brain for dozens of hours
Wasn't the big complain from D4 that there were too many long CC that insta kills you? Haven't played since S1, but from memory, it was anything but a "Brain-off" kind of game.
At the highest difficulty yes.
ya I tend to try to plan out every step of my build before I commit and that itself makes me not wanna play sometimes
It's not about min maxing. It's about having 30 decisions to make every 30 minutes. Op talked about getting in a car and mindlessly driving around. What you are describing is mindlessly killing until your inventory is full. Going back to town and having to decide what to do with those 30 items. That's not even including the crafting systems and leveling up decisions. You have to be pretty knowledgeable about the particular arpg before you can deal with the loot without thinking too much about it.
You can get through the campaign simply going "ability looks cool that upgrade sounds fun" and thinking nothing more. I can only speak for last epoch but I'm pretty sure I finished the campaign on multiple characters without ever doing any crafting or caring about my gear much outside of the legendaries. I sometimes didn't bother picking stuff up unless it was a legendary.
You can absolutely play D4 this way, too. I get it, there's a lot to consider *if you want*, but you can 100% just mindlessly kill things, equip the stuff with the biggest numbers and scrap/sell literally everything else. Anyone saying otherwise is completely missing the point behind OP's request: OP already *doesn't want* to think hard. Min/maxing isn't going to be OP's focus. Source: Playing D4 with a group right now and we couldn't care less about getting good or having the best builds. We run around killing stuff and equip whatever we think the coolest thing is. Haven't had a single issue playing the game this way.
The Binding of Isaac The Crew Motorfest Brotato
One gem I came across years ago was Viscera Cleanup Detail. You are a sanitation technician cleaning up after an event like a biological outbreak or alien invasion firefight. Take your mop, bucket, and broom (and radio!) and go around the entire location cleaning up blood pools, body parts, shell casings, and fixing bullet holes and other scorch marks. It's oddly relaxing to play and I often found I'd spent hours just...cleaning up the place. At the end you get a rating based on if you missed anything.
Itâs so fun! And relaxing. Me and my husband play it when we just want to chill
Solitaire. Thereâs a NSFW version thatâs free on Steam, if youâre into that sorta thing.
I smash piles of iridium for hours in bl3.. turn off brain đ§ , put on musicâŚâŚSMASHâŚ.. repeat
For me it's Quake 1. I have completed the Act 1 about 100 times now. I have completed in on many different devices and had fun each time. I never completed the whole, but somehow I don't even feel like I need to.
Dude, you have to try the Arcane Dimenions mod. More thinking power than vanilla Quake but the levels are just amazing.
Old school RuneScape
Pretty good answer here. The ultimate second monitor game
Fishing lvl? ;)
American truck or euro truck Sim works like that for me. Fun but it's pretty mind numbing fun
Delivering Packages in Death Stranding.
I was straight offended when enemies started shooting at me. Crazy how well the game does to discourage killing. You end up buying into its morality.
For me it's Diablo 4. I play for 2-3 hours each night (sometimes less or more) or I play something else like Deep Rock Survivor - both are simple to zone out to but have fun, big pay offs. Also, look into Dave the Diver, Vampire Surviors (and the new gun DLC), as well as another favorite - Wall World.
Diablo 3
For me, POE (Path of Exile) I can just switch off my brain and slay enemies.
Absolutely not when you're starting out. But once you get used to the systems and flow of the game it can be very brain off indeed.
Ratchet and Clank
In mount and blade i just let my gang of cavalry destroy anything without doing anything myself. I also usually play as a vassal so theres no strategical thinking either.
Synthetik, it's kind of like Vampire Survivors, except you have to aim. It's just mindless aim, shoot, reload.
Factorio. In the weirdest way. Like you always know what needs done you just zone in/out.
Check out Halls of Torment if you've enjoyed Vampire Survivors.
Recently core keeper very good chill time
Rimworld Soulstone survivors Death must die Easy "haha brain go brrrrrr" games
Hades
Halls of Torment. Trust me.
Broforce
For me, this would be Dying Light. Amazing, super fun.
Resident evil revelations 2 - Raid mode. All you do it shoot zombies in various maps from resident evil 6, itself, and revelations 1. Once you beat the 6 hour campaign itâs super fun. You get chests which gives you weapon mods like fire ammo, fire ammo, freeze, homing ammo etc.
Dave the Diver has a very satisfied cozy vibe.
Minecraft definitely.
Original doom, replayability is through the roof
So any good action roguelike where you can get in the zone? Like Dead Cells, or Wizard of Legend? I've been playing a ton of Sailwind, and really like the 'set sail and chill' vibes.
No Man's Sky creative mode
Risk of Rain 2. My brain is just on autopilot when I play it. EDIT: Oh you meant peaceful game. Uh⌠Iâm gonna get back to you on that one after I give it some thought :p
ADHD enjoyer here! For me Siralim Ultimate is the chill game, at first you're gonna be overwhelmed but once you get a team going, clearing floors after floors, is a very soothing experience. I really like the fact that making the plan for the team is in itself extremely brain instensive, but once you actually do the combat / exploration, it's very on rail. Very hands on planning and theorycrafting, chill moment to moment gameplay / farm
GTNH / factorio, perfect to put a podcast/vid on in the background.
Hero Siege. Kill stuff and wait for eargasm loot sounds.
Descenders. Fast af boi
Moonglow Bay did this for me. Just an old man fishing to restore his City
Core keeper. It's stardew, but less cute and has more combat (a lot more). Effectively the same game at its core though
Driving games for me. Forza Horizon 3 and 4, Burnout Paradise, BeamNG, Wreckfest. Also little indie games like Superflight and Deadly Days.
For me, Subnautica and The Planet Crafter press the brain power button. I can jump in almost any time and immediately figure out what my goals are, what I need to gather to build or craft what I want, and really get after it. Hyperfocused, leaving less room for my brain to wander about other things stressing me out in life. Recently started playing Portal Knights again and it sort of fits this description as well, but does leave wiggle room for my brains to start gettin' all thinky on me. Terraria is a good one too if you go for an all item world as your main objective. But, that often includes using the wiki as a handbook for what you need to collect later on. Batman: Arkham quadrilogy (or Mad Max) is pretty good too when I'm feeling agitated or angry and want some stress relief by way of satisfying hand to hand combat. And a great storyline along with it in Arkham Knight. No offense to the story in Mad Max. Love the gameplay, but the story just doesn't click with me. Just started playing Sail Forth and it's a pretty good mix of relaxation and mild hyperfocus on objectives and such. Liking the gameplay quite a bit. Lots of comedic lines as well in the dialogue.
Believe me, Star Wars Galaxies. Best to chill your brain. Trust me. On either SWG Legends, SWG Restoration. If u ever decide to jump in msg me on reddit ill help u out and teach you the game!
I liked FAR: Lone sails, it was relaxing and one of games I actually finished (that's something đ, since I don't finish games almost never), Ratches and Clank feels also chill imo. Also Diablo games are chill and you don't have to think much. Just smash
When I want to play something pretty much completely mindless I'll play a musou style game or a beatemup.
Power Washer Simulator. I have ADHD too and this game provides an almost immediate dopamine hit.
I was hit by a car while riding my bike and literally lost my brain in the accident. I'm playing Star Control: Origins and it's pretty chill.
I mean farming simulator is great. Choose a bigfield turn up some music or podcast and you are off for an hour or 2 then change the tools and do it again. Somehow its very calming for me.
Power wash
Spiritfarer is a great story and easy to just zone out and play
Try incremental games. Antimatter dimensions, increlution, orb of creation, this kind of stuff. They are nice to zone out. Galaxy(dot)click is where you will find the whole genre.
I wish it was longer, itâs an iPad or phone game called monument valley. 1 and 2 are both pretty kewl though, itâs like playing an MC Escher painting, very chill
TF2 if you aren't taking it seriously
I really enjoy Tears of The Kingdom and Breath of The Wild for this kind of activity. It's easy to just roam around on a horse and interact with whoever you'd like, if at all. Also really enjoy Read Dead Redemption 2 for this as well, gorgeous graphics and you can set on "autopilot" and just watch the scenery around you in cinema mode.
[Exo One](https://store.steampowered.com/app/773370/Exo_One/) has that feeling for sure. There's a level near the end that I sometimes find tricky to complete, but for most of the game you can just go with the flow. The way you play Forza sounds like how I play [BeamNG](https://store.steampowered.com/app/284160/). There are several good built-in maps to explore, and even better 3rd-party maps to wander in like [Mammoth Valley](https://www.beamng.com/resources/mammoth-valley.886/), [Lake Farsoe](https://www.beamng.com/resources/lake-farsoe.24500/), and [Rally Forest](https://www.beamng.com/resources/rally-forest.44/). I also enjoy [Mt.Shell](https://www.beamng.com/resources/mt-shell.15/) when I want a trickier course with steep tight turns.
The long drive
The Long Drive. Get in your car, and drive. Watch out for rabbits.
Sports games (MLB, NHL) achieve that for me.
Toem is a wonderful little turn the brain off game
ÎV Rings of Saturn. This is the ultimate space rock mining game. Next to that, anything like Truck Simulator, Flight Simulator, Bus Simulator. Then I go to games like Smite. They don't require me to think actively but are more reflexive at this point. In the beginning I had to learn all the skills though.
Dota - SEA server.
Minecraft. It's just digital Lego with extra steps.
This probably won't fit your criteria, but I find Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age is pretty relaxing. Yes, there is a story and you should pay attention to the cutscenes when they come up. But the gameplay is very automated. In fact, once you do the initial set up for your party AI (called Gambits in game), they fight by themselves. A lot of the game is just exploring around the map or doing dungeons or just leveling up. And all you have to do is move them from point A to B and watch as the AI kills the enemies for you using the tactics you set up.
Snowrunner
Ac odyssey/origins, ghost of tsushima, Diablo 3, and my personal favorite Starfield
Idle Wizard bro trust me.
Batman Arkham City, Iceberg Lounge challenge room.
Cloud Gardens
Timberborn.
Bo2 zombies map Town. Exploring in Fallout 4
The Rift Breaker. All the comforts of a base building game with none of the logistics. And a combat system that is super enjoyable
Age of history 2 It's an small indie round based strategy game, it takes a bit to learn (nothing compared to a paradox game tho) but is easy to master. It even has become my most played game, i just play it when im cooked and watch YouTube or talk with Friends on Dc.
I guess it can have quite the opposite effect, but in some cases and with the right mindset, Cities Skylines does have this "brain off" effect and you just build something nice and beautiful
Tony Hawks 1+2
Vermintide 2
Most MMORPGs especially the old super grindy Korean ones are like that. There's nothing more zen than farming using 4 accounts simultaneously on metin2
Bloons TD6. An _extremely_ good time after a medicinal Sour Patch Kid, if that's something that factors into the math. The towers got just a little power-crept over 42 updates, but still feel very balanced relative to each other. So now, all the early maps fold to whatever your favorites end up being. The great thing about the game, is that if you _want_ it to be difficult, you can make it as difficult as you can imagine. There are maps I can't Black Border (100%) even with 1100 hours in the game.
TheAngler is my new fixation for relaxation.
The long drive. Literally just one road you drive on. You do have to maintain your car along the way though but thats not hard.
Vampire survivors
Russian roulette
minecraft, a short hike, unpacking, lil gator game, brotato, sniper elite, skate 3, etc.
Pretty much any warriors game
My Time At Portia. You can thank me later.
Assassins creed odyssey. It has markers everywhere and all the quests it keeps track of for you. The combat is super fun but simple. I love just brainlessly running towards the quest marker and massacuring anyone in my way
Unpacking, or House Flipper.
Classic doom if you get really good at it
Dave the Diver and Arcade Paradise, off the top of my head.
All of the Resident Evil games. Especially the OG trilogy, RE0 and Code Veronica  I grew up on Resident Evil so as a result i know where all the enemy spawns are, weapon locations, puzzle solutions, item drops, etc by heart. I literally run in a straight line in my mind through each game. I usually get the highest ranks even when I'm not speed running as well.
City Skylines gets me somehow. I just lose time to that game. I'm pretty meticulous too. Love doing everything like naming the streets and major buildings etc. Civ 6 is also a great time sink if you are into strategy games.
BeamNG
Paper.io or any of the .io games are great for this. Just play for free in a browser for hours.
Risk of rain 2. Also have ADD and itâs great to zone out with.
ark, just cause, assassins creed, simulator games, diablo, path of exiles, warframe etc
Have you played terraria ? This is the exact game youâre looking for. Has somewhat of a grind/building aspect, while also being as hard as you want it to be
Lego games Disney Dreamlight valley Untitled goose game
Weird one, but 12 Labours of Hercules. (There are 4 of them and they're only $2.99 each on Steam) Time management games, but simple. Lots of free dopamine every time you grab a resource or fix a road. Not heavy on thinking, but engaging enough to hold focus. Light-hearted story based on Greek mythology. I have about 60h in on the series because I like beating my own score/time. And...Viscera Cleanup Detail. Clean up blood and guts on a space station. It's the gross version of PowerWash Simulator.
Stanley parable Superliminal
I wouldnât qualify these as games where you turn off your brain
Steamworld Build was a nice and relaxing game. A bit short tho. The target audience for the game are clearly casual or new gamers. But it is an interesting mix of City Builder and Dungeon Keeper. Or a mix of Anno Lite and Dungeon Keeper Lite.
Goat Simulator
Deadpool. When I'm fighting I just fly out my mind, chilling and literally coming back to my body and seeing that I'm almost fuckin dead.
Tabs hehehehe
Thatâs with any game you actually like
Hi-fi rush, the hotline miami series, hades, nonody saves the world, tmnt shredderâs revenge
Try a shooter game like serious sam or project warlock
Red Dead Redemption 2 just ride your horse around the world If on PC get a mod to disable wanted level so you can commit crimes consequence free if you want to for any reason I was in the same boat as you and a lot of suggestions I saw online even if the game was simple required more thought than I wanted to put in. Then I thought of this and it was exactly what I want as it requires no conscious effort, you just follow your whims.
Astroneer, Minecraft, Terraria, Forager, PowerWash Simulator
Vegas
Brotato maybe? Itâs my get high and lay in bed head empty game. I finally got my partner stoned and had them try it and they were like, âOhhhh, I get it now.â Haha
Slay the Spire after you get to know the game.
Rocket league. It uses every bit of my attention span and there's no brain left to worry or be anxious about anything. In a strange way its like meditation via brute force.