Low adrenaline games recommendations?

[ReeBear]

I’m mostly bed bound at the moment (and have been for a few months now) and really need something to pass the time! Games seem an obvious solution to this, but anything which ups my adrenaline makes my health worse. I’m not necessarily just looking for specifically relaxation games, but maybe puzzle games or text adventures and the like? Basically anything that won’t make me too tense/on edge right now.

What games would you recommend? What games do you find helpful when you’re feeling ill?

 

[Weemaddz]

I really loved omno, carto, lost words, what remains of Edith finch, the gardens inbetween and superliminal, all are puzzle games an pretty laid back, lost words an Edith finch are both really beautifully written an more story's with some puzzle to them but all are really good an I enjoyed them so much

 

[daringred_]

i would say most of my gaming library is "low adrenaline". obviously there's AC:NH, but i also think miitopia is pretty good, if you're into RPG-style games. i would say most of super mario 3D world is pretty casual -- maybe not the last world, or two, but you don't exactly have to run it to completion immediately. pokemon shield is, again, pretty laid-back -- i mean, it gets accused of being "too hand-holdy" often enough lmao. recently, i bought two of the sudoku relax games, since they were on sale. (the original and full bloom.) obviously sudoku isn't the type of puzzle for everyone, but i've always found them relatively easy, so it was fun enough for me and it passes the time quicker than you'd think, and the music on full bloom is gorgeous. it gives, like... fantasy RPG world vibes? there's one track that makes me feel like i'm meeting a princess in a palace lmao. it's great.

 

[sleepydreepy]

I am copying and pasting a post I made on someone else's thread with similar interests! I highly recommend these three games on the switch


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Spiritfarer is super fun and amazing!! Personally I love the art style and I find it aesthetically pleasing. The game is about helping the souls of humanoid animal friends move on to the afterlife. It can be a little sad at times (since to move on you have to say goodbye), but I think overall its a positive game.

You play as a set character with a pet cat in charge of ferrying souls to the afterlife on your boat. Your character is controlled via side scrolling mechanics, and you can jump on platforms, fish, and harvest materials to build stuff on your boat, such as a garden to farm crops or a loom to weave thread into fabric. You can also collect special materials to learn new skills like double jump, glide, etc. to access new areas of the map. As I mentioned your goal is to help "lost" souls say goodbye and move on to the next life by fulfilling their final requests or helping them tie up loose ends. There are also several fun mini games that you can unlock when meeting new characters. Another fun feature is that someone else in real life can play the game with you as your pet cat, who can move around and perform all the same actions that you do!

Also idk if you like point and click style games, but Röki is a super fun, sort-of point and click adventure game that is also aesthetically pleasing to me. Unlike most point and click games you can actually move your character around freely, which is why I hesitate to call it a true point and click. Either way its a very relaxing game where you play as a young girl and her brother who get pulled into a Scandinavian fairytale where you have to explore a magical forest, collect clues and items, and solve puzzles to reach the main goal (I don't want to spoil anything). The graphics and music of this game are so beautiful and the story was incredible and surprisingly mature. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it, even if you've never played a point and click before. Plus unlike other point and click style games I've played this one is actually fairly "long," and took me about 10 hours to complete.

One last game- if you do like traditional point and click, I would recommend you try Tangle Tower. You can't move your character and only use the mouse/controller to literally "point and click" but its a really cute murder mystery game with aesthetically pleasing hand drawn graphics. You look for clues around this mystical mansion, solve puzzles, and talk to characters to find out how this girl died. It has a really cool plot twist at the end, and also has great voice acting that really bring so much life and personality into the characters (the background music is also really nice too!). I really enjoyed playing this game and my sister did as well. It is relatively short though (I think it took me 2 or 3 hours to complete) but its really fun and cute, and I would recommend getting it on sale since I think the normal price is around $20.

 

[ReeBear]

@Weemaddz @daringred_ @sleepydreepy

thank you so much for you recommendations! I’ve added a few things to my wishlist, just gotta wait for sales now I guess :’)

 

[Weemaddz]

@Weemaddz @daringred_ @sleepydreepy

thank you so much for you recommendations! I’ve added a few things to my wishlist, just gotta wait for sales now I guess :’)

Are you on xbox game pass? Some of the ones I mentioned are free on the game pass if you have it, I think carto has recently gone but the others are there

 

[Sheep Villager]

If you want a fun little puzzle game to waste time on for a bit I recommend Islanders on steam heavily, it's my dedicated zoning out game. It's about 5 euros (not sure about dollars) so it's by no means super expensive or anything.

Basically you just get little buildings you have to place on a small island and you need to place them in specific ways to get points & unlock the next level.

Steam link to it here.

Wishing you all the best in regards to your health too!

 

[Raz]

If you like Picross, then, you should have some very good options between paid and free games. If you have NSO, there's Mario no Picross (super Famicom) available on the service (you don't need a japanese account).

Monument Valley is also a good relaxing game that you can play on your phone. I haven't played the sequel, but both games have been widely praised.

Point and click games can also be interesting. Personally, I love the Broken Sword series, but there's many others available, especially on PC, like Deponia, and classics like The Dig, Full Throttle and others. A good suggestion for playing on consoles is the reimagining of King's Quest, released a few years ago, and masterfully done in a way that gets the attention even of players who aren't fans of the genre.

Still on the point and click train, I can't recommend Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective enough. It's by far one of the best and most underrated games on the Nintendo DS (but it was ported to iOS and I think it does have a PC version too).

 

[daringred_]

oh! how could i forget minecraft? a classic, although you've probably played it, and it's on the switch as well. (although i'm a PC player.) obviously it can be a bit nerve-wracking with mobs popping up in caves, but i've always had a habit of switching to peaceful mode specifically when i go mining for that reason lmao, and it's much less anxiety-inducing that way. i keep meaning to pick it back up again, but i get a bit bored playing alone lmao.

 

[Etown20]

I've been playing the Professor Layton games on DS/3DS which are text + puzzles. The first three are also available on iOS.

 

[ahbramey]

Are you into farming games at all? Old Harvest Moon games (now called Story of Seasons) are fun, or Stardew Valley. I find them relaxing.

 

[Zerous]

On top of a lot of the games already recommended, I really enjoyed Gris, which, other than a couple kinda (?) tense points is mostly just visually and metaphorically beautiful. For the 3/ds a couple ones that aren't too stressful are most of the pokemon games, mysims, tomodatchi life and pokemon shuffle

 

[th8827]

Not sure if you would consider Phoenix Wright games low adrenaline or not, but the recent Great Ace Attorney Chronicles on Switch is really fun. It is basically an interactive visual novel about being a courtroom defense lawyer.

 

[BluebearL]

-Snip_

I second these recommendations! Especially Spirit farer, I thoroughly enjoyed that game. Very relaxing.

Check out the third party games that are for sale in the eshop- there are some great options there that fit the puzzle/word adventure genres.

 

[that-writergirl]

Seconding the recommendations for Spiritfarer and Ace Attorney!! Ace Attorney can get a bit intense depending on how much you get into it, but nothing’s time sensitive (I’ve played a ton of it while stuck in bed.) A slightly sillier recommendation: honestly, the Sims is a phenomenal stuck-in-bed low effort game. Goofy and low-energy, but can really suck you in.

 

[Baraboyz]

Low adrenaline games are great for people who play games to relax.

 

[CozyVillager]

Hey! I'm not sure if you're still looking for suggestions but I would highly recommend Sky! It's completely free to play on mobile but there are a few optional extras you can purchase if you're interested. It's a very relaxing exploration game where your goal is to find spirits and slowly uncover their story. You can dress up your character however you want with items you find and take your time as you progress through the game completing puzzles and uncovering secrets.

 

[amemome]

I think Cats are Cute and Neko Atsume (Kitty Collector) are some low-stress idle games you could play on mobile.

I really like point and click, and highly recommend narrative-centric educational games like Putt-Putt and Freddi Fish. I think they're worth it for the story elements, and since they're geared towards kids, they come with a lot less stress. Tukoni is one that's beautiful and also pretty stress-free. It's pretty short though — I finished the game in around 20 minutes. One that's packed with narrative is Later Alligator, which has multiple endings you can try to play for! This one's a mystery game (the main premise is trying to help your nervous alligator client find "who is out to get them") so it might be stressful if you don't like those kinds of topics but (spoiler alert) I promise the endings are all wholesome and there's nothing actually evil going on!!

I get super frustrated playing puzzle games because my brain is only so smart, but maybe games like Baba is You and Zoombinis might be fun.

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

Nintendogs, Super Princess Peach, and Tomodachi Life are great for 3ds/ds!!!

 

[MiniPocketWorld]

I assume you are looking for Switch games.

The Last Campfire is on sale right now on the Switch for a really low price. It launched in October of last year and has high reviews. I played the demo and I thought it was really nice so I put it on my wishlist. It is a story rich puzzler game.

Haven Park is a must play for anyone who loves animal crossing in my opinion. I really enjoyed this game. It is an exploration game with good reviews and a low price point.


Hoa I discovered today and stuck it in my wishlist. It seems really casual and has good reviews. It is a puzzle platformer, and is praised for its Studio Ghibli like art and music.
Wuppo: Definitive Edition I played a demo of and decided to get the game. I still haven't opened the game yet but the game felt creative and interesting to me. It is an exploration story driven game with high reviews.
Machinarium if you are a point and click game fan. I liked the demo and I have this game on my wishlist. Hand drawn graphics and high reviews.