I would like to play a calm game

Submitted ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨binaryqueen@programming.dev⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Dear community,

I’m looking for a similar (calm) game like Portal 1/2 or Firewatch that I can play on macOS with a similar vibe. The last time I played a game is years ago, and I wish I had at least once a week a nice single-player game that I can play 1-2 hours. =)

I enjoyed Portal because I had to plan out what I’m doing before I act (without being pressured to act), the atmosphere of the game was legendary and I liked that little robot following me. Firewatch had a calm amazing story, there was no ‘action’ but sometimes that feeling that something could happen. It was a nice exploring game.

Any ideas?

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stoy@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Gone Home is a lovely game, the story is a bit sad, and parts has a creepy vibe, but it is interesting and well worth a playthrough, it is more similar to Firewatch than Portal.

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- pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I’m surprised I had to scroll this far to find “Gone Home” recommended. It’s a quick great and pretty chill game!
  
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- thermal_shock@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  This was our first walking simulator trying to get the wife to play with us on the couch, teach her controls. Beautiful game.
  
  Kid and I have been playing split Fiction, amazing btw. We just beat reanimal and wanted more. Wish little nightmares was multiplayer.
  
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- caseyweederman@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  There it is! I was thinking I’d have to recommend it myself. I think it’s the closest match to what OP is asking for.
  
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Queen___Bee@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I enjoy calmer games most times I’m gaming so I have a lot. The genre I most like is puzzle games, but there are a few exploration/ walking simulators here, too. Among the games already listed, there are:

The Room Doors Boxes My Brother Rabbit The Gardens Between Stela La Rana Dawn

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sem@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I really like Kingdom Two Crowns, especially the Nordic biome. It’s pixel graphics so not for everyone, but so beautiful. The gameplay is repetitive but satisfying. There are enemies, but they’re not that hard. It’s beautiful

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variouslegumes@reddthat.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I really enjoyed playing the Myst and Riven remakes. Definitely give them a shot. Especially Riven.

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dis_da_mor@anarchist.nexus ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
holy crap they released portal 0.5? how is it?

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- HereIAm@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Narbacular Drop? And it’s pretty fun to be honest, quick indie game goodness! 😄
  
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Dracarysmeansfire@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I can highly recommend Tinykin, no enemies, nice locomotion and controls

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deafboy@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Portal Stories: Mel

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Nice
  
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ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If you enjoy exploration and puzzles you may want to look into Talos Principle

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yakko@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Space Sprouts: calm, cosy, whimsical, physics based.

Opus Magnum: machine-building puzzles loosely based on alchemical lore. The puzzle objectives tie into a story that is kind of just window dressing, but interesting enough.

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Opus Magnum seems to be a nice game
  
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  - yakko@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    It is nice. I’ll try to come up with more recs later when I’m at my computer.
    
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Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The Talos Principle (both of them, though the DLC for 1 is optional, and incredibly challenging). They’re the best puzzle game I can recommend next to Portal. They do their own thing, and almost to the same level. The gameplay doesn’t feel quite as smooth, but there’s a lot it goes better than Portal too.

The Outer Wilds. It doesn’t feel as chill to some people, but I think it is. Very tiny first ~20m spoiler that can help ::: spoiler spoiler it’s a time loop, so there are no consequences. Feel free to wreck your ship. It’ll be repaired next loop. Feel free to mess around and die. You’ll lose nothing. Don’t be sucked into the idea you need to do things well or quickly, because it literally does not matter. The only thing that effects the next loop is what you learned. :::

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PoscoBumbleroot@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Rime!! No one ever suggests it but it’s such an amazing game. You can finish the story in 5-10 hours probably, but you’ll be thinking about it far longer than that

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- El_Scapacabra@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Rime is an amazing game, but I always say it gave me PTSD with how hard it hit me emotionally. No game or other media has ever come close to making me cry this much.
  
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aquinteros@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
no man’s sky, always relaxes me after a tough day

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abbadon420@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I recommend Timberborn. Also great and relaxing to watch someone like Zeddic play it.

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- Griffus@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Warning: Contains high amounts of wood.
  
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MrKoyun@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Gris is a nice, chill game with a really beautiful artstyle.

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agnomeunknown@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Maybe a bit too calm, but I really enjoyed what I played of Wanderstop. It’s from the dev of Stanley parable, with music from c418 of Minecraft fame. I haven’t yet finished it because I got distracted by other games but it’s a really peaceful game where you brew tea and gradually unravel a story about trauma and healing from it. Even without finishing the story I can highly recommend it because it’s just so beautiful to look at and the core gameplay is simple but engaging. You’re an arena champion who stumbles upon a tea shop while looking for respite from battle, and you farm ingredients to combine into different teas for other travelers who come across the tea shop.

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  That sounds peaceful ^
  
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pocker_machine@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Oxenfree - similar to firewatch

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ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Transistor and Bastion are similar games that can be chill with combat.

Thomas was alone is a chill platformer with a nice story.

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Sudomeapizza@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If factory games are up your alley, Factorio is also great. You can completely turn off the enemy forces/bugs and just build stuff.

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mrvictory1@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
OP are you using Crossover or similar to play portal? The native mac version of Portal doesn’t support macOS newer than 10.14

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  If I remember correctly, I played Portal on Xbox 360 and an old macOS version
  
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Griffus@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Unravel and Unravel Two are very cosy platformers.

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Echolynx@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Tiny Bookshop

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  cute
  
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cuboc@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I love Valheim. It’s a survival game set against a Nordic inspired background. It has several play modes and multiple world modifiers so you can tweak it to your playstyle. You can just chill by exploring the seas and its islands or go build a cozy base. It is also stunningly beautiful despite the modest graphics.

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- bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I just started this. It was calm until the Forest started attacking lol
  
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  - cuboc@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    At least the ground did not shake.
    
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The_Helmet_Stays_On@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Soma

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- sem@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Fuck you lol
  
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Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
DayZ is 99.5% a calm hiking simulator where you get to enjoy the beautiful scenery and soundscape and 0.5% pure horror.

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MrNesser@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The librarian Not a long game but it’s calm

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G_M0N3Y_2503@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
There isn’t so much of the story elements, especially if you’ve tried Braid, but The Witness has endless intrigue and abstract puzzles. store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/

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Pacattack57@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ll 2nd the Talos Principle. It’s my favorite game ever. Not for replayability but the gameplay is just that good.

Also if you like exploring, the Mudrunner games or Snowrunner would be fun. It’s a trucking simulator.

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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  This is exactly what I want
  
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HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War?

Or maybe just tic tac toe.

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- jam12705@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I was always more fond of Chess, or Guerrilla Engaugement for a calm evening at home.
  
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- binaryqueen@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  uhm, I’d prefer tic tac toe then
  
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  - HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    You need to go watch an 80s.movie with Matt Broderick in it called WarGames.
    
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Alsjemenou@lemy.nl ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist

It’s a short game, less than an hour, but fun.

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dbx12@programming.dev ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Palia is also nice to play on and off if you don’t care about missing limited edition drops. If you’re prone to FOMO, then maybe pass.

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