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Buggy, early access, survival crafting games.
Same here - I complain about them all the time, and I find most of them have a lot of frustrating design choices… But I play the heck out of them.
Got some interesting ones to share?
Historically I played a lot of Ark, Conan Exiles, Raft, Stranded Deep, 7 Days to Die, Green Hell, Astroneer, Scrap Mechanic, The Forest, Osiris New Dawn and all the usual suspects.
Recently I have tried a few like Valheim, Vulcanoids, Survive the Night, Sons of the Forest, Deadpoly, No One Survived and Grounded.
Thanks for the list! I’ve played them all except for Vulcsnoids which is on my wish list.
Ive got my eye on Nightingale at the moment. Have you seen any others on the horizon?
I recently backed Solar Punk on Kickstarter which looks like it has potential
Nice. Wishlisted.
I’m also currently pls in Dinkum, which is Australian Animal Crossing! Quite addicting.
Single player with no micro transactions nor “skinned” (cosmetics) multiplayer
I’ve been really into games with a good crafting system where you have to try to survive. Don’t Starve and Subnautica are the ones that have taken most of my time. I also like colony management games, like RimWorld and Oxygen Not Included
Have you played factorio?
I have not! My impression is that it’s very heavily focused on automating things, but is there also a survival component, or is it focused on tweaking supply lines and stuff?
It’s automation focused. There is survival, but in the sense of like repelling a wave of aliens coming to attack you, usually via automation.
It’s still a pretty addicting game as you work out how to do things and laying out plans for how certain processes will look. I’d still recommend checking it out regardless.
It is different as other poster mentioned. But it hits the same spot in the brain for me. It’s worth at least checking out
RimWorld is al all time classic for me. When I boot it up nowadays it’s with a gargantuan modlist, over 500+ by now, and I love that the game’s core systems are good enough to support all these mods.
You might like Stationeers
I had never heard of this game before, but I bought it on your recommendation. Wish me luck!
Thats awesome! I highly suggest visiting their discord. You’ll find lots of conversation and if you have questions it’s the best place to be
The other recommendations you got are good, but add a slightly different style check out This War Of Mine. Disclaimer : it’s. Heavy topic game. You survive as a civilian in an ongoing warzone (in short). You craft you home base during the day, and either scavenge for meager supplies at night (suffering exhaustion) or sleep at night. It’s a fairly brutal game, emotional, but some people are into that stuff… A friend, yeah! Not me.
You have my taste in games dialed in. I LOVED This War Of Mine, and I loved the expansion that added children. I liked most of the characters, but for whatever reason Marko was always my favorite, and I could not stand Bruno. Honestly, I think I’m gonna go boot that up again and get ruined emotionally by the supermarket event again.
I will play any game with resource gathering and factory management. Factorio of course. Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Project, Captain of Industry.
I was enjoying the hell out of Factorio until I realized that debugging conveyors and train stops feels like what I already do at work. I mean, I like my work (coding and automating stuff) but I would like to rest by doing somethig else lmao. That said, Factorio does what it does really well
Surviving Mars is a good one
Take a gander at Stationeers
Games that I can immerse myself in. Things that do it for me are:
- A full and developed open world that has a compelling atmosphere to it. The kind of thing where you find yourself pausing to gaze across the scenery.
- Tantalizing mechanics or systems. The kind that draws your mind to ‘building’ even when not playing, that will cause you to unwittingly spend hours tinkering with, and gives you mirthful glee when you put it all together and can savor its power.
- Interesting story. One with tasteful complexity, good pacing, and exciting developments. The kind of story that compels me, let alone anyone is a whole separate question of its own.
- A canvas or foundation to allow me to develop identity and investment in my character/role. Playing a specific character can also be good, if that character is compelling.
- Core gameplay mechanics or loops that are fun in and of themselves. The kind that, were the game an alpha or proof-of-concept with no “game” beyond the graphic-less, progression-less minigame, you would still find yourself enjoying your time.
- Fulfillment of a compelling fantasy. Being a FEROCIOUS DRAGON, or an UNSTOPPABLE SPACE MARINE, or an ALMIGHTY GOD, or even just a simple human living a comfy life and being able to experience the breadth and limits of that fantasy.
I think you pretty much match what I love in games. So many single player games that have beautiful landscapes and a main character that has such an engaging story. Locked in playing TotK right now, about 16 hours in and still just exploring like I did in BotW. Horizon series and Ghost of Tsushima got 2nd or 3rd playthroughs. Don’t get me started on Uncharted…
Games where at least a significant portion of it is low-key/relaxing. Thinking Breath of the Wild, Persona 5, Spiritfarer.
RTS by far but limited number of games that are actually good
Have you tried beyond All Reason? I just started playing it but having a blast.
Games I like lately:
- Space sims (Elite, Kerbal)
- Deep car simulation (BeamNG + Automation)
- Platformers or games with platforming (Hat in Time, Titanfall 2)
Strategy. Emphasis on the gameplay and the creative solutions, deemphasis on the graphics.
A particularly like card based games for their complex interactions.
Pretty much anything but competitive multiplayer stuff and the majority of rogue-esque titles. Just don’t have the time to dedicate to learning the ins and outs of one specific title.
My favorite genres include:
- JRPGs
- Rhythm Games
- Racing
- Platformers
- Metroidvanias
- Visual novels
- Action Adventure
I tend to enjoy a variety of games particularly those that respect my time. At the top are character action games like Bayonetta and Nier. Monster Hunter games. Then big relaxing open-world exploratory games like BoTW, TotK, Elden Ring. Immersive RPGs like Cyberpunk and Skyrim. Third person cinematic games like TLoU, or the new GoW. Exceptional indie games like Hades, Terraria, and Roboquest. Then, fighting games like SF6, Third Strike, GG Strive, Killer Instinct or MK9. Cooperative, competitive shooters with my friends like Siege. and then from time to time I f2p on gacha games like Azur Lane and Nikke, but I tend to drop those pretty quick. There was also time in my life where I spent too many hours with friends on GTA Online as well. Sorted most to least in terms of how often I actually play that type of game. However, a little more than half of my free time is usually spent watching other people let’s play games, like right now, I’m writing this and watching Chris Odd play Aliens Dark Descent. 🙂
@Call_Me_Maple @TheVampireSaga big emphasis on “games that respect my time”
I mostly stick to simulators and farming type games. The cozy stuff. Stardew Valley, Littlewood, Starhaven, Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, Cozy Grove, etc. Otherwise, things like the Sims series, or Animal Crossing. I like a lot of indie titles and digital board games as well - Garden Galaxy, Wingspan, Unpacking, Bugsnax
I like a lot of stuff but I’ll say something that rarely gets brought up. I like sports games. I love most sports in general and I love when I can really get in to the feeling of role playing in a franchise mode or be a pro mode. I also love a crazy sports game (like mutant league football/hockey, super mega baseball, rocket league, nba Jam) especially when they treat it seriously and have franchise mode or things like that. I even love a game like Unreal Tournament 2004 (and others in the series, but that’s my favorite) that’s a shooter but is treated like a sport in game with team management and stuff.
There are a lot of lazy sports games and I play those too but there are some great ones too
I used to enjoy arena shooters waaay back in the day when Quake III Arena and later Quake Live had a still somewhat active playerbase so I could just randomly find games. No multiplayer games caught me since then.
Nowadays it’s ARPGs (mostly Path of Exile), but I enjoyed Vampire Survivors too so I might go for that genre again.
Also I randomly get cravings for playing Elder Scrolls games. I just started my Nth Oblivion playthrough and I did it with Morrowind last year. It will be Skyrim again next year I suppose…
Oh and I have a few hundred hours in Dwarf Fortress too. And of course I played it the way it was meant to be played. With ASCII graphics!
I really love puzzle games! Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of them, or at least they’re really hard to find. The puzzle section on Steam is basically completely filled with horror games that I guess have some puzzle elements mixed in, hence why they’re in the puzzle section.
Games like Portal, Stephen’s Sausage Roll, and Braid are awesome.
Patrick’s Parabox is a neat little puzzle game that became one of my favorites after I 100%ed it. It’s a bit different from the games you’ve listed here - deceptively simple, 2D box pushing type of game, but has a level of mind bending through manipulation of space that I think rivals Baba is You in terms of “what the hell, I’ve just broken physics in a way that is internally consistent but that I didn’t see coming”.
I have Patrick’s Parabox on my Steam, been waiting to get the chance to play it. I really liked Baba is You though, so I’m looking forward to playing it
I recommend a simple little game called Rush. I don’t even know what motivated me to get it some time ago, but I had fun with it even though I wouldn’t say I usually like puzzle games. It’s all of 0.22€ on sale where I’m sitting, might be worth trying.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll definitely look into it
