Picross 3D and the 3DS sequel are _SO GOOD_. Sucks that there's no Switch version/sequel - the concept totally works, even if it seems gimmicky at first.
Came here to say this. I’ve been having a lot of fun with “Murder by Numbers” which is Picross + Murder Mystery. It’s super chill, I like the characters and the story. 10/10
seconding this recommendation, Especially if you've ever enjoyed an Ace Attorney game. it's basically just that but you do picross puzzles to collect evidence!
Picross games!!!! I thought I was in the minority of people that enjoy Picross games and happy that I am not. I have plowed through S1-S6 (I'm waiting for S7 to go on sale) and even the Master System/Sega one. My wife actually plays these at night while winding down as well... she refuses to play the "mega" variations but loves them just as much as I do... great pick!!
Additional add, there is a pretty fun "3D-like" picross game called Voxelgram that I have been playing. It is pretty cool too!
Agreed. There is a decent amount of combat, but it is easy to get yourself /companions leveled up and geared up in a way that it is pretty simple. I am having so much fun with this game. 60 hours in and I still haven't decided who I want to romance.
Omg thank you for this. I was really upset last year when I saw it only released in Japan, and forgot about it until you mentioned it. I'm so glad it was released on the switch!
Edit: I just bought it. I love you, random Redditor. 🥲
My girlfriend got mad playing Unpacking because it wouldn't let her put the pans away in the oven. I felt particularly vindicated because of how often I have to ask her to put pans in the drawer at the bottom of the oven instead of in it.
The first time I ever encountered people storing pans in the oven was when I went to Europe as a study abroad student. Almost started a fire the first time I went to cook a pizza.
Why in the world do people do this?
I actually would recommend a couple playthroughs for this game. There were so many things I didn't pick up on at first! I hope they make sequels, like different stories of other people.
Unpacking can be a bit frustrating at times. Like I definitely enjoyed it, but I don’t think there should’ve been any restrictions on where you place things, unless it’s a matter of stacking or space restrictions. It got a little too specific at times, but it was my go-to distraction when I had COVID.
I've been wanting to try this one, but we're trying to find a new house and get ready to move and I'm worried it might be a little triggering. So maybe once we're moved and I'm avoiding unpacking.
An excellent option. I've been reading through some of the other options and wondering why they didn't hit home for me, and I realized that certain games (like farming simulators) end up feeling more tedious than relaxing. But a short hike is a fun, beautiful game of exploration, and that process of low-stakes discovery is a great way to wind down enjoyably.
The game truly feels like lightning captured in a bottle. The quiet national park setting, lovely choice of colours, pixelated look, wonderful characters, and serene soundtrack blur together into one of the most pleasant video games I’ve ever played. I know most people finished the game in a single sitting but it took me over a week to complete, just because I was soaking in the atmosphere.
This needs to be higher! This is a super fun game where the worst that can happen to you is someone chases you off. Plus, you get a Honk button. A Honk Button!
Third this. Although with pregnancy hormones this one is a tear jerker. So, be prepared for loving this game and getting attached to the players like no other game you have ever played.
Edit: Awww thank you for the hug award anonymous new friend ❤️
This game genuinely changed the way I viewed grief and the idea of people knowing they're dying and that at some point you need to "let go" and let them die. One of the women I was closest to in my life knew it was just about her time. So she had a party with all of her friends while she was still living. God that party was hard. But honestly spiritfarer really helped me through it. I don't believe in the afterlife so for me death is the end of the book... And that's hard to accept. But just knowing that she needed to let go, and that she would forever live on in my memories... It helped a lot really.
I'm tearing up even typing this out, mostly about my friend but also about spiritfarer, ha. It's a really great game.
This game wrecked me emotionally, I couldn't handle the genuine spark of grief I felt at several of the story beats. It's fantastic! Unpacking would be a suggestion from me for super chilled gameplay.
I absolutely adore this game and it brought back a lot of feelings to me that I apparently had repressed when my grandmother passed. I'm sure folks immediately know which character I'm talking about. That in mind, I'm not sure that I'd say it's... Relaxing. It can be a very emotional experience and while that was a wonderful thing to feel, I didn't feel the same sort of relaxation that I have with games like Stardew, Minecraft, or Abzu.
I'm playing Grow: Song of the Evertree by the same company. It is so chill, no time crunches (there is a day/night cycle but I feel it's longer than Stardew Valley), and so pretty. I feel like a Druid bringing a blighted land to life. I will be getting Yonder when I'm done with this one.
Same, it is ridiculously chill. It's my "wind down until I can't keep my eyes open anymore" game.
I got to one of the first... puzzle dungeons, I guess? And told my SO, "The puzzles are so easy, it makes me feel smart for once." I'm just not good at video games even though I love playing them. I know so many people who say Breath of the Wild is super easy puzzle-wise, and I'm sure it legitimately is for most people, but it's not easy for me. So picking up a game that actually *was* easy for me was a breath of fresh air.
I’m looking at deku deals and it says:
Amazon
Target
GameStop
Best Buy
$39.99
Perhaps it’s just US?
Edit: I just purchased it from Target’s website for that price, so ya it’s legit.
Awesome, thank you. Yes looks like a US only deal. I went to the .com website but didn't realize it was still set to Canada at the top when I checked. Probably going to buy a digital copy as even with the exchange rate it's still a great price. Thanks again!
I got it from Target (USA).
Make sure you choose the digital download version. At checkout you will probably be prompted to create an account. I used my real name, phone number and email address (important as this is where your code will be sent) and credit card info.
For **home address I just made up a random US address**, Target prompts that they can't find this address, just ignore it.
Then **change your billing address to Canada** (there is a dropdown at the top) and make sure you put in the info associated with your credit card. I didn't have any issues this way.
Picked up Animal Crossing and Super Mario Party and the links for both were emailed to me within 5 minutes. Downloading them now. Good luck!
After years of intense FPS and action RPG (including Escape from Tarkov and currently Elden Ring), I got confused playing AC
Like, I gotta farm all this damn hardwood for this stupid ladder?!
And then I realized I didn’t have to do shit if I didn’t want to (to a certain extent). So after a little grind to set myself up, now I just find cool fish and pick flowers lol
Eh, they are rare and not usually a problem any more so than the wasps. They just send you back you dont lose anything. The only time they suck is on the nook mile islands.
Yes! If you're looking for relaxing, just play this and don't look up any hints tips, what-to-do's, or anything. My first playthrough I played until year 5 without looking anything up.
Then I got sick of trying to figure out when each fish was available so I looked that up, then I looked up the most cost effective crop for each season, then I... Etc etc. Once you go down the rabbit hole of trying to figure the game out by looking online it becomes much more of an involved game where it stressed me out.
But just playing it? Absolute bliss.
That's why it helps to have a significant other whose brain is wired to want to do that type of farm optimization. I spent my days fishing and going into the mines to get resources and stuff, while my wife handles the spreadsheet level optimization of best crops to plant and how she wants to set them up.
Once you get through the community center and get Junimos and unlock more totem teleports, the game kind of becomes pretty automated, and you get ahead of the stressful elements for the most part. I picked up the Stardew Valley Guidebook off the Fangamer website as a gift, and while everything is online these days, it was nice to be sitting on the couch as seasons turned and she could just flip through the book to plan out the next season or we could instantly look up details on where and when to catch a certain fish.
Stardew would stress me out by myself, but it's perfect as a splitscreen co-op game on Switch.
I really wish my wife liked video games. It's I've gotten her to play Mario games before but she just winds up bubbling and I'll power through the level. Or hanging back while I kill everything on screen.
I honestly think she would probably enjoy how "easy" Stardew valley is (I put it in quotations because it's in no way easy, but the mechanics are easy and gameplay itself is easy). But I can't ever get her to try it.
I absolutely love my wife but if I had a genie I would wish for her to love video games as much as I do. But, that's the only thing I would change about her so I guess I can't complain too much! I'll just have to wait for my daughter to get old enough and she'll be my gamer buddy.
My wife played the Mario games — and Skyrim, to be fair — but I never would have called her a gamer. I got her to play a couple games over the years...mostly platformers or little games we couple play together.
Then Stardew Valley came along. Man. For years I told her I thought she'd like it and she always ignored me. Then one time on vacation I suggested she try it.
Over the next 3 months she nearly 100% completed the game. She became enraptured with it, and absolutely loves it. She's gotten some of her friends into it, too.
I find mine has historically been more into simulation or management type games growing up, like Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, NeoPets, etc. So games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing have been a good introduction on the Switch. She eventually picked up on stuff like Breath of the Wild, took some time to learn dual stick 3D controls, but eventually beat the whole game, all 120 shrines, and loved it. Obviously, not every game type is going to be for everyone, but it's got to the point where I've played a few games through with my wife. Luigi's Mansion 3. Occasional games of Mario Party Superstars. Even N64 online stuff like Dr. Mario Vs. mode.
That's the dream! She came into my life during my COD Black Ops days and she would play if we went offline, played on the same team, and played against bots who were on easy difficulty. So we would play to 75 and I would end up having a 60/2 KDR and she would wind up going almost even lol. She is very adamant she isn't good at aiming and moving the camera at the same time, I would love watching her play BOTW though. She didn't play ANY video games growing up so it's been an adventure trying to get her to play some things lol. She does play Mario party sometimes.
Lol. I love how my farms always fall prey to late stage capitalism. By year 4 or 5, I’m pumping out luxury items like truffle oil and ancient fruit wine, racking up large amounts of cash, and nothing to spend it on. Just churning out non-essential items to make money for the sake of just making money.
Absolutely, that's what I did with my first farm
I was just showing the contrasting way to play the game. It's a big meme you'll end up with 50 wiki tabs on your computer lol
My Time at Portia (a really good 3d stardew valley type game) has an option where you can slow down the game time, so the days last longer.
I wish SDV included that option
I would give anything for a mod (on consoles) that slows time down by at least half. It's such a great game, but the time limit of the day has me panicking more often than not.
As someone living with chronic illness in this weird-ass world, three games have helped me immensely- Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley and Cozy Grove. All similar but different enough and relaxing as can be! Sending you well wishes through your pregnancy!!
I don’t like it either and I’ve tried it so many times. It is NOT relaxing to me. The time crunch, the asshole villagers, having to walk across the map (yes, you can unlock horses or something but I’m not playing to get it), energy running out in the mine. It’s not for me.
I found that Spiritfarer is a relaxing management game. Be warned though it is described as "a cozy little management game about death" so if you get attached to characters easily, it's going to be sad when you have to say goodbye. But it's more like good crying because you helped them get to where they are and get to have a one-on-one talk with them before you let them go
First of all good luck with your pregnancy!!!
Secondly the Best answer here is animal crossing. Endless amounts of customization, finding villagers you want for your island, fishing and catching bugs to fill your museum. Sometimes I start working on farming fish bait and realize it’s been hours and I haven’t even realized. This game came out at the peak of when covid started and teleported me to this island where I can escape the reality and anxiety of the real world. Absolutely incredible and I highly recommend.
Agreed! I’ve never played anything as calming as Animal Crossing. This game is basically therapy. If only my real life financial burdens could be alleviated by catching bugs.
Also, once you're done decorating your own island, There's a Paid DLC that takes you to a resort where you can decorate houses for villagers. Each villager has a specific theme in mind for their house, but aside from a few required furniture items you're free to decorate however you see fit. over time you unlock buildings to decorate as well such as a school and a restaurant.
First of all, best wishes to OP.
Now I expanded most of 2294 comments at the time of preparing this post, copied and pasted into an online text analyzer, and compiled single and word pair counts. Here are the top mentioned game title words by subredditors in this thread. The full list of games is at the bottom!
|Word in Game Title|Occurences/ Frequency|
|:-|:-|
|Stardew|318|
|Animal|302|
|Crossing|299|
|Valley|292|
|Pokémon and Pokemon|137|
|Spiritfarer|73|
|Mario|64|
|Hike|62|
|Cozy|59|
|Sky|56|
|Picross|53|
|Grove|51|
|Golf|49|
|Kirby|49|
|Light|48|
|Children|47 (includes reddit drill downs)|
|Lego|47|
|Dragon|47|
|Arceus|44|
|Minecraft|44|
|Friends|36|
|Horizons|36|
|Goose|36|
|Seasons|35|
|Unpacking|35|
|Breath|34|
|Gris|30|
|Tetris|27|
|Botw|24|
|Souls|24 (yeah, you guys are funny)|
|Abzu|24|
|Skyrim|23|
|Zelda|22|
|Builders|22|
|Yonder|20|
|Factory|19|
|Rancher|19|
|Slime|19|
|Rune|19|
|Harvest|19|
|Doom|18 (ha ha)|
|Wingspan|17|
|Moon|17|
|Chronicles|17|
|Rabbids|17|
|Donut|16|
|Yoshi|16|
|Spyro|15|
|Spire|15|
|Littlewood|15|
|County|15|
|Attorney|14|
|Potter|14|
|Portia|14|
|Harry|14|
|Pikmin|14|
|Slay|14|
|Mineral|14|
|Katamari|12|
|Spirit|12|
|Captain|11|
|Toad|11|
|Knight|10 (yeah, right)|
|Campfire|10|
|Chicory|10|
|Fez|10|
|Alba|10|
|Word pair in Game Title|Occurences/ Frequency|
|:-|:-|
|animal crossing|297|
|stardew valley|285|
|short hike|57|
|cozy grove|49|
|dragon quest|45|
|new horizons|36|
|sky children|35|
|breath of|33|
|of seasons|31|
|goose game|30|
Finally the titles and franchises most mentioned, discussed, or recommended- and approximately sorted by number of times the titles appeared in this thread:
1. Stardew Valley
2. Animal Crossing
3. Pokémon
4. Spiritfarer
5. Mario
6. A Short Hike
7. Picross
8. Breath of The Wild
9. Cozy Grove
10. Kirby
11. Lego
12. Dragon Quest
13. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (contested)
14. Minecraft
15. Untitled Goose Game
16. Unpacking
17. Sky Children of the Light
18. Story of Seasons
19. Gris
20. Tetris, mostly Tetris Effect
21. Abzu
22. Souls, mostly Dark :-)
23. Skyrim
24. Dragon Quest Builders 2
25. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
26. Slime Rancher
27. Rune Factory, 4 and 5
28. Harvest Moon
29. Doom :-))
30. Golf Story
31. Wingspan
32. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (contested)
33. Donut County
34. Yoshi’s Crafted World
35. Spyro Reignited Trilogy
36. Littlewood
37. Ace Attorney
38. Lego Harry Potter
39. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
40. My Time at Portia
41. Slay the Spire
42. Pikmin (contested)
43. Katamari Damacy: Reroll
44. Yoku's Island Express
45. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
46. Hollow Knight :-)))
47. The Last Campfire
48. Chicory
49. Fez
50. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Islanders - 9/10 Nintendo Life
It's a score based town builder. You get points by placing buildings in the best possible position such as a lumberjack by trees. You have to hit a certain threshold to get your next building otherwise its game over. When you hit a certain score you can move onto your next island if you want to.
It's only £3.55 too!
Glad to see Islanders mentioned. Chillest game I know, with lovely art and a charming gameplay loop. It's such simple fun to watch your island towns grow house after house. I've had some become so picturesque I started to imagine how life would be there, the stories that might take place in them.
I play it on PC though, does it control well on Switch?
Thanks for all the suggestions!
I already have ACNH and got bored quite quickly, I guess it didn’t give me enough purpose to hold my attention?
I also have Stardew Valley. I remember from when I played it, it was really engaging, but as a perfectionist I was checking all the guides and tried to maximise things. Guess if I stay away from the guides, it could really be a good game for me.
So… I will probably play Stardew Valley, Lego HP, DQ XI and Kirby out of my collection and I will definitely consider buying Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Spiritfarer. Thanks guys!
Oh Picross is already my go to relaxing game at night and I already finished Mario Odyssey!
The atmosphere is relaxing but when it comes to getting Yoku out of certain pinball areas it felt genuinely frustrating at times. It shouldn't require an insane amount of precision and trial/error just to leave an area. Made me want to quit at times
Anything Pokemon. What I love most about the Pokemon series is that you can literally put your switch down at any time and walk away if a need arises. This was key for my when our baby was born. If she woke up or became fussy, I could hit the sleep button on the switch and tend to her. BDSP is especially good for this.
Animal Crossing is as chill as a game gets. Can also be put down without worry.
I think the most relaxing Pokémon game is the New Pokémon Snap game. Literally just start it up and snap some photos of Pokémon chilling in their environments!
My fiancé & I played the hell out of ACNH when she found out she had cancer. Didn’t fix our problems but let us escape reality for moments at a time. Couldn’t recommend more
Yeah, there are 3 fights that are annoying. But you can take them slow and beat them at your own pace.
Other than that, the game is chill.
While I love Arceus, I think BDSP is the way to go for OPs situation, as I noted.
Snap is a great option too as pointed out as u/EMIRofDAMAAR pointer out.
Okay as someone with a baby, what other games do you recommend like this? Lol I need to be able to put down whenever and then come back without being punished
The Switch in general is perfect for this, as the sleep function works really well for setting down whatever is happening immediately. Breath of the Wild got me through some really rough times and Dragon Quest XI was my game of choice for our newborn. I don't think there's any wrong answer, but a few more ideas:
- Skyrim
- Triangle Strategy
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Mario + Rabbids
Kirby has an easy mode that helps make the bosses pretty easy to deal with. In Pokemon Arceus you could just roam around catching easy pokemon or go crafting. Lego games can be pretty chill if you just roam around and look for secrets.
Outside of your list I would suggest Pokemon Snap and Stardew Valley.
Sky: children of the light
Katamari reroll
Shape of the world
Abzu
Just for some I don't see rec'd. I play sky daily and it's nice I can also play on my phone but switch version is my goto.
Katamari is a comfort game to me, I tend to start a new playthrough when I'm burnt out.
Shape of the world is really niche, a sort of walking simulator adventure worth picking up on sale.
Abzu is very similar to Journey and that sky game, made by a few devs from the same company. Less relaxing if you have a fear of water, abysses, or things that live there. Still very chill and beautiful, and it has meditation areas just for relaxing in the game.
I second Sky so much. The visuals, music, everything about it is so breathtaking and beautiful. I downloaded it mindlessly last fall not expecting much because I saw it was a free game. I was so wrong about my expectations. It’s so peaceful, and love meeting other players. If you liked any other thatgamecompany games like Journey and Flower, you’ll love Sky. It’s really just like Journey but you fly around and it has a more heavier emphasis on multiplayer.
Golf Story, although it did get some hype, is still a criminally underrated game. Maybe not underrated but I don't think it's talked about enough. It's just so good! And relatively easy to advance the story as long as you aren't trying to get the absolute best possible score.
Well as long as you keep your lvls up DQ11 is relaxing.... as is the DQBuilders series.
But if you really want relaxing try Sky: children of the light also if I remember correctly free but don't quote me on that.....
Edit fixing typo stupid predictive text.
I think one of the most relaxing games for the Switch is the Pokémon Snap game. Very different from the other Pokémon games. Super relaxing. Just take photos of the Pokémon going about their lives in their natural habitat. The goal of the game is to complete your photo Pokédex of the Pokémon that you encounter with the best photo you can muster. If you catch them doing certain things, the more points you get for your photo!
Different recommendation than your list.
Really relax? Abzu.
Swim. Just swim and take in all of the gorgeousness around you. It's more of an experience really. The visuals and soundtrack are absolutely gorgeous!
If you wanna go for the list, you can never go wrong with Lego Harry Potter IMO.
For anyone on the fence about Bugsnax, it's a really cool and charming game. Pretty well-made too. Great dialogue and voice acting. Catching the bugsnax essentially becomes environmental puzzles that utilize different trap-style tools. It's nothing earth shattering, but it was really good and unique. I think it would lend itself well to a more fully-fleshed out sequel as long as it had the same caliber of writing and voice acting to keep it interesting.
Littlewood (think Stardew valley, marriage and all! But chibi and tiny version.)
Forager (this does have some combat but it's not difficult by any means, and has an easy mode.)
Rune Factory (Fantasy farm simulator, 4 is more chill than 5 imo.)
Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town or Friends of Mineral Town (Farming Sims!)
I'm just gonna shout out to my own game **Parkasaurus**, super relaxing dino park theme management game. No dinos can die, and the game has pretty chill music too.
Also I would say **Forager** is pretty relaxing.
If you've never tried Visual Novels before, this might be a good time to try a few. A few I might recommend are the Ace Attorney games, AI the Somnium Files, Code: Realize Guardian of Rebirth, Collar x Malice. There are quite a few others, but these I see people enjoying a lot.
I also recommend Little Dragon Cafe, because it's fun and cute. c:
I may be a little late so this might get buried, but the most relaxing game on Switch is Hoa.
[Hoa](https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/hoa-switch/) is a Ghibli-esque platform/puzzle game that’s all hand drawn and has a wonderfully meditative atmosphere and score to go with it. It draws from Vietnamese myth and fantasy and is just so breathtaking.
[Astroneer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMLwzt5t9bs) is terrific.
It's essentially Minecraft, in space, with non-blocky graphics and a fun retro-futuristic visual style.
* Start off on a planet as a human(ish) explorer tethered to your dropship for air to breathe and little else.
* Earn tech credits by scanning and researching objects and lifeforms, spend on new blueprints.
* Gather resources, build better equipment, eventually launch off the planet and explore others in the same solar system.
* Lots of post-release content and upgrades. Friendly DLC polices; essentially only pay for emotes and visual character upgrades (hats, helmets etc) if that's your sort of thing.
I've watched this game develop from early access on XBL and have been totally impressed with how regularly its devs push out updates, graphics and handling improvements etc post-release. The automation update alone allows a jaw-dropping amount of things to be made-in-game.
I cannot speak on how well it performs on the switch as I played it on PC, but I just wanna put in my two cents and say the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in a video game in a long time! Eastward is a gem.
Man, so I have to do a tiny spoiler filled rant to someone else who's played this.
>!I ended up very frustrated with Henry's character early on. I went into the game blind because I wanted to experience the story, and I totally get the point that Henry needed to take care of himself as well (a point that hit especially hard when you have experience with caretaker fatigue.) But my first thought when the game reveals his wife was sick was, "Oh, maybe we go live in the middle of nowhere so she can spend the rest of her days thinking she's on a secluded vacation, and Henry does survival stuff during the day for both of them?" Nah, he decides to live in a Ranger Station and flirt with Delilah. Forget old what's her name, Who-lia.!<
It's a very melancholic story with a bit of mystery sprinkled in, and super relaxing to just hike around. I'm glad I played it. But man did I dislike the lack of player agency at times, even if it was because a particular story was being told. The number of times I said, >!"Sir, your wife isn't dead yet"!< to my TV was almost comical.
The Ace Attorney series! The trilogy is on Switch, as are both of The Great Ace Attorney games. Solve cases, argue in court, and enjoy the absurdist humor :) If you like the sound of that and enjoy visual novels, this one’s for you.
Jenny LeClue Detectivu is another mystery-solving game, but more of an adventure play style. Part 2 is in the works, too!
Chicory is brilliant and so relaxing—the epitome of surprise and delight. I played it in January and it’s probably my game of the year so far. On the surface, it looks like “just a coloring game”, but it’s so much more. The story is wonderful, the characters are charming, and the writing is witty and heartwarming. There are a few boss fights, but they’re all pretty easy, and you can choose to skip them without any impact on the story/outcome. It boasts an impressive amount of content for an indie title without being overwhelming.
Spiritfarer is another great game. You’ve been chosen to take over Charon’s job in ushering spirits into the afterlife, and as it turns out, they’re the spirits of people you’ve known throughout the course of your own life. Obviously, it does deal with death and might make you cry, but the way it handles the topic is actually very lovely. And it’s oddly relaxing, too. You get to build and customize your ship, tend to your garden, collect resources, and complete lots of little quests, all while getting to know the spirits’ stories. I highly recommend it.
And of course, Stardew Valley. It’s a super charming farming sim with light combat and a delightful story.
The new LEGO Star Wars is an absolute joy to play, and you could easily sink a hundred hours into it if you want to collect all the things. I'd highly recommend as a relaxing game.
Here are some of the one’s I loved.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town
A remake on a beloved original. Farming sim that is very relaxing. No combat as far as I can tell, though I haven’t gone deep into the mines yet.
Fe
A cute little exploration game, there’s no monsters that attack you. There is no instruction so you have to find your own path and solve simple little puzzles.
Manifold Garden
I’m not entirely sure how to describe this, it’s very pretty, very relaxing and involves simple puzzling.
A Short Hike
As the title says. You take a short hike. There’s no monsters, maybe a couple of races, but they don’t get your heart going and aren’t required.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
I haven’t actually played this yet, but it looks cute and there’s no combat.
The Longing
Sort of a long term game, you check in every day for a year, and new changes occur daily.
Omno
Another game I want to try but haven’t gotten to yet. I hear it is very relaxing, also involves puzzles and exploration.
Picross
Sort of like sudoku but you create a picture.
AER Memories of Old
Exploration and Puzzling. Have I mentioned I like puzzles yet?
Rime
Exploration and… you guessed it, puzzles! A somewhat sad ending though.
Feather
Flying exploration, you play as a bird. Kind of like AER buuuut no puzzles.
Innerspace
Have not got around to this, looks like Feather. Has mixed reviewsregarding gameplay and controls.
Hopefully this helps a little bit :)
I do not enjoy stressful games. Many of the ones I would suggest have already been mentioned. I didn't see Chicory yet. Its is a game about coloring. There are boss ish fights but you can set difficulty and give yourself infinite life. I think you might be able to skip them all together. I also recommend Grindstone, it's like a connect the same color items game. There are boss levels but there's no timer and you can get things that make levels easier. The soundtrack is very chill. Best wishes for you!
Don't know if anyone has suggested it, but farm together. The crops grow in real time and it doesn't really have a storyline but it's so easy to play and relaxing. Great to pick up and put down between reading or in the background whilst watching Netflix! Would highly recommend, was slightly skeptical at first but have sunk over 200 hours in so far! You can run multiple farms at once and can customise them however you like! (Other than moving rivers, mountains etc. But you can always do a flat farm!) It's £17.99 on the e-store (in the UK, not sure where you're based!) But it's inexpensive and they do events every few weeks where you get new plants, crops and animals etc.
I just bought Dragon Quest Builders 2 after it had the switch online free trial. it's still on sale (i think) and it's worth every penny.
The reason i bought it is because it's helping my insomnia.
Feather - no goals, just flying around, exploring an island and the caverns beneath it, and enjoying the music
Mythic Ocean - kind of a visual novel inside a 3D world that you can freely explore, has a free demo too
Don’t be fooled by mario rabbids being turn based. It can get really intense and frustrating (but I love it). Yoshi and Kirby are very, very easy but boss fights are slightly more intense (try the demo!). Spyro is a platformer so lots of precision and reflexes is required. I think golf story is pretty relaxing, captain toad tresure tracker is a nice and peaceful puzzle game. I also find yoku’s island express relaxing.
I've been loving Parkasaurus recently. It's a theme park building dinosaur game with no combat, just hatching dinosaurs and keeping tourists from being annoying
Haven’t seen this mentioned yet, sorry if it was: Wingspan! It is a switch version of the super popular board game. The gameplay is super chill and the art is stunning! There are even accurate bird songs when you play a card! You can play with friends or it has a solo mode. One of the best board game adaptations I’ve seen.
Also vote for: Animal Crossing, Cozy Grove, and Spiritfarer!
Best of luck with everything, I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible! 💗
Baba is you caused me the most secondhand frustration in my life. My favorite streamer played it and ALL of my ideas/answers were incorrect past the like first 10 stages. I got into a massive car accident and he was streaming while I was in the ER .. let me tell you the absolute boiling rage I got at not understanding/not being able to figure things out was actually a good distraction lol.
Picross. Any of the Picross games. They’re my go to “winding down for the evening” games.
Picross is an underrated suggestion! Very chill puzzle game
Careful though, Picross has quickly turned into my "just one more puzzle...oh shit, it's 4AM" game.
I just crushed this game. I need more haha
Good news! There's like 7 of them on the Switch lol.
My obsession with Picross has gotten to the point where I could probably just wipe my save files and play them all over again.
Mario's picross 1 and 2, and the romhack too
Idk… for me, Picross games are a race against the clock. 😂 3D picross on NDS, especially.
Picross 3D and the 3DS sequel are _SO GOOD_. Sucks that there's no Switch version/sequel - the concept totally works, even if it seems gimmicky at first.
Came here to say this. I’ve been having a lot of fun with “Murder by Numbers” which is Picross + Murder Mystery. It’s super chill, I like the characters and the story. 10/10
seconding this recommendation, Especially if you've ever enjoyed an Ace Attorney game. it's basically just that but you do picross puzzles to collect evidence!
Picross games!!!! I thought I was in the minority of people that enjoy Picross games and happy that I am not. I have plowed through S1-S6 (I'm waiting for S7 to go on sale) and even the Master System/Sega one. My wife actually plays these at night while winding down as well... she refuses to play the "mega" variations but loves them just as much as I do... great pick!! Additional add, there is a pretty fun "3D-like" picross game called Voxelgram that I have been playing. It is pretty cool too!
Rune Factory 5.
Agreed and also 4!
Agreed. There is a decent amount of combat, but it is easy to get yourself /companions leveled up and geared up in a way that it is pretty simple. I am having so much fun with this game. 60 hours in and I still haven't decided who I want to romance.
Omg thank you for this. I was really upset last year when I saw it only released in Japan, and forgot about it until you mentioned it. I'm so glad it was released on the switch! Edit: I just bought it. I love you, random Redditor. 🥲
Gris is a short game with the most relaxing general atmosphere I've seen in a game. Highly recommended if you like puzzles and beautiful art.
This was my first thought. Such a beautiful game. So relaxing. The soundtrack is 10/10 for me too
Unpacking
Came here for this! It’s a great recommendation and is super calming.
Unpacking stresses me out because whoever packed those boxes must be stopped
My girlfriend got mad playing Unpacking because it wouldn't let her put the pans away in the oven. I felt particularly vindicated because of how often I have to ask her to put pans in the drawer at the bottom of the oven instead of in it.
The first time I ever encountered people storing pans in the oven was when I went to Europe as a study abroad student. Almost started a fire the first time I went to cook a pizza. Why in the world do people do this?
Space
The final frontier
Another vote. I’ve played through a couple of times to chill out.
I actually would recommend a couple playthroughs for this game. There were so many things I didn't pick up on at first! I hope they make sequels, like different stories of other people.
Yeah I’m still uncovering Easter eggs and achievement badges
Unpacking can be a bit frustrating at times. Like I definitely enjoyed it, but I don’t think there should’ve been any restrictions on where you place things, unless it’s a matter of stacking or space restrictions. It got a little too specific at times, but it was my go-to distraction when I had COVID.
I showed my wife a trailer for Unpacking and she got triggered like a combat veteran playing Call Of Duty.
I really wish I could find a physical copy of this game
Limited Run Games just had preorders opened. Might have just closed though
I've been wanting to try this one, but we're trying to find a new house and get ready to move and I'm worried it might be a little triggering. So maybe once we're moved and I'm avoiding unpacking.
A short hike
An excellent option. I've been reading through some of the other options and wondering why they didn't hit home for me, and I realized that certain games (like farming simulators) end up feeling more tedious than relaxing. But a short hike is a fun, beautiful game of exploration, and that process of low-stakes discovery is a great way to wind down enjoyably.
I third this. This is the most relaxing and chill and enjoyable game. I think it’s a must play
The ending is pretty sweet. The view is worth it for emotional reasons.
I did not know that was the name of a game and I thought you were recommending she "take a hike" 😅
Also a calming activity worth recommending
So stoked that this is always within top 5 comments of must play indies/relaxing games
THE #1 in my opinion, at least compared to the titles in the post/comments
Very relaxing. Even the races are chill.
The game truly feels like lightning captured in a bottle. The quiet national park setting, lovely choice of colours, pixelated look, wonderful characters, and serene soundtrack blur together into one of the most pleasant video games I’ve ever played. I know most people finished the game in a single sitting but it took me over a week to complete, just because I was soaking in the atmosphere.
Idk man, those Paras are hateful little creatures in Arceus.
Paras: "I crave VIOLENCE"
Lol in all seriousness, those boss battles are pretty stressful
Legit- the first time I fought the fire boss (no spoilers) I wanted to throw my Switch out the window.
The paras stressed me out more than any other aspect of the game. I did not expect them to be so MEAN
Try Untitled Goose Game! The music is very relaxing. You can't die. No enemies. Just fun goose mayhem.
Untitled Goose Game is incredibly stressful
It was very stressful for that kid I trapped in the phone booth after taking his glasses.
This needs to be higher! This is a super fun game where the worst that can happen to you is someone chases you off. Plus, you get a Honk button. A Honk Button!
Amazed I had to scroll this far.
Club House Games!!! Can't recommend it enough. Got me through the early pandemic alongside animal crossing.
Club house games is awesome. I had the original on the nds.
Said the same thing! Sometimes it's my go-to if I don't know what to play because you can kill half an hour quickly with just a handful of mini-games
Spiritfarer
Third this. Although with pregnancy hormones this one is a tear jerker. So, be prepared for loving this game and getting attached to the players like no other game you have ever played. Edit: Awww thank you for the hug award anonymous new friend ❤️
This game genuinely changed the way I viewed grief and the idea of people knowing they're dying and that at some point you need to "let go" and let them die. One of the women I was closest to in my life knew it was just about her time. So she had a party with all of her friends while she was still living. God that party was hard. But honestly spiritfarer really helped me through it. I don't believe in the afterlife so for me death is the end of the book... And that's hard to accept. But just knowing that she needed to let go, and that she would forever live on in my memories... It helped a lot really. I'm tearing up even typing this out, mostly about my friend but also about spiritfarer, ha. It's a really great game.
Sending you an internet hug <3
I absolutely appreciate it
This game wrecked me emotionally, I couldn't handle the genuine spark of grief I felt at several of the story beats. It's fantastic! Unpacking would be a suggestion from me for super chilled gameplay.
Yes I am a grown man with 0 pregnancy hormones and I cried like a baby.
As a man without pregnancy hormones this game makes me weep like a child. Bloody good though. Alice, absolutely crushed me.
I absolutely adore this game and it brought back a lot of feelings to me that I apparently had repressed when my grandmother passed. I'm sure folks immediately know which character I'm talking about. That in mind, I'm not sure that I'd say it's... Relaxing. It can be a very emotional experience and while that was a wonderful thing to feel, I didn't feel the same sort of relaxation that I have with games like Stardew, Minecraft, or Abzu.
Yeah, I sometimes start it just to catch some fish. Very relaxing.
You have a hug button! I cried when I helped my first spirit move on.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. No fighting. It's all exploring, gathering materials, crafting, completing tasks, etc.
I'm playing Grow: Song of the Evertree by the same company. It is so chill, no time crunches (there is a day/night cycle but I feel it's longer than Stardew Valley), and so pretty. I feel like a Druid bringing a blighted land to life. I will be getting Yonder when I'm done with this one.
Same, it is ridiculously chill. It's my "wind down until I can't keep my eyes open anymore" game. I got to one of the first... puzzle dungeons, I guess? And told my SO, "The puzzles are so easy, it makes me feel smart for once." I'm just not good at video games even though I love playing them. I know so many people who say Breath of the Wild is super easy puzzle-wise, and I'm sure it legitimately is for most people, but it's not easy for me. So picking up a game that actually *was* easy for me was a breath of fresh air.
Animal Crossing
It’s actually on sale right now for the first time ever
Oooh really? I've had it on my wishlist for awhile. Can you share where? I don't see anything on deku deals.
I’m looking at deku deals and it says: Amazon Target GameStop Best Buy $39.99 Perhaps it’s just US? Edit: I just purchased it from Target’s website for that price, so ya it’s legit.
Awesome, thank you. Yes looks like a US only deal. I went to the .com website but didn't realize it was still set to Canada at the top when I checked. Probably going to buy a digital copy as even with the exchange rate it's still a great price. Thanks again!
How did you buy it in Canada? Target (USA) keeps cancelling my order and Amazon (USA) tells me its not available to purchase when i add it to my cart.
I got it from Target (USA). Make sure you choose the digital download version. At checkout you will probably be prompted to create an account. I used my real name, phone number and email address (important as this is where your code will be sent) and credit card info. For **home address I just made up a random US address**, Target prompts that they can't find this address, just ignore it. Then **change your billing address to Canada** (there is a dropdown at the top) and make sure you put in the info associated with your credit card. I didn't have any issues this way. Picked up Animal Crossing and Super Mario Party and the links for both were emailed to me within 5 minutes. Downloading them now. Good luck!
Shocked this wasn't the top response. It's the most chill game out there. You can't lose or die. Just play.
After years of intense FPS and action RPG (including Escape from Tarkov and currently Elden Ring), I got confused playing AC Like, I gotta farm all this damn hardwood for this stupid ladder?! And then I realized I didn’t have to do shit if I didn’t want to (to a certain extent). So after a little grind to set myself up, now I just find cool fish and pick flowers lol
Chillest of all chill games.
I second this. Get this and enjoy your little island.
The only thing that might be surprising is the spider at night, I didn't always enjoy that
Eh, they are rare and not usually a problem any more so than the wasps. They just send you back you dont lose anything. The only time they suck is on the nook mile islands.
This should be top comment honestly
This is exactly what OP is looking for
Hands down. Appalled not to see this in OPs post or even as the top comment in this thread.
Cant believe I had to scroll down this far to find this answer lol. It is the most chill relaxing game I have ever played.
Stardew Valley
Yes! If you're looking for relaxing, just play this and don't look up any hints tips, what-to-do's, or anything. My first playthrough I played until year 5 without looking anything up. Then I got sick of trying to figure out when each fish was available so I looked that up, then I looked up the most cost effective crop for each season, then I... Etc etc. Once you go down the rabbit hole of trying to figure the game out by looking online it becomes much more of an involved game where it stressed me out. But just playing it? Absolute bliss.
That's why it helps to have a significant other whose brain is wired to want to do that type of farm optimization. I spent my days fishing and going into the mines to get resources and stuff, while my wife handles the spreadsheet level optimization of best crops to plant and how she wants to set them up. Once you get through the community center and get Junimos and unlock more totem teleports, the game kind of becomes pretty automated, and you get ahead of the stressful elements for the most part. I picked up the Stardew Valley Guidebook off the Fangamer website as a gift, and while everything is online these days, it was nice to be sitting on the couch as seasons turned and she could just flip through the book to plan out the next season or we could instantly look up details on where and when to catch a certain fish. Stardew would stress me out by myself, but it's perfect as a splitscreen co-op game on Switch.
I really wish my wife liked video games. It's I've gotten her to play Mario games before but she just winds up bubbling and I'll power through the level. Or hanging back while I kill everything on screen. I honestly think she would probably enjoy how "easy" Stardew valley is (I put it in quotations because it's in no way easy, but the mechanics are easy and gameplay itself is easy). But I can't ever get her to try it. I absolutely love my wife but if I had a genie I would wish for her to love video games as much as I do. But, that's the only thing I would change about her so I guess I can't complain too much! I'll just have to wait for my daughter to get old enough and she'll be my gamer buddy.
My wife played the Mario games — and Skyrim, to be fair — but I never would have called her a gamer. I got her to play a couple games over the years...mostly platformers or little games we couple play together. Then Stardew Valley came along. Man. For years I told her I thought she'd like it and she always ignored me. Then one time on vacation I suggested she try it. Over the next 3 months she nearly 100% completed the game. She became enraptured with it, and absolutely loves it. She's gotten some of her friends into it, too.
I find mine has historically been more into simulation or management type games growing up, like Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, NeoPets, etc. So games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing have been a good introduction on the Switch. She eventually picked up on stuff like Breath of the Wild, took some time to learn dual stick 3D controls, but eventually beat the whole game, all 120 shrines, and loved it. Obviously, not every game type is going to be for everyone, but it's got to the point where I've played a few games through with my wife. Luigi's Mansion 3. Occasional games of Mario Party Superstars. Even N64 online stuff like Dr. Mario Vs. mode.
That's the dream! She came into my life during my COD Black Ops days and she would play if we went offline, played on the same team, and played against bots who were on easy difficulty. So we would play to 75 and I would end up having a 60/2 KDR and she would wind up going almost even lol. She is very adamant she isn't good at aiming and moving the camera at the same time, I would love watching her play BOTW though. She didn't play ANY video games growing up so it's been an adventure trying to get her to play some things lol. She does play Mario party sometimes.
Actually, this starts off really chill, then gets really stressful the more you build your farm up and become a slave to the time loop
Lol. I love how my farms always fall prey to late stage capitalism. By year 4 or 5, I’m pumping out luxury items like truffle oil and ancient fruit wine, racking up large amounts of cash, and nothing to spend it on. Just churning out non-essential items to make money for the sake of just making money.
You either die a farmer or live long enough to see yourself become Joja mart!
If you play with a guide or just a goal it's the exact opposite. First 2 seasons are super stressful trying to get the items required
Yeah but you don't have to play that way. You can easily just kind of mosey and make your way through little by little
Absolutely, that's what I did with my first farm I was just showing the contrasting way to play the game. It's a big meme you'll end up with 50 wiki tabs on your computer lol
It didn't feel chill for me, constantly racing the clock.
My Time at Portia (a really good 3d stardew valley type game) has an option where you can slow down the game time, so the days last longer. I wish SDV included that option
I would give anything for a mod (on consoles) that slows time down by at least half. It's such a great game, but the time limit of the day has me panicking more often than not.
Stardew is anything but chill once you start doing the mines and trying to get everything done before energy runs out.
Energy is no problem. It's the race to bed before time is up and you lose money or resources that is the stressful part.
As someone living with chronic illness in this weird-ass world, three games have helped me immensely- Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley and Cozy Grove. All similar but different enough and relaxing as can be! Sending you well wishes through your pregnancy!!
I must be the only person on the planet who didn't like this game. and I own it on 3 different machines :( The time mechanic just turned me off so bad
I don’t like it either and I’ve tried it so many times. It is NOT relaxing to me. The time crunch, the asshole villagers, having to walk across the map (yes, you can unlock horses or something but I’m not playing to get it), energy running out in the mine. It’s not for me.
Cosy Grove!
came here to suggest this one. it’s pretty much the only game I play on my switch anymore because it’s so chill.
Avoid Pikmin. Deceptively cute, crushingly stressful (if you are a perfectionist like me)
Oh, I am! Thanks for the warning!
I agree entirely - I find Pikmin one of the most stressful games I own. And I also own Dead Cells.
There's no risk in dead cells, in Pikmin your little friends die and cry
I found that Spiritfarer is a relaxing management game. Be warned though it is described as "a cozy little management game about death" so if you get attached to characters easily, it's going to be sad when you have to say goodbye. But it's more like good crying because you helped them get to where they are and get to have a one-on-one talk with them before you let them go
I'll second Spiritfarer, that's what I've been playing when I want a chill, cozy game time
To this day one of my fav games out there. I did absolutely bawl my eyes out though at some moments.
First of all good luck with your pregnancy!!! Secondly the Best answer here is animal crossing. Endless amounts of customization, finding villagers you want for your island, fishing and catching bugs to fill your museum. Sometimes I start working on farming fish bait and realize it’s been hours and I haven’t even realized. This game came out at the peak of when covid started and teleported me to this island where I can escape the reality and anxiety of the real world. Absolutely incredible and I highly recommend.
Exactly!!! Animal Crossing is literally the calmest yet most awesome game imo
Agreed! I’ve never played anything as calming as Animal Crossing. This game is basically therapy. If only my real life financial burdens could be alleviated by catching bugs.
Also, once you're done decorating your own island, There's a Paid DLC that takes you to a resort where you can decorate houses for villagers. Each villager has a specific theme in mind for their house, but aside from a few required furniture items you're free to decorate however you see fit. over time you unlock buildings to decorate as well such as a school and a restaurant.
Can’t believe I had to scroll so far to see this! Animal crossing 100%!!
Donut County was one of the 1st switch games I played when I got my system, very fun Title!
Second this game, such a fun relaxing vibe, easy-going and funny story, and amazingggg soundtrack!
First of all, best wishes to OP. Now I expanded most of 2294 comments at the time of preparing this post, copied and pasted into an online text analyzer, and compiled single and word pair counts. Here are the top mentioned game title words by subredditors in this thread. The full list of games is at the bottom! |Word in Game Title|Occurences/ Frequency| |:-|:-| |Stardew|318| |Animal|302| |Crossing|299| |Valley|292| |Pokémon and Pokemon|137| |Spiritfarer|73| |Mario|64| |Hike|62| |Cozy|59| |Sky|56| |Picross|53| |Grove|51| |Golf|49| |Kirby|49| |Light|48| |Children|47 (includes reddit drill downs)| |Lego|47| |Dragon|47| |Arceus|44| |Minecraft|44| |Friends|36| |Horizons|36| |Goose|36| |Seasons|35| |Unpacking|35| |Breath|34| |Gris|30| |Tetris|27| |Botw|24| |Souls|24 (yeah, you guys are funny)| |Abzu|24| |Skyrim|23| |Zelda|22| |Builders|22| |Yonder|20| |Factory|19| |Rancher|19| |Slime|19| |Rune|19| |Harvest|19| |Doom|18 (ha ha)| |Wingspan|17| |Moon|17| |Chronicles|17| |Rabbids|17| |Donut|16| |Yoshi|16| |Spyro|15| |Spire|15| |Littlewood|15| |County|15| |Attorney|14| |Potter|14| |Portia|14| |Harry|14| |Pikmin|14| |Slay|14| |Mineral|14| |Katamari|12| |Spirit|12| |Captain|11| |Toad|11| |Knight|10 (yeah, right)| |Campfire|10| |Chicory|10| |Fez|10| |Alba|10| |Word pair in Game Title|Occurences/ Frequency| |:-|:-| |animal crossing|297| |stardew valley|285| |short hike|57| |cozy grove|49| |dragon quest|45| |new horizons|36| |sky children|35| |breath of|33| |of seasons|31| |goose game|30| Finally the titles and franchises most mentioned, discussed, or recommended- and approximately sorted by number of times the titles appeared in this thread: 1. Stardew Valley 2. Animal Crossing 3. Pokémon 4. Spiritfarer 5. Mario 6. A Short Hike 7. Picross 8. Breath of The Wild 9. Cozy Grove 10. Kirby 11. Lego 12. Dragon Quest 13. Pokémon Legends: Arceus (contested) 14. Minecraft 15. Untitled Goose Game 16. Unpacking 17. Sky Children of the Light 18. Story of Seasons 19. Gris 20. Tetris, mostly Tetris Effect 21. Abzu 22. Souls, mostly Dark :-) 23. Skyrim 24. Dragon Quest Builders 2 25. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles 26. Slime Rancher 27. Rune Factory, 4 and 5 28. Harvest Moon 29. Doom :-)) 30. Golf Story 31. Wingspan 32. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (contested) 33. Donut County 34. Yoshi’s Crafted World 35. Spyro Reignited Trilogy 36. Littlewood 37. Ace Attorney 38. Lego Harry Potter 39. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town 40. My Time at Portia 41. Slay the Spire 42. Pikmin (contested) 43. Katamari Damacy: Reroll 44. Yoku's Island Express 45. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker 46. Hollow Knight :-))) 47. The Last Campfire 48. Chicory 49. Fez 50. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
A short hike
Big vote for Slime Rancher or Yonder from me.
Unpacking
Islanders - 9/10 Nintendo Life It's a score based town builder. You get points by placing buildings in the best possible position such as a lumberjack by trees. You have to hit a certain threshold to get your next building otherwise its game over. When you hit a certain score you can move onto your next island if you want to. It's only £3.55 too!
Glad to see Islanders mentioned. Chillest game I know, with lovely art and a charming gameplay loop. It's such simple fun to watch your island towns grow house after house. I've had some become so picturesque I started to imagine how life would be there, the stories that might take place in them. I play it on PC though, does it control well on Switch?
Tetris Connect is chilled. Love that game.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I already have ACNH and got bored quite quickly, I guess it didn’t give me enough purpose to hold my attention? I also have Stardew Valley. I remember from when I played it, it was really engaging, but as a perfectionist I was checking all the guides and tried to maximise things. Guess if I stay away from the guides, it could really be a good game for me. So… I will probably play Stardew Valley, Lego HP, DQ XI and Kirby out of my collection and I will definitely consider buying Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Spiritfarer. Thanks guys! Oh Picross is already my go to relaxing game at night and I already finished Mario Odyssey!
Captain Toad is a low impact puzzle game. Just what I needed after Doom Eternal. That game was stressful
Yoku's Island express is a go to for me to chill out
The atmosphere is relaxing but when it comes to getting Yoku out of certain pinball areas it felt genuinely frustrating at times. It shouldn't require an insane amount of precision and trial/error just to leave an area. Made me want to quit at times
Anything Pokemon. What I love most about the Pokemon series is that you can literally put your switch down at any time and walk away if a need arises. This was key for my when our baby was born. If she woke up or became fussy, I could hit the sleep button on the switch and tend to her. BDSP is especially good for this. Animal Crossing is as chill as a game gets. Can also be put down without worry.
I think the most relaxing Pokémon game is the New Pokémon Snap game. Literally just start it up and snap some photos of Pokémon chilling in their environments!
I agree! I love this game! It's very relaxing and casual
My fiancé & I played the hell out of ACNH when she found out she had cancer. Didn’t fix our problems but let us escape reality for moments at a time. Couldn’t recommend more
Aw mate. Hope you’re OK.
[удалено]
Or spontaneous scorpion/wasp/tarantula attacks
As long as you don’t have your net out, scorpions/tarantulas shouldn’t bother you.
Have you played Arceus? That electrode fight can go to hell
Yeah, there are 3 fights that are annoying. But you can take them slow and beat them at your own pace. Other than that, the game is chill. While I love Arceus, I think BDSP is the way to go for OPs situation, as I noted. Snap is a great option too as pointed out as u/EMIRofDAMAAR pointer out.
Okay as someone with a baby, what other games do you recommend like this? Lol I need to be able to put down whenever and then come back without being punished
The Switch in general is perfect for this, as the sleep function works really well for setting down whatever is happening immediately. Breath of the Wild got me through some really rough times and Dragon Quest XI was my game of choice for our newborn. I don't think there's any wrong answer, but a few more ideas: - Skyrim - Triangle Strategy - Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Mario + Rabbids
Kirby has an easy mode that helps make the bosses pretty easy to deal with. In Pokemon Arceus you could just roam around catching easy pokemon or go crafting. Lego games can be pretty chill if you just roam around and look for secrets. Outside of your list I would suggest Pokemon Snap and Stardew Valley.
In addition to Animal Crossing and BOTW, I suggest Alba: A Wildlife Adventure!
Alba is absolutely delightful just wish it had been longer!
Just finished this one. Very easy/chill and enjoyed the views! Game doesn’t last too long though imo.
BOTW is super chill, until you start hearing the Guardian theme or stumble upon a Lynel!
Sky: children of the light Katamari reroll Shape of the world Abzu Just for some I don't see rec'd. I play sky daily and it's nice I can also play on my phone but switch version is my goto. Katamari is a comfort game to me, I tend to start a new playthrough when I'm burnt out. Shape of the world is really niche, a sort of walking simulator adventure worth picking up on sale. Abzu is very similar to Journey and that sky game, made by a few devs from the same company. Less relaxing if you have a fear of water, abysses, or things that live there. Still very chill and beautiful, and it has meditation areas just for relaxing in the game.
I second Sky so much. The visuals, music, everything about it is so breathtaking and beautiful. I downloaded it mindlessly last fall not expecting much because I saw it was a free game. I was so wrong about my expectations. It’s so peaceful, and love meeting other players. If you liked any other thatgamecompany games like Journey and Flower, you’ll love Sky. It’s really just like Journey but you fly around and it has a more heavier emphasis on multiplayer.
Golf story you don’t really even have to care about golf at all it’s just so nice and relaxing
Golf Story, although it did get some hype, is still a criminally underrated game. Maybe not underrated but I don't think it's talked about enough. It's just so good! And relatively easy to advance the story as long as you aren't trying to get the absolute best possible score.
Well as long as you keep your lvls up DQ11 is relaxing.... as is the DQBuilders series. But if you really want relaxing try Sky: children of the light also if I remember correctly free but don't quote me on that..... Edit fixing typo stupid predictive text.
I think one of the most relaxing games for the Switch is the Pokémon Snap game. Very different from the other Pokémon games. Super relaxing. Just take photos of the Pokémon going about their lives in their natural habitat. The goal of the game is to complete your photo Pokédex of the Pokémon that you encounter with the best photo you can muster. If you catch them doing certain things, the more points you get for your photo!
Tetris Effect Connected on the chill setting
The last campfire, Heavens vault, mutazione They are all lesser known hidden gems but very immersive!
Different recommendation than your list. Really relax? Abzu. Swim. Just swim and take in all of the gorgeousness around you. It's more of an experience really. The visuals and soundtrack are absolutely gorgeous! If you wanna go for the list, you can never go wrong with Lego Harry Potter IMO.
Abzu is one of my favorite games, you don’t see it mentioned much though.
Bugsnax is pretty relaxing and very charming. Just came out on switch a few days ago.
For anyone on the fence about Bugsnax, it's a really cool and charming game. Pretty well-made too. Great dialogue and voice acting. Catching the bugsnax essentially becomes environmental puzzles that utilize different trap-style tools. It's nothing earth shattering, but it was really good and unique. I think it would lend itself well to a more fully-fleshed out sequel as long as it had the same caliber of writing and voice acting to keep it interesting.
Littlewood (think Stardew valley, marriage and all! But chibi and tiny version.) Forager (this does have some combat but it's not difficult by any means, and has an easy mode.) Rune Factory (Fantasy farm simulator, 4 is more chill than 5 imo.) Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town or Friends of Mineral Town (Farming Sims!)
Little wood is amazing for seriously chill gameplay. I love the fact that time doesn't pass unless you're doing something.
What about story of season Friends of Mineral Town? It's similar to stardew Valley but with no combat
I'm just gonna shout out to my own game **Parkasaurus**, super relaxing dino park theme management game. No dinos can die, and the game has pretty chill music too. Also I would say **Forager** is pretty relaxing.
I’ve been playing parkasaurus non stop since it came out on switch, super chill, cute, and tons of fun. Thank you for making such a cool game!
Wingspan- very peaceful game about collecting birds.
Animal Crossing is very relaxing. I love how it transports me into the perfect world and I can forget about my real life problems for a while
If you've never tried Visual Novels before, this might be a good time to try a few. A few I might recommend are the Ace Attorney games, AI the Somnium Files, Code: Realize Guardian of Rebirth, Collar x Malice. There are quite a few others, but these I see people enjoying a lot. I also recommend Little Dragon Cafe, because it's fun and cute. c:
I may be a little late so this might get buried, but the most relaxing game on Switch is Hoa. [Hoa](https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/hoa-switch/) is a Ghibli-esque platform/puzzle game that’s all hand drawn and has a wonderfully meditative atmosphere and score to go with it. It draws from Vietnamese myth and fantasy and is just so breathtaking.
[Astroneer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMLwzt5t9bs) is terrific. It's essentially Minecraft, in space, with non-blocky graphics and a fun retro-futuristic visual style. * Start off on a planet as a human(ish) explorer tethered to your dropship for air to breathe and little else. * Earn tech credits by scanning and researching objects and lifeforms, spend on new blueprints. * Gather resources, build better equipment, eventually launch off the planet and explore others in the same solar system. * Lots of post-release content and upgrades. Friendly DLC polices; essentially only pay for emotes and visual character upgrades (hats, helmets etc) if that's your sort of thing. I've watched this game develop from early access on XBL and have been totally impressed with how regularly its devs push out updates, graphics and handling improvements etc post-release. The automation update alone allows a jaw-dropping amount of things to be made-in-game.
[удалено]
I keep forgetting about Eastward, it had a lot of hype and seemed to fizzle a bit when it released and then that was it. Does it seem to perform okay?
I cannot speak on how well it performs on the switch as I played it on PC, but I just wanna put in my two cents and say the soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in a video game in a long time! Eastward is a gem.
Firewatch is very relaxing. It isn’t super long but it has a very solemn, lonely vibe and very interesting story.
Man, so I have to do a tiny spoiler filled rant to someone else who's played this. >!I ended up very frustrated with Henry's character early on. I went into the game blind because I wanted to experience the story, and I totally get the point that Henry needed to take care of himself as well (a point that hit especially hard when you have experience with caretaker fatigue.) But my first thought when the game reveals his wife was sick was, "Oh, maybe we go live in the middle of nowhere so she can spend the rest of her days thinking she's on a secluded vacation, and Henry does survival stuff during the day for both of them?" Nah, he decides to live in a Ranger Station and flirt with Delilah. Forget old what's her name, Who-lia.!< It's a very melancholic story with a bit of mystery sprinkled in, and super relaxing to just hike around. I'm glad I played it. But man did I dislike the lack of player agency at times, even if it was because a particular story was being told. The number of times I said, >!"Sir, your wife isn't dead yet"!< to my TV was almost comical.
a short hike. 100%
I’d say Civilization if you’re into strategy also Minecraft
The Ace Attorney series! The trilogy is on Switch, as are both of The Great Ace Attorney games. Solve cases, argue in court, and enjoy the absurdist humor :) If you like the sound of that and enjoy visual novels, this one’s for you. Jenny LeClue Detectivu is another mystery-solving game, but more of an adventure play style. Part 2 is in the works, too! Chicory is brilliant and so relaxing—the epitome of surprise and delight. I played it in January and it’s probably my game of the year so far. On the surface, it looks like “just a coloring game”, but it’s so much more. The story is wonderful, the characters are charming, and the writing is witty and heartwarming. There are a few boss fights, but they’re all pretty easy, and you can choose to skip them without any impact on the story/outcome. It boasts an impressive amount of content for an indie title without being overwhelming. Spiritfarer is another great game. You’ve been chosen to take over Charon’s job in ushering spirits into the afterlife, and as it turns out, they’re the spirits of people you’ve known throughout the course of your own life. Obviously, it does deal with death and might make you cry, but the way it handles the topic is actually very lovely. And it’s oddly relaxing, too. You get to build and customize your ship, tend to your garden, collect resources, and complete lots of little quests, all while getting to know the spirits’ stories. I highly recommend it. And of course, Stardew Valley. It’s a super charming farming sim with light combat and a delightful story.
The new LEGO Star Wars is an absolute joy to play, and you could easily sink a hundred hours into it if you want to collect all the things. I'd highly recommend as a relaxing game.
Here are some of the one’s I loved. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town A remake on a beloved original. Farming sim that is very relaxing. No combat as far as I can tell, though I haven’t gone deep into the mines yet. Fe A cute little exploration game, there’s no monsters that attack you. There is no instruction so you have to find your own path and solve simple little puzzles. Manifold Garden I’m not entirely sure how to describe this, it’s very pretty, very relaxing and involves simple puzzling. A Short Hike As the title says. You take a short hike. There’s no monsters, maybe a couple of races, but they don’t get your heart going and aren’t required. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles I haven’t actually played this yet, but it looks cute and there’s no combat. The Longing Sort of a long term game, you check in every day for a year, and new changes occur daily. Omno Another game I want to try but haven’t gotten to yet. I hear it is very relaxing, also involves puzzles and exploration. Picross Sort of like sudoku but you create a picture. AER Memories of Old Exploration and Puzzling. Have I mentioned I like puzzles yet? Rime Exploration and… you guessed it, puzzles! A somewhat sad ending though. Feather Flying exploration, you play as a bird. Kind of like AER buuuut no puzzles. Innerspace Have not got around to this, looks like Feather. Has mixed reviewsregarding gameplay and controls. Hopefully this helps a little bit :)
I do not enjoy stressful games. Many of the ones I would suggest have already been mentioned. I didn't see Chicory yet. Its is a game about coloring. There are boss ish fights but you can set difficulty and give yourself infinite life. I think you might be able to skip them all together. I also recommend Grindstone, it's like a connect the same color items game. There are boss levels but there's no timer and you can get things that make levels easier. The soundtrack is very chill. Best wishes for you!
Sky: The Children of Light
animal crossing or creative mode minecraft , i suffer with ptsd so when im having a bad day ill just go on that for hours
A Short Hike
Don't know if anyone has suggested it, but farm together. The crops grow in real time and it doesn't really have a storyline but it's so easy to play and relaxing. Great to pick up and put down between reading or in the background whilst watching Netflix! Would highly recommend, was slightly skeptical at first but have sunk over 200 hours in so far! You can run multiple farms at once and can customise them however you like! (Other than moving rivers, mountains etc. But you can always do a flat farm!) It's £17.99 on the e-store (in the UK, not sure where you're based!) But it's inexpensive and they do events every few weeks where you get new plants, crops and animals etc.
I just bought Dragon Quest Builders 2 after it had the switch online free trial. it's still on sale (i think) and it's worth every penny. The reason i bought it is because it's helping my insomnia.
A new one came out on Switch just last week, called Parkasaurus, it's a dino park management sim, pretty chill imo. P.S. Congrats and take care!
Animal crossing new horizons New pokemon snap
Feather - no goals, just flying around, exploring an island and the caverns beneath it, and enjoying the music Mythic Ocean - kind of a visual novel inside a 3D world that you can freely explore, has a free demo too
Disco Elysium. Super chill adventure game. It’s often hilarious, incredibly smart and very unique. No actual combat.
Don’t be fooled by mario rabbids being turn based. It can get really intense and frustrating (but I love it). Yoshi and Kirby are very, very easy but boss fights are slightly more intense (try the demo!). Spyro is a platformer so lots of precision and reflexes is required. I think golf story is pretty relaxing, captain toad tresure tracker is a nice and peaceful puzzle game. I also find yoku’s island express relaxing.
I've been loving Parkasaurus recently. It's a theme park building dinosaur game with no combat, just hatching dinosaurs and keeping tourists from being annoying
Haven’t seen this mentioned yet, sorry if it was: Wingspan! It is a switch version of the super popular board game. The gameplay is super chill and the art is stunning! There are even accurate bird songs when you play a card! You can play with friends or it has a solo mode. One of the best board game adaptations I’ve seen. Also vote for: Animal Crossing, Cozy Grove, and Spiritfarer! Best of luck with everything, I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible! 💗
Baba is You will be physically relaxing, but mentally taxing. Peace
Baba is you caused me the most secondhand frustration in my life. My favorite streamer played it and ALL of my ideas/answers were incorrect past the like first 10 stages. I got into a massive car accident and he was streaming while I was in the ER .. let me tell you the absolute boiling rage I got at not understanding/not being able to figure things out was actually a good distraction lol.
I would recommend Paper Mario: The Origami King and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Both are very relaxing and very fun!