Mods are allowed, but you’re not allowed to make any for you to play. You can try to commission someone else to make them for you, though

For gamers looking for ways to “get a new game” while still staying under these restrictions, it seems you pick a game with a ton of mods and an easy-to-mod and/or well-documented codebase so that the modders you hire are more willing to say yes to you.

• The Sims (not sure which one though)
• Skyrim (all the mods)
• Stardew Valley (mods, plus has been go-to #2 for gaming with friends in my social circles)
• Minecraft (mods, plus has been go-to #1 for gaming with friends in my social circles)
• Factorio
• Pokémon Soul Silver (we have ROM hacks!)
• Crusader Kings 3
• I was going to put a puzzle game here but I sadly don’t remember which one
• either Kittens Game or Antimatter Dimensions. Long-lived incremental games. Gave up on Antimatter Dimensions after a certain point, but it by far has the most of my Steam hours. Limited to 10 games I’d probably pick it back up again.
• either holding out for some masterful innovation in the visual novel genre, specifically one aimed at women; or Infinity Nikki, because if I get all the DLC automatically (or magically through an unlock process more like that in pay-once games) that means I can just enjoy a pretty game and forget about all the gacha stuff.