I'm bored and desperately search for a proper game

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨LordWiggle@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

So, I’ve spent over 2 hours on Steam searching for a nice game to play. But it’s all junk, as far as I’m fed with Steam recommendations. I liked ksp2, cities skylines 1, age of empires 2, baldurs gate 3 a lot, I just finished Divinity original sin 2. I like rpgs and management / factory games like workers and resources, satisfactory etc. I’m having a lot of fun with split fiction when I play with a friend, but I need a proper singplayer game. Anything I could get which isn’t a total ripoff due to lack of gameplay or it being a bug simulator or dlc purchase mania?

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TachyonTele@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Balatro.
You think it’s simple until it’s suddenly 1 am and your brain is mush trying to remember what strategy you’re currently using -oops lost, ok one more run…

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bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Try a different genre than you usually play.

Tetris Effect Connected

A Short Hike

Cult of the Lamb

What Remains of Edith Finch?

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SchwertImStein@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Os there a specific genre of games you are looking for?

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nafzib@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2.

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BuzzT@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you don’t mind Early access games, try “Escape the mad empire”. It’s a nice RPG with tactical pause and some nice looting in it.

Escape the mad empire

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WhatSay@slrpnk.net ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Have you tried Oxygen not included? I’m usually not into management games, but it pulled me in.

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Donebrach@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Often when I am sick of all the things I’ve been playing or feeling uninspired I go for a genre switch. To that end I will always recommend Neir: Replicant and Neir: Automata—I feel like a failure and a fool to have sat on them for so many years. Those are both games that feature very approachable gameplay with the whole deep story and cross genre mechanics that the split fiction devs seem to be good at (and are both single player), just be sure to continue playing after the first (and second and third, etc) credits roll.

Other random suggestions:

Bellwright is a really good colony sim / survival craft combo (although I’ve not played it single player so not sure how great it is in that mode).

Cyberpunk 2077 is just fucking great if you haven’t played that.

Disco Elysium if you’re really looking for some Get Stick Bugged content. (and a fantastic drunk cop RPG)

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- Gnugit@aussie.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Just don’t buy Disco Elesium, the thieves that stole it don’t deserve that.
  
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SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
STARSECTOR

fractalsoftworks.com

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pno2nr@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Dyson Sphere Program is great, never played satisfactory but I hear they are similar.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Satisfactory is nice, but first person with huge machines. So travel time is a downside for me. Dyson sphere program is much better in that aspect, I played 2 games, with both finishing the tech tree. I played the second game when the first combat implementations were added but I haven’t checked them out yet. I don’t feel like restarting again and my old saves are a mess to pick it back up (can’t remember what is where etc with all the planets). But it’s an amazing game!
  
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MolochAlter@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I see no mention of Starsector, there should be mention of Starsector.

Try Starsector.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Not on steam, early 2000’s website, gameplay looks nice. This is a win for me. Thanks!
  
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nevetsg@aussie.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Too lazy to check all responses but if you want a nice resource building game then Timberborn could be your jam.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I really liked it, played it a lot, but now I don’t feel like playing it anymore.
  
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  - nevetsg@aussie.zone ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I feel that. I gave it a 6month break and went back for a new map. Some people like to re-engineer the entire map. I like the challenge of creating a thriving society and then get bored of them. The new sluse gates allow us to automate the water to the point where they are self sufficient.
    
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zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Stardew valley. Sea of stars. Kingdom come 2. The anno series. Metaphor re fantazio. The Case of the golden idol. Baldur’s Gate 1 &2 enhanced. Planescape torment. Against the storm. Star wars Galactic battlegrounds (it’s basically start wars age of empires 2, same engine). Civilization 5 or 6 (I prefer 5 but plenty of people prefer 6, and seems like no one prefers 7). Command and conquer (except 4). Crusader Kings. Europa universalis.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Thanks! Most I already know, I’ll check the rest. Man, do I miss generals zero hour. If only it had a working multi-player, preferably Lan. I’m a China infantry general master. Even with all the fixes people made I constantly get a “game has detected a mismatch”.
  
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  - zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Whenever I read news articles about China I can hear “China will grow larger!”
    
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doopen@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The Rock of Ages trilogy is fun

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lorty@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you like something more complex, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is pretty good.

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- Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I actually like WOTR more in many ways to BG3. Especially when you start getting deeper into it.
  
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  - lorty@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    BG3 is held back by 5e mechanics a lot unfortunately.
    
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RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Stellaris is a great realtime 4x strategy game. They have a lot of paid DLC, but you can pick and choose which modules you want. Some are purely cosmetic options while others make gameplay changes, and they go on sale pretty often. Worst comes to worst, you can usually find the DLC on key sites as well for pretty cheap. Paradox also started a subscription based service that gives you access to the DLCs, maybe you can subscribe for a month and try out which DLCs you like.

Project Zomboid is an incredibly hard resource management survival game. It is also very detailed, meaning you need to maintain everything about your character from their hydration, to their weight and fitness. Its a slow burner type game, but when the action picks up, it gets tense. Its also a “forever” game, in that theoretically, if your character never dies, the game never ends. The map is huge, big enough to feel different pretty much every time you play. Its also multiplayer, which is pretty fun.

Farming Simulator can be a fun, chill game to play. Its not as resource management intensive as a game like Project Zomboid, but it can be a good game to relax with.

Ragnarok Online is an older (2003) MMORPG that I recently discovered, and while I am not much of an MMO Enjoyer (I hathe the “Disneyland” or theme park feeling most have where I have to wait in line at NPCs and bosses), Ragnarok Online’s player population is consistently low enough to not feel like that while also being high enough to feel like the game is not dead. Just don’t play on the official servers from the Steam client. Use a client that connects to private servers, the economy is really bad in the official servers.

King Arthur: Knights Tale is a pretty fun Strategy RPG. I haven’t been able to play that much of it, but what I have been able to play was pretty fun. Check it out, it might be interesting to you if you liked Divinity and games with combat like XCOM or Fire Emblem.

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- Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I started Ragnarok Online in 2003 and it is my favorite game of all time. Easily the best sandbox RPG I’ve ever played. I don’t think I’d actually still be here typing this if I never got into it. I met some incredible people. Thank you for mentioning it. I’ve been meaning to try Origins but I haven’t got around to it. I was very sad when they went F2P and added stupid F2P mechanics.
  
  I wish I still had my old account, with my ice pick and my angeling robe on my GC Crusader!
  
  I’m so happy to hear that you, not having nostalgia for it, enjoy it now! Sending love from a very RO oldhead.
  
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innocentpixels@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Have you tried persona 5? Great jrpg I think the new clair obscur expedition 33 looks really good for single player too

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match@pawb.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
dwarf fortress?

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whotookkarl@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’ll go with some classics if you haven’t tried them yet. Planescape: torment is a really engaging crpg if you don’t mind old graphics and dig lots of lore and dialogue. Morrowind if you prefer first person for another old school rpg with lots of stuff to discover in a weird surreal environment. Dwarf fortress sounds like another older one you might be into too.

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Apeman42@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If you liked BG3 and Divinity 2, I’m obligated to mention the Pathfinder games: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. The graphics are a touch simple, but the writing is great and the detailed character building scratches an itch for me. As far as I’m concerned, Owlcat is currently the only real competition Larian has.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Added to my shopping list, thanks
  
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Ephera@lemmy.ml ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Mindustry is basically Factorio with more focus on tower defense.

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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  And there’s Shapez (and Shapez 2) for a more “pure” factory experience (operate on shapes and colors).
  
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ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Obligatory FromSoft lineup suggestion.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Not my cup of tea. I tried darksouls, sekiro and elden ring but is just not for me. Thanks though :)
  
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  - ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Absolutely. For science and curiosity did you try them using a keyboard+mouse or a controller?
    
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DaTingGoBrrr@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I would like to recommend Dave the Diver, Inscryption and Curious Expedition (first one). All of them are superb indie games. It might not be the genres you’re asking for but I would still highly recommend them if you want to try something new.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I loved Dave the diver. Holy shit what an amazing game! I will check out the other titles, Thank you!
  
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  - sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If you like Inscryption, check out other games by the same dev. They don’t have replayability, but they are unique experiences IMO.
    
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  - thurmite@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Seems like we have similar taste in games—I loved Dave the diver and can second Inscryption!
    
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Glide@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This thread is actually huge, so apologies if this has already been recommended, but take a look at Against the Storm. It’s an indie city-builder with a bit of a rogue-like spin. You can usually get it on fairly deep sales, and the rogue-like elements combined with some meta-progression gives it a real play length, even though a single city-building session is a ~45-60 minute experience.

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madame_gaymes@programming.dev ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Some further suggestions I haven’t seen mentioned in all these comments yet, surprisingly:

Foundation

Manor Lords

0 A.D. (like an open source Age of Empires)

And maybe a little more casual, but still similar vein as city management:

Mini Metro

Mini Motorways
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RecursiveParadox@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Endless Sky. Open source and crowd developed. Its story lines, assets, and general size have only increased with age. Active Discord server as well (but it’s only single player, for now anyway).

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TermTerm@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Look into Drova - Forsaken Kin. It’s been great so far.

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- dinckelman@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  One of the best games I have played in recent years. Finally scratched an itch that Gothic left me with for years
  
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NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Even when the prompt is better (at all?) articulated, threads like these are a waste of time. People who respond barely read the prompt and OPs generally don’t even know what they are asking for. So obviously you should play a little cult classic indie game called Hollow Knight.

My suggestion is to instead put some time in to find an influencer/reviewer you like. Even if you don’t have a similar taste in games, a good reviewer will say WHY they do and don’t like something and you can make informed decisions from there.

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Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If Baldur’s Gate 3 is your speed, that game gives me countless hours of trying new ways to change the story and game.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Finished the game 7 times. Single player and couch coop with friends. I tried to never go for the same route :)
  
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tal@lemmy.today ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

So, I’ve spent over 2 hours on Steam searching for a nice game to play. But it’s all junk, as far as I’m fed with Steam recommendations.

Steam does many things well, but its recommendations system is one thing that, in my experience, really falls flat on its face (which surprises me, because they have enough information to do what I would think would be fantastic recommendations).

For finding games on Steam, I’ve had the most luck simply sorting by user rating (which is a pretty darn good metric of what I’ll like, in my experience), and then using the tags to look for games in a genre. Sometimes I’ve had luck with looking at “similar games” to a game.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I basically do the same, searching overwhelmingly positive games. But most I haven’t tried are poorly looking indie games or weird Asian games. I played several really good indie games, I’m not against that, but what I see generally doesn’t catch my interest. And I have over 600 games in Steam alone, so many good ones I already played.
  
  Now it’s just a sea of junk, having to find a needle in a haystack. And user reviews aren’t a gold standard anymore. I’ve seen amazing reviews of mediocre games, as young people don’t have standards anymore as most games these days are empty of story, full of bugs or both.
  
  The game dev community was outraged by bg3, warning people they shouldn’t see bg3 as a new standard. While back in the days when you still bought physical games in a store, it indeed was a standard to sell you a proper product for the price you pay.
  
  These days I illegally download triple A games to check them first, if they are good I’ll buy them. I haven’t bought a triple A game for a long time. Often 2h of playtime for a refund on steam isn’t enough, when you want to see all the storyline videos and conversations. Not enough time to experience the gameplay.
  
  Indie games I often buy immediately, they really put in effort to make something worth playing. Big companies however just put in effort to make it look really good to make a lot of pre-orders, then to abandon it after a few minor bug fixes while gameplay is poorly written and just a few hours. As long as you peek the interest for just over 2h so people aren’t eligible for a refund anymore. This is scamming people, I don’t understand why they keep getting away with it.
  
  In 2024 almost 19.000 games were released on Steam. I have yet to find a single title from 2024 worth playing.
  
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  - ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    In 2024 almost 19.000 games were released on Steam. I have yet to find a single title from 2024 worth playing.
    
    Oh man, there’s so much. My top 10 from last year would be:
    
    The Rise of the Golden Idol - puzzle/deduction game, sequel to The Case of the Golden Idol
    
    Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age - fighting game that gracefully handles 4 players at once and has all the good feels of the Xbox Live Arcade era
    
    Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - lite immersive sim and action game that captures the spirit of the best parts of those movies
    
    Metaphor: ReFantazio - a political metaphor in JRPG form
    
    Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - a beefy expansion pack to one of the best games ever made
    
    Dread Delusion - a lite RPG with fantastic exploration
    
    Indika - a very interesting cinematic story game with some puzzles
    
    UFO 50 - 50 unique games designed to replicate the 80s
    
    Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - a giant escape room, and the puzzles are HARD
    
    The Thaumaturge - an RPG inspired mostly by Persona and The Witcher, but you almost certainly haven’t seen a setting like this in a game before
    
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  - tal@lemmy.today ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    In 2024 almost 19.000 games were released on Steam. I have yet to find a single title from 2024 worth playing.
    
    looks at my own Steam library, adds a shelf sorted by Release Date, looks for notable games
    
    Satisfactory was released in 2024. It was in Early Access for some time before that.
    
    Ditto for Caves of Qud and Nova Drift all games that I’ve played quite a bit — 2024 release following time in Early Access.
    
    Dominions 6 is a pretty involved fantasy strategy game. I haven’t played 6 much, but I’ve played the series a lot in the past, and each game is a pretty direct expansion of prior games. Not sure if that’s up your alley, though. The game turns can get pretty long late-game, as there’s a lot going on.
    
    I liked Balatro, a roguelike deckbuilder, quite a bit.
    
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Zahille7@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I mean Oblivion Remastered just came out.

It’s weird replaying Oblivion but it looks like a modern game. All the original audio is there (along with a few new voices to break up the monotony of hearing the same handful of voices over and over again), and all the locations and gear, but it all feels different. Like it’s very familiar, but it’s still very different from what we remember. Leveling is a bit different this time around as you have seven or so points to divide among your attributes, rather than picking a couple that would get increased by random numbers. I’d recommend trying it if nothing else than to try out the new polished version yourself.

Although some of the jank has been removed from this version, like there are no more items duplication glitches, but the Bound Armor/Weapon glitch works.

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- LordWiggle@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah but fuck Bethesda these days. I won’t give them my money. They screwed me too often with their money grab junk. I’ll wait for a cracked version.
  
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  - gamer@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    I’ll wait for a cracked version.
    
    Piracy is bad! But just so you know there are already people downloading a cracked version of the game illegally today! Can you believe it?!
    
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