3 ms·

What games would you recommend?

0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
Here are various games that I really liked (trying to spread across genres a bit so you get a sense of what's out there): https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/ https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri https://store.steampowered.com/app/219740/Dont_Starve/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/219740/Dont_Starve/ (would recommend going into this game as blind as possible) https://store.steampowered.com/app/368230/Kingdom_Classic/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/368230/Kingdom_Classic/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/662540/Haque/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/662540/Haque/ If you like puzzles, my roommate (also an engineer) was a huge fan of https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/ Usually I try to monitor prices using a site like isthereanydeal.com and wait until it's discounted at least 50%. A mistake I made in the past was buying games just because there was a really good sale. At a certain point, I realized that the time investment in learning new game mechanics is more important than the cash investment in buying the game. Investing your time in learning the mechanics of a mediocre-but-cheap game isn't a great way to relax. Another strategy is to use a site like ifttt.com to get alerts for free games on the /r/GameDeals subreddit. You can accumulate a large game library for no cost at all if you're patient enough. I always like to play on an HDMI TV with a gamepad if possible; hunching over a laptop isn't very relaxing. Almost all the games I recommended above have good gamepad support. Steam has a nifty Big Picture mode that makes it easy to browse your library with a gamepad. Beware: Having a game library that's too large may cause decision fatigue which makes gaming less fun! :-P
- eru 3y ago
  > A mistake I made in the past was buying games just because there was a really good sale. At a certain point, I realized that the time investment in learning new game mechanics is more important than the cash investment in buying the game. Investing your time in learning the mechanics of a mediocre-but-cheap game isn't a great way to relax. I'm weirdly happy for you that this is your failure mode. For most people, buying games on sale just leads to a bigger and bigger backlog of unplayed games.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
    Oh I've got that too :-) The backlog thing is part of why I think we're in a golden age. I remember when I was a kid, it was common for my friends to own a game console (Gamecube, Gameboy, etc.) with less than 5 games for it. We're in an age of abundance now compared to those days. I try to view my backlog as an asset, not a liability. Think of it as a garden of unexplored delights. It's just a matter of giving a new game 5-10 hours to prove itself to you as you master its mechanics, instead of skipping on to the next game if you aren't immediately hooked.

Here are various games that I really liked (trying to spread across genres a bit so you get a sense of what's out there): https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/ https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri https://www.gog.com/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri https://store.steampowered.com/app/219740/Dont_Starve/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/219740/Dont_Starve/ (would recommend going into this game as blind as possible) https://store.steampowered.com/app/368230/Kingdom_Classic/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/368230/Kingdom_Classic/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/Bastion/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/662540/Haque/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/662540/Haque/ If you like puzzles, my roommate (also an engineer) was a huge fan of https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/736260/Baba_Is_You/ Usually I try to monitor prices using a site like isthereanydeal.com and wait until it's discounted at least 50%. A mistake I made in the past was buying games just because there was a really good sale. At a certain point, I realized that the time investment in learning new game mechanics is more important than the cash investment in buying the game. Investing your time in learning the mechanics of a mediocre-but-cheap game isn't a great way to relax. Another strategy is to use a site like ifttt.com to get alerts for free games on the /r/GameDeals subreddit. You can accumulate a large game library for no cost at all if you're patient enough. I always like to play on an HDMI TV with a gamepad if possible; hunching over a laptop isn't very relaxing. Almost all the games I recommended above have good gamepad support. Steam has a nifty Big Picture mode that makes it easy to browse your library with a gamepad. Beware: Having a game library that's too large may cause decision fatigue which makes gaming less fun! :-P

eru 3y ago
> A mistake I made in the past was buying games just because there was a really good sale. At a certain point, I realized that the time investment in learning new game mechanics is more important than the cash investment in buying the game. Investing your time in learning the mechanics of a mediocre-but-cheap game isn't a great way to relax. I'm weirdly happy for you that this is your failure mode. For most people, buying games on sale just leads to a bigger and bigger backlog of unplayed games.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
  Oh I've got that too :-) The backlog thing is part of why I think we're in a golden age. I remember when I was a kid, it was common for my friends to own a game console (Gamecube, Gameboy, etc.) with less than 5 games for it. We're in an age of abundance now compared to those days. I try to view my backlog as an asset, not a liability. Think of it as a garden of unexplored delights. It's just a matter of giving a new game 5-10 hours to prove itself to you as you master its mechanics, instead of skipping on to the next game if you aren't immediately hooked.