Come one, come all! Got a game that's not AAA (or god forbid AAAA) but you loved anyhow? Welcome to show and tell. Talk about your favorite, why people should play it, and what you love most about it. And yes, I'm aware this may just be end up being 25 comments about stardew valley.
I want to start by recommending Kingdom, a series with relatively simple (but elegant) graphics and side scrolling tower defence style gameplay. It doesn't sound like much but the presentation encourages this beautiful sense of exploration of mechanics. Amos Roddy did the music, which tells you just how much I love the soundtrack I didn't even have to look up his name. There are a few games, but I specifically recommend Kingdom: Two Crowns as it includes co-op and has some nice style options (European, Japanese, and more comprehensive Norse DLC that changes more than looks)
If that's not your speed maybe you'd the better known Stanley Parable. I won't say much on it as it's a fantastically written experience I'd recommend to anyone with a pulse. The less you know going into it the better, and it's very accessible in terms of design because it's largely a (hilarious and witty) walking simulator.
Finally, I'd recommend the Mount and Blade series. Bannerlord is the most recent but it's predecessor, Warband is a very loved game too. Essentially this series drops you into a grounded medieval sandbox world as a character you define, then you just go play. Want to be a merchant and make all the money managing a bunch of stores and contending with the unrest and banditry caused by warring kingdom? You can do that. Want to /be/ that bandit raiding caravans? You can. How about the classic Lancelot experience of being a tournament fighting, seige winning, lady wooing, knightly machine? Absolutely. And better yet, when the king shafts you of that territory you really wanted to be granted you can just rebel and become a king in your own right (long term results and stability of your kingdom may vary by circumstance). It's definitely worth a peek if you haven't looked at any of the games in the series.
And that's what I've got today. Hope you guys have some fun recommendations, stories and anecdotes for trade!
Nothing wrong with wanting to be more engaged. I don't like walking simulators either, largely because they seldom have enough else going on to engage me. This is why the Stanley Parable is so exceptional in my mind, all I'm doing is walking and I'm just as engaged as any other game I've played, which is a testament to the strength of it's writing.
I strongly recommend Kingdom with a friend, it helps shore up some of its occasionally rough edges. If all else fails pull up it's OST on Spotify/YouTube/Tidal and appreciate it
I think that is the perfect explanation for why I don't like walking simulators, thank you!