this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
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Patient Gamers

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Do you have a game you play over and over, when nothing else fits your mood? That game that is infinitely re-playable, somewhat the same every time and somewhat new and interesting?

For me it's the games in the Orcs Must Die series. But mostly OMD 3. I play the mode called Scramble, where you have to beat 5 rounds of orcs, and they get harder and harder as you progress. There are random things to make it harder (nerfs) and you can choose 1 thing per round to make it easier (buffs). I've probably played that something like 300 times now since I beat the main game + DLCs a long while ago. I go into a special mental state while playing, since I know it all so well, and just zone out for about an hour each time.

Patient gamers, what's your "I will keep playing this game for the rest of my life" fallback?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 hours ago

I'll play a multiplayer shooter or civilization 6

[–] nilaus 7 points 7 hours ago

Civilization V.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Crawl: Stone Soup. Classic rogue like. You can play it in the browser so it's very fast to get going. Minotaur Berserker is a nice semi brainless flow.

https://crawl.develz.org/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

I'm partial to Gargoyle Fighter, slam maces into everything

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

For me it is loading up Xonotic to strafe jump around and blast bots. The movement in Xonotic is hypnotic, and while I usually play in short bursts I don't think I will ever get bored of returning over and over again to learn the nuances and creative opportunities of combat and movement in Xonotic. All it takes is the first strafe jump to put a stupid smile on my face.

https://xonotic.org/

Also I love open world driving games and Motortown is my jam. I do urgent taxi jobs and just let my mind relax as I drive like a complete madman. The tire grip and burnout mechanics along with the vehicle handling in general is the best I have tried in any game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor_Town_Behind_The_Wheel/

[–] steeznson 3 points 7 hours ago

Xonotic is mint can't recommend it enough! has replaced Quake 3 for me

[–] surph_ninja 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I’ll load up Spider-man a couple times a month just to go on patrol, and stop random crimes.

Been doing this since Spider-man 2 came out on the original Xbox. Glad the new one came out, and I don’t have to chase that kid’s damn balloon anymore.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago

Guild Wars 2 and Dear Esther

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I did that a lot with Subnautica but I think I've worn it out. I would make up challenge runs for myself to spice it up and I've run out of those. It was my "I want to play a video game right now" game. I kinda wish I had fewer objections to Subnautica 2, because there's things I like about that game and things I don't and the don'ts slightly outweigh the things that do.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I've had Subnautica on my wishlist forever. I should get to that soon

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

It's great, go play it, and I suggest going in as blind as you can.

I once saw a playthrough by Let's Play Easy Mode, I don't know how he acquired a copy of the game while knowing as little as he did about it. He correctly guessed there'd be swimming in it and realized about six minutes in that it was a survival game.

I like to give this one hint, which I think is enough guidance to keep you from looking up the wiki and encountering actual spoilers: The answer to "well, now what?" is "go deeper."

[–] knocks 4 points 11 hours ago

I have no idea why, but Wurm Online always manages to draw me back. Guess it's a Zen and the Art of Imping addiction.

[–] yamper 15 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

this is a smartass answer but if no video game is catching your attention, don't play a video game. do anything else. pick up a new hobby or revisit an old one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago

Yup. I like reading and working on coding projects.

That said, sometimes I get a hankering to play a game, but none of the dozens I have installed look interesting, so I'll go play one of my favorites (EU4, C:S, Mount & Blade, etc).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

This is what I also do. I have plenty of old favourites, but if I'm really not in the mood, I don't try to push it.

[–] southernbrewer 7 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

HL2, Portal 2, Far Cry (1), Commander Keen, Supreme Commander, Raptor: Call of the Shadows. Halo MCC but particularly 2.

[–] SpaceNoodle 1 points 8 hours ago

Oh sweet I can get Raptor for 84¢ right now, haven't played that since the '90s

[–] [email protected] 10 points 17 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Deep Rock Galactic is good even in singleplayer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

Rock and stone, to the bone!

[–] BoxOfFeet 1 points 10 hours ago

Ys Seven for the PSP. I have Ys VII and Ys: MoC for the Vita and Ys IX for the Switch, but there's something about Seven that keeps me coming back.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 16 hours ago

I'm late but: Fights In Tight Spaces. I thoroughly enjoy their daily challenges, and save my replays when I have a spectacular run with no damage.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Dark Souls. If there's nothing else I want to play, I'm always up for another run through Lordran with a build I've never tried before.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The run up to the gargoyles in ds1 is very good and sometimes that's what I do. After that the pacing has some hiccups, but that first part is A+

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

I'll often go through O&S, and then lose steam during one of the Lord Souls afterward.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Factorio, Minecraft, Stardew Valley. Also solitaire on my phone (PySolFC).

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Really fun roguelike game where you and enemies have to move to the beat of that floor's song. I think part of the reason I still play it a lot is that it's amenable to very short sessions. I've played enough that runs go fast and I either clear or die within 10 minutes.

Over 1200 hours now almost a decade after release, and a huge chunk of that is probably sessions of under 30 mins in length.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

And the soundtrack is great too

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago

Slay the spire. Quick 30-45 minute run is just enough to kill time.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 17 hours ago

These days I mostly just grind the same handful of games. Actually having a hard time pulling myself away long enough to get through the JRPGs on my backlog...

  • Skullgirls
  • Them's Fightin' Herds
  • Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]
  • Riichi Mahjong (Mahjong Soul, Riichi City, IRL)
  • Slay the Spire
  • Puyo Puyo Champions
  • Panel de Pon
[–] [email protected] 7 points 19 hours ago

Europa Universalis IV. There are tons of countries to play, lots of variation each time, and so many options for self challenges (e.g. accomplish goal by year).

The only thing that would get me to stop playing is if EUV is good, and then only a few years and DLC in. Even then, I could see myself coming back to it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

StarCraft. The original. My brain and body is hardwired to play that game. "SCV ready" triggers something. I have a fantasy of retiring in an old folks home and me and a few of my fellow geriatrics fire that shit up and play LAN games until the DNR kicks in.

[–] Jarix 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I hope you mean broodwar and not just the original release

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

Your are correct. As far as I'm concerned, the original release was an early beta.

[–] ObsidianZed 7 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] MintyAnt 6 points 19 hours ago

The atmosphere in that game is very unique and extremely well done. No shade to SC2, it just didn't require capture the feel, the music, the dread the way SC1 does

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Rogue-lites are basically made to be infinitely re-playable and if I find one I like then I keep going back to it. Enter the Gungeon is a game I've played for years. Then there was a while this spot was taken by Slay the Spire and Balatro in turn. Now I'm back to Enter the Gungeon.

[–] olafurp 2 points 15 hours ago

Fucking love Enter the Gungeon. My favorite rougelike/roguelite

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 20 hours ago

The Long Dark. Something about wandering an icy wasteland scavenging, hunting, fishing, works for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

I've been chipping away at that deep rock galactic reverse bullet hell game for a while now. Don't have the patience to play anything for more than half an hour these days.

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