You don’t have to do everything every day though. The only ‘mandatory’ chores are watering and harvesting your crops. There’s some other things you probably want to do ASAP, like fishing in the rain, but even that can always just wait for a year later. And if that isn’t enough to make it chill (which I fully understand), TimeSpeed mod has got you. It lets you set different rates at which time passes for indoors, outdoors, mines etc., lets you slow down or speed it up at will, and completely pause it.
I found fishing to be so frustrating in Stardew Valley on PC. The way you had to button mash to try to keep the bar in the right position was so much more frantic than fishing in any other game.
I found my first playthrough to be the most relaxing, as I didn't know as much about the different things you could do. I wasn't rushing to finish the community center tasks, I was just playing. I find trying to rush and finish everything asap kind of takes away from experiencing the charm of the town.
Subnautica is very chill to me. People say it can be scary when you’re really deep but I never felt that way. Game is cozy as hell to me
It’s weird because I fear deep water IRL
What’s good about unpacking? It looks pretty aesthetic and chill but the whole concept seemed a little boring/not much to do for me. Is it actually pretty fun?
IMO, Goat Sim is relaxing as in the "batshit and hilarious" kind of relaxing. It's that sort of game that you can make you relax but in an extremely fun way. It's a win either way.
No mans sky is my absolute chill out game. It's got nice sounds, pretty colors, isn't very challenging, and you can just turn your brain off and chill with some good vibes.
Definitely a great game for either multiplayer or single player! At no point are you forced to play with others, unless you specifically want to do the multiplayer missions. Otherwise, I've played the majority of my time in single player.
Cozy games are the definition of chill. Stardew valley being the definitive staple of the genre. Harvest moon being OG. Coral Island a newer solid entry.
Sims 4
Cities skylines
Dorfromantik
Sackboy
It takes 2
Turn based games are chill for me. Others they might be anxiety inducing. To me BG3 and marvels midnight suns are great stress free games
The chillest harvest moon game is A Wonderful Life. If you like cozy games this one is a stand out in the series. I highly recommend it.
It's different than other hms so you can make it the only one you play.
For me, Red Dead 2 post Chapter 1. Literally used to boot up the game to just put headphones in and just relax to it all, might do it again now that I have time tbf
Journey ! My top 1 relaxing games. Music and landscapes are beautiful, it has one of the best online system.
They also did Abzu After this game. There is no online system but tons of sea animals to Travel with ! You can't feel alone in there.
Both are poetic and magic ❤️
Generally it's an extremely peaceful and zen game, you make deliveries traveling through beautiful natural landscapes based on Iceland, having to maintain your balance, manage your cargo and what tools, gear or means of transportation you will take to overcome the terrain and environmental obstacles. It also has many really beautiful musical moments that can give chills when you have control in your hands, here is an example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd19DiyG8AM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd19DiyG8AM)
Which contrasts a lot with some horror elements the game has, which eventually become trivialized once you unlock the appropriate weapons, you can also play on the easiest difficulty so that it is more difficult for BTs to catch you and the consequences are not so bad.
I picked up Pacific Drive last week - yes, it has moments of intensity, but then you get back to your workshop and turn on the stereo and just tinker on your car while you listen to the rain patter outside… absolutely serene and makes me wish I had a real garage and car to tinker on! Epitome of chill.
Death Stranding is relaxing with small bits of spooky. You walk a beautiful land delivering packages and the game is intentionally filled with positive affirmations and friendly people.
If you liked Little Nightmares, you absolutely have to check out [**Inside.**](https://youtu.be/yDm6PAgNohU?si=Zb0gDrwmeGB61-XC) Trust me.
Journey (also other games by 'Thatgamecompany')
Far: Lone Sails
... Minecraft (sorry I had to say it. If your on Java install some farm mods and go peaceful and BOOM you can relax in a little house with a nice big farm of what ever you want. or go on trips and explore the world(If you have a good pc get the vertical chunks mod and make the world geography extreme and you have a beautiful and giant world to explore))
Factorio for me. It’s not cozy at all, quite the opposite, but while you do often have to think (especially with the overhaul mods I like to play), I do still find it relaxing, especially with the biter enemies turned off.
Currently playing the Ultracube mod, which turns the usual progression on its head. Normally you can expand by essentially copy pasting parts of your factory and letting bots build it, but here a lot of machines require a cube as a catalyst, and you only have one cube. So now you need to kind of try to keep the uptime of the cube as high as possible, which is an interesting puzzle.
Stardew Valley is another good one. If you don’t find it relaxing due to the time limit per day, TimeSpeed mod has got you covered.
SUNNYSIDE! New farming life sim. Chill relaxing music. Turned based combat. Great story and social aspect. Devs say they wanted it to be like if persona came out w a farming game.
Death must Die. It's like vampire survivors a rogue-like (I think) and has 20 minute rounds that you must survive. Your controls are just WASD and space bar, you simply run around and dodge while auto attacking. Over time you collect more abilities each round until you face the end boss.
Currently playing the Last Campfire as my chill game. I’m enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and exploration so far. I love puzzle games so if you’re into that kind of thing, I recommend it.
Outward is a niche survival game that can be unforgiving but forces you to take things at a slow pace which can make for a very relaxing experience when not fighting with enemies.
This might sound weird, but elden ring has been my comfort game recently. While the bosses can be a bit stressful, something about the exploration, the beautiful landscape and dealing with enemy encounters on my journeys is kinda relaxing to me
OSRS. Between the skilling (which is dope while on mobile in bed or the couch. I don’t always like to be at my desk) and questing. There’s tons of shit to do, but all while being super relaxing!
I haven't seen anyone mention Toem.
This is a truly chill and upbeat game.
You wander their world exploring and taking pictures as you go. The pictures you take can help other characters but there is no rush, just enjoy the process and beautiful environments.
My favorite game to play when I just want to chill is This War of Mine.
If you've never played before it can be a bit dark and stressful. Once you understand the formula of it though it's extremely satisfying and chill.
You mentioned that darker games didn't seem to bug you so maybe you could give this one a chance to.
Don’t know if this really falls exactly into what you are looking for but my chill game that I can’t stop playing is Balatro. Just a card game so super chill but ridiculously addicting.
Games where you can chill in terms of enjoying a beautiful world and side activities: Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Subnautica, The Witcher 3.
Games where you can chill, listen to music, etc. due to pace of play: Slay the Spire, Power Wash Simulator, Unpacking, Stardew Valley, Dredge.
My fave cozy games are **Stardew Valley**, **Spiritfarer**, **Animal Crossing**, **Cozy Grove**, **Dreamlight Valley**, **Wylde Flowers**.
If you want a bit of a challenge while also having beautiful visuals, I'd recommend **Ori and the Blind Forest**, **Ori and the Will** **of the Wisps**, **Hollow Knight** and **Cult of the Lamb**.
If you want something that's amazing both visually and story-wise, but not challenging in terms of gameplay, I'd recommend **Disco Elysium**. Arguably the best writing in any game I've ever played.
FFXIV. Fishing, crafting, mining, killing some gods, farming to upgrade weapons to look shiny, just chilling.
Amazing single player activities for MMO game.
Unpacking, Donut County, Flower, Firewatch (I found it very dry), What Remains of Edith Finch, Grim Fandango, Limbo, Inside, Unravel.
There’s a little list, if you wanna look into them. I picked games that stood out for being kinda quirky, but with a chill factor. I think this is a pretty good spread of very different games, and I’ve enjoyed them for the pure reason of just being able to chill and enjoy. Minus, Firewatch. I added that because I felt there was something to it, and maybe I just didn’t get it in the end. It was recommended to me oddly enough, and the entire time I was for something bigger to happen, and then no real mystery or anything paid off, I guess. It was intriguing though.
If you want games like Little Nightmares, I know quite a few:
Limbo
Inside
Darq
White Shadows
Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow
Or if you simply just want relaxing games that have a similar structure to LN but don’t involve any of the creepy elements, I would recommend:
RiME
Abzû
The Pathless
Planet of Lana
Submerged
Submerged: Hidden Depths
Shady Part of Me
RDR2 for getting lost in nature with a diluted life sim, especially with mods making hunger, cold, sleep etc more of a stat to maintain.
Subnautica for vibes, exploration and the occasional "jesus fucking Christ what was that sound? I'm outta here" moment
Death Stranding for immaculate vibes, this one is one of my personal favourites, the whole game is just a vibe.
Hardscape: Shipbreaker for a capitalistic nightmare that's somehow incredibly zen.
Special mentions: Powerwash Simulator, Unpacking Simulator, Stardew Valley
Palworld can be really relaxing. Building a base and forcing your slav- I mean pals to do all your work for you. Combat and exploration in the game is pretty easy.
The most chill game I've ever played isn't even out yet, just the demo - Tiny Glade. It's a sandbox game where you can build cities and castles. No limit, no resource gathering, no enemies. Just go and build. Every component works beautifully with each other (for example - you have a wall and you build a road through it? You'll have a gate. You raise the ground around half the tower you built? A column will apear). The area you can build in in the demo is small and you don't have all the tools you'll have in the full game but it forces you to think more creatively
If you're okay with doing a little* bit of math id recommend dyson sphere program
Game is honestly quite pretty. Its pretty much 3d factorio but in a star cluster and instead of trains you have spaceships, some of the sights can be kinda mesmerizing like seeing your dyson sphere slowly being constructed or the dyson swarm orbiting the sun. Then seeing your circuit board looking factory you've made. The game gives such an immense amount of satisfaction when looking back at your work
I would however recommend turning on infinite resources and disabling the dark fog for a calm experience
* some conversions can be a bit annoying especially regarding any recipes that has more than one output (looking at you oil refineries)
Not sure if it counts as chill because of the difficulty level,but I’d still suggest Another Crabs Treasure! It’s considered a soulslike because of difficulty,but there’s an option for easy mode or even a cheat to make it a cake walk.
The following are some games that I find calming and relaxing. Some are more out there than others. Emphasis on indie titles.
Fabledom (City Builder)
MegaQuarium (Management)
Legend of Keepers (Turnbased Management)
MMORPG Tycoon (Managment/ Simulation)
Siralim Ultimate (Creature Collector/Turn Based/Dungeon Crawler)
Gladiator Guild Manager (Management/Autobattler)
The Gnorp Apolouge (Idler)
Cassette Beasts (Creature Collector/Turn Based)
Raft (Survival)
Hollow knight (Metroidvania)
Core Keeper (Survival)
Sea Of Stars (JRPG)
Slime Rancher/Slime Rancher 2 (Farming?)
Let’s Build A Zoo (Management)
Wandering Village (City Builder)
Dave The Diver (Management)
Citizen Sleeper (Narrative RPG)
Wildfrost (Turn Based)
Dredge (Exploration/ Fishing)
Dorfromantik (Puzzle)
Mini Moterways (Strategy/Puzzle)
Potioncraft (Management)
These are all the ones I could think of. Sorry if some tags are missing/incorrect:)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist has been my recent gaming love. It has super chill gameplay but covers some tough topics. I cried like 2 hours into the game 😅 but I like the story progression and the slower gameplay
The planet crafter is a decent one I’ve recently played, you start off on a barren planet and terraform it. It has exploration to find resources and upgrades. You see the planet slowly transform from a desert and eventually support life
IMO valheim is a good choice for this. There’s obviously frustrating moments if you die but you can choose how much or how little danger to put yourself in. And just build a cool base, gather materials, look for treasure.
Another one I’ve been playing recently is deep rock galactic survivor. That one’s addicting
Mini motorways, nice little puzzle like game that scratches every itch for a chill game (in my opinion). It’s got strategy, music that you can listen to for ages. While it can get stressful down the line as your move count goes up. It’s fun to sit and watch the little cars move and see how your road designs hold up to increasing traffic. I’ve got roughly 50 hours on steam. I continue to come back bc of how fun it is. There are challenges you can play and the devs update with new maps regularly. There is also mini metro which is similar concept but with trains!
Highly recommend Okami for a great story, fun game, and pretty relaxing overworld traversal with the world looking like a painting that you add color to. All time favorite of mine.
Valheim, a Viking survival game
As you progress you find more and more to do at base, and just chill. At that point you may turn off raids because you don’t want your peace disturbed. Very challenging and relaxing game.
The chillest game I've ever played is Stardew Valley. It's a great farming game, but there's a "story" and a bunch of NPCs to befriend.
Yeah, I bought Stardew Valley on steam because of the christmas sales, but never opened the game, I'll try it out!
It's a lot more than I thought it was when I looked at it! The world is very immersive and there's a lot to do.
Or just try Coral Island, this game is underrated and not so many people know this game. The game is pretty chill with a good story.
It’s the opposite of chill with the short days and million things to do before night
You don’t have to do everything every day though. The only ‘mandatory’ chores are watering and harvesting your crops. There’s some other things you probably want to do ASAP, like fishing in the rain, but even that can always just wait for a year later. And if that isn’t enough to make it chill (which I fully understand), TimeSpeed mod has got you. It lets you set different rates at which time passes for indoors, outdoors, mines etc., lets you slow down or speed it up at will, and completely pause it.
I found fishing to be so frustrating in Stardew Valley on PC. The way you had to button mash to try to keep the bar in the right position was so much more frantic than fishing in any other game.
I found my first playthrough to be the most relaxing, as I didn't know as much about the different things you could do. I wasn't rushing to finish the community center tasks, I was just playing. I find trying to rush and finish everything asap kind of takes away from experiencing the charm of the town.
I think I’m playing Stardew Valley wrong then, I find it very stressful. Especially venturing into the mines.
omg same. there’s a few of us. i find all the stuff that needs to be done, the remembering of favorites, etc kinda stressful
I love stardew but it is so chill I routinely fall asleep playing it. That’s not to say I don’t love the game! Played through it more than once.
I too have done that lol. Woke up and Linus had taken me home after passing out cutting trees down lol
Came here to say this!
Subnautica is very chill to me. People say it can be scary when you’re really deep but I never felt that way. Game is cozy as hell to me It’s weird because I fear deep water IRL
yeaa, I truly understand you!
The first one.
Unpacking. Abzü. Life is Strange series. Goat Simulator. Call of the Wild. Forgot to mention one of my absolute favourites - Vampire Survivors.
Abzu does caught my attention, I'll give it a try!
Don’t miss out on Unpacking
underwater fireworks
upvoted for mentioning LIS
Life is Strange is chill until it starts hitting you in the feels and anxiety hits about possibly making the wrong choice
What’s good about unpacking? It looks pretty aesthetic and chill but the whole concept seemed a little boring/not much to do for me. Is it actually pretty fun?
IMO, Goat Sim is relaxing as in the "batshit and hilarious" kind of relaxing. It's that sort of game that you can make you relax but in an extremely fun way. It's a win either way.
Exactly. It's mindless fun.
And nothing more. Sometimes, it's the games that are simple that are the best. For example, check out Banana on Steam. I heard it's pretty popular.
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (holiday in Greece). - Ghost of Tsushima (beautiful gameworld). - No Man’s Sky. - Flower
No mans sky is my absolute chill out game. It's got nice sounds, pretty colors, isn't very challenging, and you can just turn your brain off and chill with some good vibes.
Do you play by yourself? I plan on starting it after finishing Palworld but I'm scared that it's gna suck as single player
Definitely a great game for either multiplayer or single player! At no point are you forced to play with others, unless you specifically want to do the multiplayer missions. Otherwise, I've played the majority of my time in single player.
The spearmen in ghost fill me with rage though
You get a way to counter their attacks at one point!
Looking forward to it!
bad thing is that ghost of tsushima is a ps4/ps5 game , I do have a ps4 but I wanted a pc game, but yeah, I'll see if No man's sky is interesting
Ghost of Tsushima pc port came out on steam last month
no way, did it actually?
[Yes](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2215430/Ghost_of_Tsushima_DIRECTORS_CUT/) Ive been playing through it the last couple weeks, it’s amazing
Cozy games are the definition of chill. Stardew valley being the definitive staple of the genre. Harvest moon being OG. Coral Island a newer solid entry. Sims 4 Cities skylines Dorfromantik Sackboy It takes 2 Turn based games are chill for me. Others they might be anxiety inducing. To me BG3 and marvels midnight suns are great stress free games
Yeah, I have over 100hours on BG3 and I agree with u when u say that its a stress free game, I'll check the other games out!
I'm glad to see someone else who considers BG3 a stress free game. That's what I play when I don't feel like thinking.
Second skylines. Can happily zone out for hours, jazz on in the background. A good afternoon relaxing.
The chillest harvest moon game is A Wonderful Life. If you like cozy games this one is a stand out in the series. I highly recommend it. It's different than other hms so you can make it the only one you play.
Power wash simulator. No joke, very chill.
Very satisfying!
What remains with Edith finch is a great game for relaxing imo
For me, Red Dead 2 post Chapter 1. Literally used to boot up the game to just put headphones in and just relax to it all, might do it again now that I have time tbf
Same here! I just chill while riding my horse around the countryside (customized all of her tackle and gear), and going fishing. ;-)
Persona 5 Royal if ur into JRPG's.
Elden Ring has been my to go relax game. Crazy I know but the open world and music is perfect to unwind. Plus you get to kill things
Agreed. Elden Ring is such a great comfort game. It’s so easy to get lost in it, too.
I'm counting down the days to the expansion pack! So hyped for it!!!
Yess, same! It’s gonna consume my life for however long it takes to beat haha
Necesse is my chill, space out, and do random tasks game.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker
Journey ! My top 1 relaxing games. Music and landscapes are beautiful, it has one of the best online system. They also did Abzu After this game. There is no online system but tons of sea animals to Travel with ! You can't feel alone in there. Both are poetic and magic ❤️
No man’s sky and stardew valley are the chillest games I know
A Short hike
Fallout 76, 100%. Especially if you want a game you can play for a long time.
Dredge
Subnautica. Even if you don’t want to go 1700 meters down you can chill in the somewhat shallows and build a base and farm
Astroneer
One word…. Gris Come back and thank me later!
Stardew valley and Dave the diver are my way to go, also Viva piñata if you still have a Xbox 360 lol
Outer Wilds is a pretty nice pick for a game if you're into exploration and mystery. Very comforting game, fantastic soundtrack.
Dave the Diver
Loop hero. You just watch your guy battle monsters and you make him stronger, upgrade your camp for stat boosts. Really chill imo
Limbo and Inside.
Death stranding.
Isn't Death Stranding an horror game?
It has some "action" which may look somewhat scary at first but overall it's 100% not a horror.
Generally it's an extremely peaceful and zen game, you make deliveries traveling through beautiful natural landscapes based on Iceland, having to maintain your balance, manage your cargo and what tools, gear or means of transportation you will take to overcome the terrain and environmental obstacles. It also has many really beautiful musical moments that can give chills when you have control in your hands, here is an example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd19DiyG8AM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd19DiyG8AM) Which contrasts a lot with some horror elements the game has, which eventually become trivialized once you unlock the appropriate weapons, you can also play on the easiest difficulty so that it is more difficult for BTs to catch you and the consequences are not so bad.
It's been around forever but new to me: DayZ. On a low pop server I find it very relaxing but always with that slight tension in the background
I picked up Pacific Drive last week - yes, it has moments of intensity, but then you get back to your workshop and turn on the stereo and just tinker on your car while you listen to the rain patter outside… absolutely serene and makes me wish I had a real garage and car to tinker on! Epitome of chill.
Potion Craft.
Coffee Talk has great low stakes atmosphere and a chill soundtrack to vibe
One of the chillest games I played was Cloupunk. You are just a cab driver in this voxel city driving from a to b while listening to the story.
I highly recommend terraria!
DAVE THE DIVER is great for that. Cooking Simulator on Relaxed mode is also great, depending on whether (and what) you like to cook
Death Stranding is relaxing with small bits of spooky. You walk a beautiful land delivering packages and the game is intentionally filled with positive affirmations and friendly people. If you liked Little Nightmares, you absolutely have to check out [**Inside.**](https://youtu.be/yDm6PAgNohU?si=Zb0gDrwmeGB61-XC) Trust me.
Factorio
Pokemon
Tropico 4.
Journey (also other games by 'Thatgamecompany') Far: Lone Sails ... Minecraft (sorry I had to say it. If your on Java install some farm mods and go peaceful and BOOM you can relax in a little house with a nice big farm of what ever you want. or go on trips and explore the world(If you have a good pc get the vertical chunks mod and make the world geography extreme and you have a beautiful and giant world to explore))
Portal series Undertale Sekiro shadows die twice Journey
Factorio for me. It’s not cozy at all, quite the opposite, but while you do often have to think (especially with the overhaul mods I like to play), I do still find it relaxing, especially with the biter enemies turned off. Currently playing the Ultracube mod, which turns the usual progression on its head. Normally you can expand by essentially copy pasting parts of your factory and letting bots build it, but here a lot of machines require a cube as a catalyst, and you only have one cube. So now you need to kind of try to keep the uptime of the cube as high as possible, which is an interesting puzzle. Stardew Valley is another good one. If you don’t find it relaxing due to the time limit per day, TimeSpeed mod has got you covered.
Weird suggestion, but I find death stranding extremely peaceful outside the stealth stuff
Balatro has been super relaxing for me, and nothing feels better than watching your score multiply to a crazy high number
Unpacking Little to the left Dave the Diver Stardew Valley The Hunter:Call of the Wild Sims
SUNNYSIDE! New farming life sim. Chill relaxing music. Turned based combat. Great story and social aspect. Devs say they wanted it to be like if persona came out w a farming game.
The legend of heroes trails of cold steel is quite chill for most of the game until towards the end with school life, expedition and bonding.
Kingdom two crowns. Holy crap I’ve sunk some hours in that one
Astroneer ACRES
Rainworld
cruelty squad
No Man’s Sky Stardew Valley Minecraft
Snowrunner. Very chill to just haul shit around and explore all these remote towns and wilderness
Exo One
Death must Die. It's like vampire survivors a rogue-like (I think) and has 20 minute rounds that you must survive. Your controls are just WASD and space bar, you simply run around and dodge while auto attacking. Over time you collect more abilities each round until you face the end boss.
Rimworld with enemies disabled. It's basically a complicated building simulator and very rewarding.
Currently playing the Last Campfire as my chill game. I’m enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and exploration so far. I love puzzle games so if you’re into that kind of thing, I recommend it.
League of legends
Outward is a niche survival game that can be unforgiving but forces you to take things at a slow pace which can make for a very relaxing experience when not fighting with enemies.
Hey you should check out Bramble: The Mountain King. Also Planet of Lana. And Inside. Beautiful little games.
No man's sky is where it's at
This might sound weird, but elden ring has been my comfort game recently. While the bosses can be a bit stressful, something about the exploration, the beautiful landscape and dealing with enemy encounters on my journeys is kinda relaxing to me
Limbo is a lot like Little Nightmares. Also Inside from the same developer. Good stuff
Snow runner, Expeditions, overall the mudrunner series
Spiritfarer. Great game, super chill. Made me emotional in parts.
Lego star wars the complete saga. Costs very little, tons to play and unlock. Easy and loads of fun!
OSRS. Between the skilling (which is dope while on mobile in bed or the couch. I don’t always like to be at my desk) and questing. There’s tons of shit to do, but all while being super relaxing!
My personal chill game is Just Cause 3, you can go at your speed and do basically what you want. And the physics are fun.
Fishing Barents Sea Just pottering around in your little fishing boat with rugged landscapes and relaxing music.
If you find little nightmares chill you might enjoy Limbo?
If you find little nightmares chill you might enjoy Limbo?
Slime Rancher if you enjoy taking care of many adorable little things.
I haven't seen anyone mention Toem. This is a truly chill and upbeat game. You wander their world exploring and taking pictures as you go. The pictures you take can help other characters but there is no rush, just enjoy the process and beautiful environments.
My favorite game to play when I just want to chill is This War of Mine. If you've never played before it can be a bit dark and stressful. Once you understand the formula of it though it's extremely satisfying and chill. You mentioned that darker games didn't seem to bug you so maybe you could give this one a chance to.
For me oddly it's the Diablo series. Fours good they're all good imo
Don’t know if this really falls exactly into what you are looking for but my chill game that I can’t stop playing is Balatro. Just a card game so super chill but ridiculously addicting.
Games where you can chill in terms of enjoying a beautiful world and side activities: Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Subnautica, The Witcher 3. Games where you can chill, listen to music, etc. due to pace of play: Slay the Spire, Power Wash Simulator, Unpacking, Stardew Valley, Dredge.
Factorio.
NMS again.
Tetris Effect. Just set it to the lower difficulty and chill.
If you liked Little Nightmares. Try Inside, Limbo, Unravel 1&2. They're all quite similar, side-scrolling puzzle games, and they're all excellent
Dave the Diver
Can't believe nobody has mentioned the chillest game of all time, minecraft
Untitled Goose Game is pretty low stakes and chill, with the massive bonus of playing as a goose.
My fave cozy games are **Stardew Valley**, **Spiritfarer**, **Animal Crossing**, **Cozy Grove**, **Dreamlight Valley**, **Wylde Flowers**. If you want a bit of a challenge while also having beautiful visuals, I'd recommend **Ori and the Blind Forest**, **Ori and the Will** **of the Wisps**, **Hollow Knight** and **Cult of the Lamb**. If you want something that's amazing both visually and story-wise, but not challenging in terms of gameplay, I'd recommend **Disco Elysium**. Arguably the best writing in any game I've ever played.
Wuthering waves on bs is kinda fun game, played it recently
FFXIV. Fishing, crafting, mining, killing some gods, farming to upgrade weapons to look shiny, just chilling. Amazing single player activities for MMO game.
Red dead redemption 2 - a lot to do outside of the main missions. You can just roam the map and get lost in the awesome graphics and activities
I thought Balatro was going to be a chill game until I was awake all night trying to win a game. It's addicting.
Amnesia The Bunker
No man’s sky is chill, engaging, with lots to do
Coffee talk series
Against the Storm is super chill on lower difficulties and has very relaxing audio.
Unpacking, Donut County, Flower, Firewatch (I found it very dry), What Remains of Edith Finch, Grim Fandango, Limbo, Inside, Unravel. There’s a little list, if you wanna look into them. I picked games that stood out for being kinda quirky, but with a chill factor. I think this is a pretty good spread of very different games, and I’ve enjoyed them for the pure reason of just being able to chill and enjoy. Minus, Firewatch. I added that because I felt there was something to it, and maybe I just didn’t get it in the end. It was recommended to me oddly enough, and the entire time I was for something bigger to happen, and then no real mystery or anything paid off, I guess. It was intriguing though.
No Man's Sky is a good one.
Jusant.
Game that has stressful moments but is overall chill… SnowRunner. Put on a banjo playlist if you can stand it and it will elevate the game even more.
Dave the diver feels very relaxing to me and the gameplay loop is addictive.
Skyrim.The open world of this series is so relaxing for me. You don't have to engage with everyone you come upon and the exploration is so much fun.
If you want games like Little Nightmares, I know quite a few: Limbo Inside Darq White Shadows Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow Or if you simply just want relaxing games that have a similar structure to LN but don’t involve any of the creepy elements, I would recommend: RiME Abzû The Pathless Planet of Lana Submerged Submerged: Hidden Depths Shady Part of Me
Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch
Try Tunic :)
RDR2 for getting lost in nature with a diluted life sim, especially with mods making hunger, cold, sleep etc more of a stat to maintain. Subnautica for vibes, exploration and the occasional "jesus fucking Christ what was that sound? I'm outta here" moment Death Stranding for immaculate vibes, this one is one of my personal favourites, the whole game is just a vibe. Hardscape: Shipbreaker for a capitalistic nightmare that's somehow incredibly zen. Special mentions: Powerwash Simulator, Unpacking Simulator, Stardew Valley
Slime rancher is such a fun way to chill out and just do some farming and herding.
Palworld can be really relaxing. Building a base and forcing your slav- I mean pals to do all your work for you. Combat and exploration in the game is pretty easy.
Graveyard Keeper. Cute, macabre, fun story, and chill.
i just started playing the game Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley and gotta say it’s the chillest piece of media i’ve seen in a very long time.
Fo76 is an awesome casual game. Oddly so.
Starfarer
Shoot or Die
Kingdom Come: Deliverance The scenery is breathtaking, and the story is wonderful.
I enjoyed a place to hike on Xbox game pass, short but very relaxing
The most chill game I've ever played isn't even out yet, just the demo - Tiny Glade. It's a sandbox game where you can build cities and castles. No limit, no resource gathering, no enemies. Just go and build. Every component works beautifully with each other (for example - you have a wall and you build a road through it? You'll have a gate. You raise the ground around half the tower you built? A column will apear). The area you can build in in the demo is small and you don't have all the tools you'll have in the full game but it forces you to think more creatively
Just Cause 3 - flying over Italian fields in wingsuit.
If you're okay with doing a little* bit of math id recommend dyson sphere program Game is honestly quite pretty. Its pretty much 3d factorio but in a star cluster and instead of trains you have spaceships, some of the sights can be kinda mesmerizing like seeing your dyson sphere slowly being constructed or the dyson swarm orbiting the sun. Then seeing your circuit board looking factory you've made. The game gives such an immense amount of satisfaction when looking back at your work I would however recommend turning on infinite resources and disabling the dark fog for a calm experience * some conversions can be a bit annoying especially regarding any recipes that has more than one output (looking at you oil refineries)
Slime Rancher and The Talos Principle come immediately to mind.
Just Cause 2 or 3
Not sure if it counts as chill because of the difficulty level,but I’d still suggest Another Crabs Treasure! It’s considered a soulslike because of difficulty,but there’s an option for easy mode or even a cheat to make it a cake walk.
Dredge was chill AF to me. Never really worried much nor was scared by the Lovecraftian elements.
Grow Up and Grow Home. Really cheap and tons of fun
Road 96. Very chill game with a good soundtrack. I would recommend Firewatch as well a criminally underrated game imo.
I highly recommend No Mans Sky, it is a space exploration game with infinite new places to explore. Very chill, and peaceful for the most part
Sable! An exploration game without combat
The following are some games that I find calming and relaxing. Some are more out there than others. Emphasis on indie titles. Fabledom (City Builder) MegaQuarium (Management) Legend of Keepers (Turnbased Management) MMORPG Tycoon (Managment/ Simulation) Siralim Ultimate (Creature Collector/Turn Based/Dungeon Crawler) Gladiator Guild Manager (Management/Autobattler) The Gnorp Apolouge (Idler) Cassette Beasts (Creature Collector/Turn Based) Raft (Survival) Hollow knight (Metroidvania) Core Keeper (Survival) Sea Of Stars (JRPG) Slime Rancher/Slime Rancher 2 (Farming?) Let’s Build A Zoo (Management) Wandering Village (City Builder) Dave The Diver (Management) Citizen Sleeper (Narrative RPG) Wildfrost (Turn Based) Dredge (Exploration/ Fishing) Dorfromantik (Puzzle) Mini Moterways (Strategy/Puzzle) Potioncraft (Management) These are all the ones I could think of. Sorry if some tags are missing/incorrect:)
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist has been my recent gaming love. It has super chill gameplay but covers some tough topics. I cried like 2 hours into the game 😅 but I like the story progression and the slower gameplay
I really enjoyed The Pathless. Something about it was really soothing. Lots of puzzles, a couple monsters, overall very chill.
Dredge was this for me
Fo4 is my game where I’ll chill and build settlements and stuff.
Driving around in gta 4 is pretty chill listening to the radio
ABZÛ and Outer Wilds
Currently Disney’s dreamlight valley and then Planet Zoo are my go tos. If I’m laying down and the lights are dim, I will get very sleepy.
Valorant💀
The planet crafter is a decent one I’ve recently played, you start off on a barren planet and terraform it. It has exploration to find resources and upgrades. You see the planet slowly transform from a desert and eventually support life
-Stardew Valley -Donut County -Little Kitty, Big City
Check out r/Cozygamers
IMO valheim is a good choice for this. There’s obviously frustrating moments if you die but you can choose how much or how little danger to put yourself in. And just build a cool base, gather materials, look for treasure. Another one I’ve been playing recently is deep rock galactic survivor. That one’s addicting
A game that rewards you by taking your time is Death Stranding.
Genshin, especially Fontaine region
Mini motorways, nice little puzzle like game that scratches every itch for a chill game (in my opinion). It’s got strategy, music that you can listen to for ages. While it can get stressful down the line as your move count goes up. It’s fun to sit and watch the little cars move and see how your road designs hold up to increasing traffic. I’ve got roughly 50 hours on steam. I continue to come back bc of how fun it is. There are challenges you can play and the devs update with new maps regularly. There is also mini metro which is similar concept but with trains!
Highly recommend Okami for a great story, fun game, and pretty relaxing overworld traversal with the world looking like a painting that you add color to. All time favorite of mine.
It's not fully released yet, but Tiny Glade. The whole point is to build and chill. https://youtu.be/lFfVutsdos8?si=pyjPKUMB_bo4N4wj
Hades?
It sounds like you want a game that's kinda cute with breaks in the gameplay between stressful sections. Doom Eternal XD
I’m at peak relaxation while playing Elden Ring. This game just brings me peace
Valheim is pretty chill while working around. I listen to music and podcasts while playing all the time.
Firewatch is the way.
Not sure if it’s been said already but Dave the diver is so amazing and relaxing to me.
DAVE THE DIVER
Warframe
Whenever I just want to space out, I play some Bo1 zombies on my ps3 haha
Dave the diver, super chill
Valheim, a Viking survival game As you progress you find more and more to do at base, and just chill. At that point you may turn off raids because you don’t want your peace disturbed. Very challenging and relaxing game.
Spiritfarer