While spending lots more time at home, I'm finally making my way through my backlog. Sometimes I like to play tougher games, but sometimes I like to relax and just push through an easy game while watching tv.

What am I talking about? Games where there's no true death in them. Games where you're always making progress. Games where there may be a quicker more efficient way to complete them, but going the slow or stupid route still works.

Things I'm familiar with that meet this criteria

  • Many Idle/incremental games
  • 12 Labours of Hercules (Some other games in this genre are possible to lose in individual levels, but I haven't found that the case for this series)
  • Hidden object games
  • Many point and click adventure games (except Sierra ones)
  • Pretty much any survival crafting game with enemies disabled
  • Puzzle games
    -Tech trees/upgrades: I like being able to get stronger and stronger. I like being able to buy an entire tech tree. Not a fan of having a skill point cap.

So what am I missing? If you have any favorites that do meet the categories above, please share them below for anyone else interested in this topic.

Thank you.

Edit:

Categories added by replies:

  • Visual novels
  • FMV games
  • LEGO games!
  • Phoenix Wright (lighter visual novel)
4 years ago*

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Kirby's Epic Yarn. there is the level with the lava, if you don't touch the controller you still finish the level.

4 years ago
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I used to have that game. Had no idea about the lava level, hahahahaha.

4 years ago
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If youre bored and like idle games then id recommend to you NGU IDLE , but beware, this is a very addictive game.

4 years ago
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I put so much time into that game a year or so ago. I got to the part where I defeated Waldo the 3 or so times (don't know if I ever finished the battles) before I found it TOO annoying to progress.

4 years ago
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LucasArts adventure games.

4 years ago
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I`ve been playing Evergarden while watching a movie and some episodes for a couple of hours now, it's a puzzle game that has a lot of depth to it, while still remaining fairly simple.
I like how you can just play it as long as you want, and if you are planning to put a couple of hours, it is worth it to do the daily puzzle, using up some of the pieces you win, in order to have more plant growth in the beginning for all the future games you'll play that day.
It makes it quite rewarding, but not necessary, and just adds to the fun :).

4 years ago
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Ooooh, I have that one but haven't played it. Thanks!

4 years ago
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Little inferno
also real-time games usually don't have any penalty to them, games like Adventure Capitalist or Viridi

4 years ago
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Played Little Inferno when it was released <3

Viridi is new to me, though. Thank you!

4 years ago
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I made a great long list of recommendations for "warmhearted" games a long time ago, so I'm going to steal a bit from that and maybe add a few more that are just generally not difficult. You seem to have played a LOT of games, or heard of most of them, so I'm going to get weird with some of my suggestions.

EDIT: I just saw that you don't want text heavy games, which is most of these. Let me fix that.

Adventure Games

Wandersong (Adventure) Save the world through the power of music! Or don't, maybe, but the point is to try.

The Frog Detective games (Adventure) Quite silly and light, only an hour or so each I believe.

Tiny Echo (Point & Click) Any Might and Delight game walks the line between being relaxing and being too slow. I thought this one got the balance just right.

The Dream Machine A handcrafted adventure game series, currently on sale for very, very cheap. Some horror elements.

Dujanah (Experimental Adventure) Sooo, this one's weird. It's kind of an open world? You play a woman in the middle of an unnamed fantastical Middle Eastern country looking for her missing husband and daughter.

OneShot (Adventure) No dying, just quiet contemplation and difficult decisions. To quote the game page, "You are to guide a child through a mysterious world on a mission to restore its long-dead sun. The world knows you exist."

The Cat Lady (Horror/Point & Click) Believe it or not, despite the gory trappings of this game, you can't actually die in it. Your character is granted immortality from the start, in exchange for her mission.

Fran Bow (Horror/Point & Click) Similarly to Cat Lady, you can't die in this one.

The Darkside Detective (Point & Click) A gentle, cheerful supernatural tale about working in the underfunded police department of a spooky town.

Shrug Island (Adventure) Bite-sized but beautiful game about connecting with each other through music.

Burly Men at Sea (Casual Adventure) A short, colourful folk tale about three bearded men. You fill out a blank sea chart and see what fun little adventures you can get out of it. Sort of like Sunless Sea, I guess, if Sunless Sea were child-friendly and had a much brighter colour palette.

The Norwood Suite (Adventure) Loved this game, despite its bizarre ending. There are just enough puzzly bits to keep it from being a walking sim.

The Witch's Isle (Adventure) A relaxing mystery game with the unique mechanic of solving puzzles by switching briefly to other character's perspectives to see what they're doing.

Puzzle Games

Draknek's games Cute, simple, fun.

Vignettes A cross between a puzzle and a webtoy, but you do make progress! Shapeshift objects using perspective to unlock more items.

Gorogoa Completely unique, breathtakingly beautiful. If you haven't played it yet, now's the time.

Visual Novels

Danganronpa (Mystery) The first and second games are great. There are some timed gameplay segments, but they're nothing difficult. I've never heard of someone losing. (It would be at least as difficult as losing in Phoenix Wright.)

Camp W (Visual Novel) A friendship sim with the graphics of a Saturday morning cartoon.

Purrfect Date (Cat Dating Sim) You can die, but the game actually incorporates that into the story! This did some really clever things with VN mechanics I haven't seen anywhere else, and it's a solid mystery game to boot.

Other

Under Leaves (HOG) A simple and pretty hidden object game.

Marvin's Mittens (Casual Platformer) A game about being a kid and playing in the snow.

The Tiny Bang Story (HOG) I tend to prefer hidden object games that have progress, but don't have the light adventure game trappings.

4 years ago*
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I don't mind heavy games at all, but yeah this thread is more to fill a gap. I liked Tiny Bang Story for what it was. I have Norwood and haven't played it yet, so installing that one.

Thanks for the other suggestions!

4 years ago
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From recent plays, I can recommend this charming little gems:

A Short Hike
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1055540/A_Short_Hike/

Yoku's island Express
https://store.steampowered.com/app/334940/Yokus_Island_Express/

And maybe this one can apply too. It was one of the best gaming experiences I had in a long time:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/Return_of_the_Obra_Dinn/

4 years ago
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I've seen so many good things about Obra. I think it'll be my next purchase when there's a decent sale. Thanks!

4 years ago
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It is amazing, but is very much for the hardcore puzzle lover.

Like... You will need pen and paper. But the presentation, the story, the mechanics.... Oh. So amazing.

4 years ago
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:-o

Didn't know it was that involved. Yes, please.

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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In No Man's Sky's creative mode you can't die and have unlimited resources.

4 years ago
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I've been looking at that game recently. I know it had issues for years, but from what I understand it's gotten better as time has passed. Thoughts on your end?

4 years ago
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I do like it. The updates have given you much more to do and a sort of loose quest structure, though it still suffers from a lack of variety of planet types and environments. I think if it looks appealing to you then you'll probably enjoy it, particularly if you're interested in the base building aspect, which has received a lot of attention since launch.

4 years ago
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I'm not big on free building in games. I'm not creative enough, in that sense anyway.

I do love the menial collection aspect. "Get 20 of this and 5 of that and WHOA! YOU NOW HAVE A WIDGET MAKER!"

4 years ago
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To the Moon

https://store.steampowered.com/app/206440/To_the_Moon/

Story-based game. May be classified as a visual novel. One of those games that I torrented, finished, bought on Steam, then finished again.

Great game :)

4 years ago
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+1

One of the greatest story experiences ever made!

4 years ago
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Loved that game. Big fan of Laura Shigihara, so that helped, too.

Still need to play Rakuen.

4 years ago
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I looked through the list of games I beat myself during the last few years, and I think these more or less qualify (some FMV games and interactive movies, some puzzle games):

The Plan (10 minute game)
Silence
Late Shift
Press X to Not Die
Tender Loving Care
What Remains of Edith Finch
The Fidelio Incident
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
Finding Paradise
Last Day of June
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Morph Girl
Gorogoa
A Way Out
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Blackwood Crossing
Journey
The Quiet Man (2x, without and with Audio)
11-11 Memories Retold
GRIS
Observation
The Walking Dead: The Final Season
The Great C
She Sees Red
The Invisible Hours
Beyond: Two Souls (PC, Remixed version)
Her Story
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
The Complex

Although I will say that while those games are without death and can be played in a casual way, most of these require your attention in one way or another. I personally would not play a story-focussed game while watching TV, as I would be bound to miss a lot of either the game or whatever I watch on TV then. ^^

4 years ago
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I've seen GRIS GAs have thousands of entries. I'll probably get it if I see it on sale at some point.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'm going to crosscheck it with my backlog.

4 years ago
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No problem. I just had a quick look at the games I posted. And while I selected all that are easy to play and mostly story-focussed, you can actually die in some of them. It just doesn't have any real consequences or at least doesn't prevent you from smoothly playing through them. I mean, the in "Press X to not die" the title alone implicates that there is a way to die. ;)

4 years ago
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It just doesn't have any real consequences

I didn't put this in OP, but that's really what I was looking for. I 100%ed Super Mario Odyssey. There are some really obnoxious challenges there, but death isn't a big deal. I prefer games that are the polar opposite of roguelikes :-)

4 years ago
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4 years ago
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I tried that a while back. I love puzzles, and I was super hyped for it, but it just didn't do it for me. I can't pinpoint why, because it's beautiful and clever.

I envy people that loved it.

4 years ago
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4 years ago*
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Wow, thanks for the involved post, and sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I've played about half of these, but I am likely to go through and add several of these to my wishlist. I appreciate the suggestions!

4 years ago
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I mean, in other categories, also just Walking Simulators usually you don't die.

4 years ago
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Yeah. Even when doing something else, I find those way too slow for me :-(

4 years ago
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That's too bad. What Remains of Edith Finch is quite a good game, in my personal opinion. Doesn't take too long to go through, good story telling and nice artwork makes the experience enjoyable.

4 years ago
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I've seen that recommended a handful of times in this thread. I found a Let's Play on YouTube, so I'm about a third of the way through it. I need to finish it this weekend, as I'm invested.

4 years ago
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That's fine too. Haha, it's certainly a rather similar experience whether you watch someone go through the motions or you do it yourself. So I am glad that you are at least watching it through. :D

4 years ago
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