I’m a casual gamer who’s been largely inactive for the past few decades, and so I’m looking for some some good game recommendations. I don’t mind if they’re old as long as they came out after 2003 (because that’s when graphics of many games really started improving), maybe between 2008-2019. I’m also quite a picky gamer.

Here is a list of games that I’ve played before and that I liked (in no particular order):

  • The Stanley Parable
  • Counter-Strike: Source
  • Counter-Strike Global Offensive
  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
  • Grand Theft Auto V (just started playing this one)
  • Freeways
  • The Wizard’s Pen
  • Need for Speed: Most Wanted
  • Need for Speed: Heat
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Simon Tatham’s Puzzle Game Collection
  • Minecraft
  • Hamsterball
  • Sifu
  • Tekken 6
  • SuperHOT
  • Papers Please
  • Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  • Accelerator (by TenebrousP)
  • The Professional
  • Paraopticon
  • Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher
  • ir:rational
  • Viewport
  • Lyxo
  • Shadowess (by playchilla)
  • Duet (by Kumobius)
  • Chain Reaction
  • Gumslinger
  • Intersectiion Controller
  • Little Alchemy
  • Magic Survival (by Leme)
  • Spy Tactics
  • Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
  • Cyclomaniacs 2
  • Learn 2 Fly 2
  • Piano Tiles 2
  • The Sims 3
  • Plants vs. Zombies
  • Tetris (on Facebook)
  • Solitaire on Windows 7
  • Space Cadet Pinball
  • Purble Place

Here are games that I’ve played that I didn’t like:

  • Quake II RTX
  • Doom (1993)
  • Counter-Strike 1.6
  • Left 4 Dead
  • Half-Life
  • Speed Dreams
  • Assault Cube
  • Terraria
  • Minetest
  • Xonotic
  • Piano Tiles
  • Geometry Dash
  • Payback 2
  • Touchgrind Skate 2
  • Pixel Wheels
  • NBA 2K11
  • Defense of the Ancients
  • Dota 2
  • Sim City 2000
  • OpenRCT 2
  • OpenTTD
  • The Sims 4
  • Doki Doki Literature Club
  • Tetris (any other implementation I’ve tried)
  • Solitaire on Windows XP

Here are games I would like to avoid:

  • Battle Royale / Deathmatch- style games (Fortnite, PUBG, etc.)
  • MOBAs (League of Legends, Mobile Legends, etc.)
  • Hero shooters (Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege, etc.)
  • Games with fantasy-based elements (Skyrim, The Witcher, Souls games etc.)
  • RPGs
  • Side-scrollers / Shoot-em-ups / Top-down games
  • Platformers
  • Horror/supernatural games (Resident Evil, Silent Hill, etc.)
  • Management games (Civilization, Cities: Skylines, etc.)
  • Artillery games
  • Outer-space/post-apocalyptic games (Halo, Fallout, etc.)
  • Cookie clickers / Walking simulators
  • Rhythm games
  • Sports games
  • Game adaptations of existing media (Star Wars games, Arkham games, etc.)
  • Board/card/gambling/collectible/gacha games\
  • Games that have microtransactions/required DLCs
  • Text adventures / Visual novels
  • Trivia games
  • VR games

Other than that, everything is fair game. I don’t have any aversion towards graphic language/gore/sex.

My tastes might be too specific, but I hope someone here may be able to provide me with a recommendation!

      • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
        10·
        11 months ago

        I can kinda see why they’ve been out of gaming for decades. I’m also a bit confused by their qualifiers… They say they don’t want top-down games, but listed liking pinball… Is that not a top-down pinball game?

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
    121·
    11 months ago

    Outer Wilds and Return of The Obra Dinn are two that I would recommend. The latter was made by the creator of Papers Please.

    Both are basically “solve a mystery by gathering clues and exploring” type games.

    • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
      4·
      11 months ago

      The exact two I was thinking of. Any and everyone who enjoys games should give them both at least a solid hour if their time to see if it sticks. Two modern classics for sure.

  • Coasting0942@reddthat.comEnglish
    111·
    11 months ago

    The Outer Wilds.

    Probably in the top ten games I’ve ever played. Story focused, lite reading, almost no action, maybe some scary elements depending on your personality.

    • greenmed123@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      32·
      11 months ago

      Seems interesting, even though it has space/fantasy elements, it looks more like an outdoor survival game. I’ll try to check it out.

      • ExtraMedicated@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        11 months ago

        It’s not really a survival game. More of an exploration puzzle game. It doesn’t explicitly tell you where to go or what to do. You’re pretty much on your own to find clues and figure out what happened and how to end the time loop you’re stuck in. It really is a fascinating game. I haven’t played anything else quite like it.

        • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
          3·
          11 months ago

          There is definitely a non vr version lol. You can play it on PC or consoles with a controller.

          Edit: oh heck, I think your response is showing up to the wrong comment, sorry, disregard!

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
    7·
    11 months ago

    If you enjoyed Papers Please, you might enjoy Lucas Pope’s other major work, Return of the Obra Dinn. It’s a “solve the mystery” game, possibly the best one I’m aware of. It’s very engaging, it’ll make you feel like a genius, and it has basically no replay value.

    One of my very, very favorite games is Subnautica. It is a survival game set on an ocean planet, and few games have captured me the way Subnautica did. I think you should go into Subnautica as blind as possible, but I will reveal a few things about it so you can decide if it’s for you: Unlike most survival games it is not inherently open-ended; it has a story that has an end, there is a victory condition to work toward. I would not call Subnautica “a horror game” because horror/scariness isn’t the point of the game, but it does have some scary things in it. By its nature it is also a trigger for thalassophobia aka fear of deep water.

    You might enjoy Infinifactory by Zachtronics. It has Minecraft-like block placing gameplay, but you are given fixed immutable environments in which to build little assembly lines out of conveyors, welders, pushers, grinders etc. Of the Zachtronics games I think this is the most accessible, though like many of their games I think the difficulty curve is a little steep.

    • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
      41·
      11 months ago

      Ehhh, that one is kind of reading-heavy, as well as being top-down. It might not be what OP is looking for.

      • runjun@lemmy.worldEnglish
        51·
        11 months ago

        All dialog is voiced and the OP excluded most games so I’m just recommending a banger game.

        • Ashtear@lemm.ee
          3·
          11 months ago

          I agree with the rec here. I think at this point OP is just going to have to roll the dice on the recent hits and see if it can change some of their tastes. Or just drop the medium altogether.

          Maybe it’ll help a little that Disco Elysium is isometric, not top-down. Though it’s an RPG. And text-heavy. 🤷‍♀️

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      2·
      11 months ago

      Oooo once I have my dedicated VR machine set up, I’ll give this a shot. I won’t run Facebook code on my main machine though lawl

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          2·
          11 months ago

          I have an Index, I would never touch an Oculus.

          The game is Facebook code. I uninstalled Beat Saber when FB bought it, I don’t touch anything Facebook…. I miss Beat Saber so much though.

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          1·
          11 months ago

          Eh we have a dedicated machine for it. Just been lazy.

          VMs will always have a performance hit.

            • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              1·
              11 months ago

              Not saying ya do, just saying an identical system would run at a higher framerate and more even frametimes if Windows was running natively.

              • oldGregg@lemm.ee
                2·
                11 months ago

                I get you, but the device can only render at its max frame rate, I don’t personally get satisfaction out of higher numbers than optimal.Either way I’m not worried about the less than 5% frame difference Ive got in testing. If I do, I can dual boot into my VM.

                • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  1·
                  11 months ago

                  Totally fair! I’m just saying, none of my devices can surpass 144FPS on an Index, so it’s definitely better to boot native. It’s a lot more than 5% when you’re trying to hit as high of framerate as you can on an index hahaha

    • greenmed123@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      21·
      11 months ago

      Wow! This would have been right up my alley if it wasn’t for the need of a VR headset! I’ll try to revisit this game in a few months once I get myself some gear.

      • MartinXYZ@lemmy.ml
        1·
        11 months ago

        Not exactly the same, but I get similar vibes (if slightly more adult) from Squirrel With A Gun.

  • sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net
    41·
    11 months ago

    If you liked the Stanley parable, I feel like spec ops: the line would be up your alley. Quite different games with a common narrative method.

    Based on the puzzle games and games with character on your list, it seems like psychonauts would be a good choice. (Its technically a platformer, but so is tomb raider)

    The Scribblenauts series is a fun puzzle game that’s sort of unique, though it’s a side scroller.

    Beaming is a racing game that’s heavy on the physics simulation side of things.

  • PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works
    41·
    11 months ago

    CounterStrike 2 came out last Wednesday. Basically the same game as CSGO but with some quality of life and graphical updates. Might be worth taking a shot at getting back into it.

    There’s some platforming but Hollow Knight is an excellent game if you enjoy metroidvania types.

    If you have someone to play with you may want to give local couch games a try. I’m ignoring a few of your thematic dislikes because they aren’t really a critical part of most of these games.

    Games like:

    Lovers in a dangerous space time

    Boomerangfu

    It takes two

    Untitled goose game (single player is also fun if you enjoy harassing people as a goose)

    Unravel

    Duck game

    Portal 2 (single player is great)

    Cup head (single player is also great)

  • strongarm@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    52·
    11 months ago

    From the looks of your lists of what you like and what to avoid I think you’d like games like the Dishonored series, Bioshock, and the System Shock remake.

  • Lyricism6055@lemmy.world
    2·
    11 months ago

    Please play the souls games.

    Dark souls 1,2, and 3. And sekiro.

    They are all super good

    No microtransaction, good difficulty, and just fun af to play

    • Schaedelbach@feddit.de
      1·
      11 months ago

      I love Dredge! But I think I finished the whole game in 4 or 5 sittings over a weekend. That’s not a comment on the game’s length per se and more on the fun I had. I just didn’t want to stop playing!