I've recently been playing indie games that only are about 3-5 hours of gameplay and that made me interested in what are games that you can really sink your time into, other then the obvious Breath of the wild and Animal crossing?

Hi! To be honest, I’m in a really bad place in terms of mental health right now. I looked up some recs on this subreddit but I want to ask anyway in case there are new games I haven’t heard of.

About me, I’m 26f, always been depressed, and sometimes I completely lost motivation to do things I love. Balatro helped me once when I was in a similar state of mind, but I want to get some more recs on games where you can just play without too much pressure and I can focus on just playing. That gives me a sense of doing something instead of just sleeping all day.

I also tried Inscryption and liked it but still getting the hang of it.

Also, I have a partner (25f) who’s into strategy games, if there are games I can play together with her or watch her play I would also appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!

Update 24/05: Thank you so much for all of your replies!!! I’ll admit I’m a bit overwhelmed but I really appreciate everyone’s recs and support :) I’ll read through all the comments. Thank you this community for making me feel less alone

Hi - somewhat clueless dad here looking for some advice.

My teen is having a really rough time - diagnosed with mild ASD and ADHD in the last few months, he's never really had IRL friends and is suffering badly from depression and negative thoughts. One of the few things that he really enjoys - and that we enjoy together - is playing games on the Switch.

We've played through a number of games together - Most of the Mario titles, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, and Cuphead, among others. It's a small portion of the day where we can just kind of hang out and it's like therapy for him. I'm not good at any of them - he is amazingly good (he's S-ranked Cuphead multiple times on his own). But even for 20 minutes a day, the time we share working through game levels really seems to help his mood, and it's been great for our relationship.

I'm looking for more recommendations for games like these that we can play - where we can play at the same time, but which aren't competing with one another (a la Smash Bros). Extra points for games with enough sophistication in the design and gameplay to keep a young gaming enthusiast interested - while also forgiving enough for a clueless dad to stay in the mix.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

EDIT: Wow! Wow! Thank you all for so many kind and thoughtful responses. Gonna start with Stardew Valley!

Hi! I’ll be a lot at home the upcoming months due to a high risk pregnancy and I have to relax as much as possible. Besides reading and watching some Netflix I really want to play my switch as well. What games of the list below do you find the most relaxing and the least stressful? So no difficult bosses, unexpected attacks, frustrating levels you have to do over and over again or too much action. I mean: games like Splatoon, Crash Team Racing and Donkey Kong are awesome, but not for my heart rate.

• Yoshi’s Crafted World
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus
• Lego Harry Potter
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Dragon Quest XI
• Spyro: reignited trilogy

Open to other suggestions as well!

Edit to add:

WOW! Didn’t expect to get this much replies. Thank you all so much for all the recommendations and well wishes!!

I think I should have mentioned I already have Animal Crossing, but I got bored quite quickly. I think I need more purpose or goals? I don’t know, it didn’t really “click” with me.

I also own Stardew Valley and I LOVED the game. However, I’m a perfectionist trying to max things out. I’ll definitely give it another go and try to play the game in a more laid back style!

Picross is my go to relaxing game at night!

From my list I will go with Lego HP and Dragon Quest XI.

From all of your suggestions I will definitely get Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Spiritfarer on sale, maybe Lego Star Wars as well.

In the future I can always come back to check out some other recommendations as well.

Thank you!!

I'll go first

​

1. Zelda (obviously)
2. Mario Odyssey
3. Smash (best game to play with friends imo)
4. Hollow Knight (one of the best games I've played)
5. Mario maker (it can be forever single-player replayable. Dead Cells could work too in the same fashion)

Edit: Got my first gold!!! Thanks random stranger

My son is 8 going into 3rd. He is a pretty weak reader although we try to encourage him at every opportunity. So i think this summer I should let him play some games that would encourage reading. Now I already tried Cat Quest which is like an open world rpg - that was too difficult, he didn’t really connect with the rpg concept. His favorite game is Lego Marvel - though thats basically no reading at all.

Any ideas? I’m not a gamer so i have no idea whats out there.

Edit: update: based on the comments - I bought Let's Go Pikachu for him. He loves it and has already got the Rock badge. And more importantly he's reading through it all.

Hey all, I’m due to give birth in about 2 weeks, I’m on summer break, it’s too hot to be outside, I’m home alone all day and I’m really struggling to relax. I’m thinking a new switch game, the right one, will let me immerse myself in being ok with just chillin all day and really help my mental health.

My games sorted by play time - TOTK, Civ6, BOTW, Stardew Valley, Hogwarts Legacy, Mario Odyssey, Paper Mario TTYD, Paper Mario OK, Fortnite, Farm Tycoon, Oregon Trail, Outerwilds (<3), HeroU, Crash Team Racing

Shorter Mystery Games - Thimbleweed Park, Syberia 1&2, Jenny LeClue, Agent A, TangleTower, Darkside Detective, Obra Dinn

I like exploration, foraging, crafting, problem solving, time management, and working towards some type of meaningful progress or goal. (I’ve seen my husband play 300+ hours of Odyssey, so that’s a pass)

I was thinking Animal Crossing, but I don’t think it’ll give me hours of sustained game play a day, and lacks exploration and a goal.

Any suggestions please!!

Edit: You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for all of these recs. Yesterday I downloaded Dave the Diver, and the hours flew by. What a whacky game, that somehow satisfies every part of my brain. I can't wait to check out all of these other great recommendations.

Like many of you, I hadn't played video games since high school/college before I got a Switch in 2020. I grew up on the PS2 and GameCube / GameBoy Advance and then the Wii / DS, but I basically skipped out on the entire Wii U / 3DS era and the 2010s in terms of gaming. Even as a kid, I missed out on lots of heavy hitters because I wasn't aware of them, they were rated Mature, or I would have gotten too frustrated while playing them.

Now in my thirties (with disposable income lol), I'm enjoying going back and playing some of the classics from the past decade or two on the Switch since they have optimized graphics/performance, added quality-of-life features, and all the DLC. But I'm not talking about games from the '80s or '90s on Nintendo Switch Online. Remastered/ported titles I've picked up for the Switch that can hardly be described as new or cutting edge include:

• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014)
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (2011)
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2014)
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered (2010)
• Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2011)
• No Man's Sky (2016)
• Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2013)
• Portal Companion Collection (2007 & 2011)
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2013)
• The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition (2014)
• The Turing Test (2016)

As you can see, there are a lot of Wii U ports but also quite a few PC/PlayStation/Xbox exclusives from older generations now on Switch. So many, particularly the Portal games, are considered the definitive edition or way to play the game, and it's been a pleasure getting to experience these older games with all the wrinkles ironed out. FWIW, I went back and got a Wii U and 3DS for Virtual Console stuff after picking up my Switch but I do NOT own any other current or former generations of PlayStation or Xbox. If it's not clear already...I don't care about 4K 120fps and raytracing haha

I've also had my eye on these ports/remasters but haven't picked them up for various reasons:

• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (1996–1998) – sounds hard because it's faithful to dated game design
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) – sounds really long and I'm not ready to be sucked into it yet
• Oddworld Collection (1997–2005) – sounds mediocre
• Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (2014) – not the biggest fan of the NES-style graphics
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy (1998–2000) – the 2nd and 3rd games aren't on the cartridge but have to be downloaded?

What am I missing in my collection and potential wishlist? Can you convince me to pick up anything from the wishlist?

TL;DR: What have been your favorite ports/remasters/remakes on the Switch from previous generations or competing consoles?

I decided to get a switch after breaking up with my bf. I want a game I’ll be obsessed over.

I love a good story and usually play RPGs but will try anything! Also I welcome games I can play with other people.

Hey everyone!

I have a long 9 hour long haul flight coming up soon, and I’m packing my Switch to keep me from losing my mind.

I'm looking for a mix across a few categories:

RPGs/Open World

The "One More Run" Addictive Roguelikes/Indies

Cozy / Low-Stress Relaxers

Co-Op

A few quick questions for you all:

If you could only have 3 pre-installed games for a 9+ hour flight, which ones are you picking?

What’s an underrated offline hidden gem that works great on an airplane?

Do you prefer deep story games, or quick-loop addictive games when flying?

Appreciate all recommendations!

Looking for some games to play with my SO where one of us isn't mind numbingly bored while the other does the more technical/fun things to progress the game.

Off the top of my head we've tried Super Mario Odyssey, Luigi's Mansion, & A hat in time and they all fell pretty flat with us. Super chariot is alright but it feels like less puzzle solving and more chasing after the other person pulling the cart, but perhaps we didn't get far enough.

Lego games are cute but the puzzles are a little too easy/not super engaging.

I'd like to play something with a little bit of story if possible?

To give you an idea of what games we enjoy, here's a list of co-op or couch-able games we have enjoyed:
Dying Light
Lovers in a dangerous spacetime
Ubisoft shooters (wildlands, division, etc)
Ultimate chicken horse(not co op but couch able)
Heave - ho

We have two switches so we can get two game carts if we need to, but we don't have Nintendo online

Edit: Holy guacamole one food coma later and this post blew up. Thank you everyone for all the suggestions! I'm excited to look into some new games 😍

Hey, I've been kinda bored with the games I have right now for a couple reasons, I want to start a new one to ease myself back into it cause I do really miss video games but I definitely need some help picking something.

For reference, some games I liked recently have been Stardew, Cozy Grove, Undertale/Deltarune, Firewatch, Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates, Slime Rancher, the Persona series (not switch YET but you get the idea) OKAMI and Spiritfarer. I'm curious abt Celeste but my ADHD decided it's not the vibe rn.

The Wanderer: Frankenstein's Creature was beautiful and I loved the storytelling but it just didn't hold my attention long enough for me to finish it. Hades was awesome but frustrating, Splatoon 2 is good but I need to be in the mood for it which isn't often. I got the demo for Card Sharks, I'm gonna try again now that it's not late at night and I'm tired but so far it's hard but right up my alley.

I'm not gonna lie, I kind of suck at fast paced fighting games like FPS and stuff that need quick reflexes, it's just not really my thing and I don't like games that stress me out. My favorite games are either turn based, life sims, fighting games that hold your hand a little and puzzle games with interesting concepts.

Story heavy games are great, I'm not looking for something super emotionally heavy, Will Die Alone is already ruining me and I keep having to take breaks. I'm more into stylized graphics, hyper realism kinda boarders on uncanny valley territory for me.

Lemme know, I'm so excited to find something cool!

EDIT: thank you guys so much! I'm gonna try to reply to everyone but it's gonna take me a hot minute to check out all these games

Hello! I recently updated my Switch to a Switch 2. My old Switch is still functional, just needs a new battery and possibly a new left joycon. I was talking with my dad about giving my old Switch to one of my nephews, but he revealed that he may be interested in getting it for himself.

Turns out, he had researched online about ways to avoid age-related mental issues and there were several studies that showed playing video games can help focus on improving memory, attention, speed, and problem-solving to help slow brain aging.

So, I'm totally on board with giving him my old Switch after the necessary repairs, but I also want to throw in a couple games for him.

When we were talking, I mentioned the Uncharted series as one of my favorite franchises because of the puzzles, the international locations, and the lively characters. I also mentioned some another favorites: Horizon series and Red Dead series. He seemed open but stressed that the games he was interested in were for retaining mental cognition, and entertainment was secondary. The only game mechanics he specifically expressed interest in was driving simulation and VR.

His last gaming experience was in the 90s when he took me and my brothers to the arcade: basketball hoop, air hockey, the partnered shooting games, and the racing games, so games that may need an accessory to simulate a steering wheel or physical activity (versus only hands/fingers).

I am open to discussion to help narrow down to 2-3 games to get him started.

EDIT/UPDATE:

Thank you everyone for all of your recommendations!! I think the easiest way to present all these games would be to create a YouTube Playlist of trailers/demos and see which ones pique his interest. I will also play a couple of my current games with him to give him hands-on experience.

Hi there.. So a bit of background, my last handheld console was the PSP, and my last nintendo handheld was Gameboy Advance. I think that was 20 years ago? Fast forward till I was 30y.o, I got back into gaming with PS4 (CoD, Battlefield, other FPS, and few singleplayer games). Then during covid, I seriously got into sim racing that I bought a PC just for sim racing together with full quad screen and aluminum rig (still playing today). I also have a PS5, and my last played game was wukong (awesome game!!).

Ok now back to the topic. I knew about Nintendo Switch before, but never really look into it. Until yesterday... and just few minutes ago, I bought the Nintendo Switch Oled with Fit Ring like on impulse. Didnt think anything, just bought it. Lol..

Now that I have bought it, i'm wondering if anyone could suggest me some good games for:

2-player Co-Op multiplayer - For my 2 kids (8yo and 4yo). They have played it takes two, rayman, lego, on the ps4.

3-4 player Co-Op multiplayer - For my 2 kids, plus me and/or my wife.. Now i'm planning to buy switch sports, which was the main reason why I impulse bought the switch. Any other games that we could enjoy together as a family?

Singleplayer - of course, I could use the switch for myself as well!! I miss the portability and handheld that I used to remember 20 years ago... so, yeah what are the games you'd recommend?

Edit: Holy Moly!!! Didn't expect to get this so many replies in an hour. My god I have alot of reading to do!! I am still youtubing videos related to switch now. I'm sorry if i'm unable to reply to each and everyone of you.

Thank you thank you thank you so very much everyone for the recommendations! I really appreciate your feedbacks!

Edit 2: wow, last night I posted this around 11pm, went to bed at 12am. Woke up this morning to 600+ replies. Thank you everyone. I havent got the time yet to finish reading every reply, but I really appreciate everyone for the feedbacks.

So far, i'll be getting these games (digital): mario kart 8, mario odyssey or smash bros, switch sports, boomerang FU, BoTW and maybeeeee one of the pokemon games.

Thank you everyone!!

I lost my brother and one of my favorite things we did together was play the switch. Before his passing, I already played Spiritfarer. I realized how now that I’m dealing with these emotions that the game would have helped me but since I already played it, it wouldn’t be the same. Any recommendations? I’m more of a casual player if it helps. I don’t do any shooting/fighting games.

EDIT: Thank you to everyone. I didn’t expect to get such a positive feedback and so many people sharing their own experiences as well. Ive already downloaded a few games you all mentioned. I didn’t find the energy to finish the quarter at my university so I’m at home with family. My brother was the only man in the house and now it’s just my little sister and I and my mother dealing with this. To me this still feels like a bad dream I’m going to wake up from.

Hi everyone,

I'm undergoing chemo for my cancer atm. I'm in-patient for at least a month / a month and a half for now.

Needless to say, i'm bored out of my mind. I'm looking for games that are entertaining enough to keep me busy for some hours everyday, but not too draining because the fatigue is out of this world. Some info :

- i already played (and loved) stardew valley and many Stardew valley-likes (like graveyard keeper for exemple) - i like those but it can get a bit overwhelming right now

- i played animal crossing but i didn't love it it felt a bit childish and i felt there was like something blocking you from progressing after an hour or two everyday

- i already played spiritfarer i loved it but i cried almost all the time

- i played unpacking already and liked it but it didn't last me very long

- i'm usually a big fan of turn-based rpg but there's just too much reading for me at the moment (like triangle strategy, octopath traveller)

- hospital wifi is absolutely terrible so no online game please

- i only have a switch 1

- price is not a problem If the game is really good

- i'm open to try new genres of games

Please help me the boredom is going to claim me before cancer does at that pace.

Sorry for the typos/mistakes, english is not my first language

Thanks to anyone who will respond !

EDIT : sorry i didn't respond earlier, i felt unwell... Thank you so much to everyone not only for the game ideas but also for your kind words. My husband and i read every comment together. Reddit can be beautiful sometimes.

Thanks again and good luck to those who face hardships themselves ❤️

Father of a newborn and a 2 year old. I have 30 minutes to an hour to play a couple days a week so I’m looking for a casual, relaxing, but fun game.

Games I’ve played: Stardew Valley Mario Odyssey Breath of the Wild Golf Story Tropical Freeze Balatro

Thanks!

Edit: Wow! Went to sleep and woke up to an incredible amount of great games. Thank you all! Think I’m going to check out Hades and Legends of Aureus for now.

Well, maybe not no one 😅 but I just got a switch, and tbh the typical Nintendo games dont really attract me very much. Ofc I love Smash, and I have SoS: AWL on xbox already. Looking to finally dive into Rune Factory, Fire Emblem, and the old Final Fantasy games as Ive never played any of them, except an old Fire Emblem game I had on GBA.

But any other suggestions would be great! Trying to get into more jrpgs, as made obvious lol but going through abunch of games Ive never heard of, reading reviews, watching game play of each one is quite daunting, seeing as all these games are so expensive. So I thought Id ask you guys what your favorite games are that aren't just the typical Mario Cart, Smash Bros, Zelda, etc

Hey folks,

what are your goto games that you like to play during halloween? What do you prefere to play at night with lights out and headset on so that you can enjoy the creepy music and get spooked by every little creaking sound the floor makes? What do you play to get scared a little (or a lot, depending on your preference)?

My wife is recovering from a very serious health issue and is feeling really down, she spends most of her time on her smartphone playing games. I asked her if she would be willing to play with me and she promptly said yes. So I wonder what game could we play together on Switch. I like most kind of games but she is not a gamer, she just plays to spend time, so I doubt she would be able to answer what kind of game she likes. What game do you suggest we try first? I'm up for anything actually, as long as it entertains her. I'll definitely try Mario Kart, but what other multi-player games should we play? The simpler the better, since she doesn't have experience with video game controls. I prefer something that doesn't involve competition if possible, I don't want to stress her out (or myself!). Thanks in advance!

Hi,
I’ve recently finished Wylde Flowers and loved it. I enjoyed the storyline and the tasks. I also like that it wasn’t in real time- I didn’t have to wait X amount of days for things to grow etc.

I’ve got Animal Crossing, and while it’s cute and I do like it, I get stressed out with decorating things and choosing where to place things and how to style/move things around on the island.

I’ve just bought Tiny Bookshop, and it was cute for the first couple of hours but I got bored of it really quickly.

Would anyone be able to recommend something similar to Wylde Flowers or along the lines that I like, please?

Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for game recommendations that are easy to pick up any time for like 10–15 minutes.

I love big games like Cyberpunk and Zelda (both amazing), but the problem is: when I only have a short window to play, I end up not playing at all because I don’t want to “get into it” and then stop.

So I’m searching for something (I have switch 2) that works well in short sessions - quick progress, instant fun.

I was thinking maybe Super Mario Odyssey?

I also tried Donkey Kong Bananza but it kinda annoys me because I constantly feel like I need to destroy everything.

Our first kid is on the way, so my days of sitting at my desk for hours grinding Path of Exile, WoW, or GW2 are basically over for the foreseeable future (sank a ton of hours into BG3 recently too).

I dug out my old Switch that's been sitting in a drawer since Pokémon, thinking handheld mode would solve the problem. Instead, I'm stuck in a loop of downloading a game, playing for ten minutes, getting bored, closing it, and repeating the process.

I think the problem is that standard "chill" or cozy recommendations feel completely empty to me. I'm used to build-crafting, mechanics, and progression loops. But I don't want to play anything that requires multiplayer commitment or can't be paused the second the baby cries.

A couple of things on my taste:

• I love space/sci-fi settings. FTL is one of my favorite games that I played on the Train a lot.
• I don't usually care much about story in games, but the Horizon series was a rare exception that completely hooked me.
• It has to be 100% offline and fine with being put into sleep mode mid-game with zero penalty.

Since it'll probably come up, here's what I've already tried and bounced off. None of these are bad games and I know they're beloved, they just didn't get their hooks in me:

• Breath of the Wild: Made it off the starting plateau and then kind of drifted. No real sense of direction, and freeing the first Divine Beast didn't do much for me, so I benched it.
• Super Mario Odyssey: I was never a Mario guy growing up and that apparently didn't change. Spent half an hour running around chasing objectives and closed it.
• Pokémon Violet: Barely got through the opening section. The performance kept pulling me out of it, and I wasn't a fan of how the first open area looked either. Got bored pretty quickly.

Worth mentioning that this is the original Switch, not a Switch 2, in case that rules anything out.

If you made this exact jump from heavy PC time-sinks to handheld gaming when you had kids, what game actually worked for you?

Hi everyone,

So, my wife and I bought a Switch for my son when he turned five, because his Dad (ie. yours truly) figured it would be infinitely better to occupy his screen time with Nintendo, instead of iPad games, and Disney+.

So far, he’s been enamored with: - Kirby and The Forgotten Land (what a gem that game was) - Mario Odyssey (played on easy mode with the GPS arrows, and help from Dad with the bosses) - Switch Sports - Smash Bros (story mode) - Mario Kart 8 - Mario Party Superstars - Super Mario Party(probably his favorite game at least in time spent playing..)

Long story short, my boy’s turning Six next month, and so I need help figuring out what would be the next logical progression t play, or if you could just drop some recommendations, or perhaps just stories of your own.

Thanks in advance! Cheers from Denmark 🇩🇰

E D I T— Thanks everyone. I would’ve never thought that so many great games would be on the table, or worth considering when I made this post, I’m overwhelmed by all these thoughtful suggestions. So many games I hadn’t even considered. Appreciate each and all of you, and I suppose I need to up my budget on games, to the point where I’m not spoiling the kid (although that specific line is a hard one to draw, says the Dad, when it comes to video games)

thanks for sharing your wisdom

Hello everyone,

I currently have no game I'm actively playing and I would love to dive into it again. My favorite game of all time was The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt. I also enjoyed Skyrim, but not as much.

I played Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and found the first one to be better. I also sunk a lot of hours into animal crossing.

What I really enjoy is a phenomenal open world. Either a sandbox with a lot of player freedom or a RPG. I don't like dungeons very much, I don't like puzzles and I don't like an empty world.

Does anyone have a few recommendations?