I’ve had a great time playing some of the ‘smaller’ games lately: Dredge (adore this game so much), Dave the Diver, Cloudpunk, Stray, Octopath II, Observer.
What else would I like? That aren’t roguelikes or crafting-building games (don’t hate me, I tried to love Subnautica…as a diver I should love it, but the genre just isn’t for me!).
Would love any suggestions!
Steamworld games?
I haven’t beat all of them but Dig 1 and 2 are definitely way shorter than I wanted (I’d pay full price for an endless mode DLC lol).
Except Hades, Supergiant games aren’t super long. Bastion and Transistor are decent, and Pyre might be a little longer but is pretty unique.
I’m interpreting your list of games as semi-casual with a strong unique flavor. The messenger is a little harder than the others but still not super long.
I tried Hades! I loved the art and the world, but the idea of progressing only a little each time and dying (often) was a turn off to me.
The world they made though? Amazing! Thanks for these suggestions, I’ll check them all out!
I really enjoyed playing Hades, but I just didn’t have the skills or patience to progress at the pace I wanted. So (after realizing that being prideful about difficulty settings in my hobbies that i do to have fun is a dumb way to live), I turned on God Mode. You get extra stacks of damage resistance every time you die, capping at like 80% or something, and you can turn it on and off as needed. After that, I was having so much more fun, and the rate of progression was much better for me. I felt like I was finally playing the game that everyone else was loving so much.
Steamworld Heist is an incredible twist on a turn-based tactics game, just by adding a tiny element of skill to your aiming. It gave my twitch-reflex monkey brain just enough dopamine to engage in the turn based gameplay that usually turns me off, and I had an incredible time.