this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2024
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Patient Gamers

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A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.

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Do you have a game you play over and over, when nothing else fits your mood? That game that is infinitely re-playable, somewhat the same every time and somewhat new and interesting?

For me it's the games in the Orcs Must Die series. But mostly OMD 3. I play the mode called Scramble, where you have to beat 5 rounds of orcs, and they get harder and harder as you progress. There are random things to make it harder (nerfs) and you can choose 1 thing per round to make it easier (buffs). I've probably played that something like 300 times now since I beat the main game + DLCs a long while ago. I go into a special mental state while playing, since I know it all so well, and just zone out for about an hour each time.

Patient gamers, what's your "I will keep playing this game for the rest of my life" fallback?

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[–] RougeEric@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Guild Wars 2 and Dear Esther

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[–] knocks@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I have no idea why, but Wurm Online always manages to draw me back. Guess it's a Zen and the Art of Imping addiction.

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

When I'm too tired or depressed to dive deep into something it's always something really simple like Ring of Pain, Vampire Survivors, or other slow paced stuff.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Factorio, Minecraft, Stardew Valley. Also solitaire on my phone (PySolFC).

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[–] minyakcurry@monyet.cc 30 points 1 day ago

Slay the spire. Quick 30-45 minute run is just enough to kill time.

[–] vividspecter@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago
[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 41 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Rogue-lites are basically made to be infinitely re-playable and if I find one I like then I keep going back to it. Enter the Gungeon is a game I've played for years. Then there was a while this spot was taken by Slay the Spire and Balatro in turn. Now I'm back to Enter the Gungeon.

[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 10 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Enter the Gungeon

I had to look it up but that looks cool! Thanks for the idea.

ETG

[–] cRazi_man@lemm.ee 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

A warning before you jump in: it's crazy difficult. It took me about 70 hours of gameplay to be able to finish a play through...but after that it became pretty repeatable once I had learnt how to do it. This is pretty standard, but the failed runs are all fun and the gameplay is excellent and hilarious. I can give some generic starter tips if you want, things I wished I knew before having to learn the hard way (equally learning the hard way is the way rogue-lites are intended to work, so up to you).

The enemies are bullets that are holding guns and shooting bullets at you. You can unlock a gun that looks like a bullet, that shoots bullets that look like guns, that shoot their own bullets. Everything in the game is a pun.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

Also see Voidigo, Blazing Beaks and of course Nuclear Throne!

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[–] southernbrewer@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

HL2, Portal 2, Far Cry (1), Commander Keen, Supreme Commander, Raptor: Call of the Shadows. Halo MCC but particularly 2.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Oh sweet I can get Raptor for 84¢ right now, haven't played that since the '90s

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Deep Rock Galactic is good even in singleplayer.

Rock and stone, to the bone!

[–] Thalfon@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Really fun roguelike game where you and enemies have to move to the beat of that floor's song. I think part of the reason I still play it a lot is that it's amenable to very short sessions. I've played enough that runs go fast and I either clear or die within 10 minutes.

Over 1200 hours now almost a decade after release, and a huge chunk of that is probably sessions of under 30 mins in length.

[–] Kacarott@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago

And the soundtrack is great too

[–] hakase@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Dark Souls. If there's nothing else I want to play, I'm always up for another run through Lordran with a build I've never tried before.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The run up to the gargoyles in ds1 is very good and sometimes that's what I do. After that the pacing has some hiccups, but that first part is A+

[–] hakase@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I'll often go through O&S, and then lose steam during one of the Lord Souls afterward.

[–] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

For me this is the most unhinged option. But then DS is like putting hot needles in my eyes to me.

[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 day ago (4 children)

StarCraft. The original. My brain and body is hardwired to play that game. "SCV ready" triggers something. I have a fantasy of retiring in an old folks home and me and a few of my fellow geriatrics fire that shit up and play LAN games until the DNR kicks in.

[–] ObsidianZed@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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[–] MintyAnt@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

The atmosphere in that game is very unique and extremely well done. No shade to SC2, it just didn't require capture the feel, the music, the dread the way SC1 does

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[–] rbos@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The Long Dark. Something about wandering an icy wasteland scavenging, hunting, fishing, works for me.

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Europa Universalis IV. There are tons of countries to play, lots of variation each time, and so many options for self challenges (e.g. accomplish goal by year).

The only thing that would get me to stop playing is if EUV is good, and then only a few years and DLC in. Even then, I could see myself coming back to it.

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[–] Realitaetsverlust@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Rimworld

I just keep coming back.

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[–] cloudless@lemmy.cafe 17 points 1 day ago (6 children)
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[–] Thassodar@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

I'm late but: Fights In Tight Spaces. I thoroughly enjoy their daily challenges, and save my replays when I have a spectacular run with no damage.

[–] ISOmorph@feddit.org 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

For years that game was Warframe for me. Just turn of my brain and run missions I know inside and out while watching twitch from the corner of eye on a second monitor. At some point I wanted to have more time to play other games so I stopped and didn't find a new cozy game

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[–] B0NK3RS@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Skate 3

I'll just load it up, find a new spot and make some clips.

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[–] missingno@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

These days I mostly just grind the same handful of games. Actually having a hard time pulling myself away long enough to get through the JRPGs on my backlog...

  • Skullgirls
  • Them's Fightin' Herds
  • Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]
  • Riichi Mahjong (Mahjong Soul, Riichi City, IRL)
  • Slay the Spire
  • Puyo Puyo Champions
  • Panel de Pon
[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 day ago

For me that's rocket league.

[–] Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My main ones are: Minecraft, age of empires 2, postal 2.

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[–] Aphelion@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Space Engineers. I can just build and build and build, and the community seems to always have a few new interesting mods whenever I'm looking to start a new world.

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Phigros

It's a mobile rhythm game without ads and in-app purchases. It's also completely offline so I don't need an internet connection to play.

[–] caut_R@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

I love hunting for achievements and there’s always one unfinished game that’s a fallback to push a bit further in these cases where I stare at my Steam library for five minutes without starting anything, right now it‘s „if in doubt, play Metal Gear Solid V“

Runs 60 FPS all high on the Deck as well, which is crazy to me

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)
[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

Also Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead!

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