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Complex, long-term "life background" games to obsess over
GMaster7
Goggles PaesanoRegistered User regular
Goggles PaesanoRegistered User regular
Hiya - I'm usually over in G&T, but given that this is more game-agnostic, I think it may belong here instead?
I'm looking for a deep and crunchy experience to obsess over in my downtime for months (or years?) at a time. I play a lot of games - mostly console these days, but I'd like to get back into PC gaming more regularly - and as I'm about to have a baby, I'm thinking ahead and wondering about games that can occupy my theoretical downtime, even if that means mental theorizing more than actual playtime. (I know I won't have much "downtime" with a newborn, but that just means that I'm looking for something casual-but-hardcore-in-a-different-way.)
For context: I've been in a fantasy baseball league with my buddies for the last 20+ years, and it's an obsession during baseball season - checking the league and my team many times per day; chatting with my friends about the game, trades, rule changes, league politics; thinking about it and doing mental gymnastics constantly. I love being that deep in the weeds for so much of the year, having it in the background of my life, but during the offseason (October - April), there's nothing similar for me. I'm not as into other sports and don't have that social connection/history, so the answer probably isn't a different fantasy sport - I'm wondering if there's a long-term or persistent online or PC game that could fill that void.
I played and loved Blaseball - the online browser and Discord community game - until it died abruptly. I'm thinking of something like that. 15 years ago, I played a bunch of Ikariam online, and that was a good time, but maybe a little hollow. I sometimes play MMOs like FFXIV, but I think I'll have much less actual time to play soon. Something like the politics and crunchiness of EVE Online appeals to me, but maybe that's too much of a commitment. Maybe the Banished Vault would be a good balance of complexity/crunchiness, though it lacks the social/online element (or maybe that's nothing like these other things and I'm just fantasizing about the crunchy in-game manual)? Maybe there's an online democracy-type game that would fit the bill? Maybe I should get back into a tiny bit of Kingdom of Loathing each morning?
Appreciate any recommendations and thoughts on your own ongoing background obsessions. I'm probably thinking too ambitiously with baby on the way, but just wondering what's out there and what you guys have enjoyed. Thanks!
I'm looking for a deep and crunchy experience to obsess over in my downtime for months (or years?) at a time. I play a lot of games - mostly console these days, but I'd like to get back into PC gaming more regularly - and as I'm about to have a baby, I'm thinking ahead and wondering about games that can occupy my theoretical downtime, even if that means mental theorizing more than actual playtime. (I know I won't have much "downtime" with a newborn, but that just means that I'm looking for something casual-but-hardcore-in-a-different-way.)
For context: I've been in a fantasy baseball league with my buddies for the last 20+ years, and it's an obsession during baseball season - checking the league and my team many times per day; chatting with my friends about the game, trades, rule changes, league politics; thinking about it and doing mental gymnastics constantly. I love being that deep in the weeds for so much of the year, having it in the background of my life, but during the offseason (October - April), there's nothing similar for me. I'm not as into other sports and don't have that social connection/history, so the answer probably isn't a different fantasy sport - I'm wondering if there's a long-term or persistent online or PC game that could fill that void.
I played and loved Blaseball - the online browser and Discord community game - until it died abruptly. I'm thinking of something like that. 15 years ago, I played a bunch of Ikariam online, and that was a good time, but maybe a little hollow. I sometimes play MMOs like FFXIV, but I think I'll have much less actual time to play soon. Something like the politics and crunchiness of EVE Online appeals to me, but maybe that's too much of a commitment. Maybe the Banished Vault would be a good balance of complexity/crunchiness, though it lacks the social/online element (or maybe that's nothing like these other things and I'm just fantasizing about the crunchy in-game manual)? Maybe there's an online democracy-type game that would fit the bill? Maybe I should get back into a tiny bit of Kingdom of Loathing each morning?
Appreciate any recommendations and thoughts on your own ongoing background obsessions. I'm probably thinking too ambitiously with baby on the way, but just wondering what's out there and what you guys have enjoyed. Thanks!
PSN: SKI2000G | Steam: GMaster7 | Battle.net: GMaster7#1842
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I've enjoyed playing a game in a similar vein but from another sport, Eastside Hockey Manager. To a lesser extent I've enjoyed Football Manager.
It's fun to take over a team and see if you can turn them into a champion or start your career as a manager of a minor league team and see how high you can get promoted. A lot of these games have custom rosters made by other users that will let you play historical seasons to play out what-if scenarios or play with players who are currently retired.
Nintendo Switch friend code: SW-4012-4821-3053
I run a couple of campaigns at the moment, and I'm never far away from thinking about interesting characters, plots, and magic items
The best part is, you don't even need an actual gaming group, who'd only get in the way anyway; you can master a system and plot out entire campaigns without actually running them, like writing a book but with stats
In the PC gaming world, Dwarf Fortress is a good one for taking over your thoughts, as you constantly theorycraft the perfect fortress layout
Oh wait I missed the baby bit. Nevermind!
Oh
Do you like American football and dark fantasy with a humor bent at all? There's bloodbowl you could look into, not as big as investment as a wargame but very deep, sports adjacent, lots of stats, could help you keep up with a small group of pals if you start or join a league.
Stuff like crusader kings and the like
Edit
If you need a laugh Google "crusader kings out of context" and read some of the thread titles on the steam forums people screenshot
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
halfway through your post i was going to suggest eve online.... and it seems like you already caught a hint of that game possibly being on the list
i started playing eve regularly about 4 months before my first child was born and ended up being a regular player right up to about when she started school
it CAN be a very good dad game because the pace is extremely glacial... the time commitment is variable and there's guilds out there that fit every style and need. i was always dad casual, even though I was playing almost every day it was mainly for like 2-3 hours after the family went to bed, and I would say I got a full experience
happy to answer any questions you have about it
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
You should probably start expecting to lose all your gaming.
Like there was a fair bit of Pokemon Go pushing the pram around.
But that was it.
Disagree. I had an abundance of time for gaming when both of our kids were babies as long as it could be done one handed or while moving as little as possible. Something like Out of the Park Baseball would fit just right.
You want a nominal turn based strategy game that you can pause at any moment or put down instantly and is very easy for you to put down and pick up with event replay ability. So I recommend grand strategy games, specifically 4x games.
The thing about a baby is that it is much harder to plan your activities around them. Because they are chaos gremlins and you won’t know if something is about to explode from an orafice and ruin whatever plans you had made. God and babies laugh at plans.
You can also try playing stuff on Board game arena, a website for asynchronous board game play.
So, yeah.
There was indeed a large amount of time spent pinned under a baby, so there was a fair bit of time for console gaming.
But this was a complete and marked change from all the PC gaming I was doing prior, that became swiftly and completely incompatible with my life.
Absolutely. I still had time for gaming but definitely had to change how I was doing it and what I was playing, and it was more console and phone gaming than the PC gaming I was more used to.
And a couple of years down the line, you just learn to apreciate childrens games and suddenly you have a ton of time to play games, like barbie horse something, sims and stuff like that.
The slowly regenerating action point limit means you're never going to spend a huge chunk of time on it, but you can do a couple things here and there throughout the day. And you're looking at literal years of playtime before you even get close to seeing all the content of the game.
And while there isn't a ton of real multiplayer interaction, there are discords and reddits full of people who go way overboard and obsess with the game if you're looking for the more social aspect.
I'm currently reading through somebody's 25 page word document theorycrafting the most efficient ways to make money at endgame, which mostly revolves around trying to dig up the bones of saints to reassemble them into giant spider abominations.
And yeah, I know that I'm going to have something between "absolutely no time to game" and "maybe a little time if I'm lucky, but definitely no ability to plan uninterrupted gaming." But some of these asynchronous options, especially, seem like what I've been wanting to investigate.
Let's ride, bbs
I can stop anytime I want!
It all depends on how well your baby sleeps at night. Mobile games are your best option, but anything you can pause at any time is the best. Management games work pretty well for me and you can plan out what you want to do when you get back in the game when you can't actually play.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
The main thing that I've needed to look for is, "Can I play this when my brain is completely fried?" If I have to learn too many new mechanics, keep track of too many moving parts, or react too quickly? Absolutely not gonna happen. I've played some turn-based stuff, I've revisited familiar games, I've spent more time with repetitive side content than I usually do. My brain needs to idle in those lower gears.
Weirdly, this is why I can't really watch TV on those overnight shifts. It engages too much of my working brain, drains my battery at a time when I don't have the spare juice. I can passively watch stuff when there are other people in the room to talk to, but if it's just me and a show, I can't help but engage, and then my working brain kicks in. When I'm sleep deprived and exhausted, I'm then having a bad time. Damnedest thing.
There are several games I wanted to try on gamepass since having a kid and it's too much work to learn a new game, plus some take too long to get through the tutorial when the baby could wake up at anytime, so I keep playing Exoprimal the last game I learned before having a kid.
And a ton of Marvel Snap.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
I'll say it can be extremely grindy and the RNG can be insanely brutal depending on what you're trying to do, as long as you're not trying to "win" or rush through stuff, it's not so bad.
THIS is a big one. so many of the only games i play now are just "chillout" games. lotta times there's just nothing left in the tank at the end of the day and i dont want to think, react, or do anything other than vibe
wow classic is pretty good at this. extremely vapid and simple. log on and kill some bears, repeat until bed
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
I prefer Monster Train! Slay the Spire's color scheme and soundtrack are too dour and leave me feeling depressed
really a bummer they still haven't released it on android yet.
They're basically competitive deck building games, where you're trying to put together a group of animals to beat other teams/a Resident Evil-style inventory of weapons and loot to kill your opponent. They're entirely asynchronous, so you can play whenever and always have a match, and they're both turn-based so you have as much time as you want to buy and shape your team (or leave if you need to). Every round is different because you're given different options of animals/items, so you can sink a lot of time into them.
(Super Auto Pets is free to play on mobile, Steam, and playable in a browser, while Backpack Battles is downloadable on Steam (currently in free demo form but the full Early Access version comes out on March 8th and will have some kind of price))