Suggestions for "calm" games?

[DanielBrown]

Perhaps not the best game for the purpose, but I've been playing L.A Noire for the past few days and damn is it slow.
Cutscenes, drive a bit, cutscenes, walk around a small area and inspect stuff, cutscene, drive a bit, cutscene, interview, inspection time etc etc.
There's some action. Sometimes you gotta chase a suspect or shoot some people, but it mainly takes care of itself.

 

[flying_whimsy]

Thanks for telling me that for the PS2 games, because I really loved the concept of the game, but I was very disappointed that I couldn't actually play it.

You're welcome; I hope your quest for relaxing games pays off (on more than one occasion I've made similar efforts to find non-violent games and come up short).

Also, I could never get into the Myst games, either; they always struck me as a bit full of themselves.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Thanks for telling me that for the PS2 games, because I really loved the concept of the game, but I was very disappointed that I couldn't actually play it.

You're welcome; I hope your quest for relaxing games pays off (on more than one occasion I've made similar efforts to find non-violent games and come up short).

Also, I could never get into the Myst games, either; they always struck me as a bit full of themselves.

Yeah, as I see it now, I think I will never play violent games again. I'm totally sick of this madness. Well, I will only make a small exception in the future for the next Dead Rising game, which basically is a comedy.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Anyone of the Professor Layton games unless you get really frustracted with a puzzle.
Even then this music being played would calm you anyway

 

[Chknboy]

Audiosurf with relaxing music is always pleasant, or Osmos, I couldn't really get into that game as much but I remember the soundtrack being super relaxing.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Perhaps not the best game for the purpose, but I've been playing L.A Noire for the past few days and damn is it slow.
Cutscenes, drive a bit, cutscenes, walk around a small area and inspect stuff, cutscene, drive a bit, cutscene, interview, inspection time etc etc.
There's some action. Sometimes you gotta chase a suspect or shoot some people, but it mainly takes care of itself.

L.A Noir sounds cool. I have seen screenshots of the interogation with the facial expression of the witnesses. It's surely a technical achievement. To be frank I'm not too crazy about the action parts, basically I'm not much into Rockstar games in general. They all start with the most impressive way, but at the end I always find myself cursing about the controls and about other things too: the discouraging difficulty, the pain to drive/ride for miles to find that specific room where you can save your progress etc...

 

[Rheinmetall]

Anyone of the Professor Layton games unless you get really frustracted with a puzzle.
Even then this music being played would calm you anyway

Thanks,
Ha ha, it may sound strange but what really frustrated me in the game was the music. It drove me crazy after listening so much of it. But I loved the puzzles for sure, except the last set of them where I got stuck for good. I'm reffering to the first Professor Layton game.

 

[DanielBrown]

Perhaps not the best game for the purpose, but I've been playing L.A Noire for the past few days and damn is it slow.
Cutscenes, drive a bit, cutscenes, walk around a small area and inspect stuff, cutscene, drive a bit, cutscene, interview, inspection time etc etc.
There's some action. Sometimes you gotta chase a suspect or shoot some people, but it mainly takes care of itself.

L.A Noir sounds cool. I have seen screenshots of the interogation with the facial expression of the witnesses. It's surely a technical achievement. To be frank I'm not too crazy about the action parts, basically I'm not much into Rockstar games in general. They all start with the most impressive way, but at the end I always find myself cursing about the controls and about other things too: the discouraging difficulty, the pain to drive/ride for miles to find that specific room where you can save your progress etc...

Aye, the controls are actually pretty annoying and driving feels about as clunky as in GTA IV iirc. You get used to them, but it could've been done better. This game shouldn't really be compared to games like GTA or RDR though.
It has it's good sides as well. You don't ever have to drive the car if it's not part of the quest. Hold down the enter vehicle button and your partner will take over and it'll take you to the destination quickly. So far(I'm over halfway through) the difficulty has been the same, which is pretty much non existant. If you take a few bullets in the face you'll have to start over, but the bad guys all die in three-four shots unless you get a headshot. There's also an auto save system.

If you're somewhat intrested there is a review you can watch by Angry Joe that's rather funny.

 

[Phishfood]

Really old, but: Have you tried playing the King's Quest/Space Quest series? They're decent enough.

Most Turn-Based Strategy games will fit your description pretty well, as well. How about Civ IV? (I've heard that Civ V is a lot more action based, so yeah...)
Age of Wonders (1 - 2 - Shadow Magic) (again, really old) is pretty relaxed, too.

You should look up the word "churlish" before you do anything "stupid".

There are also the modern monkey island games on steam, worth a look. Heck, go get dosbox and a copy of theme park. Can't go wrong with the classics.

 

[AntiChrist]

Have you heard about Jour- oh...

Well have you heard about Auditorium [http://www.playauditorium.com/]? It's awesome.

Wow, that game is surprisingly addictive! Thanks for the link!

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

Viva Pinata Pocket Paradise. Or any Viva Pinata game really.

It's great fun and it's extremely calming. Everything about it just makes it perfect for winding down or relaxing. The music is smooth, the animals are all adorable, and the puns are usually pretty funny.

 

[Buizel91]

Viva Pinata.

Visually beautiful and all you have to be aware of is the Sours and Ruffians

 

[Guffe]

Harvest Moon?
If you can't find that a relaxing game I believe you're one of those poeple who'll have a heartattack if you play tetris.

 

[Buizel91]

Viva Pinata Pocket Paradise. Or any Viva Pinata game really.

It's great fun and it's extremely calming. Everything about it just makes it perfect for winding down or relaxing. The music is smooth, the animals are all adorable, and the puns are usually pretty funny.

1 hour later and i realise that we have a ninja among us. -.-

DAMN YOU TO HELL!

 

[OpticalJunction]

Lucid. It's a block-matching puzzle game, super easy but relaxing too. I recommend it if you're in the mood to chill out.

 

[OpticalJunction]

Have you heard about Jour- oh...

Well have you heard about Auditorium [http://www.playauditorium.com/]? It's awesome.

Wow, that game is surprisingly addictive! Thanks for the link!

This is very cool. Thanks from me too

 

[Ghonzor]

Flow, Flower and Journey.

All three for PS3. All three calm and serene games with a relatively slow pace, forgiving difficulty, great aesthetics and non-violent nature. Coincidentally, all three made by the same dev: Thatgamecompany.

Beat me to it. But I suppose those games define serenity and calmness in gaming for me.

 

[Blunderboy]

Europa 1400 - The Guild.
It's a fairly old game where you build a family dynasty in medieval Europe. It's pretty slow paced, in depth and incredibly calming.

Also, whilst the game itself is all kinds of infuritaing, I always loved the pause screen from Anno 1602.

 

[SeeIn2D]

A few people have said it but I'll support it even more. Journey Journey Journey! I really cannot say enough about this game. Some people say that it's just trying to be artsy and is just a stupid game, but it's honestly such a great game. The soundtrack is beautiful (on my iPod), the gameplay is very relaxing and can be completed in a few hours. It's amazing.

 

[TrevHead]

Crayon physics Deluxe is a very calm puzzle game, much of it has to do with the music.