Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Retropunch]

Hello all,
Here is my conundrum - I've got a lot of rather menial work that I need to do which has periods of waiting (say 10 minutes every hour or so) and I'd like something that I could sort of dip in and out of.

I don't really want to do PBEM or something like that, as it's a little bit too long term. Similarly, I'm not a huge fan of those 'wait 4 hours for a gold mine to be built' browser games as they tend to be a bit long term too (that said, if there were really engaging ones I'd be open to it). I've played a few idle games and enjoyed them, but I find them a bit shallow and sort of just unlocking stuff for the sake of it rather than any value in doing so.

So, that all being said, does anyone have any suggestions for something that I can sort of play in the background?

PS, I've played Aurora to death, and as much as I enjoy it, I don't want to start a new game till the C# release comes out.

EDIT: By 'background' I'm meaning something that I can leave running/playing whilst I do other stuff, not just a turn based game.

[Sappho]

If you have a tablet, GrowCastle works. That's what I use it for, anyway. It's free, you can watch ads to get more gold but it's not necessary or intrusive, and each level lasts a minute or two (or you can play a "hell" level with no end and it will last longer depending on your level. If you decide to try it, let me know, and we can make a guild - I'm just doing it solo right now.

[TheBronzePickle]

Basically any roguelike. They're almost all turn-based and generally take up almost no computer resources, so you can basically just keep them running in the background with negligible impact, even on a toaster. And even if you're like 'but I don't like roguelikes' there's an absolute metric ton of them with insane amounts of variation, so if you look hard enough you might find one with features you like.

DRL is inspired by Doom and is actually a fairly quick-paced and action oriented shooter type deal despite being a roguelike.

Cataclysm: DDA is an incredibly complex apocalypse survival game.

Elona+ is an excessively Japanese roguelike with a breadth of features including a fairly interesting character advancement system.

Gearhead and its sequel let you customize and pilot giant mecha and fight other giant mecha.

Dwarf Fortress hardly needs introduction here, but if you've never tried adventure mode, it's gotten pretty intense with the latest additions.

If just being roguelike-ish isn't in your interest, though, there's also tons of turn-based tactics and strategy games out there, including entire series of AAA games like Fire Emblem, Ogre Battle, Advance Wars, and Final Fantasy Tactics, most of which are old enough that they can be easily emulated.

[Empty]

https://www.reddit.com/r/incremental_games/

I think Kittens game might be what you're interested in.

[Retropunch]

Ahh sorry, I should clarify - I meant games that keep playing in the background - so something like DF fort mode (but that can sometimes go hideously wrong if you leave it, or just get caught up on something really silly).

I enjoy RLs and short missions( and BronzePickle, that's a great list for that!), but I was kinda meaning something that would sort of keep going and I could just dip in and do a few bits.

Mostly my reason behind that is that I get way too distracted if I play a 'proper game' for those few minutes (and it ends up being a 3000 turn marathon), and I quite like the idea of having something constantly going in the background. It doesn't have to be strategy or anything, just something I can come back to.

[Sappho]

You could always try a game like Earthtongue. You can play with it as much as you want, then leave it running and the world will keep evolving. Then you can check in whenever you have a few minutes and see how it looks, make changes, etc.

[Retropunch]

You could always try a game like Earthtongue. You can play with it as much as you want, then leave it running and the world will keep evolving. Then you can check in whenever you have a few minutes and see how it looks, make changes, etc.

Ahh that looks great, I'll definitely have a look into that! Thanks.

[ChairmanPoo]

Rimworld?

[Starver]

The ultimate background game!

[wereboar]

^

Other than that, rogue-likes work really well, because turns only happen when you do something. Also, Wesnoth.

[Gigalith]

Idlegame-wise, Trimps requires little constant interaction (just the occasional check) and little CPU resources, which is a plus for a "I forgot I even had this in the background" game.

I can definitely second the recommendation for Kittensgame (a Dark Souls of Incremental Gaming, as it calls itself.) "What the is best next upgrade to buy" quickly becomes nontrivial. It's complex--even the prestige systems have prestige systems. Unfortunately, depending on how much you don't want your kittens to starve, or wasting resources, you might to check it more often.

EDIT: Have you considered small-scale PBeM, like asynchronous adaptations of board games? The commitment is much smaller, but you still have the "check back in every now and then and make a move."

[overseer05-15]

You could try forum games. Check in every hour maybe.

[Retropunch]

^
Other than that, rogue-likes work really well, because turns only happen when you do something. Also, Wesnoth.

As I said in the starting post, I'm not really looking for turn based games or RLs - it's more something that'll keep going whilst I'm AFK

Rimworld?

Tried Rimworld and it's a little bit too involved/falls to hideous pieces if you don't look at it.

Idlegame-wise, Trimps requires little constant interaction (just the occasional check) and little CPU resources, which is a plus for a "I forgot I even had this in the background" game.

I can definitely second the recommendation for Kittensgame (a Dark Souls of Incremental Gaming, as it calls itself.) "What the is best next upgrade to buy" quickly becomes nontrivial. It's complex--even the prestige systems have prestige systems. Unfortunately, depending on how much you don't want your kittens to starve, or wasting resources, you might to check it more often.

EDIT: Have you considered small-scale PBeM, like asynchronous adaptations of board games? The commitment is much smaller, but you still have the "check back in every now and then and make a move."

All good ideas, I'll have a look into them!

[MoonyTheHuman]

The Powder Toy is a good backround game! it takes up very little resources (an entire core in the most laggy situations, but the game is singlethreaded) and is a rather fun 'falling sand' style game. Its only 2 MB large, as well and requires no installation (unless you feel like keeping extra data, which the game prompts you about automatically) and can be kept on a USB thumb drive. Its also multiplatform, and a Android port exists.
http://powdertoy.co.uk/

[Neonivek]

Mind you I should warn that I believe Powder Toy is not a game. Then again it is right there in the title "toy"

So if you are looking for something like... a goal... or progress... look elsewhere.