askchapo

Subnautica is one of my all time favorite games. Still a little scary at times, but not a horror game. The intensity comes from going deep underwater. It’s a beautiful game, and is focused on crafting and exploration. There are enemies to avoid, but not really any combat. You can play it at your own pace and approach it however you like, but there is an overarching narrative and goal to give it structure.

Another one I’d recommend is Stardew Valley. Beautiful game, very bright and happy. There’s a combat minigame, but it’s not completely central to the game. Mostly just growing a little farm and interacting with the townsfolk. Extremely chill.

I’d also give Minecraft a try. You can play with monsters on or off, or just build things in creative mode. It’s more of a pure sandbox, with only a loose end goal and a lot of content to play with. If you’re looking to play around, in the more fundamental sense, then Minecraft and similar open world crafting games might be a good fit.

For something much more structured: Portal. Absolute classic. No combat, just trying to solve a series of puzzles.

I’d also take a look at Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s extremely well-made, can be played any number of ways, difficulty can be turned up or down depending on how much you want to get good at combat. So many creative ways to solve any given situation. Can be a little dark, but it’s mostly about high fantasy adventure.

It ultimately depends on what kind of games you end up enjoying, but all of the above are worth taking a look at. If something looks cool, give it a try. If you use Steam, there’s a two-hour refund policy, so you can always try a game for an hour or two and get a refund if it doesn’t work for you. I think all but Minecraft are on Steam.