This is going to be a very specific and odd sort of request.
There are times where I am tired or worn out where I wish to just sit around and listen to music for a while, but I’m also rather restless and just sitting around without doing anything is hard for me.
So I’m looking for a game that you can easily play over and over while listening to music. It can’t require much in the way of thinking, rapid reacting or reading and plain mouse control is prefered. The game that I’ve been playing thus far has been Puzzle Quest and it is near enough perfect for the purpose. But after 19030 games of it it is starting to lose it’s appeal and I wish to find something else that could help fill it’s niche.
Solitaire, or Free Cell is what I used to do before Puzzle Quest existed. Minesweeper is a little too thought intensive, at least if you’re actually trying.
i also put a strange amount of hours into Poker night at the inventory (1or2 depending on which “graphics” + companions you prefer)
there is 0 of the mind game like in real poker, thus it can be played much more casual-like as an rng decided outcome game, if not wanting to take it too serious and game the AI (the ai is not that sophisticated hence the “casualness”)
it was oddly relaxing, (and i preferred it over solitaire tbh), but once you’ve heard their lines once or twice i recommend you mute and stick with music
Binding of Isaac (original) has been my brain-filling game recently. Admittedly, I’d already 100%ed the game before, so it might be too involved if you’re new to it. It also requires two hands to control.
Other brain-fillers I’ve played in recent memory were online nonograms (puzzles that do use the brain, but not a lot) and the royal game of Ur (simple board game, there’s an online “practice” version against AI). Both of these use only the mouse.
There’s also Cookie Clicker but that tends to crawl into everything you do… Beware.
Some replies above are pretty good. But as my opinion, video game mostly created for entertainment already, so as long as they fit your style, any game can be great for killing time. You better find the reason why you’re getting tired and try to fix it first. For some reasons I feel like something distract you and make you can’t enjoy gaming and the fun of it anymore.
Don’t buy anything yet. Bundle Stars was offering a bundle for $1.00 for 33 casual games. They had a problem with 2 of the games registering so they pulled the bundle but said they would reissue the games when they fixed the problem. Some people were fine…others weren’t. I was in the midst of checking the games out when they pulled it.
It had all these games…
Plus 10 more. Just for the 23 games, it’s worth almost 260.00. Now Bundle Stars had more 7 Wonder games than the Steam bundle and they are match 3 games. The Luxor games are fun too.If you don’t like HOGs…give them away…etc… But for a dollar you can’t beat it.
If you like solitare maybe look at solitarica, its solitare + with Puzzle Quest like elements in that you use different abilities based on cards destroyed. Its meant for multiple replays and has multiple class types to differ the gameplay, I found it really fun and you can get it on steam, android (and ios?). I tried the android one which is free (so you can test it before buying on steam) but you only get one deck class before you have to pay. Have a look, I don’t think you’ll regret it.
By being tired I didn’t mean being tired of video games. Rather being tired after training, worn out from work or just done with chores sort of tired. Most people I suppose just watch junk on TV in those cases, I don’t really care to.
FTL is a great game, no denying it, but I think it might take a little bit too much concentration, you cant just leave it alone for a few seconds or your ship is gone.
I find this game pretty relaxing. Uses only the mouse. Can easily listen to music while playing. No reading involved. Challenging but doesn’t require a great deal of mental effort. And it’s not that stressful because you can pause and create routes at your own pace.
Plus, I just adore the “music” it generates. Has an endless mode where you can just watch the flow of passengers… Style is simple and really easy on the eyes.
My two go to brainless games are Mega Man X and Downwell. I heavily recommend Downwell to everyone I meet just because I love to listen to books or music while playing it. Really any roguelike or roguelite is pretty good for what you’re looking for, Downwell is just my favorite.
Bit Blaster XL and Orbt XL are two super cheap games that can fill that role for short durations. Downwell is also a good choice as others have mentioned. But I guess those involve some decent reaction times.
Really I think there are a lot of low-involvement arcade games out there that would work for you. Puzzle quest is a hard game to match though and its sequels didn’t really live up to it. Maybe Lumines would be a similarly old but fun puzzle game for you to get in to. It seems like the time-waster puzzle games of the world haven’t been getting a lot of developer attention.
If you like pixel art, i have something better than a game: Perler beads. Recreate your favorite game sprite or make your own stuff. You can get the jar of 22,000 beads and a package of 4 large pegboards for $25 on Amazon. Definitely something you can do while listening to music that still feels rewarding. If you like what you made, you can fuse them together as a permanent piece of pixel art you can display in your room.
It’s a bit of a strange suggestion but perhaps you’d find a game like Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup fits the bill. Once you understand the basics and understand that you will die, it can become a game to play casually. Honestly almost every roguelike could fit your needs.
It does require a bit of thinking and reading, but I’d argue it’s only as much as Puzzle Quest does.
