this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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me_irl
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Here's some dad advice for you:
Handhelds are there only way to get some gaming time in most of the time (Steam Deck, Retroid Pocket console, Switch, etc).
Roguelites are there best type of game. Single player. Can put down easily. Short bursts of play with progress in each run (not a 90 hour saga that takes a year to complete).
Slay The Spire and Hades have been huge timesinks for me when I can't commit time to sitting at the computer for a huge JRPG. Anything you recommend?
Balatro kept me sane through the first couple months after mine was born. I'd also say Risk of Rain (1 and 2), Enter the Gungeon, and Vampire Survivors
Hollow knight was great for these exact reasons! Very easy to pick up and put down. Also gives you something with a longer term progression. Oh and backpack battles too. Fantastic little game. These three games basically entertained a party of my brain through the first 2+ years of fatherhood
I've already finished Hades 2, love it. Now I'm back in Cyberpunk very slowly working through every side quest I never did. I've been meaning to check out Hallow Night so I'm glad to see people recommending it.
Monster Train! Great rougelite deck builder.
Balatro - card game
Monster Train - turn based deck builder (if you liked Slay the spire)
Dead Cells - action hack and slash side scrolling
Binding of Isaac - GOAT twin stick shooter
Enter the Gungeon - other GOAT twin stick shooter, more modern
Cult of the Lamb - hack and slash, with farming
Moonlighter - action, with shop-keeping simulation
Children of Moira - action
Curse of the Dead Gods - action hack and slash
Faster Than Light - spaceship command, mix of real time strategy with time pause for planning
Risk of Rain 2 - 3rd person shooter
Brotato - single stick shooter
Vampire survivors - single stick shooter
Don't Starve Together - survival, farming, crafting, combat
Synthetik - top down shooter. Can be played with M+KB, but I prefer it as a twin stick shooter with controller
Crown Trick - top down combat, single action at a time
Spelunky 2 - very difficult platformer/simplistic combat
Deep rock Survivor - single stick shooter with mining
MatchR - I like gem matching, this was amusing for a short while
Windblown - top down hack and slash
Roboquest - FPS roguelite
Blazing Beaks - twin stick shooter
Cursed to Golf - golf
Nuclear Throne - twin stick shooter
Crypt of the necrodancer - rhythm
Dungeon of the Endless - tower defense, mining
Dome keeper - mining + asteroids type base defense
There are loads more......depends on what flavour you like
Agree on handhelds. Disagree with roguelites and roguelikes, though I guess that depends on the person. I personally like to learn the map and the lay of the land.
I'd imagine turn based rpgs would be the best