So, I’ve spent over 2 hours on Steam searching for a nice game to play. But it’s all junk, as far as I’m fed with Steam recommendations. I liked ksp2 1, cities skylines 1, age of empires 2, baldurs gate 3 a lot, I just finished Divinity original sin 2. I like rpgs and management / factory games like workers and resources, satisfactory etc. I’m having a lot of fun with split fiction when I play with a friend, but I need a proper singplayer game. Anything I could get which isn’t a total ripoff due to lack of gameplay or it being a bug simulator or dlc purchase mania?

EDIT: I’m a bit overwhelmed by all reactions. Thank you all so much! I have a lot of amazing recommendations to check out!

  • Nibodhika@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    20 hours ago
    • Factorio, I know you said you couldn’t get into it, but try peaceful mode, it’s a great game even without enemies
    • RimWorld, it’s an excellent colony management game
    • Dwarf Fortress, this is the big boss, it’s really hard to start, but it’s the most complex simulation game out there. If you can get into it, it’s infinite hours of fun.
  • Bosht@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    Horror/action: Dead Space. |
    FPS/time manipulation: Singularity. |
    Factory/combat(optional): Dyson Sphere Project

    Singularity still stands up as it’s graphics are decent. Super cheap on GoG. Dead Space if you get the original would be cheap. HD remaster would be more. If you love factory games but have never played DSP god damn do I wish I was you. Recommend playing without combat enabled on first run to just enjoy how gorgeous the game is and to help with learning everything before throwing in combat management

  • mauimax@lemm.eeEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    The Bioshock games are really fun in a very dark way. They are incredibly unique—I haven’t played anything else quite like them. Personally, I liked the first two better than the third one. The first two take place underwater, which sort of creeped me out from the get-go. The third is in a city in the sky.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Slay the spire is really fun and different than what you’ve listed.

    It was the first rogue like deck building game. Fantastically done.

  • Excrubulent@slrpnk.netEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    If you like factory designing games, I can recommend anything by Zachtronics.

    They’re all esoteric programming/automation type puzzle games, and they all have their own unique solitaire games built-in for whenever you get tired of the main game.

    My personal favourites are SpaceChem - scifi molecule factories - and Opus Magnum - steampunk alchemical molecule factories. Something about the molecules just works for me, don’t know why. Plus the Opus Magnum solitaire game is really unique and fun, and it has a user-made level feature, so you can keep playing.

    Last Call BBS is a collection of minigames they made as their final release before shutting up shop, so it’s a lot more casual than the others, but a lot of fun.

  • Denjin@lemmings.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 days ago

    Factorio. If you enjoyed Satisfactory you should check out the game that created the genre. They have an excellent demo and although it’s relatively expensive compared to similar games, it’s the best one and runs like an absolute dream even when things get huge where a lot of similar games slow down.

  • t_berium@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    I think you might like ‘Rogue Trader’, even if you don’t know anything about the 40K universe. Cool story, choices and fights.

    Don’t worry too much about not knowing the background lore. The game contextualizes a lot in dialogues and even little mouseovers. But be careful, if you like SciFi, you might fall into the awesomely rich and grim rabbit hole, that is Warhammer 40K.

    The Emperor protects.

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    It seems like you like games with a lot of replayability, as well as games that make you think a bit. I’m a bit of the opposite (I like shorter, unique experiences), but I also like games that make me think. So here are a few that I’ve enjoyed that I think fit the bill:

    • deck-building roguelikes, like Slay the Spire, Balatro, etc; you can get a lot of hours in it, they generally don’t have DLC, and they’re more on the “thinking” vs “combat” end of the roguelike spectrum
    • Planet Coaster or Parkitect - theme park themed “city builder”; Planet Coaster is a bit of a DLC-fest, but Parkitect only has 2 (and a soundtrack); look around the various “tycoon” games if you like the genre, they can have good replayability
    • “coding” games - Human Resource Machine, Opus Magnum, etc; these have poor replayability (mostly just optimizing solutions), but there’s a lot of thinking and you can get a lot of hours out of it if you don’t look up guides; they’re not for everyone, but if they are, they’re very satisfying
    • Dwarf Fortress - the management game, and perhaps the best in the world at replayability; the Steam version is a huge upgrade, but you can also get the classic version for free, though do be aware that the learning curve is a lot higher than the Steam version
    • Sid Meier’s Pirates - old game, but I get a lot of hours in it and find it absolutely fantastic; this is more combat than thinking, but it’s more thinking than something like Mount and Blade (combat is relatively slow)
    • Tropico series - they do have DLC, but you can frequently find a bundle on Humble Bundle or Fanatical or something with all the DLC included for the older games; not as sandbox-y as Cities Skylines, but still largely in that vein

    That said, I want to echo what others have said and to recommend branching out. There are tons of great indie games that aren’t a total ripoff in a variety of genres, so look around for bundles or something to find something new to try.