this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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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 ksp~~2~~ 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?

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[–] Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 1 points 50 minutes ago

Not on steam, but Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is pretty good, and free.

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

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

[–] mauimax@lemm.ee 2 points 2 hours 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.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago
[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 hours 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.

[–] LengAwaits@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago
[–] CaptnNMorgan@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Oblivion Remastered is really good.

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Oh man, careful OP doesn't post a two-page rant proclaiming how they're emphatically anti-Bethesda

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 1 points 4 hours ago

I wanted to recommend go, but you said single player... there's always Katago to play against.

I guarantee you'll never truly 'beat' the game!

Factorio. Aka cracktorio.

[–] morbitm@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

A Plague Tale: Requiem

Thank me later

[–] Denjin@lemmings.world 4 points 13 hours 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.

[–] Tigeroovy@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 hours ago

Dark Souls, no sense of management besides managing to not die, but it’s single player (with optional online interactions) and is good. Hard but satisfying when you get it. Lots to explore in the world.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] SirBobboIV@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

You should try Shroom and Gloom

Shroom and Gloom

This one? It certainly looks interesting!

[–] SirBobboIV@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago

Try Shroom and Gloom! It's a roguelike deck builder on itch.io, completely free if you want it to be. Very challenging and really fun

[–] Ugurcan@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

ITT all games dancing around Bannerlord but no one recommended it yet.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

I just restarted playing fallout 4. Can give that a shot if you can catch it on sale

Grim Dawn was pretty sick too if you like Diablo style games. I was pretty impressed

[–] PushButton@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

X4 foundations is a sandbox RPG in space where you do whatever you want.

  • Different factions with their story, political agenda, sub-factions, technologies
  • Walk out of your ship on station, all 1:1 size real time, no loading screen.
  • Play first person in your ship (pew pew) in the ship of your liking
  • Recruit staff members to build your empire / fleet
  • Play as a manager (see RTS kind of) from the galactic map, command your empire, fleet of death, traders, miners.
  • Build your own stations with their own production pipeline that Maximize the local resources
  • Enjoy 25 years of lore building

I am a big fan, as you can see :D

[–] boses@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

Everyone's recommending games but addressing steam recs, there's Backloggd which is Letterbox for games. Sure there'll probably be a similar overlap of games folks love that are not your jam but it'll help you figure out what you like, find something new, and follow folks with similar tastes.

[–] mysticpickle@lemmy.ca 1 points 13 hours ago

If you like rpgs and management I'd suggest Battle Brothers, a mercenary company management game. You basically travel the countryside fighting brigands and taking jobs from various cities all while building up your company with new recruits and equipment. It's got a bit of a learning curve but once you get the basics down it's oddly enthralling.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/365360/Battle_Brothers/

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 3 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Balatro.
You think it's simple until it's suddenly 1 am and your brain is mush trying to remember what strategy you're currently using -oops lost, ok one more run...

Soma.
If you're in the mood to be hooked on a story. Scary stuff happens, and youll question life a few times.

Pathfinder.
Wrath of the Righteous is the only tabletop pc rpg you'll need agian. Baldergate 3 is the tutorial mission for this monster game.

Rain World.
If you enjoy metroidvanias with new mechanics.

Tunic.
If you enjoy zelda and dark souls. Theres more to it than it looks. I couldn't put this one down either.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 17 hours ago

Have you tried Against the Storm (based on your mentioning of RTS style games)

[–] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 1 points 15 hours ago

I got no clue if this would count as something you'd be into, but I've been having fun with Skyblock Zero on Luanti.

Idon't know how quickly you could finish it considering I play purposefully inefficiently, but it's a space themed with a quest line to follow where the only limited resource is your time. Spawn on a voxel, keep clicking to gain resources, and build out from there. So far one of my only gripes is storage in the game is only drawers instead of chests, so I constantly have machines and my inventory filled.

[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 2 points 18 hours ago

Check out Dome Keeper. Mine resources to buy upgrades and protect your dome from waves of aliens. There are lots of game modes and modifiers to get different experiences each run.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Leaning more into the management style of games, might be worth checking out Two Points Hospital (spiritual sequel to Theme Hospital), and the more recently released Rwo Points Museum?

Project hospital is a fun hospital manager but it's a lot more serious than two point or theme

Outer Wilds

[–] Donebrach@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Often when I am sick of all the things I’ve been playing or feeling uninspired I go for a genre switch. To that end I will always recommend Neir: Replicant and Neir: Automata—I feel like a failure and a fool to have sat on them for so many years. Those are both games that feature very approachable gameplay with the whole deep story and cross genre mechanics that the split fiction devs seem to be good at (and are both single player), just be sure to continue playing after the first (and second and third, etc) credits roll.

Other random suggestions:

Bellwright is a really good colony sim / survival craft combo (although I’ve not played it single player so not sure how great it is in that mode).

Cyberpunk 2077 is just fucking great if you haven’t played that.

Disco Elysium if you’re really looking for some Get Stick Bugged content. (and a fantastic drunk cop RPG)

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 2 points 18 hours ago

Just don't buy Disco Elesium, the thieves that stole it don't deserve that.

[–] WhatSay@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago

Have you tried Oxygen not included? I'm usually not into management games, but it pulled me in.

[–] nafzib@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2.

[–] MolochAlter@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I see no mention of Starsector, there should be mention of Starsector.

Try Starsector.

[–] LordWiggle@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Not on steam, early 2000's website, gameplay looks nice. This is a win for me. Thanks!

Try a different genre than you usually play.

Tetris Effect Connected

A Short Hike

Cult of the Lamb

What Remains of Edith Finch?

[–] match@pawb.social 12 points 1 day ago

dwarf fortress?

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Mindustry is basically Factorio with more focus on tower defense.

And there's Shapez (and Shapez 2) for a more "pure" factory experience (operate on shapes and colors).

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Factorio. If you like satisfactory and w&r then cracktorio is right up your alley.

There is also a free demo on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/

If you enjoy the base game I would 100% recommend the expansion called Space Age with adds 4 more planets and space flight between them.

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