I’m on the hunt for new PC games for mrs simo to enjoy as shes going through an ADHD phase of not enjoying anything. Her favourite is Bloons TD 6 (2600 hours!).

She doesn’t really like heavy games like FPS, RTS, ARPGs or anything toooo involved. She’ll try something for 10 minutes and that’s the window for hit or miss [sadly in most cases].

Historically old school Pokemon games and those RPGmaker style games are good if they are well put together and have a nice story (such as Little Witch in the woods, Cult of the Lamb). Siralim Ultimate was good for a while - hopefully that gives an idea of rough genres for suggestions.

Oh and we had a good little run with Vampire Survivors and Army of Ruin too.

For whatever reason Bloons TD6 was a massive hit, and she recently got bluestacks to try some PVZ 2 again, as that was her previous ‘bloons’ hook. I think it’s the nature of the Games as a service, with the weekly battles n unlocks and stuff. Granted, that game is really good too.

Hoping other people who struggle to ‘hook’ into various games on PC, or have similar ADHD spouses who go through ‘ahhh i dunno’ phases of gaming can shed some random offbeat suggestions.

Random mention: She loved elden ring! The exploring n shit was cool. Tempted to get Games Pass for Fable 2 streaming, but I think our internet will be shit and it’ll be a total bust.

10 points
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Stardew Valley would be my vote. Some others that come to mind are Slay the Spire or Skyrim. My adhd wife plays cracked sims 4 with every mod known to mankind. She doesn’t even play the game. Just creates characters and builds houses.

https://store.steampowered.com/recommended/morelike/app/960090/

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1 point

Yeah, honestly Stardew should be higher up. It’s the most chill grind you can have and is perfect for ADHD as you can do so many different things: fish, forage, garden, farm, dungeon brawl, decorate and so much more. Plus all the hidden little secrets.

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1 point

Stardew valley is definitely a good choice here I would think. Also Starbound, also by Chucklefish, might fit the bill too.

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8 points

Some games that flip that focus switch and suck me in without heavy gameplay :

-Stardew Valley (honestly, probably the most fitting recommendation here)

-Factorio (turn off the bugs for a more casual experience), alternatively there’s Satsfactory

-OpenTTD or Transport Fever 2

Diverging from the top-down style:

-Oddly enough, Farming Simulator 22 (there’s always that next thing to do so you can build up)

-Space Engineers

-Minecraft

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7 points
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Vampire Survivors, Minecraft, Terraria, Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, Monster Hunter World

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2 points

I see GuildWars2 I upvote. I’m a simple man.

But truth be told maybe not the best here, might be a bit on the more complex side. But absolutely worth a try. And they’ll release an expansion soon™ so it’ll be more lively during release.

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2 points

You could spend hours a day managing the loot alone!

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1 point

It doesn’t have to be complicated, you can just run around and explore if you want.

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6 points

Started Valley, for sure.

If she wants a grundy, but casual game, get her playing a MMO like Guild Wars 2. It’s horizontal progression so you are not competing to get better gear all the time. It’s just casual grind to get fashion, new titles, achievements etc. I am sure she will be addicted.

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6 points

Sadly Started Valley didn’t get started, it got the ‘meh’ treatment (Even i was surprised!). I think it may of been the heart-fuckery and talking she wasn’t too invested in, despite the game being amazing.

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4 points

I actually don’t like the talking to people and offering gifts and crap… I installed a mod that’s called “part of the community”. You passively gain hearts.

The logic is, if you live near the people and do work around town and stuff, they must gain some appreciation for you. Makes the relationship grind way more bearable. (I’m diagnosed with ADHD too).

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1 point

You can play the game without doing any of that friendship stuff. I do.

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5 points

Slay the Spire and Monster Train get my votes. She likes strategy like BTD so I think she’ll like these ones too. I think both are free on Game Pass.

Also Monster Sanctuary is a great Pokemon -like

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2 points

Oh yeah she loved StS. I think Monster Train might of been on the shit list, i’ll double check. There were some other popular pokemans rip offs too that we looked into but they were also on the shit list. It’s like trying to roll a max on d20 :P Thanks

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2 points

Another card-based one that I don’t see getting a lot of attention is Cultist Simulator. I find it really fun/cool.

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