10 Relaxing Games to Play When Feeling Tired or Unwell

We all have days when we want to relax but feel too tired to think very hard. Playing a challenging and intense video game feels like too much, but perhaps just running around in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or playing through a simple, low-stakes puzzle game like Dorfromantik might be the perfect solution. Thankfully, there are several games, across various genres, that can still be fun to play even when you just want to turn your brain off.

This past year, I have struggled with a serious illness that has left me mentally and physically exhausted and unable to focus on the challenging games like Hollow Knight: Silksong that I otherwise adore. Those days when I couldn’t even take a shower, I still wanted to be able to do something. So, whether you are dealing with illness, are burned out from the stress of life, or are simply feeling tired, here are the games that have helped me get through the last several months.

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

A Beautiful World To Explore

Sure, there is a lot of story and adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but for some reason, Ganondorf seems perfectly willing to wait around as long as it takes. That means it’s relatively low stakes if you want to hop into the game without much purpose or direction.

Whether you want to look for the hidden Koroks, unlock all areas of the map, or just mess around with the Ultrahand and see what you can build, this version of Hyrule is a wonderful escape. The world is stunning, and it can be extremely rewarding to just run around and see what you can find. Secrets are everywhere, and if you want a little more of a challenge, there are plenty of quests to complete.

Two Point Museum

Silly Fun Where You Can Just Let Chaos Reign

If you’ve ever played any of the games by Two Point Studios, you know that they are as far from serious as you can get. The comedy is what keeps drawing me back to the game, and can really brighten my mood when I’m not feeling well.

To keep things lower stakes, try playing the game in Sandbox Mode.

Two Point Museum is the most recent game in the series, although Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus are also wonderful. But there’s something about the chaotic exhibits you can collect and display in Two Point Museum that adds even more for me. Sending researchers and staff out on expeditions and watching museum patrons getting eaten by botany exhibits is just plain fun.

Hidden Through Time 2

Hidden Pictures Puzzles With Fun Story

Perhaps a hidden pictures puzzle feels more your speed? These games always remind me of the old Highlights magazines I read as a kid, and Hidden Through Time (both the original and the sequel) are wonderful ways to see these puzzles come to life.

Colorful, animated images with interactable objects make this a calming game with just the right amount of thinking involved. There is no timer, and the objects have clues if you get stuck, to help you find every last piece of the puzzle. Plus, there is an easy-to-use map editor to let you play around with creating your own hidden object levels and share them with others online.

Vampire Survivors

Just Shoot Everything

Vampire Survivors and other games like it can be some of the most weirdly brain-off games available. With hordes of monsters coming at you, your main goal is to simply survive by running around and shooting everything. As the game goes on, you get more powerful, and the hordes grow larger.

Although it is not technically in the bullet hell genre, it shares many of the same characteristics. It is simple, and yet chaotic. It uses a repetitive gameplay loop and simplified controls with auto-attacking that gives you such a wonderful sense of satisfaction as you mow down enemies with extreme violence. Yet, it isn’t all entirely repetitive as, different random events can be triggered.

Tiny Glade

Beautiful, Simple, And Serene Way To Get Creative

Pretty much the exact opposite of the previous entry, Tiny Glade is a small diorama builder with whimsical buildings and animals that appear as you construct worlds. The game gives you basic tools and tons of freedom to create a little village or castle with ease.

Decorations and life pop up automatically around your buildings and worlds, yet there are plenty of customizations and props you can use.

Even if you don’t have enough brainpower to think of what you want to create, every day Tiny Glade offers daily themes or challenges to inspire your creativity. The entire experience is calming and cozy, while giving you a sense of accomplishment as you can’t really get it wrong.

New Pokémon Snap

The Most Calm Pokémon Game Ever

New Pokemon Snap screenshot of a Squirtle riding on a Lapras

New Pokémon Snap is a bit of an off-shoot from the traditional Pokémon games. Rather than collecting Pokémon and using them to battle others, New Pokémon Snap lets you visit these little monsters in their native environments and try to get the best pictures of them that you possibly can.

There are several locations to unlock and visit, each with their own biomes and assortments of Pokémon who live there. The photo-snapping adventure is calm and beautiful, and the light challenge of trying to snap that perfect picture is just enough incentive to keep trying. Plus, so many of these Pokémon look so happy out in their own little worlds.

Diablo 4

Run Around And Kill Everything In Sight

On one hand, Diablo 4 is a dark ARPG with a deep narrative campaign as you try to save Sanctuary from the ultimate evil. Yet, if you aren’t feeling the most focused, jumping into a Seasonal journey allows you to literally run around and kill hordes of enemies and collect massive loot.

Even if you aren’t aware of what the theme of the current season is, you are pretty much guaranteed to be progressing if you just kill things in the wild.

I have been a huge fan of the Diablo series since the original, and while I love the story, it is the combat with mobs of enemies that draws me in and makes me feel powerful. Even when I may not be able to conquer things in my own life, I can always run around the open world of Diablo 4 and mow down hordes of demons.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Sanrio Friends On A Calming Tropical Island

I really debated putting Animal Crossing New Horizons on this list, as it would have been a great one as well. Yet, this year I have been more focused on a different island-themed life sim, Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Similar in some ways to ACNH, you live on an island paradise with many of the familiar Sanrio characters as your neighbors and friends.

The simple quests in this game are so wholesome and calming, and there is never any negativity if you don’t play for a while, or you don’t complete a quest quickly. You have so many activities to choose from, such as picking flowers, crafting, cooking, fishing, decorating, and so much more. You can even become a mermaid and explore the underwater depths.

Dorfromantik

Go For A High Score, Or Just Relax And Play

Whether you play the video game or the board game, Dorfromantik is one of the best puzzle games for relaxing and turning off your brain. There is no way to fail, though you can work to beat your own high scores with each run of the game.

If you’re a beginner to Dorfromantik, the game mechanics are simple. It’s a hexagonal tile-laying game where there are a variety of terrain types and items like railroad tracks, rivers, and villages on them. When you place a tile, you want to try to connect similar terrains, such as putting forest pieces together or combining fields. The world you create is serene, and your points come from the connected regions.

PowerWash Simulator 2

The Ultimate In Relaxation And Joy

PowerWash Simulator has been my go-to game this year while recovering, and just this week the sequel, PowerWash Simulator 2 was released. This is the ultimate in brain-off gaming.

Whether you want to listen to a podcast or music, or simply enjoy reading along with its silly story that unravels through messages, this is a wholesome and relaxing experience. Literally, all you do is clean disgusting things with a virtual pressure washer. And it is perfect.

Even just for the sake of hearing that satisfying little ding that plays when you finish cleaning an item, PowerWash Simulator 2 is a perfect way to get that little shot of dopamine without having to think too hard.