1y ago

What are your favorite single player games to go back to?

What are your favorite single player games to go back to often?

Minecraft
Furi
Mario 64
Super Mario World
GTA SA and Vice City

It's kinda rare for me to go back to a single player game and replay it, but there are some games that are nostalgic in the same way place or smell can be nostalgic.

I know them so well that I can't help but want to go back and visit and I never really get disappointment by the experience. Sure, I don't get as immersed as the first time, but I definitely still enjoy the games.

171 comments

Stardew valley. I stopped playing it earlier this year but picked it back up this week. I forgot I made a new game that went with joja instead of the community center and I feel disgusting playing it but I need to see how it shakes out lol
- I love me some Stardew. Have you tried out Dave the Diver? It's got a similar quirky feel to it.
  
  It looks so good!! Definitely gonna grab it on the next sale. Man these indie dev pixel budget games are so much better than the AAA ones.

Morrowind and FTL. Both I revisit every couple of years.
I suspect Stardew Valley might become something like that too, but I only had one cycle of stopping and coming back with it so far.
- Popped in here to say FTL and was delighted to see someone had already mentioned it. Absolutely love that game.
- Stardew valley is definitely one for me and rimworld. Cyberpunk and witcher as well. Skyrim and fallout also but I rarely stick with them for a full playthrough they usually just kill time until I have something else to play
  
  I feel a bit bad, but I abandoned rimworld basically as soon as I found dwarf fortress. I have about 200 hours in rimworld, got at least that in dwarf fortress before the steam release. Up to 50 hours on the steam version now, I would definitely have a lot more hours on both but work and some side projects have been keeping me busy

Oblivion, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 are my favorites
- I loved The Witcher 3 and I know it has tons of replayability... But heck, I don't see myself finishing it again any time soon, it took me a bit part of my life to finish it once lol.
- I got myself skyrim for a birthday when it first came out, and I love going back to it. It has a lot of flaws, but it also has a lot of character.
  Thank you, I think I'm going to start a playthrough soon because of this comment

Factorio (the factory must grow...)
Soul Reaver & Legacy of Kain series
Lufia 2 (SNES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Final Fantasy VI
Diablo 2
- The factory must grow
  The factory must grow

X-Com & X-Com 2
Mass Effect series
Fallout 4
Rimworld
Homeworld & Homeworld 2
- XCOM series is great. Unfortunate so many of the lead creators have left Firaxis lately.

Alpha Centauri.
- What an amazing game. Hell yes.

Hades
- I recently picked it up for my switch and I'm really excited to try it out. I've heard a lot of great things about it
  
  It's a great game to kill time, each play through is random so doesn't feel repetitive. Great soundtracks. I'm playing this on my laptop through a ps5 controller honestly this game is best to be played on a switch or steamdeck type device. Anyway happy gaming.
  
  Highly recommend; it's on my list. It's a low-barrier roguelike to get into. Overall, the genre has some friction points, but this game is really smart about it. There is a story! It is advanced every time you die. You slowly get more stats each time also. However, If the game determines you are dying 'a lot', it will allow you to decrease the difficulty so you won't abandon the game. The fun is in combining Greek god powers; you can 'git gud' if you want a challenge, but it's not necessary to 'have fun.'

Single player nostalgia list:
FPS:
Halo series (Reach, 1, 2, ODST, 3, 4)

Strategic:
Homeworld
Supreme Commander

Racing:
Trackmania Stadium

Roguelike
FLT

Survival:
Minecraft
Factorio

Tactical:
Advance Wars 2
Battle for Wesnoth

Other:
Thumper
Space Engine

Multiplayer nostalgia list:
FPS:
Halo series (again, 90% of the time the custom game browser already has a game running that I want to join, and it's still getting updates)
PUBG (how is this 6 years old already?)

Party games:
Golf with Friends
Tabletop Simulator
Ultimate Chicken Horse
- Advance Wars is such a good series. I wish they would come out with another one
  
  There is Wargroove. And it's sequel is coming soon (or already released?).

Dwarf Fortress
Minecraft
Stardew Valley
Chrono Trigger
FF Tactics Advance
various Zelda titles
various roguelikes
- This is my kind of list! Dwarf Fortress though...I haven't played. Slightly intimidated by it. Sorta drawing from my experience with Rimworld. I really wanted to like it but I was so shit at the game.
  
  The problem with DF isn't the learning curve, it's how easy it is to play for sixteen hours without eating or sleeping.
  
  Same. People gush over how complex it is all the time, and it just makes me feel like I will be too stupid to understand it lol. I'm sure I could with enough time, but time is what I lack
- various roguelikes
  Noita is one I've spent a lot of hours with.
  Caves of Qud is a good one if you like "classic" roguelikes.
- Ff tactics!!! What great memories! It's in my myoomini plus next in row to be played! I'm currently re playing hp for the gbc

portal Subnautica

Slay the Spire. It's so challenging that it's always engaging when I play it.
- Didn't even consider this one because I never left it. Having it on mobile means I'm playing it in way too many situations I shouldn't be.
  
  THERES A MOBILE VERSION OF SLAY THE SPIRE?????!!!?

XCOM 2012 is my favourite turn based stratedy game, I really like the Long War mod. Saving earth from an alien invasion is such a cool fantasy.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey because I love Greek history and mythology, so being able to explore that part of the world is really appealing to me.
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War. It's just the best 40k game. I wish Relic would remaster it.
Sunless Sea. It's one of my favourite visual novels, and it has RPG elements. The writing is hilarious, and weird. It's like halfway between Charles Dickens and HP Lovecraft. Pilot a ship around a vast underground sea, fighting monsters and talking to Victorian wierdos.
Spelunky. I've been playing it for 10 years now, and completed it hundreds of times. I'd recommend it a lot.
STALKER Call of Pripyat. It's an alternative history first-person shooter set in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant. It's semi open world, and unlike any other game I've played for its story and atmosphere.

Factoring, satisfactory
Heck anything with a dedicated server support. I throw up my own server, connect and play SP. So long as the game is fun, I'll play it

I like to go back to crpg's like the Pathfinder or Pillars of Eternity games.
I love trying out different story paths and finding the little things I've missed on previous play-throughs.

The only 10+ years old game I still return to for significant lengths of time is Guild Wars 2. Yeah yeah I know, it's not a single player game, but as far as I am concerned it might as well be. Also I return when there is new content, so I might be cheating there.
Every now and then I return to Magicka and then stop playing after enough crashes. Renegade Ops is also a favorite of mine (did a complete playthrough on Steam Deck last year). It's been a while since my last run of Crysis but I really enjoy replaying it (just the first game though, the sequels did not do the same for me), spicing up the experience with a couple of mods.
- I play WoW like that. Just follow the storyline in quests for whatever character/race I feel like running as an alt. I might come across other people as I play, but I don’t play with anyone.

Minecraft is probably the only game I've beaten and revisited. But that's cause beating it isn't really the end of the game
- Yeah, Minecraft is basically LEGO, you stop playing when you run out of ideas or run out of time.

Games without frequent changing updates:
4X:
Civilisation V, Civilisation VI
CMS: Anno 1602 (1998), Factorio
Open world RPG: Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 4
RPG: Drakensang: The Dark Eye
Tycoon: OpenTTD (FOSS)
Farming Simulator (2009, too bland), 2011, 2013, 2015
Games with changing updates:
Roguelike: Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead (FOSS)
Sandbox: Minecraft, Minetest

Skyrim,
Fallout NV
Fallout 4
Witcher 3
Ghost of Tsushima
Mass Effect (full trilogy)
BioShock (mostly 1, but sometimes 2 and 3 as well)
Borderlands (1 and 2, never really got into 3 or the Tales games)
Red Dead Redemption (both)
Assassins Creed Black Flag
Mad Max
Cyberpunk 2077
Dying Light (the original. Haven’t played 2 yet)
As far as single-player goes, the ones above all have several hundred hours each (a couple of them well over 1000 lol), across countless play throughs lol
- Fucking Fallout NV! Sploosh!
  Idk if I'll replay CP2077, the ending was really disappointing.
  
  Really?
  I mean, I’m not a big fan of “Five different endings” (technically 6) that literally just exist as “select which ending you would like” in a dialogue choice to choose the last mission, I’ll give you that. That being said though, I really do feel like all of them represent different attitudes and/or takes on the story preceding, and really feel like they could be a legitimate close to the story each in their own way.
  Just curious if it’s a similar feeling for you, or if you actually don’t like the endings themselves

Castlevania SOTN
Super Metroid
Wario Land 1
Chrono Trigger
Bonus: Playing final fantasy 6 and getting past the Figaro part and rafting mini game and quitting the game right after

Starbound. They've had a couple of big story changes over it's development and it's not as big as terraria. But I enjoy the soundtrack and having a spaceship and just enjoying space travel (at the expense of stealing fuel from a ghost).
- I haven't played in a while, but I know I'll go back and give it a try again.

Sekiro. After a couple runs, you figure out the best route to take across the game, and it's a quick weekend worth of gameplay. It's also quite exhilarating being able to first try bosses that took me 5-6 hours to beat the first time around. A feeling of familiarity in the execution (🤫).
Lady Butterfly's "You've... Gotten stronger... Wolf" warms my heart.

Mod-friendly games with large mod communities like Skyrim or Mount and Blade 2. The ability to play a game like Skyrim in completely different ways keeps it fresh.

Minecraft
Astroneer
Skyrim
Ratchet & Clank 2,3, or ToD
I can't really describe what it is about R&C that I am just enamored by. I've played them on and off since the first game when I was 7+.
- Couldn’t agree more on Ratchet & Clank. It’s just so much fun. Progression and upgrades are good, reasonable wit/comedy without being too on the nose or campy. Always has different and interesting guns to smash enemies.
- Yes for Ratchet and Clank! Super glad they ported a rift apart to PC, been enjoying it
- Do you recommend Astroneer as a multiplayer game? I've been wanting to play it with a friend
  
  I haven't played multiplayer in years so I'm not sure how it is but as far as I can tell it should be fine. If you haven't ever played, there are some really frustrating bugs that will most likely never get fixed (things like items and vehicles falling through the terrain) but overall it is pretty fun and relaxing

God of War
Red Dead Redemption
Banished
Oxygen Not Required
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fable 2 and 3

Tetris GB
This game has occupied so many hours of my life. I play a ROMHack called "Rosy Retrospective," where modern features have been added, like pressing up to drop and being able to save pieces. Probably don't need to explain this game :D
Super Punch-Out!
Nostalgic pick because the SNES was my favorite system. I'm not really into boxing games, but this adds a puzzle element to it where you memorize patterns of ridiciulous over-the-top fighters (one of them kicks, so the boxing is loose here). I can easily pick this game up and play the time-attack mode to refight a boxer that I've defeated before. There is a lot of satisfaction completely owning a boxer. However, there are still boxers in this game that I can't beat.
NYT Crosswords
Love doing a crossword with friends. I highly recommend their app screenshared to your TV; NYT has done a fantastic job optimizing the experience for screens. The grid and the clues are very visible, as if everyone was crowded around you on a table looking at the print version. NYT has quietly done a great job diversifying their games business. Spelling Bee and Werdle I don't play as much, but I know a bunch of people who do. If you don't have a sub, you can play on Downforacross with friends, the Google sheets of crosswords.
Solebon Solitaire (iOS)
An app that has many variants of single-player card games on there. My favorites include Klondike, Golf, Monte Carlo, Yukon, and La Belle Lucie, but FAR and away the game I play the most is FreeCell. There is a randomness to Solitare where some deals just aren't winnable. However, with FreeCell, with the ability to have 4 reserve spaces to move cards around, the game is more forgiving and every deal is winnable.
868-HACK
A hacking roguelike on iOS. Love the graphics and concept. You play on a randomly generated grid of tiles and walls that you can hack. Hacking results in enemies appearing on the grid. You have to plan your way to the level exit, while also maximizing the rewards (abilities) you get from hacking.
Enyo (iOS)
A tactical roguelike on iOS. Grid based. You have to dispatch the enemies on the grid with your sword, hook, and shield. Enemies progressively have better abilities and become more numerous, so you really have to plan your route through the grid-based terrain. You can use your weapons in interesting ways, especially the hook and shield. The hook pulls most enemies toward you, so you can sometimes dispatch by pulling them into water. Other times you can swap places with them so you deploy your shield to push them.
Donkey Kong GB
Wonderful puzzle platformer originally released on the GameBoy. Nostalgic pick that I can easily pick up and play for a couple of minutes or a longer session if needed. Mario runs, jumps, and uses hammers to get through 50+ themed levels. Simple and very replayable. Very easy for kids to learn to play.
Hades
For longer sessions, Hades is my go-to roguelite. An isometric dungeon crawler that seemingly has almost endless replayability with your choices of random Greek god-powers and paths through the Underworld. All the things you dislike about roguelites are smartly dealt with. There is an actual storyline between deaths. I have never heard a single line of dialogue repeated. Ever. The game will give you options to make it easier if it notices you are dying a lot. So anybody can make it through this game and progress the story.
Bloodborne
The first FromSoftware game that clicked for me and forced me to 'git gud.' Something about the gothic horror environment and the weapon fighting is so satisfying to me. You can go through this game with different weapons and builds and have a completely different game experience (a staple of FromSsoftware games). I have this whole game memorized and have beaten it multiple times and yet, I can still get my ass kicked by a random enemy if I am not careful. Every March, a bunch of gamers on Reddit replay the game in celebration of it's launch, but I like to play it around Halloween. Sounds like that is coming up soon!
- How does hades give you options if you die a lot? I've just started playing.
  
  God mode. You can turn it on and every time you die, you get a little stronger. I remember the game asking me if I wanted to turn it on.
- when you get good at crosswords join the dark side with the Guardian Cryptic XW
  https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/series/cryptic
  
  Haha, how good? On my own, I can probably solve a Tuesday, maybe if lucky a Wednesday on my own with no cheating. The proper nouns get me all the time.

Ocarina of Time
Mario 3 and 64
Far Cry 3 and 4
GTA San Andreas, possibly V
FTL
Civ V
Stardew Valley
- I love the world in GTA SA, but the driving in V feels so much better. I go back to it all the time just to drive around the town while talking to a friend on discord or watching a youtube video

Ratchet & Clank Going Commando. I've spent countless hours in that game over the last 20 years. I still keep a PS3 in my room to have the HD trilogy available whenever I want to play. Really wish it would be remastered to run on the current systems.

Braid - such a beautiful masterpiece of a game Portal 1 & 2, especially now that 1 has RTX re-release Half-life 2 and the episodes Factorio Rimworld

Lords of the Realm 2
It's not a challenge at all anymore, but I just love everything about it.
- I loved that game.
  
  I've actually been working on a remake off and on. Maybe I'll finish it someday.

Rimworld. It's not a game for me at this point, it's a drug that I have to take from time to time, and it takes all of your free time like a good drug would.
There are others with that effect for me, like modded Minecraft, or Factorio, or Satisfactory, or Hitman, or Skyrim, but nothing is that severe.
- Same, I actively put myself offline because at this point, I've got so many hours into the drug that it's embarrassing to me. Like a drug addiction.

Icewind dale
Baldurs gate 2
Baldurs gate
Starwars kotor
Starwars kotor 2
Starwars jedi knight
Starwars jedi knight 2
Mario 64
Goldeneye
The first 5 of those i have installed on my phone and i play them during lunch breaks and when i have time at home the last 4 i have on switch and are just great games to revisit from time to time. Im probably on my 7th play through of icewind dale since i originally played it all those yesrs ago.
- Based on that list, you would love Neverwinter Nights too.
  
  I did but i tried going back to it recently and it feels so clunky. But it was annold favourite. Nwn2 was a big improvement imo
- You just opened up a rabbit hole for me lol. I didn't know there were so many full scale games on mobile. I had seen a couple before, but I didn't know how deep they went. How are the controls on Baldur's Gate I and II?
  
  Controls are great. Those games controls translate so well to touch screen. Them being point and click games tapping is very natural. And instead of the arrow keys you just drag the screen around. Pinch zoom for more accurate tapping of small things or to zoom out for a better view of battles.
  Its like they were made for touchscreens.
  I think they are a little more playable on a tablet sized screen or a foldable phone but i played alot of bg1 on my old nexus 6 phone which had a 6 inch screen.
  Kotor 1 and 2 play better with a controller like a playstation/switch/xbox control or better still a control like the gamesir that holds your phone and makes it look like a switch.
  I need to correct my original post. Its kotor that inhave on my phone and jedi knight on the switch

I have a bunch but I'll just mention one because I didn't see it: Mad Max. It's just so satisfying to drive around smashing shit and kicking ass. I wish the driving sections of Arkham Knight could have been that fun.
- I think someone below also had Mad Max on their list.
  But yeah that game is really fun, I should go back to it soon

Toy Story 2 for PS1, I'm willing to try the Dreamcast version, although I don't think it is very different...
Super Mario Bros 64 DS, since it doesn't bother me in the slightest the lack of the joystick this game is a gem with all the added content and portability (well portability was huge thing back in the days 😅).
New Super Mario Bros for DS, very easy to pick up and play, although I'm not a fan of not being able to save anywhere, if my flashcard supported save states I'd definitely use them with this.
Jackie Chan for PS1, I made like a weird tradition to re visit this game all the Decembers lol, don't ask me why, I don't even know it.
- I've heard great things about the Jackie Chan games. I should check it out soon
  I have a lot of good memories with the Mario 64 DS minigames. I would play those all the time with my friends. The DS was truly a great console. Top 3 for sure
  
  I've heard great things about the Jackie Chan games. I should check it out soon
  TBH I wasn't even aware that there are more Jackie Chan games lol.
  The DS was truly a great console. Top 3 for sure
  DS is my favorite console I love handhelds and I love the games that came with it, even the most gimmick games like the Zelda games doesn't bother me.

I go back to the Mario games pretty often.
Man, Furi, I tried and couldn't get past the tutorial, lol
- Man, Furi, I tried and couldn’t get past the tutorial, lol
  Same. The soundtrack is killer, though. It's in my regular rotation on Spotify.
  
  In my first play through I was surprised how many songs from the games I knew
- There are so many Mario games that are easy to pick up and play anytime without worrying about forgetting about the story, controls, or anything like that
  Haha I played Furi a lot so now I have the bosses memorized

Super Mario Sunshine
Halo CE
Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
- If you have a legal copy of OoT you might want to check out Ship Of Harkinian or similar projects, especially SoH's randomizer

Red Faction: Guerilla. Pure therapy.

Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition are both games I've played through and loved multiple times over
Skyrim lol but it's infrequent for me now
Civ (I've only played 6)

Crusader Kings. I keep coming back to it when I'm between other games and I don't see that ever changing

Anything Borderlands really, except for the Tales of the Borderlands adventure games.
I'm currently playing BL1 on the Deck.
- Tales from the Borderlands is one of my favorite games! The rocket launch scene is so fucking epic.
- What have been your favorite games to play on the Deck?
  
  BL1 is kind of an outlier. I don't like playing FPS with controllers; I'm more of a kb/mouse person. Decided to try BL1 on the Deck because I know it pretty well, it's not as fast paced in late game as 2/TPS and 3, and it plays nice with a flick stick layout.
  I use the Deck mostly undocked, on the couch, and for games that don't require my full attention or can be played in short bursts.
  What are my favourites on the Deck?
  Vampire Survivors - I should really get back to that one. I have the DLC's, but I don't think I've played since getting them
  Army of Ruin - a Vampire Survivors clone, but prettier. By the devs of the Ziggurat series.
  Rogue-likes/lites like Noita and Rogue Legacy
  Okami - is still a damn pretty game. Completed it on the Wii ages ago. Should get back to it on the Deck as well, but I'm stuck on a mandatory minigame. Pretty much the only flaw in a otherwise perfect game.

Star Ocean 2
Illusion of Gaia
Diablo 2
Final Fantasy 8 (and the other ps1 era ones to a lesser degree)
Fallout 3, NV, & 4

Deus Ex with GMDX mod
- Yeah Deus Ex is definitely my choice too! (though I don't usually play with GMDX)
  
  GMDX makes it playable in the modern age without removing the original spirit. Revision and New Vision change too much

Since setting up emulation on my steam deck, I've been playing way too much SSX tricky...
- Man I still listen to music from SSX 3.
  So many great memories from that game.
- SSX is probably the only snowboarding game I've played/enjoyed. Great announcer, music, tracks and tricks.

Jet Set Radio Future, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Need for Speed ProStreet, Torchlight II, Paper Mario, Freelancer, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, GTA San Andreas & Vice City, Front Mission 1 & 3, Metal Max Returns...

Skyrim, grab a few new mods and the game is practically new to be again!
- I've played Skyrim for over 500 hours but I've never played mods. Which ones are your favorite?
  
  I'm pretty lame and just run USSEP, Cutting Room Floor, SMIM, Immersive Citizens, Alt Start, Rich Merchants, etc.. When I try to go nuts with Mods I spend all my time modding and never actually get into the game. I wish I could find some community advice on minimal mods. When I "used to" look on the skyrimmods reddit most ppl seemed more interested in how many mods they could get, like quantity over quality.

Minetest
Silent Storm (S2 & S3)
Fallout
0 AD

Halo 2, I know most cutscene quotes by memory
X3: Terran Conlict, huge time waster, janky, infuriating and I love it
~~Chromehounds~~ (not really, I lost the CD and my X360 is dead (Armored Core ain't got shit on Chromehounds, fight me))
Crysis 2, better looking graphics than all the AAA games I have seen in the past 3 years
Terraria, it's Terraria
Starbound, it's Terraria but in space
Valheim, it's Terraria but you're a 3D lowres viking (it's low resolution textures exhalt my love for normal mapping)

The ones that I find myself going back to the most in the last decade are indie classics. Hyper Light Drifter, Kerbal Space Program, FTL: Faster Than Light (I just realized all these titles sound similar, but they're a 2D character action game, a spaceflight simulator/shipbuilder, and a very unique strategy game, respectively, and they're all among the best in their genres). Also, as a horror game fan and a Resident Evil fan in particular, I keep replaying the Resident Evil 2 remake from 4 years ago; easily one of the best horror games ever made.

Mad Max

Shenmue and Shenmue II are probably the games I've played the most over the years.
Then it's on to the Telltale series of games and especially The Wolf Among Us.
In general I'm more of a "play lots but complete few" person.
- I've been wanting to find a time to play some Telltale games with my girlfriend. Which ones are your favorites?
  The Walking Dead ones look interesting to me.
  
  I love TWAU and TWD season 1 but really they are all very good.

Skyrim Dragon age origins Zelda breath of the wild

Farming simulator!
- For me it's house flipper.
  
  American Truck Simulator for me

At the moment, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The one I've revisited the longest and most often is Dragon's Dogma.
- "They're masterworks all, you can't go wrong."

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Fallout New Vegas
Skyrim
GTA 5
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rome Total War
- Coincidentally, New Vegas was the first 'resource-heavy' game I played to test my new Steam Deck. Played great and still holds up. I try a different way to kill Benny every time! This time, he ended up as a slave for Caesar. Benny, vidi, vici!
  
  Yup, I did a play through recently too. Took down Benny in the arena.

I generally go back to the nostalgia-filled retro titles from the nes-psx eras or for a more modern experience I'll lean into Mark of the Ninja, Guacamelee, or FTL. I've also put an embarrassing number of hours into the new Tomb Raider trilogy and Breath of the Wild. BotW counts as vintage these days, right?
- I started a play through of Tomb Raider 2013 last night on my Steam Deck and I've been enjoying it so far. Controls feel a little clunky for me, but maybe that's just because I suck at using controllers lol
  I've heard a lot of great things about FTL and I have it on steam, but I don't think I've ever opened it. Maybe I should start looking
  
  It's definitely the clunkiest of the 3. I almost gave up on it but if you stick with it you'll figure it out and maybe even learn to like it. RotTR and SotTR are both much better from a control perspective. FTL is great for when you just want a chill game. It's hard but not sweaty. I really wish they had it for Android...

171 comments

Tetris GB

Super Punch-Out!

NYT Crosswords

Solebon Solitaire (iOS)

868-HACK

Enyo (iOS)

Donkey Kong GB

Hades

Bloodborne