Players usually want a good story in their games. I can enjoy a good story too, but sometimes I just want to get going and do stuff without listening to several minutes of dialog in-between action.
Do you know any games where there’s no story (or very minimal/skippable one), and the game mechanics alone carry the game?
EDIT: Thank you all for the suggestions. There are some that I’ve never heard of and look very interesting. Will definitely pick some of them up.
Dwarf Fortress
Victor Vran’s not much for story but the game is fun. You can even find a weapon that launches exploding chickens.
Best answer here.
I’d have to recommend Untitled Goose Game, Goat Simulator, the Karamari series, and music based (do the thing to the beat) games like Dance Dance Revolution, Taiko Drum Master, Guitar Hero, etc.
Elden Ring is apparently good. And the dark souls games as a whole. Almost no story
Factorio?
The factory must grow
If you’re looking for something arcadey and replayable, the Touhou series might be worth looking into. Great music, too.
Vampire Survivors
I keep hearing about this one. I need to try it one day.
It’s $5 and brilliant 40+ hour game with excellent mechanical complexity
I just discovered this game this past weekend and it is sooo good. I wanted a fairly mindless “kill a bunch of guys and keep my hand busy” type of game, and that’s exactly what I got.
Vampire survivor? 20 Minutes Till Dawn?
Vampire Survivors has more story than vampires. Which is a low bar to clear but it just about does.
Runescape. Open and grind.
Nuclear Throne
How would you say is different from Enter The Gungeon?
- If you love enter the gungeon you’ll probably love nuclear throne. I certainly love both and both are firmly in the bullet hell genre.
- Fewer weapons and a more minimal game loop.
- Faster paced.
- You level up in a run as you kill things and select perks that change the gameplay a bit.
- More emphasis on dodging (without rolling) and killing, it’s super fast paced.
- Both have fun secrets and hidden levels.
Thanks for the summary. I didn’t play Enter the Gungeon much, but enjoyed the little what I played.
Lots of posts here, so maybe you won’t see this, but i think the ___ Simulator games are mindless task-oriented fun (if you enjoy that sort of thing). I have been playing House Flipper lately, which has basic task lists and skippable emails if you don’t care about the job’s context. Clean up trash, paint, build outdoor furniture. There’s just something satisfying about it for me, but it won’t be for everyone. I have heard good things about PowerWash and Gas Station Simulators as well.
It’s think I would enjoy it for a while but got bored pretty fast. But maybe some type of this genre could surprise me.
w40k Gladius?
So, so many. You’re going to have to narrow it down a bit. Vagante is a great challenging roguelike platformer that’s equal parts Spelunky and Dark Souls. There are recommendations for Factorio and Civilization here, which I wholeheartedly endorse. Mercenary Kings has minimal act break cut-scenes that are pretty short, but the gameplay loop is Mega Man crossed with Monster Hunter, and it works really well. Streets of Rogue is a highly systemic roguelike that really lets you go nuts with the sandbox, and it’s got a great sense of humor at that.
As a bonus, all of those games are also fantastic to play co-op.
I played all you mentioned, except Factorio, and liked them, but never heard of Vagante. Looks interesting so I’ll check it out, thanks.
Trackmania. Any of them. TMNF/UF, Trackmania2, Trackmania Turbo, Trackmania (2020)
You mean the post-apocalyptic, self driving car game?
