A game I do not see mentioned so far is Snake Pass. Somewhat similar in the color- and joyful presentation of world to the Rayman games you mentioned in the OP Nudi, though the cast of supporting characters is far smaller with only two protagonists, Noodle the snake (you control him directly) and Doodle his bird buddy (who helps to get through some situations and also locates points of interest). True the controls are unorthodox, as you have to learn how to slither and "snek" around, but it is really fun to do so and once you get the hang of it, it is hard to stop playing. Also, Noodle is adorable and he can make funny faces by playing with the D-pad:P
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If I'm reading your post right, you're looking for games that are warm-hearted and relaxing, right? Games about being kind to people and making the world a better place? Those tend to be my favourite kind.
The Sea Will Claim Everything (Point & Click) This is a game that makes me feel like the world can get better. Not that it's already there, but that there's always hope, that we can make a difference, and that most people really are good deep down inside. You'll spend most of your time helping the residents of a quirky, fantastical set of Grecian-inspired islands, while reading the oodles and oodles of delightful, witty descriptions. Highly recommended, especially since you seem to like text-heavy games.
Wuppo (Platformer) A very large world crammed into a very tiny game. Wuppo lets you be mischievous, but it's really about exploring, being daft, and helping people out. Rock Paper Shotgun wrote a review that captures much of what I love about it.
Tales from the Borderlands (Telltale Adventure) Okay, this one isn't really about being nice to people, but it is about friendship and comraderie. It's insistently goofy and outrageously fun, and the world is honestly quite harmless for the most part. For instance, at one point the protagonist attempts to kill a guard, and this is the result.
(All of these games can be found on Steam, but seeing as you mentioned enjoying DRM-free games elsewhere in the thread, I've included links for buying DRM-free versions instead when possible.)
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And more games that I haven't played personally yet, but have good reason to believe match what you're looking for:
Marvin's Mittens (Casual Platformer) A game about being a kid and playing in the snow. "It will mend your silly, tired heart and make you smile - for real this time." - Steam review
Meadow (Open-World MMO Hangout) I know you said no multiplayer, but this is an experience you can have solo. Apparently it's a low-stress way to socialize when you don't feel like actually talking to anyone, and it's pretty as heck to boot. (As one would expect from the developers of Shelter.)
The Darkside Detective (Point & Click) A gentle, cheerful supernatural tale about working in the underfunded police department of a spooky town. "As you can probably tell, I’ve found it absolutely charming. Humour can punch up and it can punch down, but The Darkside Detective seems more inclined to pick its targets up, dust them off and pat them on the back before sending them on their way." -Rock Paper Shotgun
Fugl (Flight Simulator) A simple early-access game about the joy of movement. No goals, but you can collect features from different animals. Rather like Everything in that regard.
Kindred Spirits on the Roof (Visual Novel) Wholesome lesbian romances. "If all kinetic novels made my gay little heart glow with this much delight, along with my aching cheeks from smiling and my throat dry from all the squealing and 'awww!' moments, I'd probably play them more." - Steam review
Beeswing (Adventure) Hand-drawn, heartfelt adventure game about the creator's small hometown in rural Scotland.
West of Loathing (RPG) Goofy cowboy (or cowgirl!) shenanigans.
A Good Snowman is Hard to Build (Puzzle) Make cute snowpeople! Sit on park benches! Hug your finished snowpeople to show you care! Absolutely adorable.
Tadpole Treble (Rhythm) Watch the trailer and see if the combination of amateur-but-charming singing and cute tadpoles appeals to you.
Shrug Island (Adventure) Bite-sized but beautiful game about connecting with each other through music.
Burly Men at Sea (Casual Adventure) A short, colourful folk tale about three bearded men. You fill out a blank sea chart and see what fun little adventures you can get out of it. Sort of like Sunless Sea, I guess, if Sunless Sea were child-friendly and had a much brighter colour palette.
Camp W (Visual Novel) A friendship sim with the graphics of a Saturday morning cartoon.
Spellcasting: Meowgically Enhanced Edition (Casual) A game in which you trace over runes in the spellbook of a cat wizard. The book is full of charming scribbles left by your wizard friend, which you can preview on the game page. Seems quite sweet.
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Aww, thank you. I was feeling a bit silly for spending so long on this list, but your comment made it instantly feel worth it.
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Nobody should ever feel silly for spending time on a list! Making lists has led to some of the greatest achievements of humanity. Do you think we'd have landed on the moon without people making many, many lists? Precisely. In fact, the ability to make lists is one of the things that makes us uniquely human. Even ravens can make and use tools, but no animal has ever made an abstract representation of stuff so they could refer back to it.
That said, making dumb lists as clickbait is a perversion of the concept and can sod right off. But not you, you're wonderful.
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If I'm reading your post right, you're looking for games that are warm-hearted and relaxing, right? Games about being kind to people and making the world a better place?
Yes, but apparently I was bad at communicating that (or maybe just not direct enough, but I wanted to avoid the most obvious twee suggestions) since a lot of people have posted games that don't even come close to what I had in mind, even though they can be commended for having good taste in games. I mean, some of it can be chalked up to subjectivity, but not all of it.
I have to put The Sea Will Claim Everything up there even if turns out it's not feel good, because with reviews like "it is to adventure games what Umberto Eco’s Il nome della rosa is to murder mystery novels" it's going to be worth it no matter what. Even if it turns out that (say) I hate it, the reason why should be interesting.
You've got the most interesting list of suggestions in the thread so far. The fact that haven't put up most of them doesn't mean I don't think everyone else should check them out for themselves, because I do. If I didn't put them up it's just because I didn't like the style, or the game isn't finished yet, or I think it'd be interesting, but not something that would give me good feels.
(All of these games can be found on Steam, but seeing as you mentioned enjoying DRM-free games elsewhere in the thread, I've included links for buying DRM-free versions instead when possible.)
Your attention to detail is appreciated. I'm not a hardcore "it must be DRM free or I'm not buying!!11!" extremist, but if there's a choice I'll take it.
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So glad you saw something you like on there! The Sea Will Claim Everything is the one I really thought would suit your taste, so I'm happy you'll be picking that up if not necessarily the others.
I had a few friends who initially bounced off the sheer amount of reading required by TSWCE, although they ultimately wound up loving it. Based on your appreciation for literature and your game library, however, I can't imagine that will be an issue for you.
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Stanley parable - I did not yet see this one in your library. This one made me laugh so much when I needed it and it is definately a must play game :)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/221910/The_Stanley_Parable/
Maize - if you like a little mystery and talking corn
https://store.steampowered.com/app/284240/Maize/
Tomb Raider - Felt Like I was Lara Croft for a weekend
https://store.steampowered.com/app/203160/Tomb_Raider/
The Withcer 3 - I saw you had 1 and 2. I found 3 to be really good.
Everything - I saw it was already mentioned before, it's an experience, with great narration. I don't want to say too much.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/582270/Everything/
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I love The Stanley Parable! But it can get depressing depending on what route you take and how well you deal with existential despair. By the end of the route where you kill yourself over and over again while the narrator asks why you hate him, I needed some calming tea and a nice blanket.
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I'd say I'm doing great with existential despair because I'm still alive. But I've little desire to explore it in game form.
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Saints Row 3 has a perfect humor for me. Might give it a try to boost your spirits. SR4 might be little too over the top though.
Also, have some great Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries interpretation vid as a bonus :)
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I haven't played SR4 yet, but I did play SR3, and I'd say over the top is good. Most open world crime sandboxes are at the core very depressing pieces of work because, when all the mini games are said and done, you're still playing a hardened criminal doing awful things to people, even if you've got good, story-driven reason for doing those things. Taking the piss out of it goes a long way to remedy that.
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I'm not sure about this one, but from your description, it might fit your needs. The Blackwell adventure series isn't upbeat, but it's kind of 'nice', giving you the feeling that bad shit happens but it's possible to get to grips with it and make things feel better. You play an investigator trying to find the cause of death of people to help them move on. I played it a while ago, and far as I remember the first one wasn't great, but it was decent and each game builds on the previous ones, ending up with a really good adult story. One of the best adult game series IMO.
They're available on Steam separately, but GOG has the first four games (out of 5) as a bundle (you can buy the fifth separately). All games are available for iOS too (also all bundled together), and the first three are also available for Android (that's how I played them; played the others on Android via AGS - not recommended).
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isn't upbeat, but it's kind of 'nice', giving you the feeling that bad shit happens but it's possible to get to grips with it and make things feel better
This is so underrepresented. People just expect others to shit rainbows and barf happiness and can it as positive attitude, and being oh so joyful. Sometimes the most one can do is keep going.
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Grow Up! - This game just made me happy, I enjoyed every minute of it! Review
Dark Scavenger - This one is so silly and funny, unless you don't like to read (and there's not a ton of it, by the way), I don't see how this one could NOT make you smile.
Any LEGO game - There's something cathartic about destroying everything in sight, and the rewards you get for doing so.
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+1 for Dark Scavenger. Has some dark humour, but it's a very well done, cheerful and silly choose your own adventure / turn based game :)
and I have a review for this one
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When I see your likelist A Boy and his Blob first come to my mind. https://store.steampowered.com/app/281200/A_Boy_and_His_Blob/
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The sort of game where I wish there was a demo, because from the reviews it sounds like the controls are either going to be an intolerable bother for you, or, you know, they won't.
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It's not totally challenging if you don't think too much on collecting the golden bricks for the Lego Worlds game. But it is very uplifting once you start flying in a sleigh. Sorry wasn't meant to be a pun there, I just noticed it after typing lol. But on a more touching base moment, perhaps Creativerse? Relaxing in its own way.
I would have suggested you play some visual novels since some of them are uplifting in their own special way but they don't have that many on Steam. I also would have suggested Stardew Valley but the people in the game (townsfolk) seem to have a superiority complex. Otherwise, also a bit of a relaxing and up lifter game. Most of my up lifting type of games are actually outside of steam xD
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I too am going through somewhat of a rough patch. Been hating myself for a good while and I notice playing MonsterHunter World helps alleviate some of that dare I say depression but I don't feel depressed just somewhat lack of motivation and somewhat resentment for crude mistakes that were 100% my own doing. But yeah single Play in MHW seems to keep me happy. The hunt and the grind is exhilarating and the tension that builds up in-between tracking down your hunt and just going after a ginormous monster that looks incredibly terrifying and then being able to take it down just feels so damn good~!
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I've been going through a rough patch lately. Now now, don't get up, I know you're just overflowing with emotion right now, but go hug the nearest puppy to work that out or something. I'm good right now, I'm good.
However, it got me thinking about games that could offer some chicken soup for the soul, so to speak. There's plenty of books and movies that can lift your spirits when you're in a receptive mood, but what about games? I'm specifically looking for games that, when you play them, or possibly even just when you complete them, make you feel like everything's going to be alright after all, that you did a good thing. No, I don't mean the deep satisfaction you get from making four lines in Tetris, or refraining from brutally murdering someone in GTA even though you could have, I mean something a little more substantial.
Any ideas? Any games that do that for you, even if it's unconventional? I'm not saying I'll play any of it, but I do love making little lists regardless.
EDIT: to make it a little more specific, I'm looking for single player experiences. I know there are some great party/co-op/multiplayer games, but I don't have, or want, friends to play with.
EDIT: to make it even more specific, I noticed a few people have posted generic "I really like these games" lists. That's not quite what I was going for; I know there are lots of brilliant games and I've played quite a few, but far fewer games (even the great ones) actively create positive feels as part of the game itself, not just because it's fun to play or challenging.
EDIT: because it's my thread (MINE!) and because you might be interested, here's what I've got so far as games to possibly check out based on your suggestions. If it's not on here, it doesn't mean I thought your suggestion was bad, just that for whatever reason it didn't fit the theme, or maybe just that I haven't gotten around to it yet. You've produced a lot of titles, which is great.
Confirms (AKA I already played these games before and I agree):
Nopes (AKA honorable mentions, AKA I already know these aren't my thing, even if they might be for others):
The links go to the store, they are not giveaways. Just to clear up any understandable confusion. Don't think I'm not tempted to give them away.... Again, in some cases.
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