I’ve had a great time playing some of the ‘smaller’ games lately: Dredge (adore this game so much), Dave the Diver, Cloudpunk, Stray, Octopath II, Observer.
What else would I like? That aren’t roguelikes or crafting-building games (don’t hate me, I tried to love Subnautica…as a diver I should love it, but the genre just isn’t for me!).
Would love any suggestions!
Please consider WanderSong. It’s a small game and was made with so much love. Games can have a huge variety of plots and environments. But the vast majority of games, regardless of what they are about, are actually about victory. You’re a space dwarf mining for minerals, but the game is all about mastery and winning. You’re a dragon-kin with magic shouts, but every quest is about achieving a victory over a challenge. And so on.
I would say that WanderSong is not a game about victory. It’s a game about happiness. The character, the mechanics, the plot, the environments; they all serve first to explore the meaning of happiness. There’s nothing else quite like it. You can find it here.
Wandersong is firmly in my “recommend to anyone” Steam list.
Just want to emphasize how wonderful of a game Wandersong is. Nothing in your list makes me point and go “if they liked X, they’ll like Wandersong”, but it’s just a really good smaller-y game. Heavily story driven, with a little bit of puzzle-platforming. I have 10.4 hours of playtime in it on Steam, so including some AFK time and some post-game fucking about, it’s probably a 6-8 hour play.