Ask HN: Which games are you playing in free time? - King_mansur
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AdamGibbins
Factorio + Rimworld. Both great simulation games, both continually improved
upon and under active development.

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psyc
+1 Factorio. Used to be an avid gamer. Now just an avid Factorio player.

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throwaway7645
Text adventures. It's not out yet, but I've been following the development of
taustation which will be an in-browser space adventure using text as a medium
to tell the story. It is multiplayer of course. There are a few games like
this within a fantasy setting, but none Scifi that I've seen. The team does
bi-monthly blog post updates going over everything from in game lore to
artwork to code testing and architecture. The games creator and lead is an
expert in the Perl community and wrote one of the best programming books in my
rather large collection. So not doing a huge amount of playing at the moment,
but eagerly anticipating. Check it out:

[https://taustation.space/](https://taustation.space/)

~~~
tarboreus
Any other text-based games you'd care to recommend? I'm a fan of Counterfeit
Monkey, Spider and Web, and a few particularly good Choice of Games games,
like Lost Heir and Choice of the Deathless.

~~~
throwaway7645
Sounds like you're in the know! Andrew Plotkin(spider and web guy) did one for
Linux/iOS/Android recently called Hadean Lands that got good reviews. I'm a
big fan of most of Emily Short's work (Bronze was good if you like Beauty and
the Beast with a bizarre plot line). I also really really liked City of
Secrets as the storyline was riveting although I did get stuck at one point
and can't find a good walkthrough. Alabaster to me was a beautiful & short
work of art. Good stuff.

~~~
tarboreus
Going to check out Alabaster and City of Secrets. Already got through most of
Emily Short and Andrew Plotkin's respective oeuvres. Thanks!

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b0rsuk
I used to play Rimworld, then I realized I dislike sandbox games for the same
reason I hate MMOs, MUDs and the 'roguelike' T.O.M.E. Huge time wasters.
Rimworld is barely even a survival game. I mean it doesn't even display how
many days your food will last!

I generally like my games short and tight:

Online FPS games come in 20 minute chunks.

Catacomb Kids is a splendid Early Access roguelike platformer, similar to
Spelunky but much harder and terrain is generally indestructible. The amount
of item and dungeon feature interactions is crazy, and the game is notable for
having smart humanoids as its most dangerous enemies. They chase, keep
distance if you have a longer weapon, run away and bring reinforcements when
badly wounded, or escape to the next level. It may look like a brutally hard
arcade game at first, but your success chance dramatically improves with
planning ahead.

I also play many board games. Board games are funny because good games are
played for decades, unlike Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Heroes of Might and
Magic II, or Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. They are also extremely modding
friendly, and it's trivial to write a patch (it's called "house rules" and
it's widely used). Board games have the sense of community like in old FPS
games that had multiplayer based on dedicated servers. You don't get people
randomly disconnecting. Also, one copy of a game is enough for several people.
Board games also have the advantage that they are more about mechanics. I mean
Quake and Unreal Tournament is basically the same game. Heroes of Might and
Magic III would be called an expansion pack to HOMM2 if it was a board game.
People play the games that are most fun, not ones that look best or have best
action figures.

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charlieegan3
Flatmate bought a switch and we've been playing quite a bit of Mario Kart 8.
It's just nice to play a game that you don't need to get 'in the zone' to
enjoy. The switch controller setup is really good too.

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raverbashing
One recent launch that might resonate with some is Thimbleweed Park

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Filligree
Factorio. And I used to play Minecraft, but these days I'm too busy writing
mods and server tooling to actually play it. :V

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mbrd
The game I play most is Starcraft 2.

It's really hard to get "good" (I've played on and off for 2-3 years and still
don't feel competent!) but the matchmaking is good enough that you win about
50% of games.

I like that it's 1v1, so when you win or lose, it's usually completely your
own doing.

I also like that you pay once and are on a level playing field with everyone
else. All of the in-game purchases are purely cosmetic. I played Hearthstone
for quite a while but eventually totaled up the amount I spent on it and
promptly quit!

~~~
dey
Starcraft 2 player here as well :) #Eyenstyn2661 been playing since 2010,
still newb currently silver leageue mostly playing coops, campaign and 1v1

Also Hearthstone casual player here as well :)

I also bought a Nintendo Switch recently and its a great 4 player party game
device, I play Zelda but its much better to play on a big screen....

I was just happy to see someone playing similar games :)

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Fire-Dragon-DoL
I played Factorio for a while, but at some point becomes as complex as coding,
when I reach that point I say "well, I can just work, get paid for it, and get
same amount of fun", so I always drop around that.

Kerbal Space Program is by far the one I spent more time in, probably around
1000 hours.

Dark souls was one of my favourite (1st and 3rd), spent a lot of hours there
too. I'm also playing a lot of board games lately, not sure if they count!

I'm always looking for cool new games, I'm really picky.

Oh I almost forgot! XCOM and Invisible Inc, both great!

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zengid
The Witness is pretty fun. Some of the puzzles take me a while to grok, so I
play it every now and again.

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cdumler
Guild Wars 2: Free to play, no subscription if you play for the game, and
plenty of "things to do." The game revolves around story lines and open world
events. What I like is that I can pop on and just do something and then pop
off without feeling like I have to get my money's worth every month.
Sometimes, it's nice to fell like I've managed to complete something (when it
doesn't feel like it at work).

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CM30
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Admittedly, part of that's because I'm
messing around with different quest/dungeon orders and NPC interactions, but
damn, that game can keep you playing for hundreds of hours if you let it.

Maybe I'll stop when that rumoured Mario & Luigi remake comes out. If not,
probably when Super Mario Odyssey is released.

~~~
dey
im also playing it, although i would have enjoyed it more without friends
spoiling it for me by telling me where they are or what they found :(

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poopsmithe
League of Legends is my jam, I love the split second mechanical strategy that
has me constantly trying to outsmart my opponents. Example: I cant cast my
ultimate ability in a team fight until two specific opposing champions use
their interrupt abilities. Opponents building Magic Penetration items? Magic
Resist items won't help me, time to build straight health items.

The other game I play is Battlefield 1942. I've been playing that game since
2002 and there are a number of communities keeping the online scene alive even
though Gamespy shut down their master server browser.

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justinucd
Overwatch

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GvS
Faeria - beautiful card/board strategy game for PC. It's free to play.

[https://www.faeria.com/](https://www.faeria.com/)

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zachgersh
A whole handful because they all bring something different to the table:

\- Dishonored 2 \- The Witness \- The Talos Principal \- Batman - Arkham
Knight \- Shadows of Mordor \- Transistor

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cdubzzz
Shadow of Mordor, Tomb Raider, Watch_Dogs, Zelda 2 (SNES on RetroPi).

Want to try Red Orchestra with old MOH/BF series friends but trying to avoid
time suck online FPS games.

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jetti
I was playing Rocket League while trying to get into other games (Cities:
Skylines, Rome: Total War) but I would always fall back to Rocket League. I
was also playing Diablo 3 for awhile but just get bored. I start just about
every season but quit shortly after I start. Currently I'm not playing
anything because my desktop died in my move :(

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rkwasny
Overwatch for quick 20 minutes- 1 hour session

Factorio - when I need to relax

I tried Rimworld, but automation aspect in Factorio is soo much nicer :)

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galleanv
I am currently working on my own game Photon Rush - which makes me play it
alot.

It is in test phase but you can try it:
[http://www.gametroleum.com/news/invitation-to-photon-rush-
te...](http://www.gametroleum.com/news/invitation-to-photon-rush-test/)

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mstaoru
Just completed Witcher 3 at almost 270 hours. It was an amazing experience and
comes highly recommended. Started The Last of Us (ps4) now, and so far it's
been very good as well. Skipped FF15 after playing half an hour (used to be a
huge FF fan, but they ended on 9 for me).

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JohnLeTigre
For some reason I'm in a nostalgic phase

I'm playing Lufia II for the snes

I'm amazed I missed that one at the time.

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hacker_9
For online multiplayer I like playing mindless games like Halo or DOOM4. For
single player... I struggle to think of the last good campaign I played,
probably Hitman Absolution because it felt like a movie whilst also having
entertaining gameplay.

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punk_coder
I had the original Witcher 3 on my XBox360, with no DLC. I just started
playing Witcher 3 Complete Edition on my PS4. Currently level 5 and really
enjoying it. I get maybe 6 hours a week to play, so it will take a while,
which is fine with me.

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jcubic
When I bought my new game laptop I was playing Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and on
Linux I use to play rouge-like game ToME, I've also play Adom but I was
cheating by copy the whole game directory to restore the game when I was
killed.

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heimatau
Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes on mobile. It's fun and able to passively play and
progress in the game. Biggest plus is the game mechanics in the game, they
constantly improve things. I've been playing for about 18 months.

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jitbit
Battlefield anyone? I play Battlefield 3/4 (and 1) all the time. Mostly BF 3.

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vassilevsky
Overwatch!!!

After an exhausting day of swimming in the current of JIRA issues, bugs, pull
requests, server logs, and such, Overwatch gives me a dose of pure fun and
excitement!

It's a Game Of The Year for a reason!

You know, the world could always use more heroes ;)

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cozuya
Shameless plug, my online version of the social deduction board game Secret
Hitler. [https://secrethitler.io](https://secrethitler.io)

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azurelogic
I keep coming back to Titanfall 2. I play a considerable amount of Amped
Hardpoint, along with CTF, Coliseum, and whatever is 2XP.

Risk of Rain would be my indie game addiction.

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skibz
Zelda, Dota 2, Factorio, Team Fortress 2, and Quake Live.

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pataphysician
Factorio, Overwatch

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lewisgodowski
LoL, Minecraft, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

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je_bailey
Breath of the wild consuming way to much of my time and Darkest Dungeon, the
despair and melancholy in that game brings me happiness

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nickserv
Civilization, Stellaris, Europa Universalis...

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reducesuffering
League of Legends

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fjaguero
I'm currently playing PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds). It's an incredible
game to play with friends.

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mnm1
Pro Evolution Soccer ($insertCurrentYearHere)

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drspacemonkey
Lately, my main timesink has been State of Decay. GTA in a zombie apocalypse,
with basebuilding and resource management.

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robinhoodexe
Team Fortress 2 with a mate.

Dwarf Fortress 2 when I need to immerse myself in something completely
different than theoretical chemistry.

~~~
Filligree
> Dwarf Fortress 2

You from the future, mate?

~~~
thelonelygod
Technically the full name of Dwarf Fortress is Slaves to Armok: God of Blood
Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress so their not too far off.

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Morantron
Sensible Soccer

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BuzzYeager
-Red orchestra 2, Rising storm 2: Vietnam beta. \- Kerbal Space Program \- Lunar flight

Just to get my mind somewhere else.

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jellekralt
Not a lot right now, but I've put a huge amount of hours in Minecraft the past
couple of years :)

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hiperlink
Deadly Rooms of Death (and the followups)- recommended to anyone who likes
hard puzzles.

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scruple
Mostly Hearthstone followed by Breath of the Wild, but also occasionally WoW
and D3.

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edoceo
[http://slither.io](http://slither.io)

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andaric
Factorio, Stellaris, XCOM, and Tiny Rails on mobile to relax and look at
trains =)

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ed_resende
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart 7. Both on Nintendo 2DS

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gokaygurcan
Don't Starve Together.

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StopOFlop
Path of Exile, Heroes of the Storm, and sometimes a bit of Starcraft 2

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sogen
Human resource machine, Knizia games specially Poison and Modern Art

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DanBC
Minecraft

Fallout3, Fallout New Vegas,

Tower of Hero (until their most recent update broke the game)

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SAI_Peregrinus
LoL, Civ, Factorio. Just finished Torment: Tides of Numenera.

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Gurrewe
Factorio, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Rocket League

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ultratopo
Dark Souls 2 & Dark Souls 3 (PS4) this first semester.

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iamwil
Team fortress 2, witness.

Surprised how many Factorio fans there are here.

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bdz
FFX and Overwatch

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CodeTheInternet
Civ V and VI, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Destiny

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niyazpk
I play "Kingdom Rush" on my phone.

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failrate
Codegolf.stackexchange.com tag:king-of-the-hill

My own prototype board game

Severed

Desert Golfing

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durul
I mostly play Call of Duty : Black Ops 3.

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Overtonwindow
Counter Strike

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chaosmachine
Chess

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zenlot
+1 for it.

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Leisureguy
Mostly Go, and some chess.

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polotics
Arma 3, still the best sim

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VohuMana
Factorio and Dawn of War 3

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gls2ro
Kerbal Space Program

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Deuterio7
Total war: Warhammer

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nom
PC: The Witness, Portal 1+2

Mobile: Super Hexagon, Glitchskier, Alto, hocus, Snakebird

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moneytide1
Distant Worlds

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i_r7al
Clash Royale

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gfredtech
Minecraft :)

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gok2
Dawn of Crafting

Clash Royale

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maturz
Hearthstone

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nol13
tic-tac-toe

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b1gtuna
Starcraft 2

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Davertron
PUBG

Dark Souls 3

TIS-100

Rocket League

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cagenut
RecRoom

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htsh
Zelda.

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vuldin
Dead Cells

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dennisgorelik
diep.io

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steanne
gurk 3

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danerov
Counter strike but without voice. Helps relax

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AwesomeBean
It really is amazing how much more relaxing casual is when you turn down VoIP.

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Diamons
LoL, Overwatch

