What makes a game good after a bad day
A bad day leaves me with no patience, so I don't want a game that asks for any. Going back through the games I've reviewed, four things decide whether one helps when the day went wrong.
It gives something back quickly. I want to be having fun within minutes, not after an hour of setup. Every game on this list gets there fast.
It's calm all the way through. The music, the colors and the pace do some of the work for me. I look for games where nothing shouts, so the evening doesn't give me one more thing to be angry about.
A mistake costs almost nothing. After a bad day I don't want to lose progress too. In these games, running out of oxygen costs a bit of loot, there's no losing at all in one of them, and in another nothing really goes wrong.
It's easy to leave. If the evening isn't going well, I want to be able to put it down. The games below save by themselves or sync as I play.
How I pick the games for this list
A game is on this page when the vibe check calls it properly chill, the first fun arrives within minutes and a mistake costs almost nothing (how I score explains the scales). The list is 4 games right now, best first, and it changes by itself when I review a game that fits. It's a short list on purpose: a game that is only a little calm, or only a little forgiving, doesn't make a bad day better. Those are in the close calls below. The order is different from my other lists: on a bad day the least Effort and the least Challenge come first, and my rating only breaks a tie, so a gentler game sits above a better rated one.
What helps on a rough evening
A few small things make the evening better, and none of them is a setting.
- Pick one game and stay with it. Scrolling through the list on a bad day is part of the problem. Start at the top, and if it doesn't fit, move one down.
- Sound. These all sound lovely in headphones, with wired ones in the 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth working too.
- Handheld or TV. Dave the Diver and No Man's Sky look best on the TV. Road 96 is how I play it in handheld and from bed. Palia works in both.
- Where to stop. Each review says where a good stopping place is.
Things to know before you start
These are calm, and a few have a catch:
- Dave the Diver has a restaurant that's only stressful in the first hours, until you have staff, and the text is small in handheld.
- No Man's Sky can feel daunting at first, and the battery drains fast in handheld, so I plug in.
- Road 96 has some heavy themes, even though it's easy to play.
- Palia is always online, so it needs a connection, and chat is painful on Switch.
Close calls: calm, but they forgive a bit less
These are calm too, but they take a little longer to get going, or a mistake costs a bit more. Here's what I said about mistakes in each one:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: A bad race costs a few points.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Nothing bad happens, and nothing is lost for long.
Other kinds of evening
If I'm tired as well as upset, the easy games for when I'm tired cover that, and for games where a mistake costs almost nothing there's relaxing games with no harsh game overs. The best games to play after work page ranks the ten that suit a work night best.
Questions
What's the best Switch 2 game after a bad day? Right now my top pick is Road 96. It's fun within minutes, calm all the way through and it forgives. On another night the right pick depends on what kind of day it was.
Which of these has no losing at all? Road 96. There's no losing, only a new story from a new angle, though it has some heavy themes.
Do I need headphones? None of these require them. Dave the Diver, No Man's Sky and Palia all have music I like to hear close.
Do these games need the internet? Only Palia needs a connection. The others play offline.
How often is this list updated? Whenever I publish a review or change a rating, the page is rebuilt. The date at the top shows when something last changed.
