Top 10 Most Relaxing Video Games for 2020 (PC)

You may have heard of this game as a dog fighting space adventure, and you would be right, but the beauty of Elite Dangerous is there are countless ways to play it. You can outfit your ship to be a space trucker and move loads between systems and galaxies for money, be a miner and collect precious resources, or be an explorer and visit new systems. With 400 billion star systems, you’ll have an endless amount of space to explore and relax, just keep your eye out for pirates.

    Have you wondered how you would fare in a desolate space planet? Here is your chance to find out. You start off on a lonely planet in space where you’ll have to explore the underground caves, collect resources to build your habitat, research the planet for flora for knowledge, and build a rocket to explore more planets. Your only enemy on this planet is the cold darkness of space and maybe some grumpy flora. This is one of my favorite games to play, and I find myself revisiting it at least once a year to try more efficient layouts and explore caves.

I know I mentioned space trucking a little while ago, but if the sci-fi gig isn’t much of your thing, you may want to try a more realistic approach. American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator puts you in the front seat of the biggest, baddest trucks on the road. Make deliveries and take in the gorgeous views as you travel all across the country. The real challenge, just like in real driving, is the parking and it is such a great feeling when you can easily slide into your drop off and get that delivery bonus. It works best with a wheel and pedal system, but can also be played with mouse and keyboard or controller.

If your like me and you love fishing but work keeps you stuck in the office all week, this game will give you the fix you need. Pick your rod, line, bait, and lake and fish to your hearts content. There are two different versions of the game, one that is a free and a paid version. With the free version, you will have to buy permits and pay for visits each time you visit a lake using an in game currency you earn from fishing. With the paid version, you will use the game currency to unlock the lake, but then you can visit it at any time. This is one of those games you can kick up your feet, put on your favorite tunes, and try and catch that mysterious big one.

This fun tycoon management game is the perfect way to relax and let the time flow like water. In this game, you’ll be able to design layouts, decorate tanks, add fish, manage your staff, and run the park efficiently. Create your dream tank with over 100 different species of fish, crustaceans, and sharks. Master the ability to keep your guest and fish happy while managing your money. Included is a campaign mode to learn the ropes, or dive right into sandbox mode and see if you got what it takes to run a tight ship on Megaquarium.

Have you dreamed about flipping a house? Here’s your chance to be a real estate mogul without having to leave the house or get your hands dirty. Buy a beaten house and get ready to scrub, fix appliances, paint, tear down walls, and decorate to make your buyers happy and get the best price possible for the flip. If you have an eye for the outdoors, a garden DLC is also available for purchase, as well as other add-ons. Take a chance and invest some time into this cozy time killer today.

Stardew is the ultimate life simulator if your looking to escape the big city. In this 2D top down, You get to explore your new home at Stardew Valley where you can clean your yard, grow crops, mine for resources. What really separates this from other survival games is the socialization. Meet and talk to towns people, grow relationships, marry, start a family, and attend seasonal events like dances and festivals. This is a great game to take at exactly your pace without having to worry about any goals you need to hit. I have spent many in game days fishing and it made no impact on the overall gameplay. Your only concern is time management, but it flows so nicely, it is hardly an issue. Grab your hoe and hit the yard because it is the perfect season for Stardew Valley.

Factory Town is what I like to think of if Factorio took a couple bong rips and chilled out. This slow paced and relaxing game is the perfect management and resource acquirement simulator that I’ve ever played. Start off with a small Town Square and use a system of workers, chutes, belts, trains and eventually mana magic to transport and produce items, earn money and build the fabled OmniTemple. Your first town will undoubtedly look like a spaghetti factory, but your third or fourth play through of this game is where it really shines. Once you begin to understand modules and building more efficient transport systems, your money and enjoyment skyrocket.

The OG, triple OG of survival games. It is the highest selling game of all time, and with good reason. Minecraft is a game that isn’t great because of fancy graphics or flooded with such deep lore and mechanics that you need a 5 hour beginner tutorial to start. It’s great because It’s simple. Survive as best as you can and build to your hearts content. While the game itself can be nerve-racking, the beauty of being able to turn on peaceful mode and mine and build without the stress of monsters is a calming and satisfying experience. Or hop in a creative world to build and be transported back to a time when you were a kid playing with their Lego set again.

    Now, I know what you may be thinking, “Really? A hunting game for the most relaxing game?” Hear me out. theHunter: Call of the Wild is one of the most beautiful games that I’ve ever played in my life. The graphics, sounds, lighting and feel of the game are tremendous. This is not an arcade type of game, it throws you into humongous worlds with your basic weapon and it is up to you to hunt to earn money and upgrade your gear. If you don’t want to hunt that is perfectly okay, I’ve spent many hours in this game with my rifle or bow down and sneaking up on all types of deer, moose, elk, lions, and many more and using the camera mode to take that perfect picture of animals in their natural habitat. Yes, it is a glorified walking simulator. But I guarantee you, you will have no regrets relaxing in the gorgeous digital outdoors.