Decorating my cool base: the game
October 11, 2023 5:59 PM Subscribe
Game recommendations wanted! I have lately been yearning for a game that focuses on having a house or base that I expand and decorate in great detail. Preferably this is the focus of the gameplay but it’s okay if it’s just a big aspect. I want to play this on my Nintendo Switch, please. Yes! I have already played Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Dragonquest Builders 2, Ooblets, and many more.
I like farming and crafting games, as well as adventuring melee combat games, casual exploration games, hidden object games and puzzlers. I seriously dislike FPS and platformers, and find real time strategy very stressful, but turn based strategy can be okay. RPG elements are fine but not what I’m into these days.
Aesthetically I am up for nearly anything other than grimdark or text based. I want to make a cool/pretty/fun/cozy house/secret clubhouse/village/flying castle/farm and be able to redecorate or reorganize it, too.
I have played My Time at Portia and didn’t much care for it because of gameplay and aesthetics. Also on the “okay but not really for me” list is No Man’s Sky (frustrating gameplay and mediocre modular concepts), FF14 (by the time I’d be able to get a house to decorate I’d be way past this current urge), current iterations of the Sims (please just don’t), Minecraft (not pretty enough!).
I am open to relatively mediocre games that just have lots of different decor options and barebones story or whatever, but they all are scammy free to play nonsense and either aren’t on Switch or I really can’t tell which ones are garbage and which ones will scratch this itch. I have looked at Faefarm, which seems kind of dull for a full priced game, but maybe that’s what I should get?
Thank you for helping me satiate my autumnal redecorating and nesting urges and saving my partner from helping me move around real furniture!
I like farming and crafting games, as well as adventuring melee combat games, casual exploration games, hidden object games and puzzlers. I seriously dislike FPS and platformers, and find real time strategy very stressful, but turn based strategy can be okay. RPG elements are fine but not what I’m into these days.
Aesthetically I am up for nearly anything other than grimdark or text based. I want to make a cool/pretty/fun/cozy house/secret clubhouse/village/flying castle/farm and be able to redecorate or reorganize it, too.
I have played My Time at Portia and didn’t much care for it because of gameplay and aesthetics. Also on the “okay but not really for me” list is No Man’s Sky (frustrating gameplay and mediocre modular concepts), FF14 (by the time I’d be able to get a house to decorate I’d be way past this current urge), current iterations of the Sims (please just don’t), Minecraft (not pretty enough!).
I am open to relatively mediocre games that just have lots of different decor options and barebones story or whatever, but they all are scammy free to play nonsense and either aren’t on Switch or I really can’t tell which ones are garbage and which ones will scratch this itch. I have looked at Faefarm, which seems kind of dull for a full priced game, but maybe that’s what I should get?
Thank you for helping me satiate my autumnal redecorating and nesting urges and saving my partner from helping me move around real furniture!
Subnautica!! http://subnauticagame.com/
It even has a sandbox game setting ("Creative Mode") which does away with enemies as well as the need for oxygen/food/water, you don't have to discover the blueprints by exploring wreckage like you do in the actual gameplay, you don't have to figure out how to provide enough power to your base(s) and equipment, etc. You can just build all the beautiful and elaborate underwater bases your heart desires.
Of course, it's also fun to play with some or all of those limitations, once you get the hang of it. One caveat--some people (like me) can get a bit motion sick playing this game. I don't find it a dealbreaker, though, because it takes a good while for me to start noticing, and then I can just save and stop playing, and I'm fine. Kind of enforcing mandatory breaks.
There are videos on YouTube that are just players showing off their cool bases, which you might find inspirational.
posted by theatro at 6:29 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
It even has a sandbox game setting ("Creative Mode") which does away with enemies as well as the need for oxygen/food/water, you don't have to discover the blueprints by exploring wreckage like you do in the actual gameplay, you don't have to figure out how to provide enough power to your base(s) and equipment, etc. You can just build all the beautiful and elaborate underwater bases your heart desires.
Of course, it's also fun to play with some or all of those limitations, once you get the hang of it. One caveat--some people (like me) can get a bit motion sick playing this game. I don't find it a dealbreaker, though, because it takes a good while for me to start noticing, and then I can just save and stop playing, and I'm fine. Kind of enforcing mandatory breaks.
There are videos on YouTube that are just players showing off their cool bases, which you might find inspirational.
posted by theatro at 6:29 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Minecraft with custom shaders can be awfully pretty. Just sayin'.
Like these.
posted by jferg at 7:35 PM on October 11, 2023
Like these.
posted by jferg at 7:35 PM on October 11, 2023
Response by poster: Please note that I want to play on my Switch and as far as I’m aware you can’t install mods on it for games, unless you do a bunch of nonsense I have neither the knowledge nor inclination nor equipment to do. Also I just never vibed with Minecraft, preemptive sorry to everyone else who thinks I should play it this time.
I wasn’t aware that Cozy Grove or Dreamlight Valley had robust house decorating aspects at all! I will look into them.
I’ve seen let’s plays of subnautica and I would happily play it except I have a serious fear of… drowning and sea monsters. I am terrified of whales IRL, too. So, maybe??? Sandbox mode?? But like, still, eeeek, not the most chill gaming experience for me. This is very specific so I didn’t point it out, sorry. Thanks for the idea of sandbox mode, I forget sometimes that a lot of games have them these days.
posted by Mizu at 7:45 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I wasn’t aware that Cozy Grove or Dreamlight Valley had robust house decorating aspects at all! I will look into them.
I’ve seen let’s plays of subnautica and I would happily play it except I have a serious fear of… drowning and sea monsters. I am terrified of whales IRL, too. So, maybe??? Sandbox mode?? But like, still, eeeek, not the most chill gaming experience for me. This is very specific so I didn’t point it out, sorry. Thanks for the idea of sandbox mode, I forget sometimes that a lot of games have them these days.
posted by Mizu at 7:45 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
You can get a house in Skyrim and I think you can decorate it - I only use mine to store stuff. Not sure how much you can do though.
Also, No Man's Sky also lets you make a base on a freighter, so it's a base that can travel the galaxies with you, and the additions you make to that are a bit more straightforward than having to assemble rooms out of panels for the bases you make on planets. And yeah it has a sandbox mode too.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:03 PM on October 11, 2023
Also, No Man's Sky also lets you make a base on a freighter, so it's a base that can travel the galaxies with you, and the additions you make to that are a bit more straightforward than having to assemble rooms out of panels for the bases you make on planets. And yeah it has a sandbox mode too.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:03 PM on October 11, 2023
Terraria might be a game you'd like! You can really make it whatever you want. Just want to build? You can do that. Want to explore and fight? You can do that too.
posted by golden at 9:07 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by golden at 9:07 PM on October 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Fae Farm was going to be my suggestion. It’s not for me, but I see a lot of chatter about it on cozy gaming channels.
Cozy Grove is great, but soft-limits how much you can play each day and the story deals with sad themes. But there are lots of items and space to decorate (you can place items anywhere on the island, not just in your house). If you want to power-play it, set your switch date/time in the past and time travel forwards a day at a time, but if you go back in time, it will break your save.
Crashlands has some fun crafting and base building, but the combat might be too action-y for you.
Cat Cafe Manager and Calico are other ones i know about/have downloaded but haven’t spent a lot of time in, so look at reviews and/or wait for sales.
posted by itesser at 9:10 PM on October 11, 2023
Cozy Grove is great, but soft-limits how much you can play each day and the story deals with sad themes. But there are lots of items and space to decorate (you can place items anywhere on the island, not just in your house). If you want to power-play it, set your switch date/time in the past and time travel forwards a day at a time, but if you go back in time, it will break your save.
Crashlands has some fun crafting and base building, but the combat might be too action-y for you.
Cat Cafe Manager and Calico are other ones i know about/have downloaded but haven’t spent a lot of time in, so look at reviews and/or wait for sales.
posted by itesser at 9:10 PM on October 11, 2023
My wife is into the game Grow: Song of the Evertree, which is a Switch download. Definitely takes inspiration from Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, with a whole lot of the annoying parts filed off (eg inventory management). It seems to be very deliberately bright and cheerful and pretty much anything that was a 'feelbad' in this type of game has been removed or mitigated. I really think this will be up the alley you're looking for.
posted by markslack at 7:43 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by markslack at 7:43 AM on October 12, 2023
I don't think you can play Java games on Switch, which is too bad. If you can, free-to-play Haven and Hearth is all about building your own base and improving it. They periodically reset the server and start a new world, around a year between resets, and the new world is starting at 9:00 UTC, Friday October 13th, 2023.
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:06 PM on October 12, 2023
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:06 PM on October 12, 2023
bear and breakfast? pioneers of olive town?
if you were willing to relax the switch requirement (or if you had a steam deck), i’d suggest corekeeper and roots of pacha.
don’t waste money on fae farm… it is a steep price for an underwhelming offering.
posted by zeee at 10:39 AM on October 14, 2023
if you were willing to relax the switch requirement (or if you had a steam deck), i’d suggest corekeeper and roots of pacha.
don’t waste money on fae farm… it is a steep price for an underwhelming offering.
posted by zeee at 10:39 AM on October 14, 2023
Response by poster: Hi all, just a prompted update:
I bought Cozy Grove shortly after asking this. Unfortunately it takes a long time for the game to actually involve much decorating and it’s fussy as hell. The UI is really annoying and the decorations can only be mirror flipped. But! The game itself is great. The writing and world building is so weird and funny and sad and sweet, and each character is great. I like the gameplay loop and the aesthetic of the art. I wish it was much more polished than it is but considering the price point I’m happy with my purchase. I’m about thirty days into the game now and only about yesterday did I feel like I had reached a point where decorating the island had enough options and space to make it fun. It is a game that veeerrrrry slowly expands in scope, and that is frustrating. So, alas, it did not ever scratch my decorating itch. But it’s a fun game!
Next time I want to play a new game I am definitely getting Grow: Song of the Evertree. It’s by the same people who made Yonder and I LOVED Yonder, despite it feeling shallow and unfinished in a lot of ways. I didn’t know they had made a new game and it looks a lot more fleshed out this time.
Thank you for all your responses. I learned from asking this that next time I want game recommendations, I need to specify that I actively enjoy games with dark, sad, tense themes as well as colorful cozy ones. There is a lot of association between game mechanics I like and cozy casual games, but I was hoping for suggestions outside of that sphere. I gotta go help the postal bear find her packages right now though.
posted by Mizu at 2:17 PM on November 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I bought Cozy Grove shortly after asking this. Unfortunately it takes a long time for the game to actually involve much decorating and it’s fussy as hell. The UI is really annoying and the decorations can only be mirror flipped. But! The game itself is great. The writing and world building is so weird and funny and sad and sweet, and each character is great. I like the gameplay loop and the aesthetic of the art. I wish it was much more polished than it is but considering the price point I’m happy with my purchase. I’m about thirty days into the game now and only about yesterday did I feel like I had reached a point where decorating the island had enough options and space to make it fun. It is a game that veeerrrrry slowly expands in scope, and that is frustrating. So, alas, it did not ever scratch my decorating itch. But it’s a fun game!
Next time I want to play a new game I am definitely getting Grow: Song of the Evertree. It’s by the same people who made Yonder and I LOVED Yonder, despite it feeling shallow and unfinished in a lot of ways. I didn’t know they had made a new game and it looks a lot more fleshed out this time.
Thank you for all your responses. I learned from asking this that next time I want game recommendations, I need to specify that I actively enjoy games with dark, sad, tense themes as well as colorful cozy ones. There is a lot of association between game mechanics I like and cozy casual games, but I was hoping for suggestions outside of that sphere. I gotta go help the postal bear find her packages right now though.
posted by Mizu at 2:17 PM on November 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by mismatched at 6:27 PM on October 11, 2023