Like rimworld but less complicated?

[The Apathetic Gamer]

I know this probably isn't the best place to ask but I have a friend who has cognitive issues and would like to get into games like this. is there anything like rimworld but far less complicated? I've tried searching the web but all I get are generic "10 games like rimworld" AI articles so I figured the core user base may be able to help. If against the rules feel free to delete.

[Silverheart]

Depends on what part your friend likes, and what part your friend struggles with, specifically.

[The Apathetic Gamer]

Originally posted by Silverheart:

Depends on what part your friend likes, and what part your friend struggles with, specifically.

Think Bethesda version of Rimworld, wide as a river shallow as a puddle.

The general gameplay loop is key but there's just way too much depth for him to the point he doesn't load any saves cause he can't remember what he was supposed to be doing when he stopped playing last time.

[Ghevd]

Necesse sounds good. It's like a mix of Rimworld and Terraria.

Progressing is as simple as find next boss and kill him. Hack n slash combat like old school Zelda games.

Also has base building and defense against raids similar to Rimworld. Has settlement automation too but that might be overcomplicated.

It's also pretty fun.

[Silverheart]

Originally posted by The Apathetic Gamer:

Originally posted by Silverheart:

Depends on what part your friend likes, and what part your friend struggles with, specifically.

Think Bethesda version of Rimworld, wide as a river shallow as a puddle.

The general gameplay loop is key but there's just way too much depth for him to the point he doesn't load any saves cause he can't remember what he was supposed to be doing when he stopped playing last time.

I already consider Rimworld to be on the simpler end of this genre, so that might be a tough ask. If he already owns it, has he tried out playing on community builder mode? It removes external pressure like raids and severe weather from the game, so he can get his bearings on the fundamentals of management.

I'll concede that I have over 1,200 hours, so it's difficult for me to put myself into the shoes of a brand new player getting overwhelmed, since so much of the working of the game has just become rote memory.

[The Apathetic Gamer]

Originally posted by Silverheart:

Originally posted by The Apathetic Gamer:

Think Bethesda version of Rimworld, wide as a river shallow as a puddle.

The general gameplay loop is key but there's just way too much depth for him to the point he doesn't load any saves cause he can't remember what he was supposed to be doing when he stopped playing last time.

I already consider Rimworld to be on the simpler end of this genre, so that might be a tough ask. If he already owns it, has he tried out playing on community builder mode? It removes external pressure like raids and severe weather from the game, so he can get his bearings on the fundamentals of management.

I'll concede that I have over 1,200 hours, so it's difficult for me to put myself into the shoes of a brand new player getting overwhelmed, since so much of the working of the game has just become rote memory.

Im in the same boat but for him the need to memorize so much is the main issue. Actually kinda surprised to hear this game called simple personally, it can be overwhelming even more me sometimes lol

[Silverheart]

It's an inherently complicated genre, but the other extreme, Dwarf Fortress, for example boasts, and demands, that you build across up to twenty discrete levels in 3D, and has dozens of different types of rock with minute differences in things like durability and melting point, because the game realistically simulates temperatures. Meanwhile, Rimworld has five stones, and all of them are non-flammable for simplicity's sake. Temperature exists on a binary between "indoors" and "outdoors" - a campfire placed outdoors won't even warm people near it up, and if a wall gets destroyed in a building, no matter how hot it was, the entire room instantly changes to be the outdoor temperature (really handy for putting out fires).

Oxygen Not Included has realistically modelled thermodynamics: different gases have different bouyancies and will either rise to the ceiling, sink to the floor, or float on other gases.

I would describe the difference is that, compared to many of its contemporaries, Rimworld does a lot of abstracting details that probably won't matter, because the game is primarily about fending off raiders whereas a lot of others go out of their way to meticulously model real world physics and the like for its own sake, because the gameplay is about dealing with all the problems that real world physics dynamically pose to you.

So, if the colony building aspect is the part he gets hung up on, maybe he'd prefer a tower defence or something else more streamlined towards fighting off enemies. I don't say that condescendingly, I just mean to say that the colony builder kind of inherently leans on simulating things in a way that organically provides you stimulation.

[Lactose Intolerant Volcano God]

Originally posted by The Apathetic Gamer:

Think Bethesda version of Rimworld, wide as a river shallow as a puddle.

The general gameplay loop is key but there's just way too much depth for him to the point he doesn't load any saves cause he can't remember what he was supposed to be doing when he stopped playing last time.

I can think of different styles or feature that might help. Do some of these appeal to your friend?

* Games that are less of a sandbox. If you don't have as much freedom and instead have set goals or missions, it's easier to remember what you're trying to do.

* Shorter games that you can finish in one sitting, so there's no need to save your progress and remember where you were up to.

* Turn-based games. More time to look over everything before deciding what action to take.

* Games where you are only in control of a single hero or a small party. There are fewer moving pieces to worry about and you can just focus on a couple of key characters.


Without knowing more about what your friend likes, I'd suggest more casual games might be the way to go. (I think of casual games as games that are designed to dip in and dip out of, where you're not expected to keep working on something over multiple days. So they appeal to gamers but also to people who might only play games occasionally.)

[Narn]

Originally posted by Silverheart:

It's an inherently complicated genre, but the other extreme, Dwarf Fortress, for example boasts, and demands, that you build across up to twenty discrete levels in 3D, and has dozens of different types of rock with minute differences in things like durability and melting point, because the game realistically simulates temperatures. Meanwhile, Rimworld has five stones, and all of them are non-flammable for simplicity's sake. Temperature exists on a binary between "indoors" and "outdoors" - a campfire placed outdoors won't even warm people near it up, and if a wall gets destroyed in a building, no matter how hot it was, the entire room instantly changes to be the outdoor temperature (really handy for putting out fires).

Oxygen Not Included has realistically modelled thermodynamics: different gases have different bouyancies and will either rise to the ceiling, sink to the floor, or float on other gases.

I would describe the difference is that, compared to many of its contemporaries, Rimworld does a lot of abstracting details that probably won't matter, because the game is primarily about fending off raiders whereas a lot of others go out of their way to meticulously model real world physics and the like for its own sake, because the gameplay is about dealing with all the problems that real world physics dynamically pose to you.

So, if the colony building aspect is the part he gets hung up on, maybe he'd prefer a tower defence or something else more streamlined towards fighting off enemies. I don't say that condescendingly, I just mean to say that the colony builder kind of inherently leans on simulating things in a way that organically provides you stimulation.

DF may be more complex. But its is not anywhere close to as hard.

[MadArtillery]

Could try against the storm. Short runs, not particularly complicated, lots of difficulties with more complicated mechanics behind higher difficulties.

[Narn]

How about Dont Starve?

[grimgary]

Check out Odd Realm here on Steam.

[Chibi Life]

This is kinda a good question. I feel like this genre wants to be more complicated to give people more ways to play and strategies to employ. I can't think of anything myself. I know Rimworld is relatively easy on peaceful mode but also terribly boring unless your friend just wants to build a colony and isn't concerned with engaging with the numerous threats the game throws at you

[epicfacedave]

Look up Stonehearth and/or Rise to ruins.
both are kinda colony management like. stonehearth is a way simpler but also charming game that I really love.

[endymionologist]

If the core problem is needing to be able to easily tell what you need to be doing whenever the game loads, there's two paths you can go in: one where the main gameplay resets after a period of time that is a comfortable length for a game session, and another where game goals are clear but gated thoroughly behind one another.

So, more like a roguelike or more like a clicker. I'm not well versed in the latter, but you might try Against the Storm for the former; it's not easier than Rimworld but it is a bit of a builder.

[solenoid]

Originally posted by The Apathetic Gamer:

I know this probably isn't the best place to ask but I have a friend who has cognitive issues and would like to get into games like this. is there anything like rimworld but far less complicated? I've tried searching the web but all I get are generic "10 games like rimworld" AI articles so I figured the core user base may be able to help. If against the rules feel free to delete.

Rimworld is a complex web of interconnecting systems.
You can reduce the systems by turning off the DLC.
Either you need to learn to enjoy the experience of figuring out these systems or you need to enjoy the chaos without understanding it. Trying to enjoy Rimworld by making it not Rimworld won't work.