Best Relaxing Indie Adventure Games

Key Takeaways

• Adventure games offer inherently relaxing experiences focused on story, exploration, and puzzles.
• Untitled Goose Game provides a whimsical and undemanding adventure, fostering a calming atmosphere.
• Pacific Drive combines driving simulators with extraction games in an often cozy and relaxing supernatural setting, despite its tense moments.

From the point-and-click puzzlers of the old LucasArts games to the interactive narratives woven by Telltale, adventure games are a broad and varied bunch. Due to undemanding gameplay and a focus on exploration, puzzles, and story, these titles tend to be inherently relaxing experiences.

In the interest of variety, adventures of all kinds have been considered. However, each of these games must feature some combination of puzzle-solving, exploration, and narrative. All offer experiences that vary from soothing to cathartic.

8 Untitled Goose Game

A Tongue-In-Cheek Adventure On A Small Scale

Untitled Goose Game is an experience built for players that enjoy extremely low-stakes. In the game, players explore a sleepy village as a mischievous goose, wreaking havoc wherever and however they can.

It’s an adventure on a small scale, but the colorful stylized graphics, tongue-in-cheek tone, and undemanding gameplay make Untitled Goose Game a very relaxing experience. Furthermore, despite the low stakes, Untitled Goose Game gives players a reason to keep playing with its to-do list, which carefully directs players around the village to complete various puzzles.

7 Pacific Drive

Cozy Road-Tripping Through Supernatural Locales

Pacific Drive is a genre mash-up of extraction games and driving simulators, elevated by a supernatural setting inspired by Roadside Picnic. In the game, players barrel through various volatile zones, collecting all manner of scrap while avoiding supernatural dangers.

Pacific Drive also features a narrative told through immersive radio dialogue, which adds to the overall sense of adventure and gives players the drive to keep going. However, the run-based nature of Pacific Drive and the coziness of road-tripping through its dangerous locales is surprisingly relaxing, and easily the biggest reason to play. That said, Pacific Drive can get more than a little tense when things go wrong, but the stakes are never high enough to become overtly stressful.

6 Disco Elysium

A Contemplative Atmosphere In A Troubled World

There’s something immediately disquieting about Disco Elysium. It can be a heavy experience at times, but the humanity of its narrative and the beautifully illustrated art style make it an experience that’s almost cathartic.

Disco Elysium can be relaxing and downright unsettling in the same breath, thanks in large part to the wide array of colorful characters and the tremendous voice acting talent that supports them. The troubled world in which the game is set can provide some true tension, but soaking in the atmosphere of Revachol can be a uniquely relaxing experience.

5 Animal Well

An Utterly Surreal Adventure In A Unique Underground World

Animal Well is a truly strange and utterly surreal 2D platformer with a Metroidvania structure, elevated by a wonderfully creative art style. The unique underground setting, whimsical music, and combination of quiet exploration and puzzle-solving gives the game’s atmosphere a relaxing quality.

Players that enjoy more action-oriented experiences with straightforward narratives may find Animal Well to be somewhat disappointing. However, for fans of whimsy who thrive off a sense of discovery, Animal Well is likely to please.

4 Dredge

Eldritch Horror Meets Laid-Back Sailing On The Open Waters

Dredge is an undemanding fishing game with an eldritch-horror twist that invites players to revel in its quiet, immersive atmosphere. The charming low-poly art style and low-stakes gameplay keep Dredge from becoming too stressful, and the simple act of sailing across its open waters is an often relaxing experience (as long as you don’t stay out after dark).

The serene atmosphere is by and large the most relaxing element of Dredge, expertly supported by its intuitive gameplay. However, the Lovecraftian horror elements may turn some players away from its waters.

3 Kentucky Route Zero

Surreal And Cathartic Interactive Fiction With No Loss State

Kentucky Route Zero is a quiet, contemplative adventure that plays like interactive fiction. There’s little conflict throughout the game, and it’s not possible to lose, allowing players to relax and soak in the immersive atmosphere and stylish visuals.

Although Kentucky Route Zero looks great, it’s the game’s heartfelt and at-times tragic narrative that drives the experience. It’s a somber adventure that frequently elicits melancholic feelings, but it’s full of heart and often cathartic.

2 Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

An Intuitive Low-Stakes Mystery With A Lighthearted Tone

The bouncy noir-infused soundtrack, sticker-book graphics, and lighthearted tone make Duck Detective: The Secret Salami a tremendously laid-back, joyful experience. It’s a short detective adventure that puts players in the shoes of an investigative duck, brought to life through superb voice acting.

The low stakes of Duck Detective’s mystery also keeps the experience from becoming too intense. Furthermore, it takes a mere afternoon to get through the case of the secret salami, preventing the ensemble of colorful characters from overstaying their welcome.

1 Night In The Woods

A Colorful Small-Town Adventure With A Soothing Soundtrack

Night In The Woods is a colorful 2D adventure game driven by its heartfelt narrative. The game follows the exploits of several young people in a rundown town populated by anthropomorphized creatures, featuring very little gameplay outside of exploration and light puzzle solving.

The wholesome characters and their distinctive personalities are a definite high-point, and the town of Possum Springs feels truly lived-in. All in all, the calming colors, soothing soundtrack, and autumnal atmosphere make Night In The Woods a frequently laid-back, low-stakes adventure. There are some eerie elements to Night In The Woods, but they’re rarely spooky enough to overshadow the relaxing atmosphere.