Like so many others, I find much of the news today to be very depressing. In that respect, it is unprecedented, and I grew up with the Vietnam War and high school friends who were sent off to die there.

So, I find immersing myself in a great piece of literature helps restore my good feeling, as does a pleasant walk out in Nature. What I also would like is recommendations for casual games where the atmosphere is upbeat rather than revolving around themes of terror, torture and death. If I am going to seek a retreat from a painful reality, I need to avoid immersing myself in themes of violence and destruction. Obviously, a game whose title includes words like Dreadful, Macabre, Grim, Cursed, Dead, True Fear or Nightmare probably isn't going to be easy on the dread and horror.

Well, some of the Dark Parables and New York Mysteries games are good in this regard, even though some have dark themes, the brutality is not in your face. The Dana Knightsones are good, as are the Dreampath, Awakening, Echoes of the Past, Labyrinth, House of 1000 Doors and MCF series. I am going to replay some of those for now, rather than buying any new ones.

Can anyone offer other suggestions?

Amaranthine Voyage: The Tree of Life CE
Azada: In Libro CE
Azada: Elementa CE
Botanica: Into the Unknown CE
Botanica: Earthbound CE
Fantastic Creations: House of Brass CE
Nearwood CE
Modern Tales: Age of Invention CE
Detective Quest: The Crystal Slipper CE
Secrets of Great Queens: Old Tower CE
Lost Souls: Enchanted Paintings CE
Subliminal Realms: Call of Atis CE


There are plenty more, but here are some titles for you to take a look at. If I have ended up listing games that you already have, please let me know.

Hm. Don't have 5 of those. I'll have to check them out.

Here are a motley selection of standard games, some ancient and some newish, all I found quite enjoyable.

As a matter of fact whilst looking into some I found myself ready to replay them.

Am also looking into some of Marian's suggestions. Thanks bunches.

Persian Nights: Sands of Wonder
Robinson Crusoe and the Cursed Pirates
Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon
Wandering Willows
Elixir of Immortality
Mishap: An Accidental Haunting
Mushroom Age
Phenomenom: Outcome

I'd recommend the two Dark Hills of Cherai games and possibly some of the other games from the developer (Chayowo Games), like Untold History: Descendent of the Sun.

Treasure Seekers series. I wasn't so fond of the 2nd in the series for gameplay reasons.

Mystery of the Crystal Portal 1 and 2.

Another game that I played recently was Cadenza: Music, Betrayal which takes place in old New Orleans and you play as the daughter of a man who owns a jazz club.

Pretty much any of the Christmas Stories series.

Lost Secrets: Bermuda Triangle.

I can't say whether you'll enjoy the gameplay in these.

The Samantha Swift series.

The Snark Busters series.

I can't say whether you'd enjoy the gameplay in these since they are mostly older games.

Thanks so much for the additional suggestions, Meems. Wandering Willows has been removed from the Big Fish catalogue but can still be found elsewhere.

Jenny, I just replayed the first game in the Cadenza series that you have mentioned. And speaking of ChaYoWo Games, I played the CE of Legends of the East: The Cobra's Eye recently and it was not a "dark" game but rather lighter and more colorful. It was a very long game and if you do not rely on the map, it would be even longer. There is an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing and towards the end of the game I started getting worn out by it. Definitely a good game, though.

I couldn't find Mishap: An Accidental Haunting on Big Fish either Marian. Did I miss it somewhere?

Several more for me to check out on Jenny's list .

Jenny - Should that be Untold History, rather than Untold Prophesies?

Yes, you're right.
I'll fix it.

There were two Mishap games and they have both been removed from the website. I have one of them. They are more straight HOGs with some minigames but were very creative and original.

Here's a download from Amazon for the first one.

The second game is called Mishap: An Intentional Haunting.

And Meems mentioning Persian Nights reminds me that Persian Nights 2: The Moonlight Veil was released recently on Big Fish as a Collector's Edition. Very well received and reportedly a very long game.

You can find a listing with some of Big Fish's removed games in their archived forums (no longer active -- you can't post to them anymore).

http://forums.bigfishgames.com/games/list.page

Both Mishap games are listed there, so you can find comments about them and can see that at one time they were available at Big Fish.

Reenie, if you want something really different, check out The Jolly Gang games. There are two. I only played one so far: The Jolly Gang's Misadventure in Africa. It was included on a disc of Oddly Enough Pied Piper and when I started playing it I didn't like it because it was not what I was expecting from a casual game. Once I accepted that it was a different type of game, I really enjoyed it, and I found it quite challenging.

Thanks Jenny. Thanks Marian.

Thanks for those suggestions, Marian. I have played most of the games you listed and enjoying them all. As for your later comment, I loved the Cadenza and Chenai games as well. I will look for Subliminal Realms and Secrets of Great Queens. Never heard of them.

Meems, I had not heard of most of the games you listed, so I will check them out, too. Thank you!

I hope you find some more games to enjoy, Reenie.

There are two Secrets of Great Queens games. I haven't played the second one which is Secrets of Great Queens: Regicide CE, but I am looking forward to it.

You might also want to look into King's Heir: Rise to the Throne CE. It was originally released on Big Fish as the Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne CE but the name has been changed. This may have been due to some copyright issue.

Is "King's Heir: Rise to the Throne" the same game as "Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne." ??

Yes. As I said in my post above, they changed the name of the game but that's all.

I just finished Secrets of Great Queens: Old Tower CE for the third time. I love the setting and the medieval music! How can I not like a game that mentions Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Anne Boleyn? I am a Tudor England buff so I really enjoy this one.

Reenie, I would also recommend that you check out Calavera: Day of the Dead CE (it has a bit of a Grim Fandango feel to it) as well as Secrets of the Seas: Flying Dutchman CE. I enjoyed them both very much.

Thanks! I played Calavera: Day of the Dead back in 2016 and enjoyed its twist on the genre. You reminded me that I could Replay that one. :-) I demo-ed SOS: Flying Dutchman but was put off by the pirate theme and didn't buy it.

Glad I reminded you about Calavera.

Too bad about the pirate theme - I love those.

Have you tried Off the Record: Liberty Stone CE and Off the Record: The Italian Job CE? I think you would enjoy those and they appear to fit the criteria.

You also might be interested to know that 5 BN has a new game in the works that should be released pretty soon.

Yeah, I don't mind just about any theme in a game, but sometimes they focus too much on the gore, graphic violence and even torture. I simply have never found that "entertaining." I've never gone to slasher films, either. Fortunately, there are plenty of games that provide drama and adventure without shoving your face into the grotesque details.

I enjoyed The Italian Job very much and plan to Replay that one at some point. The others in the series were too easy or, in the case of the orphanage one, too grim.

Hey, that is great news about a new game from 5 BN. Most of their games are terrific.

I don't remember an Off the Record game about an orphanage? Which one was that?

The new 5 BN game is called Legendary Tales: Stolen Life.

According to my database, it was the episode, "Linden Shades."

Hey, thanks for the tip about Legendary Tales. Going to go take a look now!

The 5 BN game hasn't been released yet, but you can find a preview of it on YouTube.

Ah, thank you. I had forgotten about Linden Shades.

Have you played the Curse at Twilight: Thief of Souls CE?

I love threads like this because I am also looking for games like these. Thanks everyone....

I’m currently playing “Cadenza: The Following” and find it a nice change in that the story is a bit more contemporary.

Nice to hear your thoughts on the game, Sparkle. Feel free anytime to join in on the thread I started called What Casual Games Are You Playing Right Now? I always enjoy hearing about it.

I have Cadenza: The Following but haven't played it yet.

I hope you find some games that suit you, CountZero.