Letās discuss games here!
PS - I moved several posts to this thread, so the first two posts are chronologically after them.
Is there a game that you can recommend to a non gamer like me? I see there are also medical gamesā¦
I meanā¦ I think some of you know me a bit.
Yea, maybe important info: I probably suck at winning.
Well, as a fan of Tolkienās work, I really liked to play āBattle for Middle-Earthā 1 & 2 with the expansion. Also āHeroes of Might & Magicā III and VII. āMount & Bladeā (regular and Warband), but since Iād upgraded my machine and could taste so-praised āWitcher 3ā, no other game seems good enough to me 
I like games set within a book or movie franchise, and this one is so damn well made 
Sometimes I run it not to do a specific quest or follow the storyline, but just to ride a horse, take a look at the beautiful world and relax.
This is a bit off topic. Everybody is playing games but somehow I donāt get it. I just read the Wikipedia article about Quake. I am just wondering how so many people like games. To me, the description just sounds silly and boring. I have tried some very simple Linux games like 20 years ago but I guess after some weeks I stopped because itās boring, itās always the same and there is no real challenge. I meanā¦ there might be some point in playing games together with other people butā¦ I think I hate games and I cannot see much good about them in general, I think many are addictive and they have no positive effect on peopleās lives, I even think that they make some people depressed. They are not living in the real world.
@betazoid Such a downer. 
I love games that have a narrative and tickle my problem-solving itch, both from the creators (how they were made despite constraints) and in the game play. I say game play because I donāt like narratives that are forced or unnatural. I like ones that make sense from the storytelling and mechanics point of views. E.g., I never played MYST but I liked the concept and the sense of wonder and exploration, which in part was propped by the platform and technology of the time. The way I enjoyed the series was through the novels, though they werenāt copy edited well.
Doom and Quake werenāt my type but I enjoyed their glitches and cheat codes a lot. I would have fun just exploring and avoiding killing and being killed.
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i suppose i love quake not for the gameplay. the description youāre looking for to make it interesting likely has stuff like ābinary space partitionā, āperspectively correct texture interpolationā, ā3D polygonsā, āprecomputed radiosityā and āsoundtrackā in it. the leap in rendering technology (back then) together with open sourcing the code are probably the story of success here.
oh i would disagree here.
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It really depends on the game. Iām not much of a gamer, but on Android I played Monument Valley (a logic puzzle game in an Escherian world ā check out what happens shortly after 2:30 here: Monument Valley: Thankful for Escher - YouTube). I like the way it tickles my brain (I really feel an almost physical sensation).
My younger daughter loves Sky - Sky: Children of the Light - June 2019 Trailer - YouTube. She has made friends in the game world, and they donāt play to āwinā, but to explore and meet. Itās a soothing experience for her, away from a world of school, Covid and news of war.
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Arenāt there better ways to deploy all that fancy technology? Better purposes? Better ways to kill time?
E.g. I was bored recently so I finally watched some of @s7habo 's videos and I think now I finally understand how diffuse/sharpen works in dt.
Btw, I think there are art historical or image scientific (analytic) studies about games and game art.
I am not totally against gaming, I just kind of donāt get why so many grown ups love gaming nowadays and spend so much time with it. I get that kids like to play, and I even understand that parents (or aunts/uncles) play with their kids from time to time butā¦ I had a look at the videos that @kofa posted, itās totally art but I kind of canāt help thinking that itās not for grown up people.
On the other hand, my parents and my aunt keep saying that I am not grown up.
I tried that book much later, after university, but couldnāt get through it. I know nothing about music, and the way it presented the maths didnāt suit me. Maybe Iām not clever enough for it.
Do you mean gaming with computers, or playing games (friendly sports matches to playing pool and darts at the pubt to cards and boardgames) in general?
I think people like playing games, and computer are just another medium; one that is very intense. Thereās a huge competition for our attention and money, and the new media are better at being more action-packed, more visceral, louder and brighter than traditional ones ā whether itās about movies and TV shows compared to old movies and book, or Fortnite et al. compared to chess and bridge.
But I think weāre hijacking the thread and should move to the lounge with this. 
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Iāll keep going off-topic until a moderator tells me otherwise 
Most games I play cater to three of my interests: games with 1) a puzzle aspect (āthe thinkerā), 2) a good story (āthe readerā), 3) a way to modify the game to your own liking (āthe tinkererā). It may not be surprising that I donāt like shooter games, strategy games (those do not appeal to me as some sort of puzzle), or most role-playing games.
Edit: there is a fourth interest, that sort of overlaps with 1 and 3: worldbuidling simulation games, like Cities: Skylines and Planet Zoo.
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Why listen to music? Why go to the movies? Why take pictures? Why watch TV? Why read books? Entertainment, hobbies, relaxation, self-indulgenceā¦ people do things for all kinds of reasons. For any activity you can think of, there is someone who thinks thereās something better one should be doing instead.
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Sorry folks, I donāt know how to rearrange posts. Posts #2 and #3 are chronologically after the rest.
Hey, I see there are even political games 
@betazoid Games help people process hard stuff just as board games did during the world wars and times of economic depression. One could criticize gamers for hiding in fantasy but that view comes from not being in a space of vulnerability, where abstraction is the better way of dealing with issues. As long as one doesnāt spiral to oblivion or unhealthy often deadly patterns, harmful to themselves or others. Educators and doctors are increasingly recognizing the power of immersive games for therapy and rehabilitation.
One game that I enjoyed recently was Iris and the Giant. I thought it addressed depression and anxiety sensitively and had endearing endings. It is Roguelike, so losing is the norm. Change the settings for a more relaxing experience, or learn to deal with hardship and loss.
PS - made some edits for clarity. BTW - it is available for Linux. 
-70% Iris and the Giant on GOG.com ($6.19 in Canadian dollars GOG says).
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My game hall of fame:
RPGs: Morrowind with OpenMW, Divinty Original Sin, Planescape Torment, and many moreā¦
Tinkering: nothing beats āKerbal Space Programā 
Casual Gaming: Slime Rancher
World building: City Skylines
Grand Strategy: Stellaris
Puzzle: Portal, Portal2, The Talos Principle
Honourable mentions: Renown Explorers International Society, Starbound, Rimworld, Outer Wilds
Guess I play to many games
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I would also like to mention
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The Battle for Wesnoth, an open source, turn-based strategy game with a high fantasy theme. Interested me because of its open and active development by creative people.
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Games featured at the Independent Games Festival where there is something for everyone.
I used to play Disney Imagineering roller coaster games. Coaster Deluxe and Disney Imagineering. The only thing Disney that I like.
I have embraced the Steam platform that allows me to play games without resorting to the Microc$%t beast that is Windoze.
I am a fan of simulation games especially, and SimAirport, Transport Tycoon 2, and Cities; Skylines are all in my collection. Some oldies but goodies from yesteryear are available via a compatability layer that works seamlessly; e.g. Age of Empires.
Similar to Age of Empires and available on Linux is 0AD, but it has never quite grabbed me in the same way.
For a quick 5-minute fun, playing a dice game (Yachtzee) or one of the excellent collection from Simon Tathamās Portable Puzzle Collection- Tents, Tracks, and Bridges are my favourites.
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