Non-violent games

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RedNightmare
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Non-violent games

Postby RedNightmare » 19 Oct 2012, 09:48

I got an intersting question from a friend of mine today. Her boyfriend plays video games and she likes it too, but she really doesn't like games with killing aliens and such. So I got to thinking about what games are non-violent that I could recommend to her. I already have:

Braid
Fate of the World
Europa Universalis
Harvest Moon
World of Goo

But I though the great sages of the LRR forum could add to that. She only has a PC with Steam. Anyone else got some good ideas?

And yes, Harvest moon is technically cheating, as it isn't on Steam
Last edited by RedNightmare on 20 Oct 2012, 09:37, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby JackSlack » 19 Oct 2012, 10:00

Limbo, most of Telltale's efforts, for starters. Sam and Max, Monkey Island. Walking Dead is horror violence, but it's not about violent gameplay.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby AdmiralMemo » 19 Oct 2012, 10:05

Is Portal too violent? You don't shoot anything, but stuff does shoot at you.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Kapol » 19 Oct 2012, 10:10

Walking Dead is pretty violent. I'd say avoid it myself. I mean at the beginning of the second episode, YOU CAN CUT OFF A GUY'S LEG!

Non-violent games though... hmm... 1000 amps is pretty good. Sequence is a fun rhythm type game. Crazy Machines seems pretty fun from what I've played of it. While it does kinda involving killing, I still reccomend checking out Dungeon Defenders. Pretty much all of the Double Fine games because, even though they involve combat from what I've played, they're all cartoony and a lot of fun. Raccettear is a lot of fun, but kinda involves combat as well.

Then, of course, there's Portal and Portal 2.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby JackSlack » 19 Oct 2012, 10:15

Kapol wrote:Walking Dead is pretty violent. I'd say avoid it myself. I mean at the beginning of the second episode, YOU CAN CUT OFF A GUY'S LEG!


Yeah. Like I said, it's horror violence. But it's definitely not a game about shooting zombies, y'know? If its that kind of thing she doesn't like, it may work. But even if not, definitely Sam and Max or Monkey island is good. Plus, I like Poker Night.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Smeghead » 19 Oct 2012, 10:34

Well technically Europa Universalis is rather violent given all the wars and stuff. But I guess it depends on what kind of violence we are talking about. Its not like there is any blood or graphic images.

Just going through my steam library I came up with this list.

The Book of Unwriten Tales
Cities in Motion
Plants vs Zombies (Shouldn't really be that violent :P)
Portal/Portal 2
Sim City 4
VVVVVV
The Monkey Island remakes
Botanicula
Crusader Kings 2 (Since EU was on the list already, but then almost all paradox grand strategy games should apply)

Some friends suggested

Audiosurf
SnuggleTruck (is that even a game?)
Peggle

If she decides to go for Europa Universalis 3; she should get the Cronicles version since that contains all the expansions (Unlike Complete that only contains 2)
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Geoff_B » 19 Oct 2012, 11:02

Spacechem
Any of the DoTP games
The Agatha Christie games
Most of the TellTale catalogue (sans Walking Dead and Jurassic Park)

That should be quite a lot to be going on with :D
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Kapol » 19 Oct 2012, 11:13

JackSlack wrote:
Kapol wrote:Walking Dead is pretty violent. I'd say avoid it myself. I mean at the beginning of the second episode, YOU CAN CUT OFF A GUY'S LEG!


Yeah. Like I said, it's horror violence. But it's definitely not a game about shooting zombies, y'know? If its that kind of thing she doesn't like, it may work. But even if not, definitely Sam and Max or Monkey island is good. Plus, I like Poker Night.


It's not a game about shooting zombies, no. But it is an incredibly violent game that doesn't really hide some of the bad stuff you do. It isn't killing, but the topic revolves around non-violent games, I do think it counts as violent.

Mind you, a question to ask would be if she likes Walking Dead, the television show. Because if so, she might enjoy it. It's just one I'd be really... cautious about recommending.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Merrymaker_Mortalis » 19 Oct 2012, 11:22

Roller Coaster Tycoon series if you avoid not killing visitors or crashing rides.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby AdmiralMemo » 19 Oct 2012, 12:23

Let's see, there's:

Chime
Osmos
The Myst series
Poker Night at the Inventory
Droplitz
Edge
Magnetis
SpaceChem
World of Goo
Any pinball game
Rock of Ages is destroying STUFF but not people... Still too violent?
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Jostain » 19 Oct 2012, 12:53

Puzzle pirates might be fun its a free MMO, It does have implied violence but it does not visually represent violence because most things in the game are tetris/bejeweled type puzzles. The implied violence is also in the form of duels and not any form of murder.
By the same token Puzzle Quest may also relevant.

I wonder how far the whole non violence really go. It might be that he usually plays games like CoD or dead space or whatever and from her perspective most games are about shooting humanoids in the face and that is what she means with not liking violent games. Then games like Mario and Kirby is ok.
She could also have a moral objection to all kinds of violence in which case I seriously doubt she would be together with someone that did not share that point of view.

So hot tip is Kirby if she is the girly type of girl (you know what I mean) because it has the great advantage of being very cute and still have fun and interesting game play that is no a puzzle game.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Timelady » 19 Oct 2012, 16:52

Hrrm, limited to stuff that's (probably) readily available now, through Steam and GOG and the like? And keeping in mind that the majority of these are probably things she's already played, if she's been gaming for a long time. In no particular order:

--Any of the Nancy Drew games (I'll assure you right now, they're not just kid's games and I have played all 26 of the main series.)
--I have heard incredibly good things about Resonance, not to mention that it's partly made by the creators of
--The Blackwell series.
--King's Quest 1-7; 8 has combat. And don't forget The Silver Lining, the fan-made freeware epic (and I do mean epic; trust me on this) episodic sequel. Not to mention that I believe Telltale now owns the rights to the series, which makes me grin.
--The Broken Sword games: one of my favorite series, and classics that have just blown past their kickstarter goal to make a 5th game.
--The Tex Murphy games, which, ditto.
--The Space Quest series: also ditto, although I believe they squeaked by with less of an excess of funding. Totally worth it, though.
--The Last Express: I played this one earlier this year, and it immediately went to the top of my absolute favorite games I have ever played, and I have been playing games for a good fifteen years now. Also just got re-released on iOS, so there's a bit of renewed interest in it. (Although I played the PC game and will heartily recommend it.)
--Laura Bow: The Colonel's Bequest / Laura Bow: The Secret of Amon Ra: If you're comfortable with a text parser, definitely try to give the first one a go. Both of them are solid murder mysteries, although the first was by far the best, IMO.
--Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes series: Specified because, honestly, they're probably the easiest available SH games that aren't Hidden Object right now. Worth the playthrough, but be warned, they don't skimp on the gore, especially Awakened (Lovecraft crossover) and Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper (...naturally).
--Gray Matter: this is what Jane Jensen (creator/writer of the Gabriel Knight games) has been up to for a good ten years. Gothic sci-fi (no, really) point and click. Interesting characters, puzzles are a tad too far on the easy side.
--The Gabriel Knight games: Speaking of. Good games. Be warned, they are horror, and they do earn their T-M ratings at times.
--The Dark Fall games: if, if it's the combat, not the gore or scary that's an issue. Because these are quite dark despite the lack of combat. There's a single scene from the Lost Crown that still bothers me years after playing it.

Well, that's all that springs to mind offhand. I'm sure there's a ton more I could think of, but hopefully this is something to start off with. :)
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Volafortis » 19 Oct 2012, 23:36

Minecraft? (On peaceful)
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Tapir12 » 19 Oct 2012, 23:44

If we are mentioning adventure games I'll add The Longest Journey, which is awesome. The Dig is also quite good.

What's the game with the sack-boy? The name escapes me. Has that one been mentioned?
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Mara Kalat » 20 Oct 2012, 01:09

Beyond Good & Evil is AWESOME.
Both within this context and in general.
The PC version isn't the most polished, but it's an absolutely amazing game about a journalist / nature photographer who gets wrapped up in an underground planetary rebellion, and helping out by doing her job (Take that Mario! Or when do you ever use your plumbing skills?).
So you really go around taking pictures of proof that something is going on, while also doing a side job of photographing every single animal species on the planet (optional but a LOT of fun).
Here's a nice trailer, although it makes it look a bit too actiony at times.
It basically has everything you could want, exploration, collection, stealth, action, chase scenes, vehicles, whatever you want. All wrapped up in a great and engaging story.
There is some violence though, you fight some of the creatures you encounter as well as some guards, but this is never explicit or the dominant tone of the game.

If you want no violence whatsoever though I also have some more suggestions.

First off, The Undergarden.
It's a nice little gem on the XBox Live Arcade (and Steam!) where you play a small demon (or a pair of them if you have a second controller lying around) that is trying to make an underground cave system bloom with flowers.
It's simple, cheap and very pretty.
All without ANY violence. The worst thing in the game is a sort of amoeba that steals your pollen if you bump into it.

Two other great options would be:
  • Ilo Milo, which is a cutesy 3D puzzling game where you have to reunite Ilo and Milo. It's only been released on XBLA so far though... (and is coming to Windows 8, *sigh*).
  • The Kefling games, which give the players the task to help a group of tiny people (think Gulliver's Journey size difference) build up their village to a large town. This has had PC releases as well, but not Steam I think.

Though not my cup of tea sports games also tend to be reasonably violence free.
Hope there's something in there for her.

Mara.

PS@Tapir12 - The 'game with the sack-boy' is Little Big Planet, and is to my knowledge a PS3 exclusive.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Merrymaker_Mortalis » 20 Oct 2012, 02:00

Guild Wars 2 if you try to level up solely by exploration, crafting, being helpful without murder or violence in quests?

However it might make you want to be violent due to how tedious it may end up being.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Ptangmatik » 20 Oct 2012, 04:39

How about: 'Ben There, Dan That!' it comes with 'Time Gentlemen, please!'

Both are daft, lo-fi point and click fun.

I never really thought about how many violent games I have. Though I play minecraft more consistently than the rest of them.

Edit: Oh! also how about: 'Crayon Physics Deluxe'? That one's fun too
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby AzureAngel17 » 20 Oct 2012, 06:24

If her boyfriend has any modern console, Rock Band is always a good suggestion.

For steam though, I'd suggest Test Drive Unlimited 2. It's kind of a racing game crossed with The Sims and a random Casino game.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Merrymaker_Mortalis » 20 Oct 2012, 06:32

Pokemon. They don't die. They faint.
Replace the term of "attack" with "love" and you have a game where you collect all the Pokemon to battle other trainers to see whose Pokemon is the most loving of others.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Geoff_B » 20 Oct 2012, 09:08

I think she wants a GOOD game :P
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Merrymaker_Mortalis » 20 Oct 2012, 09:11

Pokemon Ruby then.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Master Gunner » 20 Oct 2012, 09:47

Psychonauts? There's some violence, but it's all extremely silly and cartoony.

Pretty much any racing game, of course. I think everyone above has covered the classic adventure games (which reminds me, I should see if the Broken Sword games are on Steam/GoG).
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Elomin Sha » 28 Oct 2012, 00:58

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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Geoff_B » 28 Oct 2012, 05:33

What about the Lego games? The violence is played for laughs and they're mostly puzzle based anyway - especially the Harry Potter games.
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Re: Non-violent games

Postby Kapol » 28 Oct 2012, 10:19

Master Gunner wrote:Psychonauts? There's some violence, but it's all extremely silly and cartoony.


Except the last level is pretty horrifying. Or at least it was when I first played it. freaking meat circus... *shiver* But it's still a really good game.

The indie Royale going on right now might be worth picking up, if only for Sam and Max. The Magic games don't have any violence. Fairie Solitaire might be a good pick-up for her. Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes might be considered violence, but it isn't really. It's more of a puzzler then anything. World of Goo is fun. Driver: San Francisco is fun. Chime is fun. Plants Vs. Zombies is one of those games that seems violent, but it's more a tower-defense then anything.

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