Back in my childhood, it was pretty much accepted that if a game wasn’t fun in the most basic and traditional sense, then it probably wasn’t worth playing at all.
It was all about high-octane action, fast-paced platforming, and getting a high score to lord over your friends. However, in this new modern era of gaming, we are seeing that more and more developers are taking things that seem mundane and turning them into wildly successful video games.
I have seen more than a few games with concepts that, on one paper, seem like they would bore you to tears. But when the morbid curiosity got the better of me, and I played to see what the fuss was about, I usually saw exactly what everyone else was raving about.
So, with that in mind, I want to highlight some Indie games that look boring on paper but actually offer some really fun, satisfying, and addictive experiences. This is Indie Game Culture’s list of 10 Boring Concepts That Made For Great Indie Games.
Selection Criteria
What makes a ‘Boring Game’ is pretty subjective, so we have decided to work off this criteria to make sure this list is something that most of you will nod your head as you read in approval:
- All games must have a simple or mundanity to it, such as a gamified chore or mindlessness to each action
- All games must successfully make these boring concepts fun, relaxing, or engaging
- We promise not to list a whole bunch of realistic simulators, but there will be a couple.
Okay, it’s time to battle boredom by facing it head-on; let’s go!
#1 – Euro Truck Simulator 2
When asked to think of a game that fits the bill here, Euro Truck Simulator 2 is the game that will spring to mind for most of us. This is mainly because this game was and still is a hugely popular game for streamers, but on paper, it’s kind of hard to see why.
You see, in Euro Truck Simulator 2, all the player does is drive a delivery lorry across Europe, often driving along vast stretches of road for hours at a time, with the aim of making your delivery on time, and avoiding any potential hazards along the way.
The main draw is the attention to realism when it comes to the European scenery and, indeed, the driving mechanics, which are specific to those who drive Long-Haul vehicles.
When you get the hang of the controls and how to park the damn thing, the game becomes a relaxing and mindless game perfect for playing while listening to a podcast. So, if that’s your thing, fuel up and hit the road!
#2 – House Flipper
Next, we have a game that has infuriated my wife more than a few times. You see, instead of making improvements to our own home, I’ve been lying in bed playing House Flipper, a game where you buy property, fix it up, and then flip the house to see if you can turn a profit.
If you asked me to bleed a radiator or fix the U-bend in real life, I would graciously decline. However, House Flipper makes the process of home improvement so satisfying and easy that I couldn’t help pouring hours into fixing up the house from Home Alone or the apartment from Friends.
When you boil it down, these are just a series of chores, but House Flipper adds an air of challenge to each flip, as you challenge yourself to make bigger profits each time. So, if you feel like you could be a real estate mogul, you can prove it by playing this boring but brilliant gem.
#3 – Papers, Please
I was torn between this one and Lucas Pope’s other masterpiece, Return of the Obra Dinn, because they both have that bureaucratic, pencil-pusher underlayer. However, Papers, Please is a little more on the nose in this regard, as it asks you to literally man a booth and do paperwork.
If you work an office job, I would wager that the last thing you would want to do to unwind would be roleplaying as a border patrol officer, but due to the social and political implications of each person you process, each encounter offers tension and intrigue in spades.
One missed detail could see your family go hungry. One false admission could lead to a terrorist attack, and as tension rises in the area, the complexity of your job only grows as you need to adhere to more and more processes. It sounds like busy work, but we assure you, it’s bloody entertaining.
#4 – A Little to the Left
While I can’t really relate to this myself, as I am more of a controlled chaos sort of guy, there are plenty of people out there who love things to have their own place and love to organize things. So, to lean into these compulsive behaviors and gamify them, A Little to the Left offers a puzzle game where you need to put things in their correct place.
It’s all about color-coding items, fixing crooked picture frames, and arranging items in terms of size and shape. Things that you can’t deny, are about as mundane and boring as it gets.
Yet, thanks to the simple UI and the puzzle aspect of A Little to the Left, these tasks suddenly become relaxing and therapeutic puzzles that you’ll probably binge on in one sitting.
You couldn’t pay me enough to alphabetize my bookshelf, but if this game asked me to do it in digital form, I would do it with a smile on my face. It’s a superb game that makes the mundane magical.
#5 – Coffee Talk
I’ll be the first to say that I don’t like visual novel games, and as a genre, I think they all run the risk of being quite boring simply by being what they are. However, there are a few exceptions to the rule, and one of these is Coffee Talk, a game set in a futuristic and fictitious version of Seattle where humans and mythical creatures live in harmony.
Here, you run a coffee shop that only opens at night, and this weird business decision leads to you meeting some truly intriguing clientele. You’ll act as an agony aunt of sorts as you solve their domestic issues, act as a shoulder to cry on, and, of course, learn their coffee orders by heart.
Being a barista in a sleepy little coffee shop shouldn’t be all that interesting, but thanks to the way you are tasked with creating new drinks, and the stories the game weaves, you’ll find that Coffee Talk is a Visual Novel that sets itself apart from many others in the genre.
#6 – The Last Worker
If you’ve ever thought to yourself how boring and oppressive it would be to be an Amazon Warehouse worker. Well, what if we took this to the Nth degree and placed you in a dystopian future where robots have replaced every colleague of yours, and due to your unnatural productivity, you have become the last worker?
Narratively, you can’t fault the concept, but in terms of gameplay, the first half of the game will see you travel around the warehouse, grabbing marked boxes and flinging them into the appropriate delivery chutes, effectively asking you to play fetch for several hours.
It sounds so dull, but thanks to the great storytelling, the regular breaks in the mundane shift work for new and exciting excursions, and the incredible voice acting provided by Jason Issacs of Harry Potter fame, this game somehow manages to make warehouse work a blast. Just don’t expect to get many bathroom breaks.
#7 – Stardew Valley
This may feel a little controversial, as Stardew Valley is arguably the most beloved, successful, and fun indie game of all time, but hear me out. I’m not claiming this game is anything less than magnificent, but you have to admit, the concept of running a farm isn’t exactly blockbuster material.
On paper, the idea of milking cows at the crack of dawn, living in a sleepy village off the beaten track, and periodically working in the mines is not something we would rush down to the job center to sign up for.
Yet, thanks to the game being built on top of the Harvest Moon blueprint and the love and care taken by Eric Barone to make this game a fleshed-out, satisfying, nuanced, and wholesome farming simulator, you can’t deny that this game is everything you could ever want in a cozy indie title.
It’s a game that, despite its boring premise, I have poured hundreds of hours into agonizing over crop production and farm automation, and I know that if you give it a try, you’ll be hooked, too.
#8 – Unpacking
Moving home is an exciting time. It’s a fresh start, and a new location to carve into your little sanctuary away from the big bad world. However, this excitement is usually marred by the fact that to do this, you need to pack up your home, and then unpack all your stuff in your new place.
In real life, this is a boring and physically tasking thing to do, but in Unpacking, this is a cathartic and therapeutic task where you not only get to place items in an obsessive-compulsive manner so that the place looks as you would like it.
But you also get to witness the subtly told coming-of-age story, as you see your character grow up before your eyes through the items they take from one home to the next.
It’s a short and sweet game that’s low effort, relaxing, and has a surprisingly well-told love story hidden in there for those willing to look for it. Sometimes less is more, and Unpacking is a prime example of this.
#9 – Dorfromantik
This might be a little bit cruel because Dorfromantik probably has the most engaging and arcade-like feel to gameplay compared to all others on this list. However, when you strip it for parts, this is basically a tile-builder game where all you do is match up areas of a map to build a quaint countryside landscape.
It’s a little bit like Carrcassone for those familiar, but much simpler. What you do here is use tiles to create villages, train lines, lakes, forests, and more, tactically placing matching tiles to create pockets of life on the board. However, once you have played one game, you have pretty much seen all that Dorfromantik has to offer.
It’s a simple and rather one-note game, but that never stopped me from racking up a ludicrous playtime on this one, as the gameplay is relaxing, with just enough complexity and depth to keep you muttering ‘One more game’ to yourself as you avoid things you should actually be doing.
#10 – Summerhouse
Now, we finish with a more recent title from the creator of Townscaper. Summerhouse is a game that bottles the feeling of that summer holiday you remember fondly and allows you to recreate that pocket of the world in pixel form.
Players will pick from four different locales and will then use a series of pixel-perfect assets to create side-scrolling 2D landscapes that capture the essence of a quaint summer getaway that we all dream of when the sun breaks through the clouds.
There aren’t any goals, quests, or wrong ways to play this game. You simply kick back, create a summer vacation you can be proud of, and then call it a day.
It’s one where mileage will very much vary, but considering the low price tag, even a few fleeting hours of relaxation courtesy of this game is a worthy payoff in my eyes.
Honorable Mentions
Then, before we sign off, here are some honorable mentions that didn’t quite break the top ten or perhaps just missed our criteria. But still deserve a quick mention:
- Powerwash Simulator
- Session: Skate Sim
- Cookie Clicker
- Dear Esther
- Kayak Mirage VR
- Game Dev Tycoon
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Lawn Mowing Simulator
Not So Dull After All
So there you have it, folks, ten indie games that have no right to be anything other than boring chores but end up being games that you could happily play for hours on end.
What did you make of this list? Do you know any other games like this? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, thanks for reading Indie Game Culture.
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