Breezy Game Recommendations
16 March 2025
A couple of weeks ago I responded to a Resetera thread where the OP was asking for breezy one to four hours game recommendations. I love these kinds of threads, as they’re always great for finding games I didn’t know about, but also for sharing games that maybe others haven’t yet tried themselves!
I thought it would be nice to format my post a little better, add a couple of new games that others had already recommended and share it here too! They were specifically asking for console games, but each game name will be a Steam link, followed by the other platforms the game is available on. I’ve played each of these, and personally found something worth recommending about each.
Botany Manor
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
Enjoyed this one way more than I thought I would. A first-person puzzler about growing plants. None of the puzzles were so difficult that I was stumped for long, and I got that "Ah-ha!" feeling for pretty much all of them!
Breath of Death VII
(PC, Xbox)
Oldie but a goodie. An RPG from 2011. I ran through it recently and had an easy breezy time. Enemies power up each turn so you're encouraged to end them as quickly as possible.
The pacing in Zeboyd RPG's is brisk, they feel designed by someone who knows what they don't like about the genre, and that's great. Their more recent RPG's, a Sci-Fi Space Adventure and Shakespearean Magical Girls, are also relatively short, but longer than four hours. I'm yet to play This Way Madness lies, but can recommend Cosmic Star Heroine. As a bonus, only while grabbing the Steam links did I notice that Breath of Death actually got a remake!
Fairune Collection
(PC, PlayStation, Switch)
Marketed as four games, it’s more like two games plus two smaller bonuses. These are stripped down Zelda-likes, using a grid based bump combat. Does that make them Ys-likes? Other than the occasionally confusing pathing, they're all a fun time. The bonus games, Fairune Origins and Fairune Blast, are a micro Zelda-like and SHMUP respectively.
All the Sokpop games
(PC)
Sokpop make and commission short games almost exclusively. Inexpensive and fun! There's a lot in their catalogue, but I can easily recommend:
- White Lavender - Bug dark souls. Obviously it's a lot simpler than that, but had a good time.
- bobo robot - A metroidvania about small robot. Feels punishing at first, but wait until you get the UFO!
- Pear Quest - A tiny adventure game where you puzzle out how to reach the giant pear in the middle.
- Leap Year - Commissioned by Sokpop, developed by Daniel Linsen. A platformer about learning how jump works, and all the miraculous things it can do. It took me a while to understand what the game wanted from me, but once it did I was hooked!
I should also mention that Sokpop have a Patreon, which will net you both Steam and Itch.io keys for each of their games, plus other bonuses.
Capcom Arcade Stadium & Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
Filled with classics, and in my opinion some real stinkers, that I would guess are all under two hours. I believe Capcom Arcade Stadium 2 comes with an invincibility cheat built-in, while it's a paid DLC for the first collection. I enjoy booting it up and playing through a beat 'em up or SHMUP every now and then. Want to have an easy time? Turn on invincibility, and you're good to hit buttons!
Dragon Ruins
(PC)
A self-described dungeon crawler microgame for tired people. Took me a sec to realise that I was running away from battles instead of letting them play out. Once I worked that out, I had a chill time auto-battling my way to the dragon! There’s a sequel too, but I haven’t had a chance to play that one yet.
Toree 3D and Toree 2
(PC, Xbox, Switch)
Bitesized platformers, nine levels each and coming in at roughly thirty minutes to beat. Hard to complain for a euro!
Super Kiwi 64
(PC, Switch)
Same dev as Toree, but this time focusing on being a collectathon. With larger levels, and upgradable movement, it's a fun twist! It's a little bit longer than the Toree games, but you can probably 100% it in under an hour.
Skator Gator 3D
(PC)
A 3D platformer that spends half its time grinding on rails. Stylish game that you can easily get through in under a couple of hours. Good fun!
Liberty Belle
(PC)
Easily the loosest feeling of all the platformers I've listed above, I wasn't the biggest fan of the jump which is more about horizontal movement instead of vertical, and the focus on fighting, but that's a personal gripe. I enjoyed my time with the game, it doesn't overstay its welcome and definitely deserves more than the measly fourteen reviews it has on Steam!
Dadish, Dadish 2 and Dadish 3D
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
One and two are humorous 2D platformers, while three is 3D. Each have fifty bite-sized challenge levels, where you might be stuck briefly, but never for too long. I actually prefer the 2D games in this case, with Dadish 3D feeling just a tad too slow for me.
100 Pumpkins & 100 Pumpkins 2
(PC)
You’re a scarecrow with a pumpkin head, one hundred pumpkins have been scattered across one hundred screens, go and get them back! I enjoyed the second one more than the first, it manages to take everything that neat and fix everything else. Don’t go in expecting high art platforming, just some light route puzzling and platforming challenges. For the price, you can’t go wrong!
Ratyrinth
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
Not too much to say with this one, it’s a “cute and challenging precision platformer”, starring a rat. Delivers exactly what it promises too. I liked it!
HLTB has these next three at five hours, but depending on how fast you are I'm pretty sure I made it through all of them in under four hours. Your mileage may vary!
Still Wakes the Deep
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
Played through this one recently. A first person Cthulean horror game. It's largely a linear narrative experience, but I enjoyed it! Depending on how squeamish you are, I will say that there's elements of body horror.
The Gunk
(PC, Xbox)
I mean this in the best way, it feels like a game that was punching above its budget's weight. A third person adventure about cleaning up gunk on a planet, it looks, sounds and plays good!
Touhou Luna Nights
(PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)
It doesn't matter whether you know Tohou or not, Luna Nights is just a good ass Metroidvania. It never stops being satisfying to stop time, throw knives, and watch enemies get stabbed twenty times in a split second. It's a longer game, but if you end up enjoying Luna Nights, I highly recommend Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, which is even better. Actually, just play any of Team Ladybug's games!
And finally, the shill section! These are games I've either worked on, or personally know the devs, but I swear I like the games!
Aviary Attorney
(PC, Switch)
The elevator pitch is Ace Attorney x Birds. A sharply written game set just before the French revolution! I worked on the Switch port. If you like this, check out their most recent game, Small Saga, an RPG about a mouse seeking revenge against God. It's longer than four hours, but it's great.
The Tartarus Key
(PC, Xbox, Playstation, Switch)
My game! The length will really depend on your puzzling aptitude. HLTB has it at five hours, but I've seen players make it through in sub four or more than eight! A horror tinged first person puzzle game. Escape from the mansion, or die trying! PS1 style visuals, rad music, some fun characters. I like it, but of course I would. 😉
I enjoyed putting this list together, I think in the future I’ll do it again! Long live the small indies!