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noncombatgames -> heliogames

Meet the Ham Hams!

Hamtaro Ham Ham Heartbreak (2003) box art for the Game Boy Advance

Stardew Valley- ConcernedApe/Chucklefish

Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android

In Stardew Valley, the player takes the role of a character who, to get away from the hustle of the city, takes over their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as Stardew Valley. The player manages their character's time and energy levels as they clear land, plant and tend crops, raise livestock, craft goods, mine for ores, and engage in social activities, including romances leading towards marriage, with the various residents of the small town, all while earning in-game money to expand their farm. The game is open-ended, allowing the player to take on activities as they see fit. The game also features a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode.

Portal- Valve Corporation

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X, Linux, Android

“Portal consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player's character and simple objects using "the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device", a device that can create inter-spatial portals between two flat planes. The player-character, Chell, is challenged and taunted by an artificial intelligence named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) to complete each puzzle in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center using the portal gun with the promise of receiving cake when all the puzzles are completed. The game's unique physics allows kinetic energy to be retained through portals, requiring creative use of portals to maneuver through the test chambers.” 

Firewatch- Campo Santo

Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

The story follows a fire lookout named Henry in the Shoshone National Forest, a year after the Yellowstone fires of 1988. A month after his first day at work, strange things begin happening to him and his supervisor Delilah, which connects to a conspired mystery that happened years ago. Henry interacts with Delilah using a walkie-talkie, with the player choosing from dialog options to communicate. His exchanges with Delilah inform the process by which their relationship is developed.

Thomas Was Alone- Mike Bithell

Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Linux, iOS, Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U

“In Thomas Was Alone, the player controls one or more simple rectangles representing several out-of-control artificial intelligence entities, working with the shapes to get each to their individual end points on each level. Each shape is characterized with a unique name and personality, including the eponymous Thomas, which are conveyed to the player through the use of a narrator, voiced by Danny Wallace and whose performance earned the game a BAFTA Games Award. “

Katamari Damacy REROLL- BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment

PC, Switch

The game's plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations, and Moon, which were accidentally destroyed by his father, the King of All Cosmos. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to people to mountains until the ball has grown great enough to become a star. Katamari Damacy's story, characters, and settings are bizarre and heavily stylized, rarely attempting any semblance of realism, though the brands and items used are based on those current in Japan during the game's production.