Games your employed friends can easily pick up and put down
This 2026, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to play more games—from highly-anticipated releases to older titles that I haven’t gotten around to playing. However, my other resolutions include performing better at my job and taking care of several adulting responsibilities I’ve elected to ignore in the previous year.
So how do you stay a responsible, busy adult while indulging in a time-consuming hobby such as gaming—all without cutting back on sleep and socializing?
It’s not about picking one over the other. The key? Games you can play for a short time—maybe an hour or two—put down, and come back to, all without forgetting what you were doing in the first place. Here are five games you and your employed friends can easily pick up and put down.
“Octopath Traveler”
A game I’ve recently picked up on the Nintendo Switch, “Octopath Traveler,” isn’t a title you’d expect on this list. After all, the Square Enix title has a runtime of around 60 to 100 hours on average. However, from my experience so far, this is an extremely easy “pick up and play” kind of game.
Missions don’t play out for too long, combat is engaging but not tedious, and the world is straightforward enough to traverse. Not to mention, the story is easy to follow—there are also journal entries and dialogue that will catch you up on previous events if you haven’t played in a while and need a refresher.
As the title suggests, “Octopath Traveler” follows the adventures of eight separate individuals: a priest, a scholar, a merchant, a warrior, a dancer, an apothecary, a thief, and a hunter. Their journeys seem far at the start, but after a certain point, their paths converge to a single point. If you’re the type to reminisce on the original style of the “Final Fantasy” franchise, “Octopath Traveler” is an especially good title to pick up.
“Subnautica”
“Subnautica” places players in an alien world that is virtually covered by water. Without a working spaceship and hope to escape, you instead turn your eyes from the stars to the sea, and explore the ocean depths in search of answers, food, and materials that will help you survive the hostile planet.
The game will also take you to several biomes, beginning with calm, shallow waters with friendly flora and fauna, and eventually, toxic waters where massive ocean monsters roam. Despite how seemingly urgent the game sounds, it is anything but. You can go through the entire game building and scavenging without care for the mission at hand. Like an aquatic-themed “Animal Crossing,” you can simply do as you please.
Be warned: “Subnautica” isn’t technically a horror title in design. Rather, that’s just how terrifying being in the depths is.
“Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles”’
In a previous review, I’ve described the remaster of the 1997 PlayStation classic as a faithful homage to one of the most iconic strategy games of all time. It is also incredibly easy to play, put down, and revisit despite its 40 to 60-hour run time.
For one thing, “Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles” features an extensive journal feature that lets players look into the game’s various characters and plot points. Not to mention, there’s also a timeline feature that lets you see how the game’s story has unfolded.
It’s a great inclusion for those who can’t necessarily sit through a gaming spree.
“Escape From Duckov”
Not to be confused with the first-person extraction shooter, “Escape from Tarkov,” the newly-relased “Escape From Duckov” places you in the body of a—you guess it—duck, as you face other gun-wielding avians, and loot materials to improve your home base.
It has a gameplay loop that hooks you in, without being too repetitive. Encounters don’t take too long as well, making it a perfect game you can easily pick up and put down.
“No Man’s Sky”
Despite disappointing during its initial release in 2016, due to bugs and missing features, “No Man’s Sky” has grown to live up to expectations and is an example of what happens when a game doesn’t abandon its player base.
The space-exploration game places players in an infinite sandbox with over 18 quintillion planets, letting you explore, scavenge, and build your base wherever you see fit.
For some, a larger scale correlates to an equally long play time. But “No Man’s Sky” is a game that you can easily pick up and put down whenever you want. After all, quintillion isn’t even a number anyone can fathom. What’s the rush? You can take your time with this game.
